I have never bought a dress here, nor do I ever plan on buying on there after the experience I had today. Two and a half weeks ago I googled bridal dress alterations and BB popped up as a search. It was near by to my house and my fiance said it was a very popular place, so I figured I would give them a call. The woman on the phone asked me several questions about the dress and she said she could fit me in. I was a little weary about the appointment being in two and a half weeks since I didnt have much time before I was getting on a plane for Bora Bora (and she knew the date I needed it by). I figured they knew what they were doing, so I became excited about the day to go in and get to have it fitted for me. I went in, dress and shoes in hand prepared to try it on and have them fit it to my body. It just needed to be let out a bit around the rib cage and shortened... nothing too difficult. The woman at the desk asked me how she could help me and I said I had an appointment for a dress alteration. She looked down at her book and was searching for my name... then two other woman came up and the one asked if I had gotten my dress there because they did not know who I was and could not see that I had purchased a dress there and they didnt have a phone number for me (Funny, because I remember leaving my phone number when I made the appointment... who doesn't when they make such an im. She stated that "We only do alterations on dresses bought here". I told the woman I was never told that, ad she said well the person who made the appointment should have told you that.... WELL GUESS WHAT!!!! She did not!!!! And you wasted two and a half weeks of my already very short time frame. SHe stated that she would go ask to see if something could be done. Of course she came back and stated that she is sorry, but they cannot help me. I of course stood there telling them that it was not my fault that I was not told what so ever. WHy would I waste two and a half weeks of an already small time frame. Bottom line is that the three woman stood there staring at me and refused to even make an exception. You messed up, not me... so have good customer service and make an exception. They of course could care less about me. They did not even offer to give me a local seamstress that they thought I could possibly use. I HAD TO ASK IF THEY RECOMMENDED SOMEONE!!!! What horrible service this place gives! Thankfully the woman that they ended up giving me was FANTASTIC... Ss glad I found her. She is getting the dress done in a week, probably ALOT quicker than BB would. I was just rather bothered by the customer service I was given, they could have handled the situation ALOT different. I was actually planning on buying a second wedding dress from there, but after my experience I would rather give my business elsewhere. I am not downing the dresses at BB nor the customer service that you may be given if you have actually already bought a dress from there.... I am merely telling the customer service I was given. Just because I didnt buy a dress from there does not mean you dismiss me.... You look at people as future customers and future referrals. read more

I started out having a good experience but it did NOT end well. I found a dress and was pleased, however there are plenty of boutiques in Pittsburgh that I'm sure I would've found the same dress if not better. I told the MGR. my budget and she brought me a dress, tried it on, LOVED it. Asked how much and it was DOUBLE my budget-rule #1 do not bring a bride a dress to try on that is double her budget. As a mgr. she should know this. I was upset but fine whatever I bought the dress. The dress comes in 7 months later and is the wrong color. The bridal shop argued with me but luckily everything was written in my contract so they had to honor it. They blamed the manufacturer, yet they had the dress for 2 wks and checked it over before I picked it up, they should have noticed then before they called me to come get it. They had to re order the dress 3 months before my wedding. When it finally arrived they did not apologize, and the mgr. who sold me the dress did not even come out of the back room she had the seamstress show me the gown and put me in it. Then she came out to deal with payment. I think I deserved some sort of compensation like 10% or a veil or SOMETHING. After 45 minutes of going back and forth they did not offer me anything or take a cent off the final price even though it was not my mistake and they caused me such distress. I would NEVER recommend this boutique to a bride unless you want added stress. There are PLENTY of other bridal salons that would be much nicer and accommodating. OH and not to mention, before I took my dress they showed it to me to check in teh garment bag..then gave it to me in a pink bag which I naturally assumed the garment bag was inside the cheap pink bag..got home and NOPE. read more

