This weekend Austin and I got a chance to do something we typically don’t do. We attended a black tie Charity Ball for Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Our good friends have a daughter who was diagnosed with hydrocephalus when she was 8 months old and was treated for an extended amount of time at Rady’s. Because of her journey, and the tremendous care she received, they wanted to give back to the facility that supported them so much in their time of need. They invited us to be their guests to this annual event and we were delighted to join them!
Time to find a gown and say yes to the dress! I’ve had girlfriends rave about Rent the Runway and finally had a chance to try it out! If you aren’t familiar, RTR is a company that rents out high end (think Academy Award level) gowns, cocktail dresses, accessories and jewelry at a fraction of the cost of the actual items. You rent it for a set number of days, send it back with the pre-paid shipping label and RTR handles the dry cleaning. Let’s be honest, how often do you buy a dress for a wedding and never wear it again? What a waste! RTR allows you access to fabulous gowns for special events, guilt free. They have dresses for all budgets, body types (even baby bump friendly), and events (black tie, gala, cocktail to name a few).
Let’s discuss my personal experience…it didn’t start off great. I chose two gowns and one of them (the back up dress) arrived with a small tear in the seam. If there is a customer service scale of 1-100%, RTR gets a 120% in my book. I emailed them regarding the tear and they allowed me to pick out any other dress of my choice and sent it overnight to me. It was on my doorstep at 12PM the day of the event. Not to mention, they replied to my email within minutes, making my blood pressure decrease instantly because I felt like they were doing everything they could to solve my problem as quickly as possible. At our Wedding, there was one bridesmaid who really stood out to me in
just being there. She was always checking on me, fluffing out my dress,
feeding me a snack, refilling my champs… RTR is kind of
like that bridesmaid and will be there for you if the shit hits the fan. I was seriously blown away by their service and for that reason alone, will use them for all events like this in the future!
I chose this dress because it was different for me personally. I’ve never worn a ball gown silhouette and I figured this would be the perfect occasion to do so! The designer is Monique Lhuillier (swoon) and I fell in love with the print, cut and pockets that it had. My runner up was a Marchesa drop waist gown that was stunning but the instant I saw the black and white gown in person, I knew it was the one I had to wear. Seriously, I felt like Cinderella in it. I kept my hair and jewelry simple because the dress made enough of a statement and I was thrilled when that my Wedding shoes would be a perfect match for the gown.
The evening was dazzling to say the least. Think great food, friends, people watching and champs. Does it get any better? We literally danced the night away and when I got home, packed up my dress to ship back…no hanging, no dry cleaning, nothing. It’s that easy. I can’t wait to pick out a new dress for another event! Bottom line? You’ve got to try Rent the Runway! Shop the banner on my blog (over at the right) and receive 20% off of your first RTR order. Have a great week and as always, thank you so much for following along. xo
Dress: Rent The Runway/ Shoes: Manolo Blahnik/ Lipstick: YSL Prune Avenue
