I went to pick up my wife's bridesmaid dress (she was the maid of honor) on a very boring Wednesday afternoon around 12:30. From the outside the place looks like a bomb shelter with dresses in the window. The show room is upstairs, but you would never know it from the drab, basement-like entrance. As I walked up the stairs I notices ZERO customers in the store, however; two employees were working on the sales floor. I stood there like a jerk for a bit while both employees (one was the owner) kept to themselves. The owner did not respond to me for, at least, 10 minutes even though the store was empty and another employee was just walking around "dusting" (the store smalls like the inside of a mascot costume). When the owner, finally, saw me she made a little annoying noise like "What the hell are YOU doing here!!". She walked over slowly, like a zombie looking for fresh brains and giving a crap why I was there. She asked me to follow her as she took me downstairs to an absolutely empty storeroom (by that I mean: what was she doing that was was so important that she couldn't wait on a customer) and took her sweet-ass time to get the dress which, by the way, was a second alteration. You see, they screwed up the first time they altered the dress (even after my wife tried it on there and markings or whatever were made!). So everyone is entitled to a mistake even a business that claims perfection; it's important to give them a chance to redeem themselves. But, to my surprise, she handed me a bill for the second alteration!!!!!! Are you kidding me?!!! I argued a bit, but then gave in; what was I supposed to do? We were leaving to go 200 miles away the next day for the wedding. So I paid. Do not go here ladies! Oh, if you think I'm exaggerating, feel free to Google this company and read the many reviews that make mine look like a compliment. If you have ever needed a dress for a wedding or YOUR wedding, these reviews will scare you! read more

I ordered a bridesmaid dress here when my best friend got married and I had a good experience. So I had high hopes that my 9(!) bridesmaids would also have a good experience. The pros: the dresses are beautiful and the prices are good! Overall, I loved my bridesmaid dresses. But getting to that point was one disaster after another. I had my bridesmaids pick from two different styles of dresses. Two bridesmaids and my maid of honor lived out of town and we were told they could order over the phone. So after that was all taken care of... We waited and waited and waited. We ordered on February 1st. I was told that because of Chinese New Year (the dresses come from china) it would take about 10-12 weeks for them to come in. At the end of May, I called just to check in about my order. The girl who answered sounded confused and told me she'd have someone call me back. No one ever called. So I called again after a week and was told there was no way to track my order and that I'd have to continue waiting. Then, in June, my maid of honor calls me. She got a bridesmaid dress in the mail! Yay! But it was not the dress she ordered. Not even close. In fact, it had some other girl's name on it and a different wedding date. It was a dress from someone else's wedding. I had to travel back to the store to return that particular dress. Fast forward to July (5 weeks before the wedding). The dresses finally arrive! They are the right sizes! The colors are pretty! I am relieved.... Until my one bridesmaid from out of town calls me to tell me they ordered her the wrong style dress. She's an easy-going gal and normally this wouldn't be a concern, but she had just given birth and was nursing and the dress they sent her was strapless and a little skimpy. I called to see how Candalina could possibly amend this and was told (by the owner's wife) that she shouldn't have ordered over the phone and that it must have been her fault for ordering the wrong dress! I asked to talk to the owner, but was told he was out of town. So now I'm pretty livid. I travel there AGAIN to see if I could talk to someone in person. The woman who was there was very understanding, but couldn't really help me. She said there was no time to order another dress. No time to get additional fabric. She suggested buying a shrug in a "close color" In the end, that bridesmaid got a partial refund for the dress. But that was after MUCH time and effort and after many conversations. This experience was not worth the beautiful dresses. Save yourself the headache and stay away from this establishment. Planning a wedding is stressful enough, you don't need to deal with this mess of a business on top of it. read more