Incredibly unfriendly staff, completely clueless consultant. It wasn't crowded - we were there on a Monday afternoon. We had been to 5 other places over the last several weeks and pretty mjuch knew what my daughter wanted. The consultant brought back whatever she felt like grabbing - some fit the description, but most did not. If I asked who the designer was, she didn't know and didn't look. If I asked the price, she didn't know and didn't look. If I asked if it came in white (almost all were a ivory), she didn't know and didn't look. Always 2, sometimes as many s 4 other consdultants were standing at the counter talking - close enough to us that I could hear their conversations, and none of them ever spoke up to say answer any of our questions or to say anything. At one point, our consultant stood between my daughter and me and told her to ignore what I thought (and I was NOT being negative) and tell her if that was her dress. When my daughter said she wanted to go back to another store and re-try a dress, she pushed her into buying the one she had on. I finally told her to change clothes - we actually had a lighting appointment scheduled - and because I was not going to write a check to that store that day or any other day for that matter. My daughter did get her dress - at the other store where they treated us like we were special - like we were doing them a favor rather than the way we were treated here. From the time we walked in, theconsultant at BB made us feel like we were a nuisance. Think twice people before going here. UPDATE: I received a very much appreciated phone call from the owner today. She was upset by the way we were treated and apologized profusely for our experience. While there's nothing that can be done to change what happened to us, she did speak to the consultant and hopefully, it won't happen to another family. I might have considered going back and having a different consultant after the conversation today if we hadn't bought a beautiful dress elsewhere. I will say, they do have some grogeous gowns! read more

Before I went to Bridal Beginnings, I read all of the terrible reviews. I went in prepared for the worst. However, I was pleasantly surprised! My consultant, Lisa, worked with me for almost two hours trying to find a dress that was the most "me". When I couldn't move past two that I had fallen in love with at a previous salon, she kept putting me in both of them trying to help make my decision. She was very understanding and not pushy about it at all. She actually told me to go home, think about how I wanted to look on my wedding day, and come back in if I wanted. I really felt like she listened to what I wanted. Being a size 14, people want to put me in the plus size dresses that are traditional and nothing like what I want. Lisa really understood the vibe I was going for and worked with me to make sure I was happy. I was very happy with the quality of service I received from Bridal Beginnings. read more

I went shopping for my wedding dress at Bridal Beginning this past weekend and had such a wonderful experience with Sam. I sent them a Facebook message in advance to ask if they had a few dresses I wanted to try on in stock and they responded right away and suggested Sam based on the "look" I was going for. Sam was extremely friendly and did a great job at pulling dresses for me (with a few doozies, but that's okay). She spent two hours with me and would've spent longer if there were more dresses I wanted to try on. I went to two other bridal stores in Pittsburgh after Bridal Beginning and my experience with Sam was BY FAR the best. I am an extremely petite bride and she did a killer job of pinning and clipping the size 12 dresses on my size 0 body to give me SOME idea of the actual fit (whereas other stores were terrible in this respect). The store has a huge selection of dresses. I didn't end up buying my dress because it was my first time trying dresses on and I wasn't ready to say yes, but I highly recommend Bridal Beginning, and Sam in particular! read more

My entire experience at Bridal Beginning was wonderful, from start to finish. It was the first place I looked and my consultant was Carole. Carole was so helpful and kind. I never felt rushed or pressured to purchase something. She was honest with her opinion about each dress but only if I asked and in a subtle way. My entire experience trying on dresses with her was wonderful. I ultimately bought the second dress I tried on and came back to BB for my alterations with the seamstress Saida. While everyone at BB is wonderful, Saida simply stole my heart. Not only is she an incredibly talented seamstress, she is so sweet. She always made me feel beautiful, at ease, and never rushed. I had the whole neckline of my dress changed which turned out to be a pretty complicated alteration. Saida completely transformed the dress into my exact vision. It looked absolutely perfect and was exactly what I wanted. It looked like the dress was made this way from the start. Two days before my wedding I needed one seam slightly moved, and Lisa (the head of alterations) and Saida fit me into their schedule last minute with no hesitation and made the change on the spot while I waited. They wanted the dress to be perfect and it was! I simply cannot say enough about how wonderful Saida is and how absolutely perfect her work is. Altering bridal gowns is not easy and shouldn't be handled by just anyone. It might be cheaper somewhere else, but you get exactly what you pay for. I am so glad Saida worked on my dress and made it perfect. Thank you Carole, Lisa, and Saida! read more

