It seemed a good time for a post-holiday jaunt to get some fresh country air and clear the head. While I assure you that I am many moons away from being a blushing bride (see my Editor's column this mouth), two friends and I decided to make the short car trip to Brinkley, Arkansas to pay a visit to Low's Bridal and Formal, the famous certified dealer of fine bridal attire. I had long heard of this amazing establishment through word of mouth and was curious as to how - let's be honest - such as a "girly place" had wound up located amidst the fields, farms and duck hunting clubs of the Arkansas Delta. One of my travelling companions, like so many others in the Mid-South and beyond, had purchased her own wedding gown and her daughter's at Low's and was eager to make a return visit. That settled it. We were going.

Located halfway between Little Rock and Memphis off I-40, Brinkley is a charming small Arkansas town. As we passed through the Low's entrance at 127 West Cedar Street, we found ourselves in front of a beautiful large red brick building decorated with striped awnings, antique lampposts and a stunning winged sculpture, which was surrounded by pansies, holly bushes and ivy topiaries. It did not have a "commercial look" and was frankly not what I was expecting. Noticing the brass plate denoting that it was on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as the nearby old train depot, I was certain that this architecturally significant old edifice had surely long ago been a railroad hotel. Once inside we were mightily impressed by the high tin ceilings, the old-fashioned tile floors, the vases teeming with flowers, and of course the sea of wedding dresses arrayed before us.

We had called ahead to say that VIP Memphis was planning a visit, and as a result the charming Dorcas Prince, a second generation owner of Low's, welcomed us graciously and passed along some interesting historical background on the building and her family's company. Indeed the building, which had its grand opening in 1915 had once housed Rusher's Hotel. The Prince family in later years had operated it as a small hotel and then eleven years ago, after extensive renovations, they moved the bridal business into the distinguished old building. The back story of the company is that it had gotten its start when Prince's mother set up a small business in 1976 over her husband's drugstore. She was a home economics teacher with sewing talents, and she thought "it might be fun." It was all that and profitable too, and this little entrepreneurial idea over time morphed into the booming Low's business of today. Dorcas herself is a pharmacist by trade, but it was inevitable that she would be enticed into the family enterprise.

While seven railroads no longer junction here, nor do 63 passenger trains pass through town, on a recent Saturday, Low's literally was forced to turn customers away. Appointments are booked for two hours (an hour and a half on busy Saturdays), and there are often as many as 20 sales consultants available to work "one-on-one" with the future brides to help them choose from a ming-boggling selection. The price range of wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses is from $300 into the thousands of dollars, and Low's carries around 3,000 dresses at a time from size 2 to size 32 within 25,000 square feet of display area. The upstairs is devoted to gowns from some 60 well-known top designers, including Monique Lhuillier, Lazaro, Stephen Yearick, and Pronovias of Barcelona. There is also a wide selection of plus-sized dresses to fit the special needs of Low's customers. Dresses are not sold over the Internet for several reasons, chief among them being that wedding dresses must be customer-fitted and the fabrics personally inspected. As Prince says, "our customers come here for a purpose; they are on a mission."

As to bridal trends, Ms. Prince told us that "anything goes these days." Popular styles vary from an extremely simple, slim and elegant look to fuller ball gowns with "Gone with the Wind" slips to everything in-between. She also informed us that wedding dresses which, I confess, all looked "white" to us, varied in shades from ivory, to champagne, to pearl to light gold. Who knew? We were told for the most part that brides come to Low's with a pretty good idea of what they would like for their wedding gown and are often armed with magazine clippings. Keenly aware that many of their clients have driven long distances to shop with them, Prince says that most of the time Low's is able to offer discounted prices, which has given the company incredible "staying power." She also told us stories of shipping dresses to places as far away as Lebanon, Scotland, the Dominican Republic and South Africa.

It was really hard to tear ourselves away, but after sampling cookies and coffee from the little Low's entryway cafe, we said our goodbyes. As we departed, my companions and I could not help but noticed all the thank-you notes preserved under the glass tabletops. Addressed to "Mrs. Goldie" and "Mrs. Dot" for example, we were very impressed that so many brides had taken the time to personally thank their Low's consultants for helping them purchase dresses for their special wedding day. To my way of thinking, there could be no better testimony to the fact that Low's literally furnishes its customers with "the stuff that dreams are made of."

VIP Memphis
Article by Anne Cunningham O'Neill and photos by Lorne Semrau
February 2009
page 36