Today I "said yes to the dress", thanks to Mia and Carlotta!
This was my third visit to this shop, spaced out over the course of several months. Carlotta was the sales associate assigned to me on my first trip there, back in October 2014. My original appointment was for bridesmaid dresses only, but after quickly choosing a dress for the bridal party (I scoped them out ahead of time on the website), I wandered around and also found cute, coordinating flower girl dresses. Carlotta was great at explaining which dresses were available in which colors and fabrics, and was super laid back about me wandering around with no attempt to rush me around, or stand on my heels. Since we were making great progress, I decided to try on wedding gowns as well. Carlotta and the team were very accommodating, even though I had no formal appointment for this. I walked around, pulling dresses I liked, and was directed to a fitting room. At some point, a few other associates wandered over, including Mia, and a manager, whose name I don't recall. Mia sized up my figure and my likes/dislikes, and asked me to trust her. She returned a few minutes later, with a few dresses, all of which looked absolutely knockout on me. I'm very curvy, ranging from 18-22 depending on the manufacturer, so this is an accomplishment! One dress in particular I absolutely fell in love with. But it was my first time trying on gowns, and it was spur of the moment, so I wanted to see what else was out there.
After a few months of visiting other bridal salons, taking care of other wedding-related stuff, and surviving the holidays, I finally returned today, with my mother, sister, and fiancée. My mother was looking for her mother-of-the-bride dress, and she is not an easy customer! She's very picky, and finds imaginary flaws in everything. Once again, Carlotta took my wacky family in her stride, and had nothing but positive energy, and patience in spades. My mother chose her dress in under a dozen tries, and then it was my turn! I showed Carlotta about 15 photos I had saved from the website, and she tracked down all the dresses they had in-store. I supplemented that with more picks from the rack, and then got down to business. Intermittently, Carlotta and other associates checked up on us, but it was never to give us the hard sell. They were genuinely interested in our progress and our happiness. I liked a lot of dresses, but none so much as the favorite from several months ago.
Mia joined our party then. She remembered me from my past visit, and even remembered the dress! Unfortunately, she told me it had been discontinued- I was crushed! She assured me she would find me another dress I loved, and brought several more out. It became apparent that I wasn't going to love any of them the way I loved the discontinued gown. So Mia got on the phone with the warehouse and found out which sizes were left. The only viable option was two sizes too large- I was heartbroken again! So Mia went and found the alterations specialist to ask if it would be plausible to take the dress in that much. When the seamstress said it was definitely doable, I knew I had to have it!
I just couldn't believe the lengths that Mia went to for me, or her incredible eye for silhouettes and styles that flattered me. And I greatly appreciated Carlotta's good will while I hemmed and hawed and was generally indecisive. All told, we spent over four hours in the store, and was never once made to feel like we should hurry it up.
As Carlotta began my paperwork for the order, Mia explained the ritual of ringing the bell, and encouraged my fiancée and I to make a wish that we would reveal to each other on our wedding night. I went in to the appointment watching other women ring their bells and found it a little on the cheesy side, but when it was my turn... I was so happy I jumped for joy. Mia even let my sister video the entire thing, and took photos with us.
I have read a lot of negative reviews on here, and I just don't get it. Okay, nobody fawns over you and gives you champagne, but the store is clean, and organized, and the sales associates are helpful, and work together as a real team. Yes, they leave you occasionally to help other brides, but I kind of liked that. I had my fiancée and sister helping me into and out of the dresses, instead of a stranger, and nobody stood over me, grilling me on what I thought of every single dress. Yes, the appointment goes a lot smoother if you do your homework beforehand, by making a profile on the website and saving some styles to your "favorites", so they can print it out and pull your dresses that way, but even if you don't, they'll work with you. The sample dresses were well-maintained, and they had a decent variety of plus sizes. I've also read negative feedback about the fact that they try to sell you veils, accessories, and gown preservation kits... Well... yeah, they are in the business of making money! That's to be expected! read more