Our World Famous Bridal Event
Filene’s Basement is known for its bargains on everything from fashions to home goods, but perhaps the store is most famous for its annual Bridal Gown Events when brides-to-be can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars on designer wedding gowns.
The sale is held in selected Filene’s Basement stores once a year (twice a year in Boston). News reports so often compare it to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain that the event is now officially called the “Running of the Brides.”
The day of the sale, brides-to-be and their helpers line up early. When the doors open, they run full speed towards the racks. In less than 60 seconds, the racks are stripped bare (store employees have to hold on to the fixtures so they don’t topple). The women grab whatever gowns they can, haul them off to a corner, strip down to their underwear and start trying on dresses. Minutes later the trading begins. Every dress, no matter what size, style or color, gets bartered for another, as each bride tries to find the gown of her dreams at a cut-rate price.
Upcoming Bridal Events
Cleveland April 13Chicago July 27
Washington, D.C. August 3
Boston, MA TBD
Here are answers to frequently asked questions about the “Running of the Brides.”
When did the sale start?
Filene’s Basement has occasionally sold wedding gowns ever since the store first opened in 1908. Through press coverage and letters from customers, we determined that a special one-day wedding gown event was held as early as 1947, although it was probably a little tamer than the sale is today.
How many gowns are there?
Anywhere from 1300 to 2500, depending on the store.
How much do they cost?
$249, $499 and $699.
What were the original prices?
$900 to $9,000 plus—Gowns bought from other retailers usually have the original price tags attached, so customers can see the savings instantly.
What labels do you carry?
Filene’s Basement carries some of the most famous labels in the wedding gown industry. Because we sell these gowns at such a huge discount, we have an agreement with our vendors that we will not advertise the names. What we can say, though, is that these are designers and brands you see featured in all the big bridal magazines.
Where does Filene’s Basement get the gowns?
We get them from bridal gown manufacturers and from bridal salons and boutiques. Our buyer has developed great contacts in the wedding gown industry, both in the United States and in Europe. Dresses become available for a variety of reasons-- a cancelled order, a cancelled wedding, a small shop needing to make space for new gowns, and so on. We buy nothing ‘sight unseen.’ The buyer travels to where the gowns are, and hand picks the best ones.
Do I need to make an appointment? What are the hours of the sale?
No appointments needed—we’re not that formal. Brides-to-be are welcome any time during store hours.
Doors open at 8:00am, but brides-to-be start arriving much earlier. In fact, some brides arrive the day before and bring lawn chairs, sleeping bags, and even pop-up tents. Most brides arrive between 7:00am and 8:00am. The sale continues all day until store closing (which varies by store).
What if I don’t want to partake in the actual “Running of the Brides,” or I can’t get there till later in the day, will there still be dresses left?
Plenty! When the store opens, the racks get cleared quickly because people take as many as their arms can hold. Not knowing what they’ve grabbed, they quickly relinquish the sizes and styles they don’t want, putting them back on the rack or giving them to empty-handed brides. If a bride gets impatient waiting, we tell her to go have a cup of coffee and come back later—by 10:00AM, most of the dresses are back on the racks and you can shop in relative calm.
If you don’t get out of work till 5:00PM, or you’re just not up to the frenzy of store opening, the odds of finding a dress are still excellent. Only one in three or one in four people in line are shopping for a wedding gown. The others are helpers. For instance in Boston, usually the biggest event, there may be 800 people in line but only 250 of them are brides-to-be and there are up to 2500 gowns for sale.
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What happens when the doors open?
Customers run full speed to the racks; they grab as many dresses as their arms will hold. It takes less than sixty seconds for the racks to be stripped bare; the record is 36 seconds. The brides-to-be stake out a spot on the selling floor, preferably in front of a mirror and start trying on dresses. Even though we sometimes build a temporary fitting room on the selling floor most brides try on gowns in the aisles. Some women wear sports bras and shorts, others wear the lingerie they plan to wear under the gown.
Should I bring help?
