Click here to go to article featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch on January 22, 2012 by Arlene Stewart
This year New Year's Eve was pretty low key compared to last year's wedding festivities. But, just as soon as I thought Ram and I's wedding was a thing of the past, we receive great news that our wedding is to be featured in the Richmond Times Dispatch Celebrations Section called Sweet Deets. I had a fun time reminiscing and telling our story to writer Arlene Stewart just a few weeks ago and before I knew it, the article was published and voila. The purpose of the section is to give other people ideas for when they find themselves in wedding planning mode which you can never have enough resources!
I enjoyed the whole wedding planning process so much that I find myself wanting to help fellow brides brand their wedding the way I branded mine, whether it's designing them custom save the dates, invitations or programs, I'm starting to realize my calling or shall I dare say passion?
It was October 2010, my sister (for good reason) bailed on making my dream wedding dress. Lucky for her I was understanding (which is sometimes rare for brides) and had this gut feeling that everything would be ok and I would end up finding "the dress". I called in my go-to amazing women team duo of my mom (Cindy) and aunt Jane. We had one weekend to find "the dress" and so our hunt began in New York City. I mapped out a couple places to look and we started at Saks Fifth Avenue. Dresses were nice, they pushed to make a sale and I felt pressured, but the voices of reason (Cindy and Jane) told me to keep looking. We broke for dinner and beers and strategized about our game plan for saturday. By chance, we found online a sample sale at Selia Yang in the East Village. We looked at the dresses on the website, fell in love with her style and decided that would be our first stop in the morning.
Catching the LIRR from Long Beach to Manhattan we were off on day #2 of the wedding dress hunt. We came upon the cute, warm and welcoming boutique called Selia Yang around 11:30am. Two racks of dresses lined both walls of the boutique with an ottoman, three way mirror and box in the middle back. We quickly browsed the racks pulling off dresses to try. Small, Medium and Large sizes soon gave me comfort that I might actually be able to fit into these dresses and not have to "imagine" them on! I must have tried on 4-5 dresses all of them being amazing and good fit for a woman of curves, but I wasn't able to make a decision just yet. My aunt pulled a simple strapless fitted and semi mermaid-ish dress off the rack and asked me to try it on, I quickly looked and said "no thanks, I don't really care for it" and then she replied "oh but sara I think it'll look completely different on"...how could I refuse, she asked so nicely and she does have a great eye for things. I went into the dressing room and the sales assistant came back to zip me up...not only did it zip all the way up, it fit perfectly! The sales assistant quickly tied a sash around it and out I walked. I'll never forget the look on my mom and aunt's face. It felt perfect. We looked in the mirror and kept saying over and over I think this is the one!
Then, to top it off, in walked a petite gorgeous asian woman, whom I immediately knew was the designer. She took one look and said that dress was meant to be on you. ...SOLD to Sara soon to be Jamshidian. We didn't want to leave the store we were so happy, we could've hung out there all day. We left with the dress in hand that never had to be altered...amazing.
We had to celebrate our feat immediately by taking in brunch and mimosas at a nearby cafe. Union square is where I found my black birdcage/fascinator and White House Black Market I found my shoes. The day shall I say was more than a miracle.
As time goes by and I think about what it is I really want to do and what makes me happy... I keep coming back to the whole experience of finding my wedding dress. It was magical, and I would love for a million other girls to feel the way I did that day. I'm pretty sure at some point in the near future I would love to own a dress boutique in my hometown of Richmond, VA. Simple in concept, just like Selia's. I would love to feature her dresses if at all possible and promote smaller less known labels that perhaps are just getting started. In the back of the store front I would love to have a small studio where I could take bridal portraits and continue to help future brides design and brand the look of their wedding. Is this possible? We shall see, I'm hoping so.
Lots of Love, Sara
