On April 29th, the annual Running of the Brides at Filene’s Basement took place at Mazza Gallerie. This is the second year in a row that Worn has covered this event, and every year we feel a combination of fear and exhilaration at the thought of putting ourselves at risk of bodily injury by attempting to photograph hundreds of brides going after discounted wedding dresses. For anyone that’s ever attended the Running of the Brides, one lesson you quickly learn is: do not get between a bride and her wedding dress. You will go down.

Scroll down for the whole story told through a collection of quotes from brides-to-be, their teams, and even their fathers who sacrificed their sanity to help their daughters find the dress of their dreams.

(Merin Guthrie, Worn Style Editor, interviews a bride’s team waiting in line to run into Filene’s.)

Filene’s is to Brides what Disney World is to Super Bowl winners
Meredith: We came from Raleigh, North Carolina. I’m getting married next April. I’ve been up all night. I haven’t slept.
Worn: So you drove here from Raleigh yesterday during the day, and then slept in a tent on the sidewalk?
Meredith: We didn’t have a tent. But we’re number FOUR!
Worn: When did you decide that you were going to drive up here and do this?
Meredith: Probably when I was seven years old. This has been a long time coming. The day I got engaged my mom was like “Meredith, we’re going to Filene’s!”

(A bride-to-be and her team wait in line for the doors to open at 8am)

Sleep? What sleep?
Serena: We put up a giant tent that was like a giant caravan, almost, and they wouldn’t let us put it up anywhere, so it went from the parking lot to the grass and then back onto the sidewalk, and it didn’t really fit the sidewalk. And then we had to take it down by 3:30 am. So we didn’t sleep.

Scroll down to see more emotional moments from the Running of the Brides and quotes from those excited to be there, and others, not so much.

(A bride to me at the moment she realizes she’s found the dress.)

The calm before the storm
W: What’s your role?
Filene’s Employee: Um, it’s hard, but we sort of provide security. And we hold the racks so that no one gets hurt. Or falls.
W: Any favorite moments? How many of these have you done?
FE: Four, I think. My favorite moment is when they cry because they find their dress. The joy, the tears. They call their fiancee and they’re like “I got it!”

(Two members of “Kate’s Army” carry dresses for “Kate” to try on.”

Who me? I’m not here for the dresses.
Casual Male Bystander: It’s like a swap meet. It takes the magic out of everything. Doesn’t it? I read online that in Boston they have really, really nice dresses. Like Vera Wang and Jimmy Choo.
W: Yeah, I don’t know to what extent it filters down to the regional stores.
CMB: Right? Yeah… I hate to see what’s in Florida. <<pause for thoughtful reflection>> I see a couple of guys, a couple of fellas in here. Like, hey man, kudos. ‘Cause it wouldn’t be me. I mean, I work on cars, I work out. I do martial arts. I can do anything that involves pain. But this? I Youtubed this to get a sense of what I was going to be up against and I almost didn’t show up.

(Another brides has an emotional moment when she finds the perfect dress.)

My job is ‘Dad’
To miserable looking father, suddenly happy because his daughter has found ‘the dress’ which means he gets to leave soon.
W: So how did you get roped into this?
Dad: I’m her father. I just came to watch their stuff.
W: So you’re the security guard?
Dad: Exactly.
W: When did you guys get here?
Dad: They were here this morning at about 5:30, and by that time they said the line was already around the corner. So they had to pay someone to get in.
W: Really?
Dad: I mean, don’t quote me by name, but a group in the front said “you want to give us a little money, you can come join our group.”
W: Oh…
Dad: That’s negotiating. Everything is negotiable. (Laughing) I would have never thought of that.
W: Me neither.
Dad: Girls are all here to win, you know. Just give us some money, join our group!

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Photos: Nicole Aguirre/Worn Magazine (please ask permission before using our photos)

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