People's Center's Bridal and Prom Dress Fair was a success

By Alyssa Nenemay

(L-R) Whisper Means, Roxanne Hamann, and Jeneane Weiss work the check-out booth at the 2013 Bridal and Prom Dress Fair. (Photo By Alyssa Nenemay)

PABLO — The need for gowns is approaching as spring sets off the wedding and prom seasons. The Bridal and Prom Dress Fair offered a thrifty solution by providing a venue for people to resell their used gowns.

Whisper (Camel) Means was married in 2011 and rather than leave her dress to collect closet dust, she decided to take to the Internet to sell it. “I tried to sell my dress on Craigslist and Facebook. I didn’t have any luck. I asked if anyone else was interested in selling dresses,” she said.

From lacey ivory bridal dresses to florescent prom dress, the fair had a huge assortment of merchandise for visitors to skim through. (Photo By Alyssa Nenemay)

It turned out several women were interested in selling not only their wedding dresses, but prom and bridesmaid dresses as well. Means was connected to Roxanne Hamann via Facebook and the dress fair was born. “Roxanne offered to organize the event and the first time we met, all the details were already hashed out. Marie Torosian offered The People’s Center as a venue and everything came together. We had a great response of people who were interested,” said Means.

It Works! is a botanical wrap that representative Kristen Funk (L) says detoxes and tightens fat cells. (Photo By Alyssa Nenemay)

From lacey ivory bridal dresses to florescent prom dresses, the fair offered a variety for customers to skim through. The ladies charged dress owners a display fee of $5.00 for one dress and $10.00 for two or more in order to pay the building’s rental fee. Unlike consignment stores, 100 percent of proceeds went back in the owner’s pocket.

Safeway representatives displayed their cake décor talents. (Photo By Alyssa Nenemay)

Aside from dresses, customers had an opportunity to contract other wedding and prom needs like make-up, jewelry, photography, and even slimming agents in the fair’s bazaar stands.

Local consultants from the likes of Safeway, It Works!, Paparazzi, Mary Kay, and Arbonne had display booths featuring their corporate products. Safeway displayed three-tier vanilla icing cakes aligned with colorful flowers to exemplify their décor abilities. It Works! had fat detoxing stomach wraps available for purchase. Paparazzi had a huge selection of jewelry and both Mary Kay and Arbonne offered make-up and beauty products. Arbonne did note that their products were 100 percent natural.

Local photographer Eden Bryant of Polson gave a peek into her photography portfolio for potential clients. Bryant studied filmmaking in London, England and is now the owner of Eden Bryant Photography. (Photo By Alyssa Nenemay)

Non-corporate booths included Eden Bryant Photography from Polson. Bryant studied film making in London, England and now she is available for weddings, graduations, birth announcements, and other portrait needs. For more information visit click here..

Another non-Corporate booth was Josie Marquez’s headbands which feature numerous bows of all shapes and design. For more information call 676-4320.

Josie Marquez of Ronan had a display of headbands she made by hand. The headbands feature bows of all shapes and designs. “Dress recycling is good for everybody. It’s great for the environment,” she said of the fair. (Photo By Alyssa Nenemay)

Means reported that several dresses were purchased during the fair and the group learned a great deal about organizing such an event. The ladies say that they are still contemplating hosting a similar fair next year.