My sister & I came here as the first stop in our whirlwind tour of all things bridal, looking for wedding dresses--yep, both of us. Both getting married this year. The sales associate at Valerie's was so helpful. We arrived as the store opened, and were the only 2 there at first. We must have tried on 20 dresses each. And this associate (Adrienne) helped us with each and every one. The store itself is cramped, stuffed to the brim with bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, accessories, you name it. But their bridal selection was far better than the ones I've seen in other stores. We didn't end up buying here, b/c we're both getting married about 4 hours away, and went with a local store, but it was a great first experience overall. read more

Terrible bridesmaid service. I am from out of town and paid for and requested the dress to be shipped and they did not ship it correctly. Each person I have spoken with has been quite rude, from the first time I called to order the dress. They didn't seem to understand the concepts of hip and bust measurements. I haven't received my dress or a confirmation that it is on the way and the wedding is in about a month. read more

I should have known, the moment i stepped towards the door... This place is run-down, the exterior porch area and door is filthy, lots of chipping paint. Inside is pretty beat up, squeaky floors and dirty dresses. A few of the sales ladies were good, but they were outnumbered by the rude ones. There was only one dress to try on, so many of us had to get extensive tailoring done since they ordered dresses that were far too big based on measurements we gave them. Upstairs, in the fitting area was SWELTERING in the heat. AC was not really doing much. Our little flower girl was nearly crying, about to pass out. We were supposed to have 2 seamstresses there for fitting all the bridesmaids and the kids, but there was only one to tend to numerous appointments. Some of us decided it would be best to get our dresses hemmed closer to home, it was an hour+ commute out to this shop, and there was no way i'd be coming back for a 2nd, perhaps 3rd fitting in this attic with no air conditioning in 95 degree heat. The black haired seamstress took great offense to this, stormed out and didn't come back. The attitude was unbelievable, she was so abrasive. Why does she choose to work in the 'service industry' when she's got no people skills or personality? Valerie did her best to apologize on her behalf, and make excuses - but it really made no difference to us. I'm not shoveling any more money their way, i'll take my dress elsewhere to get fitted. I'm sure there are plenty of other talented seamstresses out there that could do a far better job than Ms. CrabbyCrotch at Bridals by Valerie. read more

I bought my wedding gown and bridesmaid's dresses at Bridals By Valerie, as did two of my friends. All thru the experience they were absolutely wonderful. We were told our dresses would arrive in 12 to 16 weeks, my maid's dresses arrived in 13 weeks, and my dress arrived one week latter. Of all the bridal shops I went into, they were by far the friendliest and most accommodating. The women we worked with were the most professional and helpful we met. One thing I loved about the store was the fact that Valerie was a seamstress and designer. With the help of her head seamstress, Emily, they were able to completely redesign my dress to exactly the way I wanted it. I'm writing this review only to let everyone know how wonderful my experience was at Bridals By Valerie. Valerie goes the extra mile to help. read more

Maybe if you want to get your bridesmaids dresses here they will be helpful. But for Wedding Gowns...go elsewhere. They did not have a very good selection of dresses and were extremely unhelpful. The lady that was helping me even got frustrated when i kept saying no i don't like this dress... Chill out woman, this is a hard process!! read more

There were specific dresses I wanted to look at so I called the shop ahead with the style numbers to see what they had in stock. They had 2 out of the 4 I wanted to see so I decided to make the trip out there, a 35 minute drive. I arrived with the style numbers in hand and asked to see them. They didn't check in a computer system or anything for me, they just sent me to a rack to look for them. THEY DIDN'T HAVE THEM!! They checked the rack for me and just looked at me blankly, like 'oh well.' Who the heck was the person I talked to on the phone that said they had the dresses in the first place!? I drove to that shop specifically because I 'knew' these dresses were there. Do they want to pay for my gas? To add insult to injury, I called them again a few days later to run the style numbers by them again thinking maybe they were out of the shop when I came in or something. I called on Saturday 15 minutes before closing time. The woman on the phone told me that they were closing in 15 minutes, so could I call back on Monday and ask my question then. Yeah, Lady, I want to wait 2 days to ask a question that will take you 2 minutes to answer. I have to drive an hour to see these dresses now, but I'm glad they showed their true colors before I got into any business with them. read more

I know some of these reviews are quite dated. The shop has moved to Peabody, MA off Rt 1. I had quite the opposite experience. I got married back in October 2010. Valerie did amazing work and knew exactly what she was doing when push came to shove. When the clock was ticking and it got closer to my wedding date she was on top of it all; even after having a seamstress out sick for a few weeks. There was a particular staff member that made my experience feel like I was walking into my friend's place. She was very friendly, wanted to hear details about my wedding day and honestly made me feel at ease when selecting a dress and bridesmaid dresses. I found my dress in January 2010 (it takes about 6-7 months for the dress to come in which is typical at most bridal stores) and this staff member walked me through the entire process, even when the store relocated from Reading to Peabody. She always remembered my name, and fit me into their schedule whenever I wanted. I even went by unexpected, my dress already picked out, but just wanted to put it on again for fun prior to the big day. Overall it was a pleasant experience. Even when it was down to the wire and days away I knew they'd have it finished. I was the one being picky in the end, and they accommodated it all! I hope this is helpful because this place deserves a good review! It's a small place that has a great selection of dresses to choose from that were well within my price range. I thought my dress was gorgeous (which I"m obviously biased) but I couldn't believe I received 20% discount and it came in under $1000. And if you buy your dress there they offer bridesmaids, and parents of the bride and groom 20% off their purchase too! Best of luck future brides to be when selecting the prefect dress and planning! :) read more

