judyonthenet

The fifth and final stop on my search for a wedding dress was Rin’s Bridal in San Carlos. Rin’s had gotten decent Yelp reviews, and they’re an authorized retailer of Pronovias. I was a little hesitant at first since I heard they didn’t allow photos, but I also heard their owner (Rin) was open to negotiation and price matching, so I decided to check them out anyway. There was also an Enzoani trunk show at the store that weekend, and their dresses look pretty nice, so more incentive for me to check out Rin’s.

The store is located about a block away from the main street of downtown San Carlos. My great-uncle (my grandma’s cousin) and his wife own a business in downtown, so we (Mom, Kelvin, and I) dropped by their store before checking out Rin’s. My great-aunt walked with us to Rin’s Bridal to say hi to the Rin, I guess in case it’d help with any negotiations I need to do. The shop itself isn’t very big, but there’s quite a few gowns, bridesmaid dresses, and mother-of-the-bride dresses crammed into the store. There is a large glass counter in the middle, with magazines of the dress brands they carry for customers to browse. Standing behind the counter was Rin, a well-dressed, middle aged Chinese woman, who was friendly in conversation but still made me nervous. I’m not going to lie: I was probably a little racist and thought I was going to get a hard-sell like at many other Chinese-run businesses I’ve been to. I’m happy to say I was wrong in this aspect; the only thing she was concerned about was that I liked Pronovias and that their dresses were a little outside my budget, which is a fair concern. She still let me browse the Pronovias books and also pointed out some other brands I might like that were more within my price range. I checked these books out as I waited for Kimi. The Enzoani rep, a snappy suited Asian guy who was there for the trunk show, also pimped some dresses to me. I was particularly fond of a lace number called Accra from the Blue by Enzoani collection (“all the rage with the Asian girls in Socal,” said Enzoani rep), so I made sure it was set aside for me to try. Enzoani dresses were 10% off for the trunk show.

After Kimi came, we were still waiting around for a little bit, and I’m not really sure why. I might not have been assertive enough about trying on dresses immediately. My great-aunt had to leave to close shop, so she was unable to check out the dresses I tried on. Eventually, my dress consultant, a tall, young white girl names Sarah, came and led me to my dressing room. I told her I wanted to try an Enzoani dress and a Casablanca dress Kelvin picked out from the books, and she grabbed those dresses for me. The dressing room is very roomy, with a lounge chair and small circular platform inside and walls covered with mirrors. I was allowed to put the dress on at my own leisure, and I’d wave for Sarah’s help to clip me in. When I was done, I’d leave the dressing room to stand on a circular platform outside of the dressing room in a little mirror area to display myself for my entourage. While I had asked Rin through email if I could take pictures (she said I could “in private”, whatever that means), I was still worried about not being allowed to take pictures. This turned out not to be problem, and we were kindly allowed photos.

The first dress I tried on was the Enzoani dress, Accra. Even though the chest area had heavy beading, I didn’t find it to be gaudy. The dress wasn’t as form-fitting as the other dresses I’d been trying on, but it was still a slimming A-line. Probably the poofiest of the dresses I actually liked, and probably the most traditional feeling wedding dress. The lace was very detailed. but subtle, and the train was a decent size. Out of all the dresses of all stores, this was my mom’s favorite, and Kelvin liked this one best out of the Rin’s dresses I tried. It was also the most expensive dress I tried on there at $1400 before any sort of discount.

As usual, I don’t look like the model. The dress really is nice, though it
doesn’t look as good in my picture since the skirt is bunched up from me turning.

Next was Kelvin’s suggestion, style number 1894 from Casablanca. Kelvin seems to imagine poofy dresses for wedding dresses, and this one was poofy. It wasn’t flattering on me, mainly because it was too big. I think the poofier dresses that are not sized for me tend to make me look fat. After the first two dresses, it was time for Sarah to work in her suggestions from my preferences. The third dress she brought me was a Maggie Sottero. (I’m not sure of the model name, almost looked like a Tuscana Vidal without the brooch.) The top was both scalloped and heart-shaped, two things I don’t like. However, the lace was nicer than what I’d seen from previous Maggie Sottero dresses. She then had me try a Mon Cheri dress (style no. 17254), but it was too plain for me, lacking any beading for sparkle. She brought me two more dresses, a Pronovias and a Casablanca, that I said no to since I had tried the Casablanca one at a previous store already and didn’t like it. (The Pronovias one I declined I had mistakenly thought was the Casablanca one, as the lace pattern was similar.)

At this point, I mentioned I really like Pronovias dresses. She asked if I had any aversion to sleeves, and I said I didn’t (though I do prefer sleeveless). She brought me three Pronovias/La Sposa dresses that had straps, and I actually liked them quite a bit. The first dress (don’t know the name, I think it starts with “S”) had the same form-fitting shape and detailed lace I’d come to love about Pronovias dresses. I wasn’t fond of the lace design around the chest, as I thought it didn’t look young. Same with the sleeves, though having sleeves makes the dress feel a lot nicer to be in and more flattering. It’s like the dress isn’t clinging on to your boobs for dear life anymore. The second dress I tried, called London, had a vertical lace pattern, and I liked it overall. The only downside was that the train was very short. The last dress I tried (La Sposa Scala, I think) was the one I liked the least out of the Pronovias dresses. It had a “very dramatic train”, and I guess by dramatic, they mean it looked like it went through a shredder. Didn’t like the ruffles. It still had a nice figure-hugging shape, and the sleeves were more interesting (not sure if that’s good or bad). These dresses ranged from $1100 to $1375.

I think at this point, it was already a couple minutes past closing, so we were done. I was satisfied with what and how many I tried on. I asked Sarah about whether or not they could get the Obelix for me (hopefully price match Trudy’s), but after several minutes of looking or whatever, she came back to me saying she couldn’t find information on that dress in their records. She wrote down the dresses I liked on a card for the store’s record. I don’t think I got a business card or a copy of the list of dresses I liked. The dress information wasn’t hidden or anything; every dress had a tag with the name, price, color, and brief description attached. My mother had kept good track of the prices this time, but I forgot to memorize the style names. Not that it would be an issue, as Sarah (and Rin) said I was more than welcome to come back again and try more dresses. Once again, no pressure to buy. Sarah was very helpful and friendly, and she got a decent number of dresses in, so I was satisfied with the service. The store is a bit on the cramped side, and it’s not huge, but I liked what they had available. I highly recommend Rin’s Bridal, especially if you are looking for a Pronovias or La Sposa (but not San Patrick?) dress since they’re an authorized retailer. If you liked a dress at another store, it’s worth talking to Rin’s and seeing if they’ll price match.

New thing I learned today: Accra is the capital city of Ghana.