My fiancé, Theo, and I met online, as most millennials do these days. Our first "date" was at a Hawaiian restaurant for dinner, so really casual, but he didn't like that as the story of our first date! So, he ended up taking me to see La La Land and get dinner the following week. We've been inseparable ever since! We were engaged 5/25/19, and we'll be getting married 5/22/21.
I was originally supposed to have my first dress shopping appointment at Charlotte's back in March, but then we found out a colleague of mine had COVID-19 symptoms, so I canceled my appointment out of an abundance of of caution. I had been to Charlotte's a few years ago to go dress shopping with a good friend, and knew that's where I wanted to go when I needed a wedding dress. When I heard that Charlotte's was doing virtual appointments, I was thrilled! I honestly thought I would have to wait until the fall to go shopping, but because I'm a planner, I decided to go ahead and request a virtual appointment.
My experience with the virtual appointment honestly could not have gone any better! I worked with Stephanie, who is the SWEETEST! We set up the initial appointment on a Monday where she asked about how we met, our venue, and other important details like colors and the look I was going for. Then, she asked about what I was looking for in a dress. She made me really feel heard, and made sure she knew what I absolutely didn't want in a dress. The next day was the gown presentation. We went through the gowns one by one, and surprisingly, there was only one out of the five that I wasn't thrilled about! Lucky for me, she had actually picked out 6 dresses, which turned out to be one of my favorites. I was able to run and grab the gowns on Wednesday afternoon, and tried them on that evening. I had my mom come over to help me in and out of the gowns, and I was on a Zoom call with my best friend/Maid of Honor, my sister-in-law/bridesmaid, and my step-mom. I got to say YES to the dress! They send you home with a little kit of clips and a cute sign for if you pick out a gown, which was super thoughtful. On Thursday afternoon, I had another follow-up call with Stephanie and she was so happy for me! We went over the pricing, the sizing, and she sent me a link to the Welcome Packet. I dropped off the gowns on Thursday after work, so the whole process took 4 days. I couldn't be happier with my experience!
To all the ladies out there thinking about a virtual appointment, DO IT! My advice would be to get on a group call with all your girls, put on some fun music, get a little dolled up, and try on dresses at home! It was so low stress and comfortable, I was able to try on my dress with a couple different shoes/undergarments to see what it looked like, and I got to say YES!