My experience shopping for my wedding dress at Mara was seamless! Lori was attentive, patient, and extremely helpful. Despite going in with zero expectations (and being someone who doesn't dress up often), I ended up walking out with a dress that I felt great in--at a great price to boot. I have nothing but positive things to say about my experience. Thanks again to Lori and the Mara team for your help! :) read more

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Visiting my hometown with my daughter and never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd find her dream dress. Tiffany was delightful, humble and kind. We are going back to Florida so happily. Mara is some place so special....hometown kindness with a beautiful flair. As my daughter walks down the aisle I'll have a special tear that we found it in Charles City. read more

Mara - Train - Bridal Near Me - Charles City, Iowa

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Men- If you plan on getting a tux from them, make sure to stay on their butts. We were told we would get a price for the tuxes at least a month out to prepare for the cost, and we didn't. We were notified that our tuxes were ready a week prior, which is great, but there was no mention of the cost. MAKE SURE you plan for their resizing. I know this is common, but we had 9 people get their suits/tuxes from them, and they ALL needed to be tailored: either wrong shoes, wrong jackets, completely wrong size pants and shirts, a mix of everything, and one of my groomsmen was big, so they resized him and just sent him with two shirts to the wedding because they were still uncertain of his size. They even looked at us and asked if we got it fitted there because of how screwed up they were (which we did). We also informed them that we did not want pocket squares and/or cufflinks, which we ended up paying for because the groomsman didn't know what they were supposed to have or not. Now, on to the cost: it says multiple places that, all said and done, the tux rental would be $250 at the high end. Asking everyone what they paid at the end, there was a variety of answers, which seems odd to me. Everything from 295-320 was paid for the suits/tuxes. Also, make sure you look at their hours, which are wonky. Someone better be able to take them back on a Tuesday if you have a Saturday wedding, because they aren't open Sundays or Saturdays. read more

Mara is such a beautiful place to shop. My daughter got her Christmas dress and her Spring Sing for her concerts for school from Mara. At both visits the employees were kind, fun, and knowledgeable. I love that Mara has Plus and Standard size clothes to help keep all women looking stylist. Mara is a must stop when you are in Charles City. read more

You will not find a better bridal shop anywhere! Hands down this store will take care of you and your crew better than anywhere you will ever find. From calling to setting up your appointment to buying the dress of your dreams, you will feel like you have found your best friend! I do feel blessed to have known the owner of this shop for quite some time but to see her in her element was amazing! I went in not knowing at all what I wanted and she quickly pulled some dresses and we started! There were 9 people with me total, with all different styles and from the first dress I tried on I knew that this was going to be a very hard choice. The dresses she chose were all so different and all complemented my body shape in different ways. I would of been happy to be married in any one of the gowns I tried on that day. Tiffany was so professional through the whole process even though I consider her a great friend! Her knowledge on all of her gowns blew me away. The second I tried on the dress I knew, we both did a gasp and we instantly knew it was the one. She opened the drapes and I showed my tribe and we all were hands down in! To get all of those women to unanimously agree on one dress was a task that I thought would be impossible. I had no idea it would go like that, and when you know you know. I never felt any pressure to buy that day or that one. And to be honest the first dresses she showed me and I tried on were from the sample sale. I did not end up choosing one of those but that just goes to show you what type of experience even the owner of the shop will give you, she is not there to push the most expensive dress in her shop on to you but to find the dress that you will look amazing in. When looking next at accessories and a veil the very first veil she brought out is the one I bought. It looks as if the dress and veil were made to go together. She is so very good at it all. Then the head piece I bought was the last one and unable to order and I got it at a great price. I cannot say enough about this amazing shop! I do currently live in Waukee and did not even look in the Des Moines area as I knew I wanted to at least go to Mara! Tiffany exceeded every expectation I could of every had! I have been with several friends and family members to get their wedding gowns and have never had an experience like this! We joke about how sad I feel for those friends that got married before Mara was opened because no one should have to buy their dress from anywhere but here! Thank you so much Tiffany and all of the Mara staff! Cannot wait to work with you more this year! Oh yeah and a huge plus was the wine that was served!! Great perk! Amanda Achenbach Waukee, Iowa read more