Brides wanting a custom dress, please beware of this business and look elsewhere…read more
Getting the appointment took weeks and several follow up calls on my behalf, not the business. My mom and I got a call at 12 noon to "stop by by 1 pm", so we raced there to meet with this amazing NYC designer, only for her to have "already gone home for the day". The next time we got the appointment, and she showed, we were so enamored, I suppose, by the New York cred, that we brushed off the initial difficulties with the appointment scheduling and got to work talking about my dream wedding dress.
After an initial interview with Holly and her team, in which we detailed the kind of dress we envisioned on me as well as my budget, we were assured a perfect dress could be made within that. Holly was lovely, attentive, flattered my figure numerous times, assured me how beautiful I was going to look, how much fun I would be to design for, etc. My mother happily paid HALF the total budget, and we were told we would be emailed beautiful sketches within two weeks time. We left excited, thrilled.
Three weeks later, and no sketches. Mom and I were DYING to see them! I emailed asking if they were ready yet? I got sketches the next morning that were essentially, an actual photo of me with a cartoon blob drawn over it, with some squiggly lines for ...effect(?) I was mortified and I honestly thought I was having a prank played on me at first. Nothing like what I had expected to see in a bridal gown sketch, and definitely not time consuming enough to warrant being a week later than we were told, without a reason or explanation as to why. The nail on the coffin, though, was that in none of the 6 sketches I received was there any design element relating back to my vision for the dress. Nothing I asked for had been incorporated into the "renderings". I wanted a tailored, mid-century feel, she sent over Grecian styles. I was adamant that I wanted sleeves on my dress, none of the sketches incorporated sleeves. I asked for a short or tea-length style, she sent floor length. It was as though she hadn't heard me, listened, or put any thought into my dress. I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I could have done better sketches of my vision than those that I received.
I expressed my displeasure, asked for a second round of sketches and did receive them, but again, the sketches were blobs of color over a photo of me she snapped during our first meeting, unprofessional, and, were in fact, the SAME renderings as she had sent me the first time, with squiggly lines going vertical rather than horizontal. Again, no effort, and no thought or time put into my dress, or me as a customer.
My mom stepped in at this point, saying this process was not what we had expected, were looking for, asking for our money back, please, minus a reasonable fee for the "design time" Holly had put in. She said she would think about it and get back to us.
We've been following up on this without a response for 3 months now. My mother's next step is to go into the shop and refuse to leave until our request is acknowledged.
Please note: the fault in the end is mine and my mother's for not requesting a formal contract or letter of agreement before plunking over half our budget, but the service we received was substandard, embarrassing and made my wedding dress experience a nightmare. In the end, with my wedding 3 months out, I ordered a dress on line from china, made to my exact measurements. It is beautiful, and exactly what I had been asking Holly to make for me, for $150.00. (DHGate.com) Holly, in March, 5 months later, finally gave us $80 back, which means she claims she spent over $200 on my designs?! A ripoff artist and made my dress experience a nightmare.