Running of the Brides - NYC

My sister got engaged on a very eventful weekend. It was the same weekend as the Royal Wedding and D.C.'s Filene Basement Running of the Brides. So when we joked with her it was a shame she missed the wedding event, I never in a MILLION years did I think she would be doing such a thing. I was shocked when she looked up ROB and decided she wanted to do the NYC event. Here is a run down of what went down:

Thursday, 6:30 p.m. - Leave work and hop on the metro.

Thursday, 7:40 p.m. - Get off the metro, am picked up by my sister, her friend Becca and my mom, pick up dinner and off on the road again to head to NYC.

Thursday, 11:30 p.m. - Arrive in NYC

Friday, 12:30 a.m. - After getting lost for an hour we finally arrive at the hotel.

Friday, 2:50 a.m. - After a couple hours of sleep we wake up and walk over to the Filene's Basement at Union Square.


Friday, 3:30 a.m. - We arrive in line, probably 50 people deep and take our place. My mom proceeds to meet every bride in line. No, she was not up and moving. From her tailgating chair she would use her indoor voice to talk to brides next to us, and full out yelling to reach brides further down. My favorite interaction was when she was chatting up an upper New York State bride. "What kind of dress do you want?" "Mermaid" "Oh you don't want that - You can't pee!" "When are you getting married" she responds with the day before my sister's wedding "Why are you getting married on a Friday?!" (oh my goodness Mom, really??)


The bride directly in front of us who we dubbed Team Diva, actually gave her bridesmaids a contract. It stated the dates they must be with her and that they can't gain more than 5 pounds. Yes ... home girl was serious. At least she owned that she was a diva.


Friday, 5:30 a.m. - The sponsors of the event - Slim Fast (how appropriate right - show up to the line and start handing out goodies. It was about 40 degrees out, so their blankets they handed out where greatly appreciated. They handed out team t-shirts, signs to post what dress size you were looking for, and beach mats. They then handed out coupons. They came up to Diva Bride and asked if she wanted any coupons (she was stick thin) she said yes, I'll take two, turns around and hands them to two of her bridesmaids. HORRIBLE!!

Friday, 7:30 a.m. - The rest of Team Precious arrives, three of Janet's friends that live in New York.

Friday, 7:58 a.m. - We have been let into the building, sent up the escalator and are crammed in the little landing in front of Filene's doors. Our hearts are pounding, and it is seriously nerve wracking. One of our team members Margie, a tiny little thing, is getting pushed around by an aggressive team, and I am really worried she is going down.

Friday, 8:00 a.m. - The Running of the Brides officially start. We all had decided which section of the store we were going to run to, so we sprinted off in that direction. I ran to the back of the store and quickly grabbed as many dresses as we could - which was hard, because those dresses were heavy! After I grabbed my initial bunch probably 30 seconds went by and all the racks were cleared.

Friday, 8:03 a.m. - We all meet in a corner of the store and start getting Janet in her dresses. Some how we must have pulled 40 dresses. Poor Margie arrived back with a cut eye, she got beamed with a sign on the initial run in. She was sorted the dresses through, taking out the ones that were too big. I was manning the mirror, Becca was taking dresses that Janet did want and tried to trade them with other brides, and Jodi and Jen helped Janet into the dresses. The whole atmosphere was insanity. Brides were screaming, and people were everywhere with cameras.


Friday, 9:00 a.m. - Janet has tried on dress after dress and found about 8 ones that would have been perfect. She then started trying the keepers on again to narrow them down. The woman who bought all the dresses for the event came over and gave her advice.

Friday, 9:30 a.m. - She said yes to the dress!!


Friday, 1:30 p.m. - My mom and I grabbed an earlier BOLT Bus to head back to D.C.

Friday, 7:30 p.m. - My mom and I walk off the metro and received text messages that we were actually on Access Hollywood. CRAZY!

Friday, 8:00 p.m. - A little over 24 hours later we arrive home. I am still catching up on the sleep. I was really not looking forward to the whole thing before we went, but it actually was a very fun, great day. Janet is going to look amazing walking down the aisle!!