If you are looking for a dress, start here. This was the best experience possible, from start to end. My entire dress search took 45 minutes total, including the time it took me to buy the dress! I came in unsure of what I wanted, really not wanting to spend too much, and with a tough to please mother and aunt in tow. Dorothy picked four dresses that PERFECTLY fit my style and even though I loved them all, the fourth dress was the one. I knew it and she knew it. She matched it to the exact right veil and everything fell into place. This was honestly one of the best shopping experiences I have had in my entire life, and it was arguably the most important! Thank you Dorothy and thank you Bridal Beginnings! read more

My future sister in law found her perfect dress here and was so excited for all of us bridesmaids to come find our perfect dress. A few of us are from out of state so we made a whole weekend out of our dress shopping adventure. But for us we had a completely different experience. We had two ladies helping us find the perfect dress. One was very helpful very sweet and made it fun and exciting. The other.. not so much.. she was a bully.. she made me feel horrible about my body shape. All of us are different body shapes and sizes and we found a dress that actually looked flattering on all of us. When being sized she basically force all of us to order dresses that were WAAAY TOO BIIG!! We got a discount on our dresses because the bride bought her dress there... well with being forced to get the bigger size we no longer had the discount. I'm very disappointed to see that this has happened to other women. And I wish I would have read some reviews before we came. If you choose this place make sure you are getting what YOU want not what the consultant wants! read more

Marisa a a dress finding pro! I hate everything about dress shopping and weddings and she made something I was dreading doing surprisingly fun and enjoyable. I swear she can read minds and has a good eye for dresses for individual customers. She is quick, efficient, and very friendly. read more

Worst experience and worst customer service. Not only were the bridesmaid dresses fitted and sized wrong, but the brides dress had a blood stain and the beadwork was falling off. Horrible experiences everytime for fittings. Do not go here. The women are all rude and know nothing about customer service. read more

I enjoyed my visit to Bridal Beginning. I would say, though, my appointment was a bit rushed. I went in the middle of the week and would expect this pace on a busy Saturday.The woman that was helping me worked quickly, which was appreciated, but went too quickly to the point I didn't feel as if my desired style was understood. The salon was beautiful and it appeared there were many dresses to choose from (I tried on about 6 dresses in my appointment). Overall, the appointment was OK but not fantastic. read more

I just wanted to add a review, as today I got my perfect wedding gown!!! If you go here, (which I highly recommend) ask for Sam! She is the best! So far, we have gone here for my sisters wedding gown (wedding in August), my maid of honor dress, sisters bridesmaids dresses, and today my wedding dress! Sam has been right there helping us with each and every dress trial, making it very pleasant, and she doesn't mess around. She is very knowledgeable on all the designers, cuts, styles, and sizes. Today was no different. She asked about my venue, what visions/ideas/pics I had, and then "pulled" dresses for me that were all so flattering it was a super tough decision. Throughout the try-on, she gave good tips that I wouldn't have thought of myself, they really helped with the final decision. Of course, ultimately the dress decision was up to me, it was helpful and refreshing that she added some REAL input. All of the staff at Bridal Beginnings are excellent and have been genuinely excited for our upcoming Weddings. My sister has had to call them many times with odd questions throughout her planning, and they were always happy to help her or find an answer. I hope this post helps upcoming brides who are unsure on where to go. Wish we would have read some good reviews before searching around shop to shop for my sisters gown until luckily finding this place. Although I'm sure they are all great here, I can't say enough good things about Sam... she truly is gifted at her job and has made our experiences so wonderful! **Another thing... A lot of older reviews I read mention the associate pushing a size that the bride/bridesmaid didn't think was right or a cut/alteration they didn't agree with. Remember that every designer is different. These gowns are not typical US sizes so trust their expertise! And at this shop, if you need something altered several times they only charge once. A lot of places charge for many alterations. Just something to keep in mind when looking at dresses! read more

