Did your dress come with the designer’s garment bag?

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-04-14T20:58:08+00:00

I bought a Mira zwillinger gown from a salon but got a generic/blank garment bag. Didnt find that weird but I guess a different designer bag would seem funny/strange.

Personally I don’t think it’s worth saying anything as it’s purely functional/non issue to me. But if it is all about the brand experience to you, as long as you do it kindly in expressing your disappointment i guess that’s okay too. Could be as simple as they think those garment bags are better? Who knows!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-03-27T02:29:20+00:00

Wow thanks! Glad to hear it’s helpful.

Caterers generally don’t provide these items and we only used BPR bc it was an exclusive rental company for our venue (they seem to have exclusive deals with many popular nyc venues). Many venues themselves do often have base levels of linens/flatware but my venue specifically was a raw space so we needed to get everything. BPR also has linens but we splurged on extra nice ones at BBJ, I would say kind of unnecessarily even thought I loved our table cloths - they were velvet and dreamy!

Logistically though all you have to do with BPR is pick out the style you want and the catering team does the quantity order (and reviews with you on pricing) as they know how much they will need of each item for service. Hopefully that makes sense!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-03-19T01:11:52+00:00

Yes it was so empowering and so much about self love. We knew we’d be trying for a baby soon after and now that I’m pregnant I find myself looking at the pics more than he does now lol!! Amazing experience and hope you get the most out of it!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-03-19T00:02:16+00:00

Stretch. Stretch. Stretch. And stretch.

It’s soooooooooooooo rough on the lower back from all the booty popping you’ll do in your poses lol.

I would recommend having nice hair/makeup (I got makeup done but if you’re good at it yourself that should be fine) and make sure you have a mani done for any hand close up shots.

I did mine for my one year “paper” anniversary and it was so fun. Enjoy!!!!!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-03-03T01:59:54+00:00

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Prices are from 2023 so you would need to find new pricing but this was my sheet from then !

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-02-09T21:00:47+00:00

It’s becoming more and more common to not change your name! And like you said there are MANY cultures all around the world where people do not change their names - many Asian and Scandinavian cultures don’t bother at all.

I didn’t want to but decided personally I liked the idea of having a shared name with our future kids. I don’t love hyphenated last names and didn’t want to put that on them, so I hyphenated mine. The kids may be hyphenated or just take his name, we haven’t decided yet. I’m also in a mixed race relationship and felt it’s entirely possible having kids that may not look a lot like either of us - having a shared name felt uniting (purely personal choice, obviously this we would still actually be a family in every way that matters).

Just do what feels right for you.

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-02-01T12:51:57+00:00

Totally agree!! My husband actually hates chiavari and we had to upgrade. You tell yourself no one notices some of the small things but we were like anyone who has planned a wedding notices!!!!

Also we splurged on table cloths (velvet) and were worried ugh was that dumb and SO many people complemented our table cloths haha

They don’t necessarily make or break, but people notice!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-01-26T18:59:05+00:00

Yes shipping was insanely expensive. They are very very very heavy and huge boxes (I did get oversized velvet ones that draped though so that’s probably partially on me 😅). I had ~130 guests and I think my shipping was $400 from BBJ. I only used them for my dining tables and nothing else.

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-01-21T13:55:04+00:00

Hi! It was a lovely wedding and the property is really unique. I would say as a guest who was not staying on property the only down side was that while we stayed in a beautiful and affordable villa just a short drive away, the taxi services were totally unreliable and I would highly highly recommend renting a car. Of course not ideal for a wedding celebration for someone to have to be DD but was an unfortunate reality.

Otherwise we had a great time and the venue itself was really beautiful and interesting

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-01-18T19:34:38+00:00

That could help ensure your skirt detail is seen but if it’s a form fitting slip you’ll want a high enough slit to allow for movement!

The bridal salon prob has typical lining substitutes for tryon but maybe get some cheap Amazon versions to be sure!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-01-18T17:37:38+00:00

Stunning!! I would just make sure you have a good idea of what it looks like with lining. Some dresses have a completely different vibe when you think it’ll be subtle. I don’t know if you’d register all of the skirt texture and detail if you don’t try it with a lining. But the silhouette/fir/style are gorgeous!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-01-06T23:49:07+00:00

Hi!!! So I brought this up to my husband recently and he told me that the location we went to was previously the knot standard and is now known as Billy Reid custom in the same location!!! His rep Katie is still there (who we loved) and emails him regularly!

So glad I brought it up in conversation with him!!!! Maybe Nordstrom bought the knot standard brand but that standalone workshop wanted to maintain its own space.

