Rolling In Roses Sample Sale, Everything you need to know.
The purpose of this post is to cover FAQ’s and help inform you of the process and what to expect at your appointment.
What is a sample sale? Well this depends on if its a stockist or the label itself who are hosting it. Because its a Rolling In Roses sample sale it’s a selection of dresses that for their own reasons never made it to the final collection. For example we may have made a sample that looked amazing but when we tried to make it for a bride the fabric wasn’t behaving how we wanted it to so we changed the fabric, the other common one is that the fabric suppliers simply discontinue the fabric so we have to discontinue the line. This one makes us really sad but does mean you really are getting a one of a kind piece. This does mean its likely we won’t have your favourite pieces from our regular collections in there but some really unique pieces instead.
Can I book the sample sale and view the full collection dresses too? Unfortunately not, Sample Sale appointments are 45 minutes long and are held in the fitting room so that we can still host full collection appointments in the other showroom. If you do book a sample sale appointment and you can’t find your dream piece then we will happily book you in for a full collection appointment at a different time.
What sizes are the dresses? There are usually about 30 pieces in the sample sale and around 70% are 8’s and 10’s, with only a handful of pieces in a size 12 upwards. The reason for this is that when we make samples we make them in an 8 or 10 as Hayley (designer and founder of RIR) wears this size and can try on and adjust as she designs, and eventually when we come to do our shoot most models fit into these sizes and it means we aren’t duplicating unnecessary samples for shoots. We really do wish we offered more inclusive sizes in the sample sale but we do have a few pieces that could be perfect for you. Don’t forget that all Rolling In Roses full collection pieces are available in ANY size, so if you can’t find anything in the sample sale and can push the budget we can help you out!
I’m a size 12 will a size 10 fit me and can it be altered? Because of the cut of our dresses our sizing tends to be quite generous, bias cut especially has a little stretch in it so don’t be put off if we don’t have your regular size in the sale, try it on it may fit perfectly! If you try on a dress in the sample sale and it fits comfortably then we book you in a fitting a few months before the wedding to make any alterations, these alterations could include hemming, taking in, bringing up at the shoulders and sometimes adding or adjusting straps, it’s all dependant on the dress. The same applies if you try on a size 10 but normally wear a size 6, within reason we can adjust it to fit you but can discuss this is more detail at your appointment. All sample dresses have already been hemmed meaning if it’s too short we won’t be able to increase the length, but the majority of our samples are plenty long enough to accomodate brides of all heights.
Why do I need to pay for my appointment? We were always reluctant to add a charge to any of our appointments but after so many no shows and people just popping in as they were in town (some already owning a wedding dress!) we found that adding a charge to an appointment, even as small as £5, avoids any brides who weren’t seriously considering a dress with us. The £5 charge is deductible from the dress price if you purchase on the day.
How much of a bargain am I actually getting? Honestly? A massive one! The majority of these dresses retail at full price between £1800-£2400, and there are many pieces in the sale which are £900 or less.
So how does it work on the day? Ok so you have 45 minutes to try on as many pieces as you can, we would advise taking it easy and pulling out pieces you really love, 45 minutes flies and we want to give you the full bridal treatment we would if this was a collection appointment. If you fall in love with something on the day we ask for payment in full and cannot reserve any dresses without payment. If you do want to go away and think about it, it’s worth bearing in mind the next appointment may pop in and snap it straight up.
Can I take it away on the day and get it altered elsewhere? Of course you can. If home is quite far from York then it’s sometime easier to get a seamstress close to home to help with alterations. If you want to take it away on the day we will process the payment and prepare the dress in our Rolling In Roses cloth dress bags that have a handy shoulder carrying strap in case you are on the train or want to explore York a little more, we can also keep hold of it for the day and you can swing by and get it later in the afternoon.
Can I buy dresses online? Unfortunately not yet, some of the samples are ex showroom and although they are in good condition we think its an important part of the process to understand how the dress will look and fit you, unfortunately we aren’t confident offering this service online yet but it’s definitely not out of the question in the future.
Will you get the gowns professionally cleaned before I buy? All samples are sold as seen, as a team we have sat and worked our way through each sample replacing buttons, loops, zips and making good on anything we can, we have done our best to make the pieces as beautiful and good as new as we can. Again this is why it’s so important to see them in the flesh. We would advise getting them dry cleaned yourself once you have purchased the dress if there are problem areas.
How many people can I bring? We usually suggest no more than 3 guests, and the sample sale room is the smaller room of the two fitting rooms we have, so we would suggest no more than two as it can get crowded with 4 of us in there and we want you to enjoy the process without feeling cramped.
Hopefully this article has helped but If you have any questions please just drop me a mail on hello@rollinginroses.co.uk I will be happy to help. If you do want to book a sample sale appointment the link is here and it updates immediately so will show you real time availability. We can’t wait to meet you!