While I didn't end up getting my dress from Bridal Beginning, I had the best experience with Marissa. It was the first bridal store I went into, and she made it such a wonderful experience. She provided options that were different from my original idea to fit my body type and style and with her help, I was able to narrow in on the style that worked best for me. She did a great job of reading my emotions in each dress. She told me that I would know when I found the dress, when the options were stacking up and I was getting overwhelmed--and she was right (when I did finally find the dress). She was by far the best person we worked with. I highly recommend working with her if you are scheduling an appointment at Bridal Beginning. read more

Thank you to everyone at BB for helping me with all the details of my wedding attire. From my initial appointment during a trunk show to my last fitting, the service and options were great!! My dress was gorgeous and the fit was just right. My accessories matched perfectly and my appearance was flawless. read more

I had such an amazing experience purchasing my wedding dress here! I was fortunate enough to have Emily as my consultant and she was everything I could have hoped for and more. I was extremely nervous going into bridal dress shopping as I was plagued with body insecurities and a fear that nothing would look good. Bridal Beginning was perfect in that they had an extremely wide range of sizes, dresses much smaller, the same as, and much larger than I am. This was fantastic because it allowed me to see many different shapes and silhouettes and Emily did a great job of pinning/modifying the samples to give me a better idea of what they'd finally look like. They have a wide range of options for varying budget levels as well and Emily did a great job of always keeping mine on consideration. I would highly recommend anyone needing a bridal/bridesmaid/MOB/MOG dress to come here- and do yourself a favor and try to book with Emily! read more

Although my daughter's dress was beautiful, her experience with the store and their seamstress was not. Our appointment when she bought the dress was great and our sales person was lovely but things went downhill from there. We had selected the store because it wasn't a big name bridal store and was more intimate and part of the community. My daughter ended up leaving two of her fittings in tears because the seamstress was so rude. Work promised wasn't done so a week before the wedding we had an unfinished dress. I don't live in Pittsburgh and it was very distressing to have my daughter this upset. I had to call the store four times before actually getting the manager although the person answering the phone told me she was there. The manager flat-out lied about what the seamstress had said to my daughter, telling me two variations. Each of her fittings were maybe 10 minutes tops but the cost for alterations sure was high. The day we arrived to pick up the dress, we were told it had been pressed but it was wrinkled and still bustled from the previous visit. The beading at the waist wasn't sewn on completely, it was only tacked so there were large gaps where it wasn't attached to the dress. The bustle was uneven so the skirt didn't hang well - this from the "best seamstress" according to the store manager. My daughter was such an easy going bride about all aspects of her wedding planning so heart still hurts because of her experience with thus store. This is the part that brides dream about and our experience was an epic fail. Thankfully she was able to put it behind her and had a fabulous wedding. All her other vendors were amazing. read more

I really can't say enough amazing things about this shop and Jordan, my consultant. I went to two other shops prior to going here and was so overwhelmed by how nice and patient they were here. I had a little bit of a hard time finding a dress and went to THREE appointments because my family lives out of town and I wanted to bring my parents and sister to see them. Jordan stayed over time, helped FaceTime my family and even came in early to help me and make sure I found the one! The owner even came and pulled dresses to try and help us. We're moving out of state and I couldn't imagine not giving them the sale after how above and beyond they went to help me. I already cannot wait for my fittings! If you are looking in Pittsburgh this is the place to go. read more

