I have been to well over 40 bridal shops - between family, friends, planner and bridesmaids duties - my experience ranges across 8 states and many approaches to pairing the bride with her ideal dress.
This experience was absolutely atrocious.
We walked in at opening (10am) on a Saturday with an appointment that was booked about 4 weeks in advance. We were a party of 5 and there was a party of 2 also in the shop. We were all just standing around until Lady 1 asked us all three times if we were together, and who was together, as well as "who had gotten there first". The boutique is by appointment only, so I thought this question was off-putting, but we continued into a TINY changing area with Lady 1. As required by the bridal salon, the number of guests were to be provided in advance, yet when we stepped into this small room - split in half to accommodate two brides simultaneously - there were only 2 chairs set up. Ok minor detail, Lady 1 brought two more chairs and squished everyone on top of each other, leaving very little walking room and heck, breathing room! I would like to point out that the other bridal party (of just 2) was placed in the exact same room on the other side, working with Lady 2, but their area was about twice as big. All this showed me was that there was no planning or thought put into either of these appointments, as it was clearly that the party of 5 should have been placed on the larger side. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that the smaller side should not exist at all: there is no podium, there is very little space, there are pipes and wiring exposed that's visible in every photo of the bride in her dresses. It's tacky and clear that they're just trying to squeeze brides into the rooms and don't care at all about their personal experience.
Moving on... the bride had brought with her - her wedding date, budget, names of designers, style number and printed photos of the styles and exact dress she was interested in trying on. She handed the photos to Lady 1 who glanced at it for maybe 30 seconds then handed it back to the bride. Before pulling any dresses, the first thing Lady 1 asked our party was:
"Aren't you going to help pull dresses?"
First of all, no. These were provided in advance and now day of, these should have been prepared. And if they hadn't been, it is certainly not our responsibility to go searching for them in the most disorganized bridal shop I have ever seen. When asked how all the dresses were organized, Lady 1 said that they were organized by SIZE. Not style, not price, not designer - but SIZE. The most irrelevant part of the wedding dress shopping experience is the only way this shop uses to organize their offerings. So here we were, 5 gals searching the entire place, checking prices and necklines and beading detail and asking the bride if she was interested in trying on this dress or another dress. How absolutely awful. Lady 1 had the audacity to ask the mother of the bride if she needed help finding something. It was just bizarre and awful. They cannot even locate a veil - Lady 1 did not even know names of veils (chapel, floor) it was very odd. She provided very little help, just running around to ask Lady 2 if she knew where this or that was.
Skipping forward the bride finds her dress. Cries and falls in love. I ask about a timeline, cause ours is tougher than most. I thought this was something the bridal salon would have considered in advance, since they've have the details for over a month and were reminded yet again at the beginning of the appt.
Asking about timeline, Lady 1 announces that it will take 4-5months to receive the dress.
The wedding is 4 months and 5 days away from the date of the appointment.
I have in front of me a bride who is panicking, standing in her dream dress and a veil, starting to get visibly flustered and obviously on the verge of tears. Lady 1 keeps repeating the 4 month window, then using the excuse that she though it was at the end of the month in 4 months (which is absurd because the date was provided multiple times, but also irrelevant because it would have put any bride outside the window). Here I am at the ready to get the style number and hunt this dress out anywhere I can even think of while Lady 1 is scurrying around talking to Lady 2. They come back in and say they they could get it here in 3 months. I was appalled. How unprofessional was it to make a bride struggle like this? Nothing was prepared, nothing was organized, no help was provided, everything that could have gone wrong - did.
I was not the bride but I feel awful that this place and their people stole such an important experience from her and tarnished the memory of finding her perfect dress.
I would not recommend this bridal salon to my enemies because even they deserve a respectful bridal appointment which they can cherish forever. I intend to post this review everywhere I can to save another bride the disappointment of working with this shop. read more