The one rule prom shoppers should know first
Every prom season, somebody's daughter walks into the gym and sees her dress on someone else. Carolina Bridal World has a system built to stop that from happening. When you buy a prom dress at its Burlington showroom, the store logs it against your school, and it puts the policy in writing.
Appointments are scheduled by phone and are set for one hour. We register each dress purchased to ensure that no other student from the same school wears the same dress.
That registry is the single best reason to shop prom here, and it matters more in Alamance County than you might think. One prom store drawing from a long list of high schools means many girls from the same building are browsing the same racks. The registry means the store keeps track so you don't have to.
A second thing to know: prom lives only in Burlington. Carolina Bridal World runs two showrooms, one here in the Triad and one in Smithfield in the Triangle, and the company says prom dresses are only available at the Triad location. If you are coming from the Raleigh side, set your GPS for Burlington.
Inside the prom collection
The store's prom selection is built around three designers: Sherri Hill, Jovani and Ashley Lauren. The store describes the range as everything from a classic silhouette to "a bold cutout, or glittery glam."
Prom sizes
000 to 26
- 000
- 00
- 0
- 2
- 4
- 6
- 8
- 10
- 12
- 14
- 16
- 18
- 20
- 22
- 24
- 26
From 000 all the way to 26.
The store notes that not every gown is on the floor. If you have fallen for a particular Sherri Hill or Jovani style, mention it when you set the appointment so the team can tell you whether it is on the rack.
The stylists have advice every prom shopper should hear: don't wait until the last minute, because the best dresses go fast.
Prom appointments are scheduled for one hour, Monday through Saturday, and the store says appointments are required at both locations. They are scheduled by phone, and the team aims to respond to requests within one business day. Booking itself is free, but the store holds the slot with a card and charges $50 for a no-show or a cancellation with less than 48 hours' notice. Put the date in your phone.
Tuxedos, layaway and steaming at Carolina Bridal World
Carolina Bridal World rents tuxedos for prom, college formals and black-tie events as well as weddings. Rentals come through two partners.
Tuxedo rentals
VIP Formalwear and JIMS Formalwear
Styles
Chaps by Ralph Lauren, Allure Men and Michael Kors
Price
Rentals start at $200
On the gown side, special orders take a 50% deposit, and any gown bought in the store gets a complimentary steaming if you give the shop two weeks. Alterations happen outside the store: it keeps a list of local seamstresses it can recommend, and those costs are separate. Regular-price gowns bought off the floor can also go on layaway.
At purchase
Put down a 25% deposit
Every thirty days
Pay another 25%
Paid in full, pick it up
The layaway option is a quiet help for families planning a spring purchase on a winter budget. Find the dress in January, pay it down over the following months and pick it up with time to spare for a hem.
The company's story starts in 2002, when three friends opened the first Carolina Bridal World in Smithfield, and it is women-owned and operated. Bridal is the larger business, with more than 900 wedding gowns in the Burlington showroom alone, but the prom room is its own appointment type with its own rules, and that is what makes it worth the trip in spring.
As for who shows up in March, the list is long. Burlington's own Walter M. Williams and Hugh M. Cummings high schools are close, and so are Western Alamance in Elon, Graham High, Southern Alamance and Eastern Alamance near Mebane. The showroom sits on Eric Lane on the south side of Burlington, near I-40/85, the same interstate Greensboro and Chapel Hill families take to get here. For anyone in the central North Carolina Piedmont, the interstate does most of the work. With that many schools sharing one registry, the earlier you register your dress, the better your odds of getting the one you want.
Registry, walk-ins and the Smithfield store
Can I walk in to shop for prom?
No. The store requires appointments at both locations. Prom appointments are one hour and run Monday through Saturday at the Burlington showroom.
How does the school dress registry work?
When you buy a prom dress, the store registers it so no other student from your school buys the same one there. Tell your stylist your school when you book.
Does the Smithfield showroom carry prom?
No. The company says prom dresses are only available at its Burlington location.