They are the worst place to ever work with. Thye are rude, and inappropriate. I order a rush delivery for my bridesmaid dress. They told me it would be there the first week of March. It is now the 3rd week of March and they do not have it in. They will not refund the charge, they do not know how to track a shipping order, and they were not apologitic in any way. Ther are awful. I would not wish this company on anyone. read more

We went through them for my sister's wedding. They took FOREVER to get the dresses in, which were shoddy in quality. The staff was beyond unprofessional and rude. They had the bride's name wrong even though she'd gotten her dress through them. They also lost the payment and address info for one of women in the wedding party who pre-paid when we placed our order. When she called to find out where her dress was, they were incredibly rude and accused her of not giving the info even though she had a credit card statement to prove they'd been paid. They also tried to charge her extra for shipping even though it was THEIR mistake. read more

We got our bridesmaids dresses here for my sisters wedding last year. We went in without an appointment and the ladies there were really clueless. We looked around and picked out a few things. No one asked us if we needed help and no one came to check on us in the fitting rooms. We found a dress that we all liked so we ordered them. We had to leave a deposit which was no problem. We were told it would take no longer than 8 weeks for the dressed to come in. When the 8 weeks were up and we still had not heard from them my sister called them and they had no idea what she was talking about. The gave her the run around for a week so she went in there to see what was going on. At that point they lied to her and said they would be in by the following week. This was going on ten weeks now. Her wedding was in August and we all were going to need alterations. We ordered the dresses in Jan and they didnt come in untill JUNE!!!!!!! 5 MONTHS!!!!!!! When my sister expressed her frustration they told her it was our fault since we never gave deposits. Not true , in fact 2 of us paid in full when we ordered. Then they told her it was the manufactures fault , that the manufactures messed up the order. My sister asked for the number to the dress company to complain and thats when Valerie told her that it was their mistake, that the order got lost and they didnt get ordered untill my sister called 8 weeks later. SO UNPROFESSIONAL. If you are on a bit of a time crunch do not trust this place! They offered no apology and no discount. Not even free alterations for the inconvience. Thank god we ordered early! I cant imagine if we had needed them within 3 months! So unorganized! Oh and their baby flower girl dresses are the same price as adult bridesmaid gowns!!! 150 for a 18 month olds dress! read more

I had an excellent experience buying my wedding gown at Valeries. I found the staff very enjoyable. They are all laid back and I didn't feel pressured to buy a dress. The dress came in with plenty of time to alter. Valerie did some of the alterations herself and did an excellent job. I would recommend this place for brides who want a laid back mom and pop type shop. read more

I must have went to at least 30 bridal shops all over New England( if not more ) looking for the perfect dress...I am a very picky person and hard to please. I could not find anything...all the stores seemed to carry all the same dresses and not the type of dress I wanted. When I first went to Valeries, I was greeted by a very nice helpful woman. I spent 2 hours trying on dresses and still did not find what I was looking for......finally my sister pulled a few dresses from the clearance section that I had first stuck my nose up to. After trying on the first one....I found the look I was looking for!!!! The dress was a sample size so it did not fit me right. because it was on clearance it was discontinued and they told me I could not order one any longer. I was soooooooooo disappointed. I left the store on a mission to find something close to it now that I knew what kind of dress I was looking for. I went back to almost 1/2 the stores I already the first time around with no luck. My only option at this point was to by an old sample dress and have it altered if I wanted this dress...I went back to Valeries and Valerie happen to be there this time...I told her what I was going through...she told me to give her a few days to try to track another dress down. she called the vender to find out who else they sold the dress to. She called about 20 stores all over the US to try to find the dress...she was having a hard time because most stores discontinued it as well and i needed a bigger size than the sample size ....guess what...she found it for me!!! I was so thrilled.....I to was doing weight watchers and had a goal of losing weight. when the dress arrived it was very big on me because I had lost a lot if weight...but you have to understand their reasons for this.....all "brides to be" say they are going to lose weight and don't!!!! They can't go by someone telling them " oh order it in a smaller size because I am going to lose weight" then when it comes in they have to order extra fabric that will never match 100 % because it is of a different order batch of dialect. I would rather have the dress to big when it comes in to have enough fabric to cut and CUSTOM fit to my body. These ladies know what they are talking about. Let them do their job.......as for my bridesmaid dresses...yes, they were not on time like the others I read about and that was a bit stressful but it all worked out in the end......don't wait until last minute to order and you should be fine..........With every bridal shop I read reviews about it always seemed the dresses did not come in when promised so it seems to be the normal....the problem us with the dress makers not he bridal store. Good luck and please don't let the bad reviews keep you away...stop by for yourself and give them a chance! Good luck! read more

Well, I went to Bridals by Valerie first for my wedding dress. I tried on several dresses and they were so nice but, the one I found, I wasn't completely thrilled with. I went to another store and found the one I wanted. I liked the service at Valerie's so much that I called them and ordered the dress through them. That was the first week of September. It's now first week of May and they just got the dress in. I had left several messages with people when I called to find out where my dress is and they kept saying someone would call me back...never happened. So, the bridesmaid dresses arrived before mine. One of my bridesmaids lives in FL so she paid for it to be shipped to her. Valerie told me she would ship the dress to her the next day (the day after they came in). Well, it's almost a month later and she still hasn't received her dress. So, I called and it turns out she still owed $ on the dress, so I thought. After relaying this info to my bridesmaid she said she paid the balance and the shipping months ago. So, I called back and spoke with the same lady and asked her why she told me she owed $ still. She said she didn't know and that she couldn't help me. It's now less than a month til the wedding and the dress hasn't been shipped. I told the lady I wanted it to be overnighted free of charge. She said I was speaking on deaf ears because there was nothing she could do for me. I wish I had read reviews before going to these people. read more