I was a pretty laid back bride with realistic expectations, but Candalina Brides caused headache after headache for my bridesmaids. I bought my dress from this shop as a sample and took it home that day. So luckily my personal dealings with the shop were minimal. Candalina Brides kept no records of payment (partial, full, balances, etc.). Instead they asked the bridesmaids to recall this information when they were inquiring about what their balances. Clearly they were relying on the business to maintain such records, while the business was relying on its customers to do so. The employees I interacted with weren't very knowledgeable about the bridesmaid dress I selected. They were unsure of essentially every detail of the dress: shipping time, ease of exchanges/returns, sizing, and alterations. When I asked about these things, I received the same blanket response: "It should be okay." I should have seen this is a big red flag, but because the bridesmaid dress was somewhat difficult to find in stores, I decided to stick with it. The most confusing experience I had with the store was when my friend and I went to the shop at 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon. to pay for her bridesmaid's dress. The door was locked. After a few tugs, the owner's wife opened the door to tell me the shop was closed. I pointed to the sign next to the door that said their Saturday hours were til 6:00. Her response? "Well, that's not what our voicemail says." She stood there and waited, as if she wanted us to give her a better reason to allow us into the store. I showed her that Google also listed their hours as til 6:00 and explained that we were there to simply make a payment. She reluctantly let us in, and was clearly displeased to be dealing with us for the five minutes we were in the store. When the dresses arrived three months before my wedding, one of my girls needed to order a different size, as alterations weren't possible with the material. The store associate we worked with couldn't say if the dress would be in in time, and asked my friend to call the next day when the owner would be in. She called twice a day for four days. Each time she was told that the owner would be in later that day. Until after four days, she was told that the owner was now in Japan. After waiting a few more days to get word from "Japan", a store associate was able to give her the information needed. Overall, it was very difficult to get a straight answer when dealing with Candalina Brides. It seems as if the associates aren't able to give definitive answers and need to check with the elusive owner first. While none of these were terrible, horrific problems, they were enough to prevent me from referring friends to this shop in the future. It's definitely not worth the aggravation. read more

This is the only place to ever fat shame me. I am not a sample size, but I've been in multiple weddings and have never felt so disgusted and mistreated at a bridal shop. The owner is rude and acted surprised that I was in the bridal party. Why else would I have been at then function? Obviously, since they only carried one size of the dress in a sample size I couldn't try on the dress so I was reliant upon their measurements. Well, guess what didn't fit when it arrived... my bridesmaid dress. Instead of offering up solutions, the employee who wouldn't fit in a sample size either instead said that I signed the contract for that size. Well, what other option did I have? Then she told me to just lose 5 or 10 pounds. I would never subject your friends to this horrible establishment. read more

Update- After having been told a variety of different delivery dates and having to finally have my parents get involved to help me get an answer, this place never got my dress in time so I ended up getting a full refund and had to buy off the rack three weeks prior to my wedding date. Do NOT recommend ( below is my original post ) LOVE! My mom found this location for me to try on bridal gowns and I was very happy with the website so we went for an appointment. I had already chosen a designer that I loved and the manager of the store immediately helped by providing me with options similar to what I'd preselected. For me, it was very helpful to have the manager choose additional styles that she thought I would like. I felt very supported by the staff without being pressured in any way. I actually ended up choosing a gown that the manager picked for me and was very grateful at their recommendations for accessories. I believe the manager of the store is a new owner of the location... regardless we were so happy with the appointment and service that my mom and sister decided to purchase their dresses from the same location. I'm very grateful to have found this store. Although it looks rather unassuming from the outside, it is quite a gem on the inside. I definitely recommend. I think they are appointment only, just FYI :) read more

So I found the dress I never thought I'd get here! I also got it at a great price, so much so I ended up getting two dresses for my wedding day. My experience with the owner was beyond amazing. I felt like I was at Kleinfeld's to be honest. The owner was by my side the entire time, with great suggestions and feedback. The dress I fell in love with, she allowed me to try on just for "fun", I felt so attended to. She told me I could come back as well and show my dress off to whomever I wanted whenever I wanted. When it came to fitting time, the 2nd dress ended up being a bit snug and uncomfortable. She let me swap out my dress for another one !!! no charge no hassle, she was so accommodating. Who does things like this anymore? I was quite upset the 2nd dress no longer fit, and the seamstress was very kind and reassuring as well. I recommend this shop to anyone who wants a great experience, a great value, and a wonder person to help them find their dream gown. read more

