Dye-ing for Color

Hey guys so guess what.

We dye shoes.

Renee as Vana "White"

And we can pretty much do any color you could possibly imagine.

Now, I know that when I say the word "dyeable" you all think of dyed-to-match circa 1992 "my hand bag matches my shoes on Easter Sunday" kind of situations.

This is not what we do.

When we dye shoes it's like REEEDICULOUSLY cute because it's more along the lines of peacock blue shoes with your gorgeous ivory gown.  Which is much better than the matching pink shoes and dresses of 1992.

It's a fun and flirty way to add a splash of color to your bridal ensemble and also a great way to incorporate more of your colors into your wedding party.  So if you're having your girls wear black and they each have a different shade of green shoe BAM you've got the colors all tied together.

Exhibit A

In store we sell a huge selection of dyeable shoes for you to choose from.  Once the shoe is chosen Renee will go through the color swatches with you and pick what you're looking for.  Then she works her magic which involves elves and incantations and TA-DA you have beautiful shoes!!

Exhibit B

So you come in, buy your cute shoes and then pick out a color with Renee:

(Magic involving elves and incantations:)

That's how it's done.  I can't tell you the exact science because Renee was sworn to silencio by the gods of shoe dyeing.

So, remember those SUPER cute shoes that Jennifer won and I showed them to you guys? YES THEY ARE DYEABLE.  Imagine them in pink or red...or YELLOW.  Oh Man.

Plus, you can dye JUST the bow giving them that adorable color accent under your dress.  It's almost like having a little secret...like when you are wearing really cute undies and you walk around all day feeling extra pretty.  Isn't that how you want to feel on your wedding day!?!?

I also have to show you these because they are some of the cutest things I've seen possibly in my whole life:

That's how it's done.  Magic and imagination.  And no terrible 90's "Full House" dyed-to-match-ness.

Another little note to self is that not all whites are created equal. There's white, diamond white, ivory, pearl, alabaster, candle light, feather, oyster, light ivory, and hurt-your-retinas white.  And while we realize that the rest of the world has white and off-white we would like to share with you that your "white" shoes may not match your "white" dress...but we can dye-to-fix that problem, too.

Lady dudes, we got your back.

Fact: We can dye a satin shoe to black after your event so that you suddenly have a very cute black heel that matches everything!!

Other Fact:  We can't dye shoes from outside sources because we don't know how the fabric will react to our specific dye.  It could be bad.  And then you'll be upset.  Which makes us upset.  It's a terrible cycle.  So we just avoid it!

OH YEAH AND if you are a Platinum Member you get complimentary shoe dying! Just thought you should know :)

An Appointment How-To

Today on Blogging with Tabitha, I'm going to walk you through each step of an appointment at Camarillo Bridal!  There are a few things that may surprise you and a few things that may even shock you. (Photo cred to Claire!)

1.
HOLY TUNA SALAD YOU'RE ENGAGED!! YAYAYAYAYAY!!! And you need a dress!!! It's so exciting!!!  So then you call us and we set up an appointment for you.  We recommend an appointment no matter what to ensure you have a Gown Specialist waiting for you when you get here.  We also recommend AT LEAST 6 months before your date so that you don't incur any rush fees from any manufacturer.

Here is Claire taking your appointment for you...she is pretty awesome on the phone.

We hear she's also pretty awesome on the Ultimate Frisbee field.

2.
Check your e-mail.  Because I sent you something.  And it's called your Confirmation. 

Included in that e-mail is what to expect and how to prepare for your appointment. Here is a brief overview of what we send:

- Thanks for making an appointment! Show us the e-mail so you get a present when you come in.

- Don't bring food or drinks 'cuz this is a really expensive "you break it you bought it" place.

Chocolate and Coffee: White and Ivory's worst nightmare.

- Don't bring children into the store: it's boring and the boutique is NOT child proofed (see previous bullet point).

Even the best kids WILL get bored here.

Which becomes this.

Which degenerates into THIS.

- Bring a couple of people with you: like 3 people.  Not 5.  Because it's overwhelming to try to please everyone in your party when really it's just about YOU connecting with THE DRESS.

- Be ready to buy because if you purchase on your first visit you get to be part of our Platinum Membership and it saves you literally hundreds of dollars!! (see me for details on this package)

Yeah...you're gonna want in on this...

