Screaming, Grabbing, Shoving, Shopping: Wedding Dress Mayhem at the Annual Running of the Brides at Filene's Basement

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"We're going to knock some girls down," one woman says.

"We're going to fight to the death," adds her friend.

What is this, a Washington D.C. re-enactment of Braveheart? No. It was last Friday's "Running of the Brides" event—an annual steep-discounting of wedding gowns hosted by the Filene's Basement in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Women began lining up from 10 p.m. the night before doors opened. At 8 a.m. on July 30, pretty much all heck broke loose. Check out the video above—there was running, there was screaming, there was grabbing, and plenty of people got knocked over.

Within moments of the store’s opening, the main display room erupted into hoots and hollers both joyous and irate. The dresses, which had been arranged on myriad racks by nervous-looking store employees, had all but disappeared. Brides then began the complicated and often emotionally charged process of bartering for dresses—some even offering money to individuals who had snagged a desired garment first.

“It’s crazy!” exclaimed Lissete Castaned, who’s planning a wedding for next March. “I came last year with my sister, but it wasn’t as crazy as today. People were pushing!” Castaned was frustrated with the selection of gowns and continued to offer trades to passing women.