UPDATE: The only thing that the owner has right on his comment is that I assured him I'd do whatever I could to let Pittsburgh know what type of business he is running. He specifically said that "I'm not the first & certainly not the last" & that he'd love the "free publicity" so I made sure to keep my promise. For starters- the "no comment" on ordering the wrong dresses in the first place is typical. That complaint dated back to Jan. It's now July. The employee that messed up probably was too afraid to fess up. I wasn't "too busy" to pick up my dress. I live close to an hour away. My sister's mother in law offered to pick up the dress bc she was in the area. Clearly, the distance is not his problem but we were under the impression the correct dress was ordered. No one told us that we needed to try the dresses on before I left the building otherwise I would have gone myself. For the 37 phone calls -he probably added up how many times I called the store a few weeks prior the actual dress pick up. I called numerous times one Saturday bc my sisters & I were going to make the trip out to CB. After about the 20th call someone FINALLY answered. Their hours online stated they'd be open but when I called I was worried that no one would be there. It turns out that their summer hours began & were never updated any of their online accounts (at the time). When this whole situation was noticed I was out of town working at a medical conference on the west coast. The wedding was less than a month away. I was 3 hours behind & trying to reach the store on my breaks. Has anyone ever tried to call CB? No one answers. EVER. After not being called back for so long obviously I'm going to keep calling. I called about twice a day for a week straight. Every time I talked to an employee they would promise that the owner would call me back. About halfway through my week of calling someone told me that I needed to write an email to get him to call back. If that was the case they should have told me that to start. It took 7 days to actually speak him! Where Scott has this wrong- again - was what I told the employees. I stated that "I refuse to come into the store UNTIL I SPOKE WITH THE OWNER". I was not about to waste my time & gas to have to go back out again. I even said that I would make an appointment with him in attendance so he'd have the opportunity to fix his mistake. Yes, I wanted the right size dress at first. Who wouldn't when you paid $200 for a dress? When I found out that it took about 15 weeks to come in I settled for the alterations even though that wasn't my first choice. My receipt shows size 12 that was ordered & I received a size 14. The very first employee that I spoke to told me that she saw how the mix up happened. They scratched out the wrong size on the receipt but never changed it in the ordering book (which was separate from the receipts). SHE ADMITTED THAT THE MISTAKE ACTUALLY WAS THEIR FAULT. I still have ALL of my receipts showing what size should have been ordered & from her comment, I know they store has everything too. I don't appreciate being misquoted. I've never used the word "swimming" in my dress. The size difference was ONE size but for a girl like me - I'm not very busty - so the dress literally fell down when I put it on - which is a BIG problem. The top piece was made correctly to size. The alterations should have been more expensive but we have a wonderful seamstress. When I filed my BBB complaint I originally stated that I didn't want ANYTHING from CB but they called me & said that the complaint would just be filed in a drawer & not posted publicly unless I put that I wanted something from the owner. That's when I stated that wanted my money back from CB for my alterations. I wouldn't trust this company to even touch the dress after the way the owner & his wife spoke to me. When his wife told me that in her country I'd be expected to deal with it & the company wouldn't be at fault I had reached my boiling point. I'm amazed that any business owner would allow something like that to be said. In summary, the owner clearly has major problems owning up to his mistakes. He still cannot respectfully say that they ordered me the wrong size- maybe they should speak the employees or look at his records again. I'll still do my very best to save anyone the hassle from dealing with this company. He has plenty of other negative reviews on other websites -which speak for themselves. For people to take the time out of their day to post this stuff I'd say they'd have to be pretty passionate on really having a BAD EXPERIENCE. I truly hope that all of this "free publicity" does him good. I enjoyed being the maid of honor in my sister's wedding ONLY thanks to Verna, our seamstress. I'd suggest to anyone looking for dresses to STAY AWAY from CB. Good Luck with your business. read more

This place was great. I came in with some pictures of dresses I liked and was able to try on several in a short amount of time. Their prices are reasonable, there is not pressure, and the sales lady also did alterations making it easier for her to clip me into dresses that were 3 to 7 sizes to big for me. Two different friends recommended me to this shop who had also had a great experience. read more

I highly recommend the Candalina Brides. My daughter and I have had the best experience ever. The owner and her staff are attentive and helpful, giving us helpful tips. The prices are pretty reasonable too Everybody loved her wedding gown! read more

AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE! Attendant woke up on the wrong side of the bed! She was sooooo rude. Here is my story: My friend and I walked in and started going upstairs, as the sign indicates you should. A voice from downstairs says "I'm down here." So we turn around and start going down. She then starts up the stairs and says "no go upstairs." She asked what I was there for and I told her I was in for a appointment to look at wedding dresses. And then she said "No, what KIND of dress." A little taken, I calmly told her the style I liked. She took me into the room of dresses and said to look around. She did not offer to pull for me (she knows her stock, not me.) I found one dress I had a mild interest in trying on. She asked if I needed help trying it on. At this point, in no mood to deal with her, I said my friend would help me. We took the dress in the fitting room and noticed it was dirty and tattered. We tried it on as best we could (if anyone has tried wedding dresses on, you know how difficult that can be). As fast as we got it on, is as fast as we took it off and booked it to the door. No way I was placing the responsibility of ordering and altering a dress for my wedding day in this shop's hands. They can't even give you the courtesy of trying on their dresses. All I can figure is this lady has zero patience and should not be working with the public. Sheesh! read more

When my friend and I were looking for bridesmaid dresses for her wedding, we stumbled upon Candalina. We decided to try them out (even after noting some not so good reviews later on), because they were one of the only stores in the Pittsburgh area that carried the dresses from the designer that she liked. They had a lot of different options for bridesmaid dresses, and choosing and trying them on was very easy! We ended up finding the dresses she liked, and decided to order through Candalina. However, we immediately felt the customer service was lacking. On several occasions, we found the saleswomen to be rude and unhelpful. I called to see if we could stop in a second time to nail down the exact dresses we wanted and so I could get measured. I was told that there was an appointment that night and they wouldn't have time, so we needed to come earlier. When we got there, the store was empty, and no one came in at any point. We also noticed there were no appointments in the book. After being measured, I ordered and paid for my dress. When the woman measured me, she told me she would be ordering me a size that was 3-4 sizes bigger than what I normally wear. I questioned it, but knew bridal ran small and she assured me it was the correct size. Once the dresses came in, the bride was called to pick them up. My friend was handed my dress and told she could take it and leave. Not once did someone offer alterations in-store. When I received my dress, it was way too big (a good 1-2 sizes too big I later learned from a seamstress), although 2 of the other bridesmaids had MUCH bigger problems than I did with theirs. I knew I would not be giving Candalina anymore of my money, so I took the dress to be altered elsewhere. I paid $120 for alterations (more than half of what the dress cost), as it had to be completely changed due to its size. When I called to complain, I was offered nothing other than an "I'm sorry." Very disappointed in Candalina, I WOULD NOT recommend this store! read more

I had a great experience at Candalina Brides. My friend and I walked in without an appointment and received a friendly welcome. (I was trying on bridesmaid dresses, she was looking at bridal gowns). The shop was very nice with spacious dressing rooms. They had lots of great dresses at affordable prices. The service was friendly and professional. The owner and her husband spoke to us personally and were very helpful. Unlike some bridal shops I've been to, neither my friend nor I felt any pressure to buy. It was a great experience, and I would definitely recommend Candalina's to my friends. read more

I was pleased that Candalina Bide ordered my gown as a rush and it did arrive in time for the wedding. The downside: the alterations were very expensive and very poorly done. The hem looked as if a high student just learning to sew had done it and I had to make some repairs and press the hem once I got it home. The alterations to the bodicve were incomplete and i ended up with a poor fit and lots of excess materialright across the bust. I would order from them again, but definitely take my dress to a professional seamstress. read more

While awaiting the arrival of your wedding dress, you should feel excitement and joy, not desparation and hopelessness. The delivery date was "pushed back" many times until it finally came in over 3 months after they said it would, and gave me the run-around throughout the entire process. I didn't think my dress was coming at all to be perfectly honest. I had un-returned phone calls and was lied to by Donetta, the owner. Janie was the consultant I worked with the most and she was always pleasant and helpful; however, the store overall struggles and I would never go back. If you are shopping for a wedding dress run far far away from this place. Seriously, take my word for it. I ordered my dress well in advance and no one should go through what I went through wondering when you were going to get a straight answer and if your dress was ever going to come. I have read many negative reviews for this place and still gave them the benefit of the doubt. Shame on me. Check out the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Brides by Candalina is rated an F. They have unresolved isssues with customers and unfortunately they really don't care. Shopping for a wedding dress should be one of the most exciting times of your life, not a nightmare. There are many other bridal shops-avoid this one. read more