Christmas is over (almost) and other random thoughts

I’m currently in Arkansas visiting my family for the holidays & will be back home shortly to get the new year kicked off with a bang here at Alisa Benay. I forgot to bring my price chart & cost breakdown information with me. I’m planning on lowering our prices before the rebroadcast of the Get Married episode on January 4th.

I had shoe post on here with some killer shoes. Did you see it? um…. did you take it? It seems to have been eaten. Oh, well. I think the cyberspace monster (first cousin to my house monster) got jealous of my awesome shoe post & just ate the whole post. Sometimes I am just too fabulous for my own good.

I’m missing my sunshine. It’s been pretty dreary here the whole week. Colorado is always sunny. And by “always” I mean pretty much every single God blessed day of the year the sun is shining at some point. Mostly at all points. And it’s closer to us (my house is at 6800 feet above sea level). It’s something you get used to rather quickly. ….. So I did the weather.com thing before I packed to come down here (Conway, Arkansas. about 20 miles north of Little Rock) and it was supposed to be in the upper 40’s to mid 50’s every day. Not even jacket weather in Colorado Springs. Um….it’s overcast & chilly here. Kinda cold, actually. Homey don’t play that. I want my sunshine back. pout, pout, pout.

Well, there are 12 people here at my parents house for the week, so I’m going to go do the only sane thing I can think of. Leave for the night! 🙂 I’m off to return/exchange presents. It’s not a big town, so there shouldn’t be huge crowds out I’m hoping.

What’s new in 2008 at Alisa Benay

Christmas season is in full swing around here. I had a stomach bug right after Thanksgiving that had me down for a bit & I feel like I’m a little late in the game to be finally getting into the Christmas spirit. I think I’ve already missed all the cookie exchange parties. Oh well, I’m sure Christmas cookies aren’t really on my Jenny Craig list. (16 lbs & counting, btw)

My episode of Get Married will re-air on January 4th, so mark your calendars (& set your tivo if your on Mountain time…5:30 is really a bit early!) This time around we’re doing a full on media campaign to coordinate with the airing. The first time it aired we were still doing a bit of behind the scenes scrambling work to get the new website up & running & just didn’t have time to get the press kit out. It actually aired a second time the day after Thanksgiving and I didn’t even know it until a week later.

Also in conjunction with the January airing, you’ll find some interesting changes to the website. Here’s a few:

*My 40% discount will go away after the New Year rolls around (get it while the gettin’s good, ladies!), but I will have a new prices that will tickle you pink (or yellow, or blue, or maybe even white!).

*Gown give aways. Yes, you heard me right. Free gowns. I’m going to be starting a montly newsletter with the following information:

-Twice a year I’ll be giving away a $5000 gift certificate.  There will be details in the newsletter.

-Discount of the month. The first person each month to make a payment (deposit or full payment) will receive the discount mentioned in that month’s newsletter. It’ll change every month & I’ll only give out one, so you’ll have to watch closely!

-Updates about my gowns. New gowns, new fabrics, places I’ll be showing (yes, I do plan to hit the road a bit in ’08)

-Fun & funky, off the beaten track, or vintage inspired tips, trends, gifts, favors or other ideas I’ve run across.

– Information about other indie designers in ready to wear. Because indie design is the wave of the future. And you’ll need something to wear after the wedding. 🙂
*SWATCH KITS!!!! I know you’ve been waiting patiently & they’ll be available in January. Each kit will contain the primary fabric (i.e. rose embroidered dupioni) and all the coordinating fabrics and lacing ribbon colors as well. They’re super cute & come in a clear designer gift box all wrapped up with a pretty little ribbon. Each one will be about $30 & you can apply that amount to your future purchases.

*Archival boxes. I haven’t mentioned this as of yet, but I’ve just secured a supplier. When you order a full gown (as opposed to just ordering a corset), I’ll ship your gown to you in a museum quality archival storage box. These boxes are great b/c you don’t have to have your gown sealed to where you can’t get into in the future. You can have access to your gown any time you want. I would love to see pictures of my bride wearing her corset on her first anniversary date!

Isn’t that a beautiful box?

*Three new dresses. Amelia, Gillian, and Penelope will make their debut in early ’08. I know, I know…I promised January. I’m thinking it’s looking more like early March at this point. Sorry, girls, really I am. I’m just as excited as you are to see them making their way out there in the world, but they’ve got to be just right first. These gowns have more detailing in them & I want to get it perfect before I put them out there. I’m also going back & making a few minor changes to the first three & I want to have all 6 ready for a 2nd photo shoot at the same time. Don’t worry, they’re only little things… Like I want the sweep of the full ball gown skirt to be a little fuller in back. See, just little things. The first photo shoot took 5 people & 4 hours just to get 3 dresses shot, so I’m heading for an all day shoot with 2 models for the second shoot. It’ll have to be indoors. March is our snowiest month out here. So if you know of any victorian looking homes here in the Springs, feel free to let me know.