My bride maid and I went in just to look at dresses for my big day I had several ideas I wanted after just trying on two at another place. Walking in here was a relief at first.... the girl at the front was new she helped me get my perfect gown. The guy was very welcoming and overly nice! But we still went ahead and I fell in love with my dress! We put it on layaway. The very next day. A week later... we couldn't get anyone on the phone and the store in the mall was closed as well as down town ( given covid ) but we had 2 week mark to pay or we would have lost my dress. So we go on to call the voice mail box was full and no body was there finally on the last day my mom received someone! He's a total scam the dresses are amazing but go somewhere else to get your dress!! read more

This Mom in California is highly disappointed in the level of service...or LACK thereof!! **Edited addition: I have been contacted by people who live in the area, solely based on my review and they agree... this place is NOT an ideal place FOR ANYONE to shop for a special occasion because the owner and his terrible regard for paying customers just seems to have a personal problem with providing the level of service one comes to expect when investing in an event that will become a lifelong memory. Dear Mr. Owner of Absolute Bridal & Formal - Get A Clue. That is all** My daughter and three of her friends went to this bridal shop in order to find bridesmaids and flower girl dresses for her wedding in December. Although I am in a different state, the process is very special and I want so badly to be there physically, however, I cannot. Two other locations gave her permission to video call me so I could be a part of this very special venture virtually and it has been quite pleasant so far...UNTIL THIS PLACE. Upon entering the store, my daughter immediately asked an approaching sales woman if it was OK to video call me - she explained the unique situation and she agreed it would be fine as long as it was just a call and not photos, etc. She daughter confirmed and proceeded with our call. We commented on some of the fashions, and finally agreed on a dress for one of the young ladies to try on (urged on by the very aggressive sales woman I might add). While waiting for a member of our party to model said dress, a middle aged man walked up to my daughter VERY RUDELY saying something about screen shots aren't allowed...she responded jokingly and proceeded to show him our video phone call - she even stated, I was in California and couldn't be there. - but before she could finish, he cut her off..instead of staying professional or even apologizing, he proceeded to increase his volume of speaking while citing regulations of the strict partnership he has with designers. My Daughter commented about his lack of professionalism and her desire to shop elsewhere... He then proceeded to FOLLOW THEM CLOSELY AND ATTEMPT TO USE INTIMIDATION TACTICS on three very well spoken, beautiful, casually dressed, graduate students all with me, a virtual mom, experiencing the entire chain of events. His actions were over the top & simply unnecessary. The young lady who was coerced into trying on the dress finally came out & stood on the platform to demonstrate the dress' features, while the future bride & friends eagerly sat on the couch waiting for the viewing and much needed exodus. The man, finally identified himself as THE OWNER, continued to stand IN FRONT of, ON THE SIDE OF & BEHIND the ladies, as if they are engaging in inappropriate behavior...when they remained poised and classy giving their attention to their friend who stood on a podium, unaware of the turn of events while she was in the fitting room. I was sickened by his blatant and rude approach to deter "in-store photos". He was clearly targeting and picking on these young ladies. The final straw was when he STOOD ON THE PODIUM NEXT TO THE YOUNG LADY MODELING THE DRESS!!! HE DID NOT MOVE AWAY - I wanted to say to him, "Why on earth, except for ignorance and obvious underlying issues toward young ladies wielding a bit more "melanin" than you wanted in this store, would a person do this? YOU SIR, are a JERK!" Meanwhile, WE and mine will Never return and this establishment certainly WILL NOT get my GREEN money for this wedding! (9BM +1FG dress Needed + One Idiot = Missed Opportunity) Side Note: **While on the phone, I witnessed other patrons in the store, walking and talking in large groups. All were free to stroll without intimidation or being followed** read more

The store was a little stinky but may have had something to do with the construction out front! An old store front doesn't always equate to a terrible business. I believe some of these reviews are extremely wrong & inaccurate. Susan was extremely helpful when I walked in, I showed her screenshots of things I liked particularly for wedding dresses. She went through the shop and picked a few dresses she believed I would be interested in. She helped me in the dressing room, because lord knows I would've never been able to put on those dresses alone (This is actually VERY common practice at bridal shops and formal shops). The third dress I tried on was THEE ONE!!! I tried on a couple more, even checked another shop out, but immediately knew I had to go back for the dress I was in love with! Kinda sad I wasn't able to get pictures (and yes! They have signs clearly posted!) but it is what it is! Can't wait for my dress to come in 12-14 weeks! They even have layaway available, which is amazing! Thank you so much for your help Susan! read more