HORRILE EXPERIENCE!! Bridal Beginnings was the first stop in search of a bridal gown. My matron of honor bought her wedding dress from there, so I decided to give it a try. Upon arrival, the receptionist greeted me kindly and asked to fill out some paperwork, which went fine. Other than her kindness, the rest of the staff was atrocious. I was taken back into the fitting room, which was dark and dirty (the entire shop is in need of a facelift). My mom and I sat down, the consultant (honestly I do not remember her name, and very out of touch with for what I was looking), asked a few simple questions. She asked the standard questions, wedding date, venue, and budget, but not once did she ask my dress size or bra size. Note- I was already concerned about the 'girls' as they are on the larger side, and I am constantly self-conscience about them (I am not a big person-typically I wear size 4 pants and 34D(DD) or 36D(DD) depending on the brand). She started to bring back dresses, none of which was what I described to her during her questioning. I figured I may as well try these on, who knows they may fit or I may like them. Cleary, I was wrong. The first few dresses, I kept on my bra, for some support, she suggested I take it off so that the dress would fit better. The only problem with that was that, I had no support! I asked her, do you have any bras and/or solutions to this? Her only suggestion were cups. She gave me those, and it made it worse. She then brought in the buyer, who kept telling me that my top half looked fine, and that she could only suggest cups as well. Dress after dress, the 'girls' were not supported making me feel more self- conscience than I already was. This being my first shop, I was not exactly sure how things worked, but I am pretty sure I was not supposed to be standing there only in underwear, no bra, and the consultant looking at me like I was crazy because I did not like anything. I was not even offered a robe until the end, but that was after about 2.5 hours and 10 dresses (which were sprawled out in the dressing room, including my mom's lap) later. After 2.5 hours, the consultant and buyer were getting annoying that I did not like any of the dresses. I felt like I was being pushed into buying one that felt and looked all right. As a bride, you don't want to feel and look all right, you want to feel and look amazing! The consultant and the buyer, clearly did not understand this concept. The whole way home I was crying thinking I was fat, ugly, and I would never find a dress. Honestly, between the condition of the shop (poor), the way my mom and I were treated, and the way I felt leaving the shop, I am not sure how this shop stays in business. read more

Bridal beginnings has zero respect for customer's time. Every single appointment I've made I've had to wait a minimum of 15 minutes for anyone to do their job. Why make appointments if you have no intention of keeping them? My first appointment I waited 45 min after my original time! Also, they rob you in alterations. Avoid unless you like being bored in bridal shops. read more

Bridal Beginning was my first stop on my wedding dress hunt. They were very accommodating when scheduling an appointment. When I arrived they took a little while to get to us, but they did come out an apologize for the wait. The girl I got was very good at listening to what I liked and pulling dresses. We tried on several dresses and found one I would have been happy with by the end of the night. I told the attendant that I had a few more shops to visit but would like the information on the gown so that I could return to buy if I wanted to in the end. I could tell she was slightly annoyed by not making the sale that night, but I was not bothered. I would def add this to the list of places to visit. You may find your dress here in the end! In the end, I didn't get my dress here, but it was a fun appointment. read more

This was my first dress shopping appointment, and though I didn't think I'd be able to find something this soon, my entire appointment exceeded my expectations. My consultant, Samantha, was absolutely incredible. After a very short time of me explaining my wedding and ideas for dresses, she knew exactly what to look for. All of the dresses she pulled were gorgeous, but most importantly, I found "the dress" and it was all because of Samantha. She is truly talented and was wonderful to work with. Thank you to the store for such a wonderful experience! read more

Owner is rude and snobby. Disrespectful to brides that don't have obsene budgets. The average bride does not spend $3000 on her wedding gown, but she will make you feel that spending anything less than that is unacceptable. Of course many people are able to afford that type of wedding gown, but if you're not one of them, stay away from this store! read more

