The wedding boutique on Fifth Street South is where the business started, but the prom dresses live somewhere else. The Bride & Groom runs The Prom Shop as a separate storefront on Main Street in Historic Downtown Columbus, with its own phone line, its own Instagram account and a shorter weekly schedule than the bridal side. Both locations sit under one website, and the appointment form lets you pick Prom as your interest, so the booking starts in the same place either way.
That split reflects how seriously the owners take formal season. Blaine and Corie Walters opened The Bride & Groom in January 2012, and the About page credits the idea to Blaine's retail background and Corie's pageant history. They also bought House of Tux, which the store describes as a staple since 1973, and folded it into the new business. The result puts a prom gown, a pageant dress and a date's tuxedo under one company in east Mississippi, with the formalwear side reaching back much further than the boutique's own opening.
What The Prom Shop carries
Jovani leads. The prom page opens on the designer's newest collection, and the Prom/Pageant/Homecoming category filters by Jovani, Portia and Scarlett and Sherri Hill. Trending styles on the same page also pull in Jessica Angel and Tiffany Designs. Sizes in that category run from 000 to 26, and homecoming has its own collection built mostly from Jovani and Sherri Hill. Corie's pageant background shows in how the category is built, with pageant gowns sharing the same online category and filters as prom instead of sitting off in a specialty corner. Color filters run from black and gold to orange and yellow, which makes matching a school color or a date's vest quick to check online.
The store's prom copy promises sequins, chiffon, ballgowns and sleek modern cuts, with staff on hand to get the fit right. Its blog gets specific about timing. For prom, it recommends starting the search three to four months before the dance so there is room to choose, order and alter; for homecoming, one to two months. It also gives sizing advice worth taking literally: formal sizes run differently from everyday clothes, so pick the size that fits your largest measurement and let the gown be taken in from there.
Testimonials on the prom page praise the help from an assigned staff member, which matches how the appointment system is set up. Before the visit, the booking form collects the event date, a head count and a budget, which lets staff pull options in range before you arrive.
For anyone ordering from out of town, the store ships by UPS ground within the contiguous United States.
House of Tux handles the other half of the photo
House of Tux is the only in-stock tuxedo rental provider in the Golden Triangle. With thousands of in-stock tuxes and on-staff seamstresses, House of Tux is always ready to provide each customer with the best in service and selection.
That claim from the tuxedo page is aimed at prom couples anywhere in the Golden Triangle. Because the tuxes are in stock, a date can try the actual suit and color in the store instead of picking from a swatch. There is also an online form to submit measurements, which helps when a date lives out of town or has practice every afternoon.
Students from Columbus High, Heritage Academy and the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science are the closest customers, and the Lowndes County schools, Caledonia, New Hope and West Lowndes, fill in around them. Starkville High and West Point High are inside the same Golden Triangle orbit. For a couple planning the whole outfit, the order of operations goes like this.
Planning the whole outfit (a guide)
First
Request an appointment online, choose Prom, and list your event date and budget
Then
Shop gowns at The Prom Shop on Main Street; the form notes comfortable seating for three guests
Then
Book the date's fitting with House of Tux at the main Bride & Groom store, or send measurements through the website
Last
Leave time for alterations; the store's own advice is a three-to-four-month head start
The Bride & Groom, answered for Columbus prom shoppers
Are prom dresses at the bridal store or The Prom Shop?
The Prom Shop, the company's separate storefront on Main Street downtown. It has its own phone number and hours, both listed on the website.
Can a tux be ordered without coming in for measurements?
Yes. House of Tux takes measurements through a form on the website, though in-person fittings are available with its on-staff seamstresses.