Ok so I was really excited to go here. They really have some pretty dresses but man are they expensive! So my roomie and I go in we waited a bit since it looked like there was no one in the store but then we decided to look at shoes. The man from what I perceive is the manager came out and started to talk to us asking common questions like what we are looking for and all that. It was ok at first but he never left our side. I felt like we couldn't even look at anything because he came up to talk about every single thing. At one point I fell in love with a dress and he heard so he started talking all about it and how They could sew it to fit me better to where he actually touched my hips to point out where it would sit. After he finished I said I want a picture, but he said no pictures. Which if I could point out, there were no signs of that anywhere. He went on and on about how it's wrong to post things on social media and how the internet keeps record of everything we look up. I was like ok well I just need to send a picture to my parents because they are the money. Then it turned into this big lecture about why that's bad. He brought up how that's bad in god's eyes, how I'm too dependent on my parents, and how my parents aren't doing a good job if they have that much control on my life, and he even went on to talk about how he does it right. Thankfully he left and a girl took over watching us. She still hovered, but not as much. At that point we were just so comfortable, specifically me, that we left. It doesn't matter how pretty your clothes are, if you treat me like that, I'm never going back. read more

This place made the experience of finding a wedding dress, a horrible and dragged out process. The workers constantly tried to show me dresses I did not want. Every time I told them what I wanted, they did not listen. They also tried to change my opinion on what I wanted for my wedding, even guilting me into saying it wasn't what "God would want". I will never take anyone back here nor go back. The environment was also unpleasant. Made my friends feel extremely awkward and uncomfortable. Very rude overall. They also do not allow you to take pictures. The quality/material of the dresses were cheap. Would not recommend going here. read more

I would think very long and hard before coming here and order a dress or having your bridal party come here as well. They don't strive on making the customer happy after they make mistake. They don't care about the Bride and her being happy on her wedding day, and the dresses are way to expensive to not care about fixing the problem when they did it, and they will make you come out of your pocket and not give you anything back. So please DON'T make the mistake we did, go to another a dress shop. The Lynchburg,VA STORE read more

Just found my dream wedding dress & I am SO happy! Susan was very helpful & personal. I highly recommend this bridal shop over any shops in Lynchburg. Susan is the best! Thank you for helping me find the most beautiful dress for my special day. read more

Service warning to the people of Lynchburg: I HIGHLY caution anyone against shopping at Absolute Bridal and Formal on Main Street. I have been in this story on three separate occasions to look at wedding dress/accessories/shoes etc. EACH and EVERY time, I have not hardly gotten past the front of the store without being accosted y the owners. First, I am a bride who has been through the ringer twice now, so I am familiar with the wedding world, terms, sizing, material, the whole vernacular. I know EXACTLY what I am looking for in a wedding dress. Upon entering the store, I was told that I could not browse and had to have an appointment, even though there was not a soul in the shop. And theior website only "suggests" an appointment. Mind you this was my third time in, and the last time I was in they did not mention anything about an appointment. I went on to explain to both owners why my schedule does not allow me a whole lot of time to make and keep appointments. Not that I even needed to provide them a reason as to why I wouldn't subject myself to scheduled harassment by them. I do not wish to try on things with big appointments without family present. I explained this to the owner and his wife. He proceeded to tell me that 85% of women do not know what they want in a wedding dress. Sorry but I am part of a very cut and dry 15% of women that know what she is looking for it a wedding dress. Plain and simple, I know what I want. I then explained to him why he was being pushy and inappropriate. And he concluded by telling me that he could definitely dress me better than I could dress myself, and that I had no idea what I was talking about. This was the most recent visit. The first visit I had there, I was told I should be there unless I was ready to try on dresses. Also they made condescending comments about my weight as if I couldn't fit in any other dress. Last time, I checked I wasn't the size of Mount Rushmore. And honestly, I do not even remember my second visit, but I can tell you it was nothing bu a trifling blur. I understand that providing a service and maintaining a business is difficult, but good customer service is key. I say this, as someone who has been in customer service for years, and I know precisely what it take to make a customer feel valued and listened to. And I would not have even said anything if this was just a fluke of an experience, but it wasn't. Three strikes and you ought to be out. A wedding is supposed to be the happiest day of a woman's life not an ego trip for one's business. And I think its just general good practice not to harass the people that could make you money. Its probably also good not to bully customers into sales or appointments. PLEASE do not shop here if you value your sanity, self worth, and good customer service. read more

