Prom shoppers at An Affair to Remember don't need a booking. That surprises people. The Ramsey Street shop books private suites for pageant, couture, bridesmaid and mother-of appointments, but prom and homecoming shoppers simply walk in during business hours. The floor is divided by size, so a girl can head straight to her own section instead of digging through every rack in the building. Sizes run from 000 to 30. Prom gowns start at $350, and the store says the prices on its website are the prices on the dresses in the shop.
The store has been dressing young women here since 2005. Kathy Keefe Jensen owns it, and the site presents it as a small, female-owned business and North Carolina's premier pageant and special occasion dress store. That pageant side pays off for prom shoppers more than you'd expect. A shop that outfits girls for state-level competition stocks gowns built to hold up under stage lights, and the stylists who fit those gowns are the same people working the prom floor in spring.
It sits on the busy north end of Ramsey Street, the same stretch that runs past Methodist University's campus, and it pulls from all over Cumberland County. Pine Forest High shares the north side of town. Jack Britt, Cape Fear, Gray's Creek, Terry Sanford and Westover students make the drive too, and so do families from across the Sandhills region of North Carolina who want one store with a deep prom selection instead of four with a thin one.
What's on the racks
Jovani is the deepest line in the building. The site splits it into prom, homecoming, evening, pageant and couture collections, plus the younger JVN label, and the featured gowns on the homepage are almost all Jovani prom. Alongside it the store names Sherri Hill, Johnathan Kayne (including its Joshua McKinley and Sugar Kayne lines), ASHLEYlauren, Ava Presley, Jessica Angel, Tarik Ediz, Rachel Allan, Alyce Paris and Portia & Scarlett.
Curvy shoppers get real attention here. Sydney's Closet covers sizes 14 to 32, and the store has run a Curvy Girl Trunk Show around that line so girls could try the newest styles in their own size. Cocktail and short dresses run from $250 to roughly $800, which is where most homecoming budgets land. New stock comes in regularly, and the shop also carries one-of-a-kind couture gowns for the girl who wants something no one else at her school could possibly have.
If a style isn't on the floor, it can be special ordered with a 50% deposit and a shipping fee. When the designer has it in the warehouse, delivery can take up to four weeks, and rush shipping is sometimes available for an extra charge. Once a special order is placed, the gown is yours. Plan for that in February, not April.
Buy the dress, walk the runway
Once you purchase a $350+ gown from An Affair to Remember, you automatically become #AGirlToRemember.
That promise sits on the About page, and it is the way into the store's fashion show, which most prom shoppers don't hear about until they buy. Every January the shop stages a Runway Extravaganza, and the models are its own customers.
That status makes a buyer eligible to walk in the annual show, with interest submitted through the show's own website. Past shows have run under themes like "I am The Champion" and "I'm UNSTOPPABLE." A girl who has never set foot on a runway gets a second night out of the same gown.
The events calendar doesn't stop after prom. The store has hosted a Sherri Hill trunk show with one-on-one consultations, a trunk show and custom-gown appointments with Project Runway designer Aaron Michael, and pageant prep weekends with Bill Alverson of TLC's Coach Charming and runway coach Mariana Verkerk. Those are pageant-first events. They also explain why the staff is so comfortable with a prom shopper who wants structure, beading and a dress that photographs well from the back of a gym.
Fayetteville has a second formal season, too. The store lists military ball gowns right next to prom, pageant and homecoming, and in a city built around Fort Bragg that calendar never goes quiet.
Layaway, holds and final-sale rules on Ramsey Street
This shop writes its rules out in full, which helps when you're budgeting a teenager's dress.
Layaway
Gowns priced at $350 and up, with a one-third deposit and a $35 layaway fee. A missed payment carries a late fee, and an automatic payment plan is available. Once a dress goes on layaway, it can't be tried on or shown to anyone, and layaways carry no refunds, exchanges or credits.
Layaway pickup
Email the store at least 24 hours ahead so the gown can be pulled from storage before you arrive.
Holds
A $50 fee holds a dress for 24 hours, credited toward the gown if you come back within that window.
Private prom suite
Walk-ins are the default, but any prom shopper can upgrade to a private suite appointment for a $50 booking fee.
Final sale
Every sale is final, so bring the people whose opinion counts on the first trip.
Couture buyers can also ask about payment plans of up to six months. Mothers shopping for a wedding will find a mother-of and social occasion department here as well, though the heart of the floor is prom and pageant.
Common questions about An Affair to Remember
Are the website prices the same as in the store?
Yes. Prom gowns start at $350, and the store states that the prices on its website are the prices on the dresses in the shop.
How does the $350 layaway at An Affair to Remember work?
It covers gowns priced at $350 and up. You'll put down one-third of the price plus a $35 layaway fee, and the dress is released once it's paid in full.
What sizes does the store carry?
Prom sizes run from 000 to 30, and the Sydney's Closet line covers 14 to 32. The floor is arranged by size, so you can shop your own section from the start.