Online Chat about Weddings
March 3, 2009
Do you have a wedding coming up or are you going to one. Do you have questions? If so Casey Woods from Madelynn's will answer all your wedding questions in an online chat.
Submit your questions
Moderator: Our guest in The Gazette newsroom today is Casey Woods, general manager of Madelynn's, the Emporia store that caters to the wedding needs of couples and their families. The wedding season is approaching. If you are making plans for a wedding now, Casey is here to answer your questions. Casey's all ready to go, so we'll start the chat a little early today. Be sure to refresh your screen frequently to keep up with the chat. The first question today is about wedding fairs.
moderator: What are some of the best area wedding fairs to attend?
Casey Woods: Two of Madelynn's personal favorites are the Topeka Bridal Fair at the Ramada Inn Downtown and the Wichita Bridal Show in the Century II Complex. Both are large enough to offer a variety of vendors in several different bridal categories, but small enough to allow personal interaction between brides and vendors. Hopefully we can get an Emporia Bridal Show re-started in Emporia next year.
moderator: What are the new wedding trends this year?
Casey Woods: From a gown design aspect, simple and elegant is in. We are seeing a lot more sheath and mermaid styles of gowns with less emphasis on ball gown styles. From a color standpoint, jewel tones have retaken the bridal color palate. Dark green, deep red and rich blue tones are back with our most popular color of the year- purple. Event planning is a little more quaint this year. We have a lot of outdoor weddings, destination weddings and more intimate affairs. Of course Madelynn's still coordinates larger, church weddings, but it seems that people are a little more size conscious this year.
moderator: What is the average costs of wedding dresses and tuxes?
Casey Woods: Tuxes are easier to average than a bridal gown. Madelynn's has a huge range in gown prices, from $75-$3,000 depending on your individual tastes, size considerations and your willingness to buy off-the-rack versus special order. Tuxedos at Madelynn's range in price from approximately $60-$120, with discounts available for bulk rentals and for couples with an approved Madelynn's gift registry.
moderator: What are some of the best wedding gifts to give this year. What are some good rules for gift giving?
Casey Woods: My number one rule for wedding gift giving is: find out what the couple are registered for. Couples know what they need, and it's nice to get a couple what they actually want. With the advent of easy-to-use on-line registries, it's easier than ever to find out what gifts a couple desire. When you cannot find a registry, I generally suggest locally made/Kansas products. At Madelynn's, we have bake ware made in Salina, a variety of local art work and we can create baskets with a myriad of local goodies. Always look for registries first, but locally made items can serve as a nice substitute.
quarterback: What are some tips for doing a wedding on a budget?
Casey Woods: First and foremost, buy a good wedding planner. A good planner will cover all of the different aspects of the wedding, and it is difficult to set an initial budget without knowing all of the different costs involved with an event. Second, determine who will be contributing to different areas of the wedding, and in what amounts. A budget is just theoretical until you nail down the resources you have to work with. Once you have your categories and resource amounts set, STICK TO YOUR BUDGET! Most couples start getting themselves in trouble when excitement builds up and they succumb to impulse buying. We have examples of customers dividing up money in envelopes labeled with different categories like "flowers" and "reception hall", but no matter how you exercise fiscal discipline, a budget is only helpful when you actually take steps to stick too it!
Moderator: Folks, we're getting short of questions here — only a few left. If you do have a question, this would be a good time to ask it.
powercat: Can you save money by going out of town to buy a wedding dress?
Casey Woods: Now, that's a loaded question! But seriously, we at Madelynn's feel like we offer the best bridal value, gown for gown, in the area. Madelynn's has just finished its second straight record month for gown sales, with a majority of those sales coming from surrounding larger metropolitan areas that are home to our "out of town" competitors. When I received this question, I had my staff do a quick search, and they found that just under 70% of our gowns sold were sold to brides from outside Lyon county. The reason brides are traveling to Madelynn's in Emporia is simple, they are getting great products and great service at a great value. Our prices are at a level where some of our local competitors have contacted our in-common design houses and accused Madelynn's of "discounting" (selling gowns below a price floor set by designers), while a Kansas City company asked us to "adjust" our prices to reflect their pricing. Our gowns are typically set at the manufacturers base price, which is one reason you typically see Loni Coy frantically updating our computer system to reflect price changes from our manufacturers. Because Madelynn's also sells gifts and casual women's clothing, our sales are less seasonal than your average bridal shop, and that reality when coupled with fact that we have lower overhead expenses than larger cities, results in our ability to provide competitive pricing. Most of our gowns are set a manufacturers minimums, and the staff of Madelynn's have been repeatedly informed by our customers that some of the services we offer for free (steaming, storage, zipper bags on regularly priced gowns, local delivery) carry substantial charges at our out-of-town competitors while other charges like alterations are significantly lower at Madelynn's than in a big city bridal shop. With gowns starting at just $75, the grass definitely isn't greener out of town.
Harlu: My 4 bridesmaids are different sizes (6-18) and are self concious about wearing certain dresses. Is there a good style or choice for dress that would fit all there body styles?
Casey Woods: It is very common for at least one member of a wedding party to feel self conscious about their body and recommended dress size. Before I answer your dress style question, let me quickly address the concept of "size". Madelynn's suggests sizes based on measurements either taken by the staff of Madelynn's or presented by a member of the wedding party from another professional measurement source. Those measurements are then used in reference to a size chart provided by the designer. Each designer has their own size chart, each size chart vary from one another and each size offered runs small when compared to typical US standards. It is very important to get the dress size that meets your bridesmaid's body measurements. Sometimes that means getting a size larger than a member of a wedding party is used too, but Madelynn's strongly suggests getting a dress that fits correctly rather than trying to cram into a gown to fit some societal expectation. It is generally easier to take a dress "in" than let a dress "out", and sometimes seem allowances don't provide much room to "let out" a dress. At Madelynn's, we always say that our one absolutely free alteration, upon request, is cutting the size tag out of a dress or gown. We just want formal wear to fit correctly. Now, to the bulk of your original question: if you are dealing with multiple body types, an A-Line or princess A-line gown will most likely fit your party best. Another option is to have each bridesmaid pick out styles in the same color and fabric from the same parent company but in different cuts. Keep in mind that the dye lot (the batch dresses are produced in by the manufacturer in a particular color) need to be consistent, and the hem lines should be the same to promote a sense of continuity within the wedding party. Newer hem lines, like the popular "tea length" dress may also help with a wedding party that consists of varying heights and body frames. Talk to your bridesmaids about how they feel about necklines. If they are self conscious, you may want to consider adding spaghetti straps to a strapless bridesmaid's dress, or pick a style with a built in strap or halter to improve their comfort level.
murmusic: What are people in Emporia doing about music at their weddings today? Do you keep a list of local musicians to help the couple decide on what kind of music they want?
Casey Woods: Music is one of the easiest ways to add distinction to your special day. Some local couples have live bands, others simply use a DJ, while most brides and grooms use a combination of musical sources. Madelynn's has some information concerning local DJ's available in our downtown store. We also carry bridal themed music CD's that are handy for smaller events. For live bands, Emporia has a great local resource downtown in Flint Hills Music. They have helped quite a few couples connect with local bands based on a couples individual wants and needs.
Moderator: That's all the questions for today. Thanks to Casey Woods for sharing his expertise with us. If you have any more questions, call Casey at the store, 343-2040 or go to Madelynn's Web site, www.madelynns.com. Thank you all for participating.