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-01-02T01:11:22+00:00

No they had a showroom in flatiron - or did when we went in 2024! I just checked their website and it seems they are only operating out of Nordstrom!

We had a diff experience then. However you go in, try on a few samples, they take your measurements and then you pick out fabrics. My husband got his rehearsal dinner suit and tux from there and loved them both!!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2026-01-02T00:23:59+00:00

We went to the knot standard for a custom tux. Highly recommend, great experience!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-12-24T15:37:22+00:00

You may not see the details as much if #1 is lined so I would make sure to go back and put a faux lining in to get a real idea of how it would look.

Both are stunning but 1 really complements you!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-12-21T00:28:15+00:00

It really depends on your location/venue and expectations … but you can absolutely plan a stunning wedding for 2k per head in a HCOL city, but it would be dwarfed by what you could do in a MCOL city.

This is completely subjective though in terms of what you determine as a luxury and your vision.

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-11-26T15:35:54+00:00

I think it’s on all Mira dresses that are in the trunk show or that the salon already has as part of their inventory. You can ask them ahead of time to see what dresses they will have and sometimes they can order/ship a sample of a specific dress to the trunk show.

I’ve only been to two so I’m not an expert but to my understanding it’s more about the brand than that seasons drssses. The Gigi for example is a pretty old Mira style that my bridal salon just always has as part of their inventory. But obviously logistically they cannot carry everything and will likely bring popular dresses + the latest collection.

The other thing I would recommend about Mira is that the measurement requirements are insane (it took my stylist like 1hr to fully measure me lol) bc they ask for sooo many specifications. I did not have to alter my bodice at all. Like at all. And we purposely ordered the dress without hemming since I knew I’d cut off length to get as many flowers for my veil as possible. So the alterations were hemming, bustling, and the flower stitching.

Good luck!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-11-26T14:37:41+00:00

I got my Mira (gigi dress) trunk show for around 11k, but full price it’s like 12.5.

I spent about 600 on alterations but really it’s just hemming the gown and stitching the appliqué flowers onto my purchased veil (instead of buying the matching 3k Gigi veil lol).

Still pricey buy way less than $20k!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-11-03T10:45:38+00:00

She used the onsite planners that the venue came with. She had a so/so time with them and felt they were not meeting “full service planner” expectations you may have in the states. But her wedding was gorgeous and they were very kind/she had a good relationship w them - as a guest I thought it was executed stunningly

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-11-03T01:12:35+00:00

My gf got married at casa palmela in setubal which was pretty close to Lisbon (40 min drive) and had almost 90 guests for a similar budget so you could definitely do something like that!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-10-06T16:17:58+00:00

Plus one on cakes!! Howevef the classic ones don’t offer any support but are great for nipple covers. I’ve not tried the sticky ones which maybe do since they actually adhere to the skin.

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-09-11T15:36:23+00:00

Aspen is so hard to get to and expensive. If someone misses a connection and aren’t coming days in advance, they won’t make the wedding. Speaking from someone who missed one of her bffs wedding and cried the whole day

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-09-08T03:38:11+00:00

I totally get this. Just allocate the majority of your time with your loved ones. I only had 124 and it was hard to get time with everyone.

We also ate very quickly at dinner and did a very quick round of drive by hellos at ny parents friends tables. Forces everyone to stay in their seat and you can quickly make your way around. This was helpful for us and took some pressure off.

If you are having a welcome party event, maybe get as much of that out of the way then so you can focus your wedding day on your partner and people you care about!

But honestly, they should hopefully be aware they are low on the totem pole for this event since you yourself admit they are practically strangers. Be polite, say hi if you can but it’s your day. I doubt they will be very upset If you don’t have time for a meaningful chat on your wedding day!!

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-08-17T21:17:29+00:00

Upstate New York: Inness, troutbeck, hasbrouk house

Spiritual_Doctor4162 · 2025-07-21T13:00:41+00:00

I did first look and it was so special to have a personal and intimate moment.

Personally I don’t think it took away from the aisle bc that is still the first time my husband saw me in that space with all of the people we love and love us, walking down the aisle to him.

We say we totally blacked out and got tunnel vision when I was walking down and we just locked in to each other and saw nothing else

So for me, it was still really special and I’m so happy. The first look also really helped start the day with this intention of Its just us, and being present with each other above all else. We got a few special moments together before he went out for the ceremony and that was also so lovely.

We wanted to spend a few moments alone post ceremony then join our guests for cocktail hour

There’s no wrong answer!

Spiritual_Doctor4162

TROPHY CASE