I was nervous coming here. I'm a plus sized bride and I haven't had great shopping experiences in…read moregeneral in the past. I had looked online and seen that they had styles like what I was envisioning for my day, as well as them claiming to be size inclusive. When we arrived, we were greeted in the most welcoming way, with a sign that was put up welcoming all brides for the day by name. We were escorted back to a semi private room that had a sofa and chairs for myself and my guests with a curtain for me to change behind. They have a white robe with the word bride embroidered on it in pink for you to have on in between changes, which is so cute and sweet. It didn't fit me, unfortunately, so I think they should have some plus sized ones, but the sentiment is still appreciated.
The consultant, Grace, was so sweet! She asked about the wedding, what I envisioned for my dress, budget, and about the groom and myself. She went and picked a few dresses for me to try that she felt fit what I described. Right off the bat, there were some amazing ones! After that, she let me go look on the floor with my made of honor to see if anything spoke to me. I found a few more to try and there was one she was looking for but couldn't find. She spoke with the manager who was trying to find it for her and told her the price, but it ended up being a little outside of what I told her my budget was. My maid of honor spoke up and said my fiance had told her in private that I was to get whatever I wanted no matter price so if I wanted to try it on to try it. I let Grace know if she felt I'd like it I'd be happy to try it. As we were trying on the dresses we pulled, the manager brought in the dress and told Grace to make sure to double check with the budget before I tried on the gown, which I understood as it was double what I had put on my interview, even though I had stated it was flexible beyond that. After all was said and done, that was the dress! I said yes to the dress! Grace helped me see it with two different veils and I found this gorgeous headpiece that matched my wedding and our life in general perfectly!
This would have had 5 stars because I'm so happy with my experience except for one thing. When I was on the pedestal waiting for Grace to get the sign for my photos, a blonde consultant with her hair in a bun who had not said a single thing to me the whole time I was there was following Grace from my pedestal to the shelf, back to me, back to the shelf, talking the whole time about the cost of the dress and the budget. I heard her whispering about it. I guess she saw me staring at her waiting for her to say something to me because she looked at me and said the dress was gorgeous, she helped Grace find it. I understand not wanting a bride to find a dress outside of their budget because of the distress it can cause (I used to work in the bridal industry), however, I have no idea who this consultant was and she didn't bother to have any kind of conversation with me to learn that the circumstances of my budget had drastically changed during the appointment. I'm not letting it tarnish my day or my visit, but for a younger bride, a bride who may not be as sure of themselves, or just a bride who maybe doesn't have thicker skin like myself because I'm at an age where I don't care what people think, that situation could turn someone off from buying a dress from here or make them feel judged for having a budget. That's a conversation that consultant should have had with Grace in private.
After taking my measurements, I headed to the front where I put the headpiece on layaway as it was the last one and discontinued. We also checked turn around time on the dress and got information for down payment so I can call to pay that. Grace wrote everything down for me and said there would be detailed notes in the system so when I called there would be no confusion. I left here feeling so at ease. Not only did I find my dress, but I felt like a person, I didn't feel judged or looked down on. Grace was the absolute best and it was such an amazing experience working with her. It was worth the almost 3 hour drive here and I'd recommend them to anyone!