I have never written a negative review before, but am sharing this in the hopes that it saves someone a huge headache.
Before giving my deposit for a wedding dress, Joanne was quick to respond to my inquiries. She sent me fabric samples to choose from, and put together a catered "dressing room" for me on her website. Despite hesitancy after reading previous reviews, I decided to move forward with a wedding dress purchase a year ahead of my wedding (not a custom design, just one of her existing patterns in a fabric color I selected). After giving my deposit, she stopped responding to all forms of communication. About 6 months in, I accepted that I had been ghosted and used PayPal's dispute system to attempt to get my deposit back. Shortly after initiating this, I received a lengthy email from Joanne apologizing for the lack of communication and reassurance that she was planning to make the dress and would keep me posted. I canceled the dispute, and sure enough I haven't heard from her since. It has been another 6 months, and I am two days out from my wedding. No refund of my deposit, no acknowledgement of my attempts at contact. I had to move forward with purchasing another dress elsewhere.
Trust me, you do not want to be in this situation. Planning a wedding is difficult enough, it is demoralizing to become attached to a particular look and make design decisions for decor, flowers, etc. around it and have it fall through without a clear point of resolution. And to have the experience of excitedly sharing your chosen dress with friends and family, and later have the embarrassment of needing to explain to them that you were scammed. It has really soured what should have been a joyful experience. read more