- Wear full bottom underwear.  While we are completely unfazed by cheeks we know that some of you are more modest than others, so just keep in mind that you Gown Specialist will be seeing you in your chonies while helping you in and out of gowns.

3.
Come to your appointment!! We are excited to meet you!!  You will check in at the front desk with Claire and/or Tabitha (that's me!) and we will then introduce you to your Gown Specialist.

4.
Start your appointment: your Gown Specialist will talk to you about what you do and don't want your wedding dress to be like, your venue, the time of year, your budget, the time of day, etc.  From there she will start to pull dresses for you.

It's me (Tabitha) pretending to pull dresses for you.

5.
Start trying on! Here's the fun part: PUTTING ON THE DRESSES!!  You get to put on these beautiful gowns and feel like a princess!  Your party is seated in a staging area and you and your Specialist will come out in each gown to show them in the angled mirrors.

So pretty...anybody want this to be the next featured gown??

6.
Fall in love with THE DRESS!  You put it on, it's more than you imagined (and probably not exactly what you even thought you would love...) and you KNOW that this is THE DRESS for you!  There may have been some tears, probably a few squeals, and maybe even some jumping up and down...which all leads to having your measurements taken by your Gown Specialist!

Nichole is measuring me: I do not have an hourglass figure.  I have an adolescent girl figure.

7.
Yes you have to take off THE DRESS.  I'm sorry...I know it's hard to part with your true love, but THE DRESS that is "yours-yours" will be here in a few months...and we'll call you the very minute it gets here!!

And that is how to buy your wedding dress at Camarillo Bridal.  The experience is fun, emotional, and exciting.  It's a once-in-a-lifetime moment and we are here to ensure, enhance, and enjoy these moments along with you.  No matter what her status, age, budget, or time frame is, each and every bride is important to us because we are women too...we understand that it's your wedding day and that this time is about THE DRESS!

Also:  When did my hair suddenly get WAVY?!?! What is up with THAT?!  I have always had super straight hair and then all of a sudden (as you can see in these photos) BAM: waves.  I don't hate it.

"To Look Like a Queen"

When you have this many gorgeous gowns in one place it can be a little overwhelming to see each dress for what it really is.  First of all it is IMPOSSIBLE to see a dress on a hanger and then after a while it just becomes one white fluffy blob after another when you're looking through the racks.  Which is why we have our Gown Specialists who already know each dress's personality!  Our ladies are able to see you for who you are and match your personality with THE DRESS.

So having thought about this I was like "Huh.  Maybe it would be fun to feature a dress once in a while?" and then Renee was all "YES I WANT TO DO THAT!!" And then I really needed a blog topic so last week I thought HEY I could use the "Dress of the Day" which was really kind of amazing that I committed to a topic more than 3 days in advance.

A.D.D. MOMENT: So when I write the blog I don't always think about it way in advance.  I mean, realistically I personally don't really think about anything really far in advance.  Example: We, the Camarillo Bridal Babes, all tried to go see "Bridesmaids" together.  Organizing it was almost impossible because guess who couldn't commit to a time and date more than 24 hours in advance. If this is indicative of my future I'm pretty much never getting married.

This is Claire.  She is saying, "This movie is really funny!"

END A.D.D. MOMENT.

So today I says to Renee, I says, "What dress should I feature?" and she says to me a bunch of letter and numbers, and and then I says, "Can you just show me?"

Meet Lydia

Lydia is by Maggie Sottero and is in fact not her real name, but just a name that I gave her cause I think she looks like one.  She is available in white, alabaster, and as shown here in pearl. The fabric is decadent giving it that feeling of weight and substance that you can TOTALLY pull off in winter weather.  And as we all know if you are ordering a dress in May it is probably for your winter wedding!

Box Pleating:
Pleats on a dress are not something I naturally think of, but when I pulled Lydia out I realized that they are very flattering and give it a beautiful fullness without any fluff. 

The Details:
I love the way that the bottom edge of the bodice scallops!  This belt is sold separately though I'm not entirely sure why as it TOTALLY finishes the dress AND makes your waist look teensy.

The crystals on the belt match the crystals on the dress!

And look at this bead work...that is absolutely gorgeous.  It's classy and elegant but also unique. 

