Strut Bridal

Brides Against Breast Cancer Recap

When Bob and I first talked about helping out with Brides Against Breast Cancer, both of us thought we'd get a handful of donated wedding dresses.

Maybe a dozen.

And we'd feel pretty good about that--helping both breast cancer patients AND low-budget brides.

Imagine our surprise when we ended up with 133 wedding and formal gowns.

Here's proof!

It was so many dresses we ended up stacking boxes in the back hallway after running out of room on the racks in the backroom. So, clearly, we have a LOT of thank yous!

• To our Phoenix area (and beyond!) residents that parted with their new and used wedding dresses, we say thank you. We know it's hard to get rid of something that brings back so many memories just by looking at it.
• To our local media that supported the drive, we say thanks! We had the sweetest reporters and (patient) cameramen from Fox, ABC and NBC in the store. And the Arizona Republic published our call for donations in their main paper as well as subsidiaries.
• Huge thanks to Tara Clark (and Denise!) of Events by Tara Clark for coordinating the sale weekend.
• The Almond Tree loaned us the biggest, heaviest three-way mirror for the event (and thanks to my little brother for lugging it to and fro!).
• Lisa of Destiny's Bride donated more than twenty couture gowns valued at over $133,000. This is an amazing addition to the sale's couture collection.
• Our friends at Uptown Bridal brought in sixteen gorgeous wedding gowns, too!
• Our vendor partners Arizona Weddings Magazine, Phoenix Bride & Groom magazine, Fresh From the Kitchen caterers, Events by Tara Clark, Reverend Mary Riley, Community Florist, Apropos Creations event planner, and more, for working with area brides who visited the sale.
• The Cottonwood Suites and Resorts graciously donated their space and time for the event.
• Our volunteers! We had legions of help from area residents, including an energetic group of high school girls.

If I've forgotten anyone, please let me know. In the end, I believe they sold almost 40 dresses, which pleased the event coordinators.

We hope to bring them back to Phoenix in the future!

 

Strut Bridal Salon in the News

We just wanted to take a minute and say THANKS to all of the awesome folks that have helped spread the word about Strut bridal salon in Phoenix:

We heart Chastity and her blog AND her book (you can pick up a copy at the store). She had sweet things to say about her trip to Arizona.  

Kira from Fashion Phoenix came for Chastity's book signing and wrote a nice post about us. We love Kira's view on fashion: you don't have to follow trends, just wear what works for you (amen!).

When Chastity was in town, she was featured on Channel 3's morning program giving tips on dressing for body types (hint: belts!). You can see her segment here.

We haven't even met the (surely) nice folks at ScoopFactory, but they were kind enough to spread the news about us, too! We signed up for their daily newsletter (Ann loves to try new things/places/foods/activities).

Finally, Sandra from KTAR did an interview with Ann last week. Our FedEx driver said we didn't sound dumb, which is good enough for our first official interview!

We've celebrated our first three months in business by... well, there's been no time for celebrations, people! Our October and November brides really need to be ordering their wedding dresses now, to allow for plenty of time for alterations. We've been really busy and just want to say thanks to our Phoenix-area vendor partners and our brides everywhere. As nice as everyone has been to us, we also want to say that we're grateful to be able to provide a place where curvy girls and plus size brides can find the dress of their dreams!

Join Us at the Phoenix Pride Wedding Expo!

We're so excited to do our first fashion show ever, and to be a part of Phoenix Pride's 30th anniversary celebration. Come join us at 4:30 Saturday and Sunday in the air conditioned tent. You'll see about a dozen of our best styles for curvy brides. Then stay and catch awesome acts like Joan Jett. I plan to eat my way through the festival, so look for me at the food booths!

Find more information online about Phoenix Pride!

Strut Bridal Salon Featured on Deal Diva Bridal Guide

Strut recently had the pleasure of speaking with Sue Robinson of Deal Diva Bridal Guide. Her blog features ways that brides can throw a spectacular wedding on a smaller budget. Sue called us to say that many of her readers ask for tips on finding a wedding dress for plus sizes, so we helped her out. Biggest tip: come with an open mind (styles, sizes, etc.)!

Read her whole post "Plus Size Bride Secrets to Looking Sensational While Being Cent-Sational" and add your own tips!

As you know, Strut is a big advocate of shopping for your wedding dress about six months in advance. That is another great way brides can save some money--they can get custom changes to their wedding dress direct from the factory. This is less expensive than having those changes made afterward!

Plus Size Models on the Cover of French Elle--Oo la la!

We're always on the lookout for positive images of plus size women in the media. We came across an article about the French Elle magazineputting plus size models on their cover for the first time ever. When I saw the photo, it was funny: I didn't even look at the size of the women, I just thought, "OMG--I LOVE those dark jeans second from the left!!". Take a look:

 You should read the whole article because it really is a fascinating back-and-forth about the different viewpoints on using larger women. Is it a gimmick or trend, or a slow true change in the fashion industry? 

This comes on the heels of an interesting discussion last night at my Arizona Weddings Magazine networking event. We were talking about the term "plus size model" because that could mean any woman over a size 8 (not even kidding here). And, hey, that's not very nice (or true that you're plus size at a 10).

Yet saying they use "real women" rings a bit hollow, too, because our size 4 girlfriends are, after all, real women, too. Just smaller! So then we debated curvy, fluffy, meaty and more.

Would love to get your thoughts on what's the best term for curvy models and even our own brides. Because we fit brides size 12 and up, who are not "plus" in the traditional term (but may be in wedding dress sizes), we stay away from calling ourselves a "plus size bridal salon" (because, really, what's a number? we care about FIT and FEELING BEAUTIFUL!).