Larissa is the sweetest bride – when she shopped our Tempe, Arizona store she had just moved to the area and came shopping by herself. No worries – WE would be her family-for-the-day for this important wedding dress shopping trip! Larissa found a simple yet unique cap sleeve tulle aline wedding dress.
I wanted to reach out to thank you all and make sure that you guys understand just how much you, your staff, my whole experience and my dress really made my wedding day the best it could be. My journey started when I began looking for a dress which to be honest, I was dreading. With no family and no friends to come with me, I had no idea where to start, how to start or what to expect. My first stop was a huge chain and they had two dresses in my budget, both were awful. They were salesy and pressured me, made multiple comments that they couldn’t believe I came alone, and it was a really discouraging experience.
Next I found Strut via your instagram. I came in bracing myself for a similar experience, and I’ll never forget sitting down, sharing my budget and explaining that I was alone and the response was “well your budget is fine, and we’ll be your family today!”. That was it, honestly. My dress was the third one I tried on and we knew instantly that we’d found it. Thank you for making my experience special, and for being a special kind of family that day!
She wrote, “We got married at Venue At the Grove, all outdoors, with 75 people. It was the first venue we toured and couldn’t get it out of our minds. You walk into their property and it just feels magical, honestly. The people there bent over backwards to help us and work with us on everything, and no question was too stupid. Trust me, I SPAMMED them with questions. I called them three days before the wedding panicked because I didn’t know if our cupcakes were going to be passed out or put on a table – looking back, I have no idea why I cared. We had a good laugh over that one.”
Larissa chose a cap sleeve tulle aline wedding dress. It has an illusion bodice with lace cap sleeves. Larissa did some custom additions to her wedding dress by adding a bit more lace on the cap sleeve and filling in the plunge bodice a bit, too. She added,
The first thing we talked about was we did not want a cookie cutter wedding. We didn’t want over the top, but we didn’t want the traditional wedding in a ballroom with the wedding party wearing sunglasses. I didn’t want a cookie cutter dress, a cookie cutter meal, or giant centerpieces with roses everywhere. We wanted “simple, but different” so that became the theme. We didn’t have a lot of flowers because the venue was already beautiful. We had a short ceremony filled with our own vows and lots of love, and it was just beautiful, simple and fun.
Larissa and Mauricio were married December 5th, 2019 at the Venue at the Grove in Phoenix, Arizona. She told us a couple of her favorites parts of the her big day:
I had two favorite moments. The first was our first look. It was a moment Mauricio and I got to share, just the two of us, before the ceremony started and it was such a happy happy moment. I saw him waiting for me, his back turned, and as I walked towards him I just thought “this is everything I want, right here. I can’t wait to for everything after this moment”. I tear up just thinking about .
The second moment was right before our sparkler exit. Our guests were all lining up by the exit, Mauricio was off with his best man, and the venue was void of people. It was just candles and twinkly lights and signs of an amazing party. I stood there for a moment and I just took it all in. All that planning, all the stress, all the worry and all the excitement, and the day was about to end. The day went by so fast that I’m so thankful for that moment to just take a deep breath, take it all in, and be thankful.
The dress just fit me. It was different, beautiful, romantic and honestly just perfect. I was so scared I was going to have to settle for a dress that fit, not a dress I love. As someone who has struggled with body issues for a long time, this process was really scary to me, so to find a dress so perfectly me was honestly a dream come true.
The best part about my experience is I just felt loved, honestly. Every girl in there, EVERY SINGLE ONE, seemed excited for me in a very genuine way. I never felt like I was working with sales people, just people who gave a shit about me and my experience. No one said “you’re too big, or too this or too that”. No one made me feel like my body was a problem. I love you all for making this experience perfect.
Here is her vendor list:
— Photography: Tiffany & Ryland Photography (@TiffanyandRyland)
— Venue: Venue at the Grove (@venueatthegrove)
— Wedding Planning: Olaya Events & Company (@olayaevents)
— Catering: Ensemble Catering (@ensemblecatering)
— Florals: Wild Child Floral Designs (@wildchildfloral)
— DJ/Photo Booth: All American DJ (@allamericandj)
— Wedding Cake: Sugarlips Cakery (@sugarlipscakery)
— Wedding Gown Boutique: Strut Bridal Salon (@strutbridal)
— Suit: Celebrity Tux And Tails
— Makeup Artist: Krystal Pro Makeup Artist (@krystalpromua)
— Hair Artist: ADH Hairstylist
YAYYYY! We LOVE her sparkler exit, and all the love we see between her and new hubby! Congrats to the newlyweds!
While Larissa’s cap sleeve tulle aline wedding dress is no longer available in our bridal stores, Strut has the area’s larest selection of aline wedding dresses for curvy brides. We sell our bridal gowns off the rack or by custom order. Book your visit today!