Worst customer service ever I've been to multiple bridal shops and we were allowed to take pictures and videos but I was told to put my phone away when I was texting we're not allowed to take pictures do you to their one of a kind dresses the consultant was very rude to me save yourselves from the pain and waste of time please bring yourself to not come to this dress shop read more

I highly recommend looking somewhere else for renting tuxedos for a wedding. Terrible service! For people that are out of town, it makes it difficult. Your better off going with a company that has presence in multiple cities... read more

I was in the area looking for wedding dresses, so I tried this place. I was not impressed with the selection. The quality of many of the dresses were very cheap and itchy. Felt more like I was putting on costumes rather than a beautiful gown for my big day. They mentioned if I wanted to order anything it would take 12-14 weeks, so I'm pretty certain they're ordering their collection from some cheap Chinese outlet (like JJHouse or something) and reselling it for up to 10x the price. If they sell any true designer dresses here, they did not show any of them to me. I did notice some hanging dresses that seemed to have rather nice quality material, however they weren't in a style I liked so I didn't try them personally. It may be worth trying this store if you're desperate and don't have traditional taste. As for the service, I must say, they are rather pushy and I didn't have a very pleasant experience. I specifically told them the style of dress I want, and what details I DON'T want. They put me in several different styles (I understand that some people may be pleasantly surprised by a style they normally wouldn't try, so I'm not upset about that), however when she put me into a style I absolutely didn't like (mermaid), I told her I didn't want that at all, and then she put me in an even tighter mermaid after that....they tried to tell me "I don't really know what I want" and they want me to get a feel for all the different styles, despite the fact that I told them exactly what I want. I really felt like they were wasting my time in dresses that they should have known I wouldn't like. They probably would have put every dress in the store on me if I stayed long enough. Just to note, however, the experience I had with the employees themselves was nice. They were very sweet, and aside from being typical salesmen, I didn't feel intimidated at all. read more

I have to agree with the other review on the page. I went in today to look for a wedding veil...which I was prepared to buy if they had the "right fit". As soon as I walked in the door two employees came out, asked why I as there, which was to see veils- they then asked me "how could we manage to sell you a dress and not a veil?" I explained I had just moved to Lynchburg and already had purchased my gown. The retail assistant then proceeded to show me ONE of the many veils they had in stock, explaining "veils are bought in sweeps, we don't have what you're looking for" however when I explained I was open to suggestions, they were not interested. She then asked if I had found my bridesmaids dresses, which I responded I had- this did not impress her. I asked if I could "poke around" and what I felt to be a very cold response, she told me that you had to have an appointment...I was also the only one in the store. I will not tell you to not go to this store; perhaps if you have an appointment, the workers will greet you warmly and offer suggestions, but this did not happen for me. The YWCA shop two blocks away is much kinder, accommodating (even when they are slammed) and makes you feel that your day is the most important day. I did not feel this with this shop. read more

I highly recommend absolute bridal. I had no idea as to what type of wedding gown i wanted, I knew what i didn't want. I had two ladies with me the entire time. The one lady asked if she could pick 3 dresses for me to try. She was on point. I absolute LOVED all of them. The first one need to many alterations, the second one was my perfect dress. They had me in and out of one dress in under 3 minutes. The two ladies that helped me were very HELPFUL and understanding. I bought the second dress that they showed me. I could not have done it with out their help. And this is the second bridal store I went too. The first one was church street bridal. They were nice, but they didn't help me do anything. They didn't help me find a dress or help me in and out of the dresses. I tried on 10 different dresses. It was horrible and very so disappointing. This is one of the biggest days of my life. I want to look and feel beautiful. With out the help of absolute bridal and the two wonder ladies that helped me.....well I would still be trying on dresses. read more