Look at these little buttons that go alllllll the way down the train!!  That's the kind of small detail that makes your dress memorable.

See what I did there: combining photos. Yeah. I'm pro.

Then Lydia needed some neck candy.  So I pulled out this amazing necklace that reflects the round details in the bead work and buttons of the gown, as well as having pearls at the center to accentuate the baby pearls on the bodice.

And and no bride is complete without a veil!  Renee picked the perfect one that has tiny pearls and sparkles in a similar patter as the bodice to complete the ensemble!

Now Lydia is all ready to get married. We expect that she and her Manequine husband will be happy for many years to come in the windows of our store.  

 

"Many girls want to look like a

Princess on their wedding day.  This is for the woman who want to looks like a Queen..."

- Renee

The Reason We Work in Weddings...

I love working with weddings.  People always ask me if I get frustrated with all the bridezillas but it's really not like that.  There are no reality cameras in our store so girls tend to behave themselves.  Every day we get to be part of making some one's dreams come true...we get to see a woman go from excited fiancee to happy wife.  It's the celebration of femininity and the experience of a lifetime that makes this an amazing industry to be part of.

The reason I work here is because of the 4 year old flower girl who comes charging into the store breathlessly telling me in precise detail about the dress she needs:
"It has to be long and white and have a ribbon here and a bow and...it's a dress." (imagine major arm gestures and showing me just where the bow would be placed above her petite derriere.) 

The reason I work here is because I get to help a mom feel beautiful on her daughter's wedding day.  The reason I work here is because I get to see a teenage girl try on her first gown.  The reason I work here is because I get to see life time best friends pick out bridesmaids dresses together.  The reason I work here is because I get to be part of the tearful moment a mother sees her daughter in THE DRESS.  The moment that it becomes real to both of them that they are entering a new phase of life together.

Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of why we work here.  The phone gets crazy, the Internet won't work right, the computer system just REFUSES to make itself easy to use, an appointment is late, and the bathroom is out of toilet paper.  But then I take a deep breath, remember that it is NOT the end of the world, and that I have the honor working to make some one's perfect day a reality.  I remember that we do everything within our power to make sure we've done our job correctly, I remember that even if the scanner refuses to function correctly we can still take a minute to oogle over wedding pictures when a bride brings in her gown for preservation (cause we can handle that for you just FYI).  And then it's all OK and I get to enjoy my job again...and blog...blogging as part of your job is pretty great too. :)

So forgive me for a post with only two pictures, forgive me for the sappy sentiments, but today was the perfect day take a step back and remember how every bride makes this job fabulous.

Shoes and Chairs

Exciting True Fact #1:

Jennifer Hyatt won the Kate Middleton Gown Prediction contest!  The sketch that she submitted was the closest guess to what Kate Duchess of Cambridge actually wore on that famous/infamous day.  And the prize for being the closest guess is FREE SHOES!!

Exciting True Fact #2:

Jennifer Hyatt also happens to be one of our most favorite people everrrrrr!!  And here's why: Jennifer used to be the owner of Camarillo Bridal until about 7 years ago when Pam bought it from her, and their relationship has always been one of mutual appreciation and respect.  Pam still goes to Jennifer for business advice, and Jennifer still does (exceptional) alterations work for our brides! 

Jennifer may or may not kill me for putting this in the blog...

See! How cute are they!! They're BFF's!!

So Jennifer brought her lovely self in and picked out these shoes as her prize for being so tapped into the pulse of English Bridal fashion.  Congratulations Jennifer!  We love you!

Exciting True Fact #3:

REX BOUGHT US A PINK DESK CHAIR!!!! It's so cute!!  He brought the box into the store while I was in the back room and at first I thought he just got us a desk chair and I was all "Oh yay! Thank you, Rex!" BUT THEN I saw that it is PINK and I started LITERALLY freaking out and squealing...like girlie high pitched unintelligible. It was kind of like this:

"HOLYTUNASALADIT'SAPINKCHAIRI'MSOEXCITEDTHANKYOUSOMUCHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

So here's Rex putting the chair together...thank you Rex!!!

"I'm answering the phone in my pink voice" - Claire (she didn't actually say that.)

I'm clearly thrilled about our pink chair.  I might name her.  Maybe Penelope.  Yeah. I think it's Penelope.

