I went to a Bridal Show in Chesapeake Beach in February 2013 and met Kim, the owner of Lily's Bridal. After walking around a bit at the Show, I stopped back to talk to Kim about her shop. I made an appointment for a few weeks later when a friend could make the trip from DC to Baltimore with me.
I worked with Jessica as my consultant, who was INCREDIBLE! From the moment I walked through the door til the time I left, I felt like I was the only person in the shop as I had her full attention.
I am a 14-16 in street clothing, so an 18-20 in bridal wear. I had gone to another shop and had the displeasure of being forced only to look at dresses that didn't even come close to fitting. I had no real idea of what would look good on me as a result. I knew some things I wanted in a dress and some I didn't. I described what I wanted and liked and we went back to pull a few things from the racks. The second dress I tried on, which Jessica picked out for me, was the one I ended up buying.
One of my biggest concerns was that I wanted a dress that was a bit modest (i.e. sleeves or wide straps). Jessica recommended adding a piece that was actually designed for another gown and having it attached making the dress both exactly what I wanted, and incredibly unique for me.
My favorite thing though was the very thoughtful handwritten thank you note from Jessica. I definitely had a great experience.
So why the two-stars?
First, I had a small billing error. I was undercharged on deposit (by less than $10), but they called right away and worked with me to correct it. I loved that I was allowed to put the dress on layaway and pay on each week so that it is one less bill to pay later. I was able to pay it off in a little over 6 weeks and it was going to be ordered as soon as I had finish paying for it.
Second, there was an act of god involved. In August 2013, there was a FedEx airplane crash in Alabama. On that plane was about 500 dresses from this particular designer; all of them destroyed in the crash. My dress was on that plane, but given that my wedding is scheduled for November 2014, not a big deal. So the issue?
Well, I called in November 2013, when they told me the dress would originally be in, and they told me all about the plane crash and that the new date would be in March 2014. They said that the designer was nice enough to replace the destroyed dress free of charge, but other dresses would be prioritized over mine because my wedding was so far out. I can understand that there are rush orders that came in after my order and other orders with wedding dates sooner than mine. But why did I have to call YOU to find this out. Communicate with me. Also, why in the world would you expect me to have to pay for another dress when the first dress was never in my possession or even close to being in my custody. I am not even looking at holding Lily's responsible since I am sure that the designer had insured the dresses when they sent them via FedEx.
Now, I called today mid-April 2014... ALMOST a year after my inital order. New date for the wedding dress is end of June. If I wasn't at work when she told me that I would have completely lost it. I got the same line about rush orders and other weddings, but look good customer service is about communication. You changed the delivery date CALL me. Tell me. You have my email address, a 2 sentence email would have resolved this issue.
(The dress finally arrived July 2014 - more than 420 days after the initial order was placed). To add insult to injury, they contacted me in Feb 2015 (wedding was beginning of Nov 2014) to offer me a discount on cleaning and preservation on my gown. I took it in December so now of the dirt from walking around the venue would ruin my dress.
I have to order bridesmaid dresses, and I'm sorry, but I can't do this to them. read more