The ladies at Bridal Beginning are a class act. I went in with my bridesmaids and showed the consultant 10 pictures of dresses that I liked, and she was able to come back with gorgeous gowns that encompassed my ideas & also added to them. I found my dream dress the first day! The consultant was so happy, she cried! Since I am tall, I needed a longer version of the dress to be produced, and I worried when they said it would take a while & not be in until 3 weeks prior to the wedding. The assured me not to worry- they would put their best seamstress on it. When the time came for my fitting, the seamstress came and took my measurements, pinned the dress, and I left. She was helpful & reassuring. Two visits later, I was leaving with the most gorgeous dress that looked like it was made just for me- because in the end, it had been! These ladies respect their customers, no matter who they are, with no judgement. What a great place. read more

No stars for this experience! After picking out my Daughterrs dress with her and both loving it. Dress came in to small, we could not even zipper it up and my daughter is a size 4, the dress was a 6. After it was taken out it did zipper, but it changed how the entire dress looked on her, still having more alterations now we returned a month later, to find out none of the alterations were done, again returned a month later, and again none alterations were done, except for the hem in the dress which was way to short on her now as she walked you seen her ankles, seamtrist immediately showed me she could just take out a big gather in front of the dress which then release the entire front and it did fall and was good, but the fraud part was that they charged me $800 for a dress that they said had 4 different layers to hem, but that wasn't how they hemmed it at all, they just took the entire front in one hem line stitch and sewed it across, what a mess! being the wedding was 2 weeks away they did alterations as we waited, only to change the entire front of the dress, which should of been taken apart and cut and sewn back together to fix the front from not being so big on her, the seamtrist just over lapped material on the front of the dress and completely changed the entire look of the dress. Then still having more alterations for her to do that were not done, she ask us if we could come back another day, now remember wedding is in 2 weeks and we lived an hour and a half away and it was the Christmas season, and we have to go through Pittsburgh to get there! I said absolutely not. So seatrists just sewed material on top of each other to make it fit, but honesty it was a mess. I did't say anything to my Daughter because I didnt want her getting anymore upset than she already was. I came home and spent 4 1/2 hours steaming the four layers that were all a wrinkled disaster, and had a dress that looked nouthing like the original dress we ordered. Very upset, she got married December 20, 2014. I still don't sleep over it. Please go else where for your wedding dress read more

I took my daughter here last week to look for wedding dresses. I think the girl who helped us was named Sarah. She listened to my daughter and every dress she pulled hit the bullseye! She was really helpful, and even spent an extra half an hour pulling more dresses. My daughter wants a clean, classic look with no beading, sparkle or lace, and they had quite a few to try on, surprisingly. We are having trouble finding them at other shops. She knew what would look good on my daughter, and had her try on a few other types of dresses, as well. After going to 5 bridal shops, this was absolutely the best. We were there on a Monday night, so we got a lot of attention, only one or two others in the store. So far, the dress to beat is a Haley Paige at this store. I'm pretty sure we will be going back to get it. I am a little worried about all the bad reviews about alterations, though. We haven't gotten that far, yet. I highly recommend it. read more

I don't know why my daughter and I were under the misconception that this shop would be expensive. Maybe because it's in Mt. Lebanon? We came very close to outfitting my daughter and her bridal party at the national chain with the $99 (LOL) gown commercial. For the hell of it, I thought we should check out Bridal Beginnings before making a final decision...for peace of mind. Oh my, what a very pleasant surprise! Our bridal consultant was so patient and attentive, the gowns in our very modest budget were stunning, and the estimate for alterations were reasonable (not low, but way lower than the other shops...including the above aforementioned). Every member of the bridal party was treated equally well and the girls looked like they spent so much more on their gowns than they actually did. Not wanting to spend much on a MOB gown, I tried to find something at a Dept. store but without much luck. I almost placed an order from Nordstrom dot com but decided to see if Bridal Beginnings could help me out. Mind you, by this time it was March and I needed it by June to allow time for alterations. Long story short...fabulous gown, ordered in the perfect color, alterations were done with attention to detail! We were all in and out of Bridal Beginnings multiple times...encountering different personnel throughout the months...not one complaint about anything among us. Smiles all around!!!! read more