I just decided.  Claire says ok.

Everybody, meet Penelope the Pink Chair.  Penelope, meet everybody.

I've been happily spinning and rolling Penny (that's her nickname) around the floor for the last few days.  In fact I almost bumped into our perfect Elephant Ear Gray (really light grayish purple-esque) walls.  Don't worry...I didn't mark them.

Thank you Rex!!

Ribbon Cutting!

Wednesday is Blog Day!!

Cause remember how Monday is too busy and Tuesday sounds ridiculous?  (And the Dodgers lost to the Cubs…I don’t want to talk about it.)  Yeah.  So here I am!!  Blogging on Wednesday!!

THE PICTURES ARE ADDED!!

*I have SO MANY MORE pictures to show you guys but something is wrong and the server won't approve their upload.  Which translates to: I'll do it from home later. But I had to follow through on the Wednesday blogging or Laura would be really just too sad...even sadder than the sad kitty. (Shout out to you Lovely Laura!!)*
NO LONGER!! Got more photos and here are the good ones!

 Pam's adorable granddaughter...

sporting a pink cast to match us all!!

 Renee and me

The biggest news is the Ribbon Cutting last Thursday!  It was really an amazing event and I would like to thank every one who was involved:

 Sugar Bear brought us delicious mini cupcakes.  I would absolutely recommend them.  They were faaaabulouuus!

I Would Rather Be Baking made us the MOST AMAZING cake with our entire logo in frosting…yes.  Frosting.  How I managed to NOT photograph it?  Cause I was busy eating the delicious red velvet cake.

 See how amazing!  Also: NOMSNOMSNOMS.

Spanish Hills Catering brought lovely food trays for all of our guests to munch and it was wonderful!  Thumbs up…BOTH thumbs.

Ponderosa Flower Shoppe is not only wonderful to work with but brought us GORGEOUS flowers for both the Ribbon Cutting AND Bo and Celeste’s Vow Renewal!  They are gracious and we highly recommend them.

Ja'Nice from Rebe Belle salon in Ventura came and did our make-up cause she's awesome and we really love her not only as a stylist but as a lovely person!

 See how good we look!?!? THANKS JA'NICE!

We did manage to work some official business into our busy schedule of eating delicious food.  The Camarillo Chamber of Commerce came and gave speeches welcoming Pam and Camarillo Bridal into the new location.  The ceremony started around 4:45 and I think we didn't leave here until around 7...which totally supports that (obnoxious) but true saying "time flies when you're having fun."

Pam being affectionately ducked under the chin.

(perspective for the win.)

And yes.  We all wore pink.  It was obviously planned.  This is how it went down:

Pam decided she had to wear the bling shoes (what’s up Benjamin Adams) and then from there she picked the pink dress.  So then we all decided HEY wouldn’t it be cool if we were all in pink and peach tones to match!? So THEN Pam said,

"I would love for you guys to wear stuff off the rack so when people say “you look gorgeous!” we can say, “it’s from the store!”. 

Walking advertisement…which I guess is actually just modeling.  Anyway, we all picked a different pink gown and made sure they worked together and BAM!! Result:

Camarillo Bridal and Gorgeous Girls is more like it.

I’m not shy.  I’ll say it…WE LOOK GOOD.

It’s not every day that your staff’s average attractive score is an L.A. 8.  All the gowns that you see here (except for Pam’s of course) are available at Camarillo Bridal!

The Ribbon was cut and the pictures were taken, and everyone was in a general state of excitement!  And at the end of the day we were all more than pleased.

 The best one by far. AND with Ms. California United States!!

She came to help us celebrate!!

So there are the photos AS PROMISED!! (I really want to leave in the line about the Chamber of Commerce people not wearing pink...so I just did.)

Monday: Not blog day anymore.

Bad news.

Monday is no longer blog day.

Even I, with the super powers that I do posses, cannot single handedly manage reception and write the blog.  I would make Tuesday blog day but there are two problems with that. 1) It sounds weird. "Tuesday is Blog Day!" No.  That's lame.  Tuesday is generally the hated day anyway.  2) I personally don't mind Tuesday so much but it IS my day off. So I will be at the Dodger's game. That's right...I get to go to a Dodgers game.

So I apologize that I'm letting you all down today. I'll be back on Wednesday!!