I'm married, my sisters are married, nearly all my friends are married. Needless to say, I've been to heck of a lot of wedding dress shops in my day. Never before have I been to a shop that told a bride "it's better to try on a dress that's too small than one that's too big. Now my friend is not a big girl- usually about a size 8 I would guess. She tried on a beautiful dress in a US size 6 (Aus 10) and while it zipped up, it was tight and was showing every little lump and bump on the poor girl. It was impossible to visualize how it would look in her size. We asked if they had any bigger sizes and we were told that it's a new dress and it's too risky for them to order more sizes until they know if it will be available for a long time or that it will sell well. I don't know what she was blabbing on about but it sounded like a bunch of bull. Honestly... how many girls can try on a US size 6? It would be absolutely impossible for anyone even slightly bigger than an aussie size 10. Needless to say it was just what my friend was looking for but she never would buy it from there without being able to get a feel for what it would really look like in her correct size. When I went and picked up a bigger dress for her to try on in a different style the staff member tried to give us a lecture on how it's not good to try on a dress that's 2 sizes to big. It won't sit right. Of course it wont be perfect but at least you can zip the damn thing up. Now, for those of you who have never shopped for dresses, how it usually works (in EVERY single other shop I've ever been in in Australia and the US) is that they stock dresses that are a bit bigger so that more girls can actually try them on. Then they clip them in the back so you can see how it fits your shape. At abbey bridal we were told that they don't clip dresses because it ruins them. While I'm sure it isn't great for a dress, it IS standard practice AND it allows a bride to move around and really get a feel for what the dress will look like on the big day. Can't really do that if the staff is simply holding it together for you in the back. Needless to say they really rubbed us the wrong way. My friend really liked two of the dresses but told us that even if she decided on one of them she wouldn't buy it from this shop. Only reason I'm giving it more than 1 star is because they did have one of the bigger dress selections of the Dymocks building bridal shops. read more

I went in to my appointment wanting to try on a certain dress for my vow renewal in October. The staff were really lovely! Jess M helped me pick out a few dresses but I tried on the Divina dress by Maggie Sottero first which was the one I was interested in. I loved it even after I tried on the others. I went back the next day with a friend for a second opinion and bought the dress. It's lovely and I can't wait to wear it. The experience here was really lovely. Thank you. read more

Abby Bridal. One of the absolute worst experiences you will ever have. When you walk in the door the women at the front counter immediately begin judging you. If they don't believe that you are of a certain breeding and monetary background they basically ignore you. Your opinion on what you'd like to wear on your special day holds no value. We gave the woman plenty of advice on what styles the bride was after which were completely ignored. We, the bridesmaids and maid of honour, were told to sit down quite rudely as we were stressing the staff out by wanting to pull dresses for the bride as we knew what she was looking for. The sales woman eventually put the bride in a princess ball gown the complete opposite of what she was after and ignore her continued opinion that she hated it and never wanted to put it on. She then proceeded to put a veil over her head and try to push her into buying a dress she was completely uncomfortable with. Once the sales woman realized that her opinions were not what the bride wanted AT ALL she then told her to get dressed and maybe try back in a few weeks when "larger sizes" might be available. All in all this experience left the bride, one of my best friends, in tears and a stress rash and her final thoughts were to maybe try something with black in the dress in it because based on the brides personality (she spoke to her directly for all of 45 seconds) she likes dramatic dresses and black would look great on her wedding day. I cannot say enough that this place is the absolute WORST place to buy the wedding dress they are unhelpful rude and judgmental preferring to ignore your opinions rather than listen to your thoughts. read more

I attended Abbey Bridal shop today with my two daughters and grandson to collect my youngest daughter's wedding dress. We have been very impressed with the advice and professionalism given by the staff. My daughter chose her dress on our first appointment at Abbey Bridal shop following consultation with the staff and her input on what she wanted. The staff were very helpful, pleasant and polite. The staff at Abbey Bridal shop made the choosing of her dress a very special and beautiful time for us. I would highly recommend any girl who is getting married to visit Abbey Bridal shop. read more