I had a good experience shopping for my wedding dress, but only when I shopped with Milene and Brendon. The manager and the other sales woman were standoffish and, despite the fact that we had made appointments, didn't help us as much.
This business only gets 3 stars because, while I had a good shopping experience with them, my alterations experience was horrible.
If you want to avoid unnecessary stress, avoid getting alterations done here! My wedding is Oct. 3, and two weeks before the date, the woman hadn't even started my dress yet!
To be clear, I called Best for Bride 3 months prior to my wedding to make alterations appointments, only to find they only do them 4 weekdays per month, from 12-9. Since I work Monday-Friday 12:30-8:30, that didn't work for me, so they gave me the home number of their in-house alterations person Christine so I could make appointments with her at her home at my convenience.
I dropped off my dress for alterations on August 4 (two MONTHS prior to my wedding date) with Christine, at which time I found out Christine had recently broken her hip. I was understanding. She told me she would be able to finish the body in August, then have me in for a fitting at the end of August to look at the length, at which time she thought her hip would be healed enough to do that. I agreed to this.
I didn't hear from her AT ALL in August. Finally, around Sept. 7 I called her to find out what was going on. She gave me a bunch of excuses... her dog had run into her and delayed her healing, and she also got behind due to another dress being more involved than originally anticipated. She promised she would be doing the dress the next week on Tuesday/Wednesday (Sept. 15-16), then I could come in for a fitting at the end of the week. I agreed to this, still trying to be understanding.
Sept. 15 and 16 came and went, and no phone call from her at all. On the 17th is when I started to get really stressed. I started Googling other local alterations businesses, and there was a review for hers, which is the other one listed on the Body Perceptions page, saying she actually gave a dress back two days before a wedding without starting it! I also started looking at Best for Bride reviews, and found most of the negative ones were a result of alterations work (she is the alterations person for Best for Bride in Barrie). I found another business that had glowing reviews, called that business and made an appointment to take the dress there the next day.
I called her to find out what had happened, and to have the uncomfortable conversation telling her I would be taking the dress back, had she not started it. At this point she seemed MAD that I was calling at all. She still hadn't started it. (surprise) When I told her I would take the dress back she seemed incredibly angry, to the point where I worried she would do something to the dress before I could take it back. I was on edge the rest of the day until I could make it to her place. When I arrived that night with a friend of mine, she raised her voice a few times, and indicated she thought it was unreasonable that I was questioning her. I took the dress anyway.
The cherry on top of this lovely story is, when I took it the next day to the new alterations place, the woman was able to guess that Christine was the person I had taken it to in the first place, as apparently she's had A LOT of brides come to her last-minute with the exact same issue, and other issues including shoddy work! I'm almost relieved she didn't have time to get to my dress now!
TL/DR: Best for Bride Barrie is great for shopping, but PLEASE take your dress to get alterations ELSEWHERE, unless you want unnecessary stress close to your wedding day. read more