Little girls dream of this day; walking down a flower-laden isle decorated with pink rose petals. Trumpet Volunteer heralds the bride’s journey to meet the man of her dreams. Ahhh, romance …
Snap out of it. It’s all about the dress, Cinderella!
Our sweet daughter Caroline called with the grand announcement of her boyfriend/ fiancé’s perfect proposal. We knew it was coming.
So our quest for the perfect wedding dress began. The first bridal shop was one of those trendy boutiques with only one short name. Those places scare me because they sound expensive. We were greeted with a perky smile and a glass of champagne. The attitude seemed right at first but … Red flag! I should have chugged the adult beverage before celebrating the little white tags with the great big prices.
Five months and seven bridal shops later, we had experienced a multitude of bridal consultant personalities: snobby, perky, catty, grumpy. Welcome to Snow White and the Seven Bridal Consultants.
I was reminded of a valuable lesson. Attitude is everything when it comes to living life; attitude is also everything when it comes to selling someone a wedding dress.
We finally decided on the top two perfect dresses and after thirty-six hours of pondering, the call was made to buy the dress. “Catty” delighted in telling us that the perfect dress was sold; not “let’s re-visit your other choice,” or “let’s find another dress like the one you let go.” Just an odd delight at informing my daughter that she had waited too long to decide on the wedding dress of her dreams. In essence, bad customer service.
I became very cynical.
After consuming five headache medications that did not touch my throbbing head, we stumbled across a shop where I ran into a former Miss South Carolina sister. In desperation, I inquired where to shop for the perfect wedding dress. “Oh, Jane. You have to go to Jo-Lin’s,” suggested my FBQ (former beauty queen) sister. Out of my mouth I spewed, “Jo-Lins? Really? Is she a petite blonde who dots the “i” in her name with a heart?” Oh, my; that was ugly.
Upon arriving at the bridal shop, Caroline and I stared in disbelief at the black sign with cursive lettering. Yep, I nailed it; “Jo-Lin’s” with a heart dotting the “i”.
As predicted, a petite blonde greeted us. She was kind, gracious and had a genuine passion to serve. She also had an endless knowledge of bridal attire. Her customer service was outstanding.
As Caroline tried on various dresses, “Jo-Lin with a heart” was amazing. Caroline walked out of the dressing room wearing one of the top two dresses from the “I-told-you-so” bridal consultant place. In one swift move, the dress was pinned, belted and topped with a laced-trimmed veil … it was beautiful.
“Jo-Lin with a heart” made a profound statement, “Caroline, it is hard to believe the other consultant did not work this dress for you.” With that comment, a petite blonde with a heart over her name sold the perfect wedding dress to my sweet Caroline. It was the same dress, but it was presented to us by someone who had an attitude of service.
Jo-Lin’s unusual name and visual symbol of love above the “i”, reminded me of a valuable lesson in customer service; always serve others with heart.
