I have to start by saying that I liked my dress, but the reason I gave this place a 2 star is because the dress was not what I had paid for.
I had an exact picture of the dress I wanted and found out about this place. When I called Rose she spent hours on the phone explaining how their focus is customer satisfaction. I went into her office, we discussed the exact design and price. I had a specific type of lace picked out that she didn't have, so I gave her a number to a French lace vendor in LA. Because of the materials involved (French lace), and the amount of lace requested for the dress, she charged me a fortune for the dress, plus another fortune for the mantilla (which was to be lined with the same french lace). She also said she would include beads in the dress (if she had time) and a blusher, and a corset in the dress (which I asked for). Then she had me sign a paper and pay the full price in advance. I was not at ease paying the full price, but this was the only option s I trusted her.
As soon as we started the procedure after the payment, it was no longer about me, but rather about her.
We scheduled our first appointment to come in and get measurents. I found out the lace she had ordered for my dress was a different lace than I requested, and also, she ordered 7 yards instead of the 11 yards that was 1) agreed upon and 2) paid for. She said that she ordered the different lace because the one I requested was no longer available. Considering I was really picky about the lace, and I had spent countless hours picking the perfect one, and considering this was MY wedding dress, which I had paid a fortune for, I would have thought that she'd be professional enough to have called me BEFORE ordering the lace and have ME pick an alternate option.
She called to reschedule our second aptmt. Mind you, she wouldn't re-schedule my aptmt until a MONTH before the wedding. This means that she wouldnt start making the dress until less than a month before the wedding. According to her, she's had problems with brides gaining and losing weight so she wants the most accurate weight possible, but I was worried we wouldnt have time to finish the dress. She assured me she would, and I had already paid so I truested her. So I went in and we took exact measurements. I was then suprised with the news that she was NOT planning making me a mantilla. I reminded her that she had charged me $500 for it, she was not too happy but said she would do it with whatever lace she had in stock (not the lace I had ordered and paid for!!). The lace she had was far less expensive than the one she ordered for me, therefore I shouldn't have had to pay $500 for the mantilla. Also, she made it sound like she was doing me a favor. She also made me sign a paper saying I would not gain or lose any weight before the wedding because she would do no adjusment alterations.
We scheduled the first fitting 2 weeks before the wedding. She only had the basics of the dress ready. According to her, it would take her only 1 week to sew on the lace so she would have the final dress and fitting ready 1 week before the wedding. We needed the dress by then, because she said she would not have time to add all the crystals we wanted, so she was going to give us extra crystals so we could add them ourselves. Well this didn't happen either. I ended up in her studio 2 days before my wedding trying on the "finished" the dress for the first time, with no time for atlerations. Good thing the dress was only a little lose, so she did adjust the fit to my size.
1) The Mantilla did not have the shape I asked for (I wanted a round one, she made it oval).
2) There was NO corset in the dress (she said it would include one). 3) She did not put buttons in the back of the dress like she said she would (she put an invisable zipper instead), I had to ask her to PLEASE add at least some buttons, she said OK.
4) The amount of lace on the dress was far less than discussed initially. I asked her to put more, she said she ran out, so I asked her to add some of her own lace in stock (different pattern, but whatever)
5) The lace pattern that was to be put in the back was inverted. She said she thought it looked better this way but she should have asked me first. The original pattern was inspired by a dress I had seen and was the most in important thing for me in this dress.
6) she didn't add enough crystals, and we had no time to add more.
7) The neckline of the dress was not a real sweetheart (which I really wanted). She, of course, shook off any blame.
The final dress had to be picked up by my brother the day before the wedding with whatever alteration was made. Oh, and on the day of the wedding-NO blusher.
in short I liked the dress but not what I paid and planned for. Also, the procedure was too stressful for me. One should not have to go through so much stress for a dream dress and feel like you didn't get what u paid for. read more