Pardon my French

I think the ladies back in alterations only like me when I bring back customers who speak Spanish. I can only imagine what they think when I invade their curtained off lair dragging enormous dresses behind me and asking the ridiculous questions my clients must have the answers to. "Who is this girl, does she have a speech impediment? Why is she always here??" I can practically smell their annoyance. Now that I'm out in real world (as opposed to college where everyone but me seems to be trilingual) I realize that perhaps my four years of high school French and brief flirtation with Italian during my freshman year in college, may have been a mistake. Not once have I had a client who spoke any language that was not English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Today I had a group of women come in that my manager asked me to assist. When I approached them and did my whole polite and friendly consultant bit and asked what they were looking for, the woman who was clearly the mother of the bride looked at me and said "no". One word, flat out rejection. And then she turned around and started speaking Spanish at lighting speed to whom I could only assume to be the bride.
I walked away and my manager pulled me aside and reminded me that I needed to go and greet them (she missed the initial debacle). When I told her what happened she said I needed to tell them we would check on them periodically to make sure our help was not needed. Ten minutes later the mother of the bride approached me and said in perfect, unaccented English "Is there someone here who speaks Spanish? My daughter wants to try on dresses."
I was vaguely flabbergasted but inquired if she had registered with us (a necessity if one wishes to try on bridal gowns) to which she responded with a blank look and said "No. She wants to try on dresses."
Which sent me running to alterations, the only sure place to find someone with the particular talent of being bilingual. Many minutes later, perhaps twenty, the woman who spoke perfect English to me was mysteriously now working with one of my associates who does not speak a lick of Spanish. Perhaps alterations worked their magic for me once again, or perhaps I'm losing my mind and I merely invented the conversation that we had. It later came out that the wedding for this girl is in three weeks, and she does not yet have a gown. Go figure.
The problem with brides and their bridal parties is that they do not keep an eye on the time! The bridal industry is riddled with red tape and time limits, alterations appointments and more incidentals than a hospital. My advice to all of you? Do everything so far in advance that you feel like your mother before a holiday making the pasta salad a week in advance of dinner. The sooner you have all your dresses in, the less stress you'll have about deadlines and the more time you'll have to sort out any problems that may arise. For example, the wrong size was ordered by mistake. The dress has a problem like a rip or a stain. The color is wrong. The sash has to be changed to match the flower girl's dress. The alterations department is backed up and needs more time. Anything can go wrong. Better safe than sorry, right?

Another thing that needs to be done way in advance, save the dates and wedding invitations! I have a fantastic contact who creates handmade invitations according to your exact preferences, color scheme and ideas. The pictures at the top are examples of their work and on their website Steflynn.com there are more pictures and a full description of their business and how to get in contact with them. Definitely check out the site, these are very talented women with versatile talents!