Twin Cities Bridesmaid Dress Shops, Part 1

I went a lot of stores and boutiques and did a lot of research before finally deciding what bridesmaids dresses to go with for my ladies.  Part of it was my indecisiveness and my perfectionism, part of it was wanting to get a good look at the different places to get dresses in the Twin Cities.  A huge part of it was the fact that I decided to go with different dresses in different colors for each bridesmaid.  A decision that took a considerable amount of work.  At first it seemed like perhaps this would make the process easier, because then each person could choose the best fit for her body.  Thing is that finding 3-5 colors that go well together and fit within your color palate, all from the same designer, is difficult.  I am putting up an additional post here today about the dresses I decided to go with.

I went to the following shops and have reviewed their selections below and in Part 2 of my posting on Twin Cities Bridesmaid Dress Shops:

Priscilla of Boston, Edina

After having such a nice time working with Sarah at Priscilla I emailed her to see if I could come in and take a look at bridesmaid dresses and heard back immediately from her associate that she would be in that afternoon.  I went on in and she took the time to not only show me all of their long, chiffon dresses and color swatches, but also to look through the new shipments that had come in to see if they had received a new color they just came out with.  I would recommend working with Sarah to any bride who is interested in exploring Priscilla of Boston, Vineyard Collection, or Melissa Sweet dresses in Minneapolis.

Priscilla of Boston's Edina Storefront

The best thing about Priscilla in Edina besides the staff and the lovely store set-up is that they have a huge selection, including most of the dresses offered within their three lines, and almost all of the colors in the materials they are offered in.  It's wonderful to be able to see the selection all together.  If you are like me and are choosing different colors and different dresses for your bridesmaids it's nice to be able to hang the different dresses next to one another to see how they complement each other.

I liked a few of the dress styles they had available and Loved the color gray they had for the crinkle chiffon, called Dove.  My only difficulty was nailing down whether or not the dresses would all look good together when matched with the Amsale blush color I had my heart set on from the beginning.  Trying to match colors and dress styles from different lines is a task I wouldn't recommend for those who shy away from lengthy processes.

Details:

Website

Priscilla of Boston - Edina
3926 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424

Phone: 952.922.2106

Rush's Bridal, Downtown Minneapolis

I called Rush's Bridal and asked if I needed an appointment to come in and take a look at dresses in their showroom and was told I did not need one if I was a bride coming in to look at dresses.  I originally wanted to be able to try on the dresses because I feel that is the way that you get the best idea of fit and draping in each of the dresses.  Although many of the fitting rooms were empty, this request was received with unease so I let it go.  I know it's odd for a bride to want to try on her bridesmaids' dresses but when your bridesmaids live across the country as mine do, I don't want to recommend them going to try on dresses that look different on the hanger than on.

Rush's selection was Huge.  They had so many designers and dresses at their location that I proceeded to pull dresses off the racks (I was the only one looking at bridesmaid dresses that day in the store) and hang them on the outside of a dressing room, where there were hooks available, so I could see the dresses next to one another.  At this point a sales associate came over to assist me because I was pulling so many dresses off to take a look at them.  I think that my process was out of the norm for the store but they seemed to be OK with it once I explained that I was looking for different color dresses in different styles for women who live in different places.

I ended up finding quite a few styles that I liked but none within the same designer line or lines that flowed together as well as I wanted the dresses to.  There were a lot of mid-range designers available at Rush's and their prices were incredible if you were buying multiples of the same dress.  The issue with bridesmaids dresses is that you usually have to buy three dresses by the same designer to get any markdown off the retail price, which is anywhere between 10-30% higher than the multiple-purchase-discount price.  I would recommend Rush's for anyone looking to get a good glimpse of a lot of different dresses and colors at a range of prices.  It would be easy to outfit your maids for less than $200 each at Rush's.


Website


Rush's Bridal - Minneapolis
927 Nicollet Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55402

Phone: 612-343-WEDD (9333)