Definitely bring help—your mother, bridal party, a style-savvy friend. You need people to help grab gowns off the racks, make trades with other parties, help you in and out of the dresses, and guard the ones in your “maybe” pile from prowlers. It’s a good idea to have a team “uniform”—something that will help you find each other in the crowd, like wearing the same color shirts or big hats. Some teams get very creative. They print their team name on t-shirts, carry whistles or walkie-talkies, and so on. Some teams have strategy meetings before the sale; one woman created a Power-Point presentation for her team all about the dress she wanted.
Why aren’t the dresses organized by size?
1) We don’t want give the first people in line the unfair advantage of taking all of one size. 2) Any order we start with would break down as soon as all the gowns come off the racks. 3) Wedding gown sizes vary—often they run small. Try on any dress that looks close to your size and see how it fits.
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I’ve heard that people trade dresses. How does this work?
Over time, a unique trading strategy has evolved. Any gowns that are rejected by the bride are ‘shopped’ around to the various groups looking for fresh merchandise. This can get complex—one trade could involve multiple transactions. For instance, bride #1 wants a gown that bride #2 has, so she offers a gown in trade; #2 has her eye on a gown being held by bride #3, so she sends bride #1 to negotiate with bride #3. Got it?
Often you’ll see helpers making their way through the crowd holding signs that read “size 10 – 12 in ivory” or “simple size 20 wanted.”
I’ve heard all kinds of stories about how people behave at this sale—are they true?
This is an emotional purchase so we see a range of behaviors. At the start this event can bring out the worst in shoppers—shoving, elbowing, hoarding, and so on; but eventually it brings out the best. A lot of bonding takes place between the bridal groups. Everybody stops what they’re doing and cheers for brides when they declare a dress “the one.” Once, when it was discovered that one bride’s mother couldn’t fly in from Chicago because of bad weather, all the other mothers acted as surrogates and helped her find her wedding gown. Brides-to-be who are shopping alone have met on-line and in line and joined forces and help each other.
The behavior of Bridal Gown Sale customers has been studied by two professors of marketing at Bentley College, near Boston. They have shared their findings in scholarly journals and at academic conferences.
How far do brides travel for this sale?
We’ve talked to brides who traveled from Alaska, the U.K., Switzerland, all over. A group from Fresno, California flew to Boston for the sale after hearing about it from an uncle who lived in Taiwan. The gowns themselves have traveled too. One woman sent 4 dresses to her nieces in Russia; another from Brazil shipped a gown to her future sister-in-law, who loved it.
Are men allowed in the store during the sale?
Sure, if they dare. We’ve seen the occasional brother, male friend, father and even fiancé. There have even been instances of fiancés doing the shopping for their brides-to-be—yikes!
Besides saving money, why go to the sale?
As one bride put it, “if we get a gown here, we can invite twenty more people to the wedding.” Her fiancé had other ideas for the savings, like extending the honeymoon.
And there’s the fun factor—this sale has become part of the wedding planning experience for brides and their helpers. In some families, it’s a long-standing tradition to shop for a wedding gown at this sale.
What was the most expensive wedding gown ever sold at the sale?
One was originally priced at $10,000. At the time, the price for gowns at the Filene’s Basement sale was $199, so some lucky bride got the bargain of a lifetime.
What is the most unusual wedding gown sold?
A few stand out. One was custom designed gown and train made of white lambskin. The skirt was gored alternating leather with different patterns of ecru lace. Another was hand-made by designer Michelle Roth for a runway show. The skirt had five layers—one layer was hand painted with flowers and it was sandwiched between two layers with three-dimensional flowers sewn on, underneath, a layer of crinoline, and finally, a layer of lace. Two other gowns were memorable for their hand-painted skirt designs: one was a peacock and the other, a map of the world.
Are the dresses returnable?
No, because Filene’s Basement does not carry wedding gowns other than the day of the sale.
Do you have any tips for finding the perfect dress at this event?
Yes, we have a compilation of tips from brides-to-be who found their wedding gown at this sale. E-mail Pat.boudrot@filenesbasement.com to request the “Secrets of Success—finding your dream dress at Filene’s Basement’s Running of the Brides.”
