A-Z
There are a million stories in the naked city. Join the Free Press as we tell you 26 of those stories from A-Z.Ask Emily Dyck and Shelly Ducharme to pick out their favourite wedding dresses and they'll both reach deep into the wall of white lace, beads and taffeta and somehow pluck out their choice.
Sales associate Emily Dyck (left), Shelly Ducharme at LA Collection, which offers 1,800 wedding and grad dresses.
One likes a simple ruched dress. The other prefers a lacy strapless number -- just two of the 1,800 wedding and grad dresses sold at LA Collection.
"Lace is coming back," said Ducharme, the store's supervisor. "Big."
"And mermaid dresses," adds Dyck, a sales associate.
The duo work at one of the cluster of bridal shops that line Portage Avenue, offering the only bright spots in what is otherwise a window-shopping wasteland.
Pretty much every Winnipeg woman motoring through the downtown has eyeballed the dresses on display, whether it's the elaborate ball-gown styles in the chi-chi shops like Helene's or the slightly funkier frocks at Theresa's Bridal Salon.
LA Collection’s owner Vu Luong (right), wife Yen Dao say Portage Avenue’s wedding row attracts people from all over the province.
On a seven-block stretch of Portage alone, there are easily 4,000 dresses.
And if you don't find what you're looking for in one of the four stores on the bridal path, you can nip around the corner to Graham Avenue where there are another four stores.
"Anyone who is looking for a wedding dress can hit five or six shops in one afternoon," said Downtown BIZ Executive Director Stefano Grande. "And the windows add vibrancy and colour to the street. That cluster of shops do the best job at storefront displays."
Tammy Mignacca, manager of Stella's, said space -- not the cluster -- was the big factor when the store needed to expand from its old location three years ago.
But she said many brides go from store to store down Portage Avenue looking for the perfect dress. At Stella's, there can be lineups out the door on Saturdays.
LA Collection owner Vu Luong and his wife Yen Dao said the cluster also helps attract people from out of town. Customers from all over Manitoba come to the wedding-dress row to shop first for their grad dresses, then their bridesmaids dresses, and then their wedding gowns.
Stella’s Tammy Mignacca says there can be lineups out the door on Saturdays.
Dyck and Ducharme advise brides to keep an open mind on styles and fabric and to limit their search to three stores, at least for one day. Otherwise, brides get overwhelmed, they can't recall what they tried on and their favourites become a blur.
On a quiet Thursday morning, the duo were upbeat, funny and happy to dish about what a lot of women would consider a dream job.
Yes, there IS some drama like on the reality show Say Yes to the Dress.
Yes, you WILL know when you have found "the one perfect dress."
And, yes, they WILL be honest if a customer looks terrible in a dress.
"I often say 'I'm just going to bring you this one dress to try and, if you hate it that's totally OK,' said Dyck. "Pretty often, that's the one they end up loving."
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
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