Absolute was the third bridal shop my cousin and her entourage found ourselves in on Saturday. We had been referred to a place in Lynchburg, but quickly found out that it wasn't what we anticipated and were highly disappointed with their service (or lack thereof). We are all so glad we took a chance on Absolute! Their sidewalk appearance I will have to say leaves much to be desired, and I honesty wasn't anticipating much walking in there....but we were pleasantly surprised as soon as we stepped through the doors! They had TONS of dresses for any formal occasion on display which was sooo nice to see! The visual is definitely appealing, and you really feel like you can show the attendant what you like/dislike and they know exactly what you are looking for. The attendant (Brandi I believe) who greeted us was very professional, and pleasant! She really took the time to listen, and to HELP (which wasn't an experience we had from either of the two places we had already been!). As soon as the bride explained to her what she was really looking for Brandi said she had a dress in mind that she wanted us to look at. As soon as she pulled it the smile that lit up the room told us ALL that this might be the one. We pulled several other dresses just for good measure and off to the dressing rooms we went. We weren't left out in the cold there either (like we were before)! Brandi went into the dressing room to help get the dress on, and as soon as we saw the bride come out to show us the pick we knew that was the one! We couldn't have been more pleased with our experience at this bridal shop! I hate that there are so many negative reviews for this shop, because we walked out of there feeling like a million bucks! Thank you Brandi and Susan for everything you helped us with on Saturday, and for making us feel special and not like just another burden on your Saturday. We would recommend this place 10 times over to anyone. I can't speak for everyone who works there, but Brandi and Susan were amazing! If you go...ask for them, and I feel sure you won't be disappointed either! :) read more

Shopping for a prom dress led us to several places in the Lynchburg area, but Absolute Bridal treated my daughter and I special. Even though they were very busy, it was worth the wait. The sales associate, Chloe, that helped us was amazing. We were clueless about what woukd look good, fit, etc. Chloe pulled the dress my daughter liked and one we had tried on a previous visit. The associates in this boutique handle the dresses and personally help rhe girls with their fittings. I just had a seat and waited for the show!! It was an AWESOME experience. My daughter felt comfortable and said that Chloe and the whole experience made her feel beautiful and special with this one on one attention. I would definitely recommend this shop to anyone looking fir formal wear!! Everyone was so polite, friendly and professional, from the sales associates to the owner. Thank you all so much!!! read more

I must say, walking in to the shop, I became very excited to try on dresses for my upcoming wedding. But they would not allow me to even preview the dresses without scheduling an apt ..which is kind of understandable. BUT when I came back for my appointment, we weren't greeted and we kind of just stood around waiting for an associate to greet us..mind you, it was about 15 minutes of just standing around. Finally I took the notion to start looking at dresses myself, that's when the owner (I'm assuming) finally greeted me and told me I needed to schedule an appt. I told him I had an appointment 15 minutes ago. He proceeds to ask me when my wedding was and once I told him, he kind of drew away and told me that I should have already found my dress with the timing (8 months away) ..So I left, very disappointed in with the whole experience in that store. I will never return. read more

Don't know where you went but these people are great! They are fun and willing to help you find what you need. They were very knowledgeable with picking styles that looked good on me and my bridesmaids. Nobody is perfect but the thing I noticed with the customers is that they all looked happy! I've been in SEVERAL times and had a great experience each time. read more

I went to Absolute Bridal after already shopping at another bridal shop for my wedding dress, so I had a really good idea of the style of dress I wanted. I told the workers this when I entered the shop and they immediately discouraged my ideas. They also told me that my ideas for my bridesmaid dresses were not good ideas, would not look good in my wedding, and were not honoring to what God wants in a wedding. All I'm doing is allowing the girls to have different styles of dresses. Any time I told the workers what I was looking for in a dress they brought me the opposite and did not listen at all. I never once felt like a bride in any of their dresses. They were also very rude to my maid of honor and the friend I brought with me. After an hour of trying on dresses in this situation I left in tears. I would not recommend Absolute Bridal, and I'm surprised they have stayed in business this long. read more

BEWARE The worst experience EVER. My son's Sr Prom and the gray tux comes out of the bag wrinkled and looking very cheap. The jacket was too big, the shoes looked as if they were probably about many years old and NO vest and tie. I voiced my concerns because when we ordered the tux, they did not have a jacket in his size available to try on (very professional) but the girl assured me the jacket would be fine, it was not. When I questioned the shoes I was first told that they could not give me a refund but would give him a white pair "if " he could fit a pair already in the store. I am disgusted at this point. Suddenly I am sitting there alone because all of the employees that were so eager to take my payment had disappeared. Attempts to get a vest and ties from the supplier failed for whatever reason so they went to the rack and found a vest and tie with missing buttons but they could sew the buttons on, I just had to waste my time and gas and come back the next day. read more

