Running of the Brides

Boston wedding dress shopping at Filene's Basement

If you're looking for the perfect designer wedding dress - perhaps a Vera Wang or Priscilla of Boston dress - at a great discount price, join the Running of the Brides in Boston to experience shopping as a sport!

The Goal for Running of the Brides:  A Beautiful Wedding Dress

Photo courtesy of Alexandre Duret-Lutz

Filene's Basement holds Boston's most popular bridal shopping event, Running of the Brides, in February and August every year.  It's your chance to buy designer wedding dresses at amazingly cheap discount prices.

Named after Pamplona's famous Running of the Bulls, this event has excited Boston brides-to-be since 1947.

Designer gowns from top names such as Carolina Herrera, Vera Wang, Priscilla of Boston, Monique Lhuillier, Nicole Miller, and Claire Pettibone are shipped in for the 1-day only event, as Filene's Basement doesn't normally carry wedding dresses as part of its normal stock.

Priced at $249, $499, and $699, some of the 3,000 or so deep-discount wedding dresses lining the racks originally cost as much as $10,000.

Due to construction at its flagship Downtown Crossing Store, Filene's Basement currently holds the event in Boston's Hynes Convention Center, the perfect space for the stampeding crowd of approximately 1,000 future brides plus their teams of helpers.

This kind of bridal gown shopping isn't for everyone.  In fact, it's almost more like a sports competition than shopping.  And like other sports events, you can bring home a nice trophy if you win - the perfect wedding dress at a bargain price!

Did you buy your wedding dress at Running of the Brides?  Or help a friend buy hers?  Tell us your story!  And your best tips for buying the perfect gown.

Running of the Brides video

Take a look at this video taken at the Hynes and decide if you're up for this experience. 

You are?!? 

Then check out my winning strategies right after the video for snagging the wedding gown of your dreams. 

Running of the Brides winning strategies:
  6 tips for how to capture the prize

Still up for this competition now that you've seen the Running of the Brides video? 

OK, then use these 6 winning tips and strategies to score the perfect discount wedding dress:

1.  Assemble a winning team.  Here's what you need:

• A couple of sprinters to beat the other runners to the racks and grab as many gowns as possible - remember, racks are usually emptied within the first minute or two after the doors open, so your goal is to stockpile gowns to trade later for the size and style you want
• Some muscle for hoisting the gowns (they weigh a lot more than you might expect) to your pile
• A guard or two, in case other brides try to steal your gowns
• A negotiator to trade your reject gowns (wrong size, wrong style, wrong fit) for more desirable options - helpful to have sign-making skills in make "Need a size 8 in ivory" signs
• A personal assistant to help you in and out of the dresses
• A human shield or two, since you'll be trying on the dresses in the middle of the floor (wear your best underwear)
• A coach to keep your team working as a tightly knit unit and make sure everyone does her job

Yes, this is a large team.  But this isn't the time to skimp.  Recruit the best talent you know.

2.  Train your team.  Show them pictures of your favorite wedding dress styles so that they'll know what to grab and trade for.  Tell them your size, and be truthful.  Wedding gown alterations can be expensive, so you'll save money if the dress fits reasonably well.  Make sure each team member knows her role and knows everyone else's mobile phone number so that you can all communicate during the frenzy . . . I mean, shopping experience.

3.  Arrive early . . . perhaps very early.  Some teams start lining up the night before.  This is easier in August than in February.  If you try this in February, dress very warmly and consider booking a room in a nearby hotel so that team members can take turns warming up and even sleeping.  Two good hotel choices right next to the Hynes are the Sheraton Boston Hotel and the Hilton Back Bay Boston.

4.  Once the doors open, be aggressive in your quest, but nice.  Do not shove or injure the competition.  Remember, lots of cameras are in action, and you don't want to end up on YouTube in the "Nastiest Bridezilla of the Year" video that goes viral. 

5.  Keep your goal in mind.  It's easy to get caught up in the quest - so remember what you're really here for.  Is it a specific style or designer?  In that case, don't settle if you don't find what you want.  Just because you're here doesn't mean you have to buy something.  If your main goal is to get a discount wedding dress, then be flexible.  You'll find a lot of gorgeous dresses, so just pick out the one you love the most.

6.  Reward your team after the event.  Give each team member a small gift - or take them out to lunch or for drinks, depending on what time you finish!

If all of this makes your shudder but you'd still like to try your luck at this event, here's another strategy:  stop by later in the day.  Numbers are on your side:  with approximately 1,000 brides competing for perhaps 3,000 wedding dresses, you'll find plenty left after the big rush is over.  Since everyone's taste and size is different, you'll still have a good chance of finding a gown that you love.

In fact, your chances of finding the perfect discount wedding dress at the Running of the Brides may even be better . . . you can look at leisure without the distraction of a frenzied crowd around you.

This "Running of the Brides" is near Dublin, Ireland

Photo courtesy of Oxana

Have You Bought a Wedding Gown at Running of the Brides ?

Did you find the wedding gown of your dreams at the Running of the Brides? Or have you helped someone else buy one?

Tell us how you did it - share your best tips! And of course, tell us what your gown is like. If you have a photo, please share!