Last Sunday my mom and I dropped by Absolute Bridal downtown Lynchburg to check out some dresses. I really wasn't expecting to find "the one", but I figured what could it hurt to try on a few. Upon entering the store I was greeted by a young woman and she asked what she could do for us. We explained that we were just looking but there were a few dresses on mannequins I wouldn't mind trying on. Her and another sales associate grabbed the dresses and I had tried them on in minutes. These women made me extremely comfortable and made the process fun! They picked out a few other dresses for me to try on and even though I didn't really like the dresses, they didn't push them on me. However I did fall in love with two dresses and I couldn't choose between either. My mother and I ended up leaving without a dress but told them we'd be back later in the week to try them on again just to see if my mind had changed. A few days later we returned back to the store and tried on the two dresses I loved on and yes I decided on THE ONE!! I did meet the owner as well who treated me with respect and like a friend which I greatly appreciated. I loved listening to his stories and his advice. I told them I needed some time to think about this dress and they were very accepting of that. They were not pushy, not rude, very respectful of my decision. In closing I'm not exactly sure what went wrong from looking at these other reviews, but I am soo glad I didn't pay any attention to them and went any ways. THANK YOU ABSOLUTE BRIDAL!! I CAN'T WAIT TO PICK UP MY DRESS!! read more

Our experience was horrible from the get go. We popped in spur of the moment, walked into a eerie-feeling store, smelled like mold and was dark, we were followed like a puppy dog and its posted you cannot take pictures of gowns due to the privacy of the designers. Hmmm...needless to say, we purchased a prom gown, had to wait 3 months for "delivery" to us and it arrived damaged and defective. I believe this gown was a USED PROM DRESS they resold to us as new, it has 4 water stains, and ink stain and a black stain in addition to sewing dysfunction on the bust of the dress. The dress had no tag whatsoever, no tag to share what the dress was or who made it. We believe we got the store try-on mailed to us. Very disappointed in the entire customer service process, wherein, I was advised every time I called, "Call me back next week" or "I'm busy with a customer, can I call you back tomorrow?" with no return call. Terrible experience, very heartbreaking to put trust in an out-of-state store to receive defective merchandise at retail prices. BUYER BEWARE....RUN THE OTHER WAY! read more

WARNING PLEASE READ BEFORE SHOPPING HERE: I would warn brides about this store...my daughter and I went to see if we could just look and see if she see's anything she liked and we were told that we had to have an appointment that every bride deserves the very best they can have when trying on wedding dresses. Well being my first time planning a wedding I thought ok, I get that lets make an appointment. We went for the appointment and my daughter was told looking and see what style you like and we will try it on. Well per my daughter when I sent back different dresses she was told you want to stick to what you picked out. That was the dress you liked, so you should stick with this style. Well she did like one of the dresses and we put a hold on it. I would advise all to read that statement that you sign, because it states that your down payment (or any money you put down to hold the dress) are not refundable, if you buy the dress you can not get a refund. They were nice to us and they did have nice dresses...but the serveice was not pointed towards the customer, but to sell there dresses. I would say shop at all the other shops first then if you can't find what you want visit this shop. read more

I am a business owner & it baffles me how places that conduct business like they do & sell such poor products stay in business. My dress was way to big, it pretty much had to be completely reconstructed. The lady that fixed it did a wonderful job. I had said something to one of the ladies at the bridal shop about how I was just considering ordering my dress online, she went on to tell me how terrible that is how you get these cheap foreign made dresses, but guess what that's exactly what I got from them. They had cut out the tag in my dress & just tagged a small tag in it. The jewels on the were literally falling off had to have all of them fixed, the dress was not symmetrical at all, & the stitching was horrible. At least if I ordered this dress online I would have only paid 1/3 to 1/2 of what they charge for the dress. The women there were friendly to us & very helpful, but I should have known something when I called to ask if I could get a make or style # to look my dress I bought up & they told me there was no where I could see my dress. As long as it took to get my dress I did not have time to do anything about it, so thankful for my awesome alterations lady, she really did perform a miracle. I guess I'll just chalk this up to my stupidity, I should have done research & looked at all the awful reviews they have, I have definitely learned my lesson. I truly believe in karma & all of their deceit will come back to get them. read more