I had an amazing experience here! I saw an ad on Facebook about this place and I decided to try it out and I was so happy that I did. I gave them a call and I was able to get an appointment the sThe consultant I had was very nice and I loved that she just guided me without taking too much control. I found the dress of my dreams here and I found something that was completely different than what I originally envisioned. They had a great selection of dresses and amazing deals! I would definitely recommend read more

Bridal Elegance & Pageantry - Bridal Near Me - Ottawa, Illinois

If I could leave this business zero stars I would, what a horrific experience and complete disappointment for my friend the bride who was treated like garbage by the staff at her FIRST ever bridal appointment. The moment we walked in a woman saw us standing at the front desk, my friend said hello twice and the woman scoffed and didn't acknowledge her. Finally we were greeted with a rude "do you have an appointment" when she said yes and kindly explained other bridesmaids were running behind she was cut off and told "well you can only have 4 people". The bride explained she gave all the info three weeks prior and was never told this. They awkwardly let us walk the floor while we waited for our group then when everyone arrived they set us up in the brides dress salon? Then realized it wasn't a bride appointment but a bridesmaid, this right here clearly shows you their lack of willingness to make any effort toward our group as the clients as they didn't even know the details of the appointment. The woman acted like she didn't want to help or touch half of the bridesmaids who were trying on, specifically ones of color. It was atrocious!!!! Since we were so disappointed with the bridesmaid portion my friends decided to try on a few bride dresses. The woman would barely clip her; had zero patience and sent her out to show off the gowns with it falling off of her. When she was close to finding the one and it was also the dress her mother chose, the woman kicked her out of the fitting room and said "well you can't try anymore on your time is up" and immediately started whisking away gowns leaving my friend in the dress alone in fitting and had to have her mom help her out of it. Absolutely despicable. I will warn everybody to stay FAR away from this place and leave a review on every platform I can. DO NOT give them your business. read more

I made an appointment to come in and look for gowns for an upcoming pageant. Definitely make sure to call ahead and make an appointment. If I had just shown up there likely would not have been anyone available to help me since they had many brides in for appointments that day. I was looking for a pageant gown. They were very accommodating and I had Stephanie helping me while I was there. The owner and other staff also introduced themselves and checked in with me. They were all so nice and helpful. Stephanie was amazing. I was there for almost three hours and never felt rushed. Stephanie helped me with everything and gave great input. I came to the store one other time last year and also had an excellent experience. If you are looking for pageant gowns, prom, or bridal they have one of the best selections. read more

I got my dress from Bridal Elegance, and could not be happier. The girls there were SO nice. The place is huge, and they have dresses to fit anyone's budget. One room is filled with destination wedding dresses, and other moderately priced gowns. The other room is called "The Couture" room, and they have higher end gowns. None of the gowns are marked with designer information, other than the Maggie Sottero dresses. I thought this was great! If you were looking for a specific dress, by a specific designer, they are able to find it for you. However, it was nice to look at a dress, and fall in love with the dress and NOT the label. The girls there were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. They let my mom, maid of honor, and I roam around the place, filling up racks with any gown. I had never tried on any dresses before this, so the girls told me that was the best way to narrow down what would look best on me. I tried on a little of everything, and when I didn't like it, they put the dress back. When I did like something, several girls walked through the store, and would grab other gowns in a similar style. They are very respectful of your budget, and do not try to upsell you or force you into a more expensive dress. The dress I ended up choosing was a brand new sample that had not even been on the floor yet, and it was a perfect fit. I was able to purchase that exact dress. The girls also informed me that if the floor sample is purchased, they will no longer carry that dress. They are constantly getting new things. We spent approx. 4 hours there. After I was set on my dress, they informed us that I would get 25% off all bridal accessories, and 10% off MOB, Bridesmaid Dresses up until the date of my wedding. The girls were always offering us bottled water, and they were pleasantly helpful. I would reccomend Bridal Elegance to anyone. It is unlike any other bridal shop that I have ever been to. I wasn't really impressed with their selection of Bridesmaid and MOB dresses, but as far as bridal gowns and accesories this place is AMAZING! read more

I consider myself pretty low maintenance when it comes to these types of things, but I guess there's a couple things I would expect out of a bridal shop. First - when I arrived for my appointment, the consultant they had assigned to me was working with someone else, already (and, mind you, my appointment was 15 minutes after the shop opened - so it's not as though I was early or another scheduled appointment could have been running late). This would not have been a problem, except for the fact that during the entire 45 minutes I was there trying on dresses, I only saw my consultant once. No one helped me find or get into the dresses. And it wasn't a case of them being super busy - it was just me and one other bride in the store. Second - prior to my appointment, I scoured Bridal Elegance's website to find dresses I liked (in hopes that it would ease the time it took to find dresses). I handed a list of about 10 dresses to the consultant and asked if they had the dresses in stock (mind you, all of them were dresses that were pictured on the store's website). The consultant took the list and never brought it back. I never heard if they had any of the style numbers or if they were older styles. Nothing. These things kind of turned me off to this place. There are a few positives, though. The selection is HUGE and the prices are reasonable (I even found a dress I liked for $475, which is far less than I was expecting). In the end, though, I didn't end up getting my dress from here because the service was terrible and I didn't feel like they cared I was there, at all. read more

I was in need of a gown for an upcoming event so we went to Bridal Elegance in Ottawa, IL, known for their large selection of gorgeous dresses. True to what I was told, the dresses were absolutely stunning. We were placed with our own personal attendant, Caelyn who was such an amazing girl. She asked about the event we were shopping for and then our taste and comfort level. From that moment on she brought dress after dress, pushing my boundaries and then we found " the one". Some alterations will be necessary of course, but her patience with me never faltered and her sales technique of making the customer feel like a million bucks was right on. With Prom season upon us, this is the place to go girls. Dresses and gowns in every color of the rainbow, ask for Caelyn! read more

I bought the dress of my dreams here. Everything was wonderful - my consultant was amazing, super sweet to my whole entourage, especially to my grandma. A week after I bought my dress, they called to say the dress had been discontinued. A WEEK had gone by before they figured this out. Needless to say, I was devastated. Devastated. Their selection is amazing, their prices are wonderful and my consultant was perfect. I'm just shocked that they would not have their inventory organized enough to realize that the dress they measured me for and charged my credit card for wasn't actually a dress I could own. I know things like this happen, but I just can't get over this. read more

I decided to try Bridal Elegance because I heard they were the largest wedding dress store in the state from a friend. I drove from Chicago with my mom and grandma. At first the building didn't seem that overwhelmingly large and definitely didn't look "boutique-ish". But I was so pleasantly surprised!!! They truly have so many wedding dresses (they also have rooms full of bridesmaid, mother of the bride, prom, etc. dresses too!). After looking at wedding magazines and being overwhelmed by the price tag of many dresses, I wasn't sure if they would laugh at me when I told them I wanted to spend less than $1,000. I was thrilled to find that it was absolutely possible! I was there literally all day long and swear I only looked at 10% of the dresses (they really have that many!!!). I also like how they have the store set up. They have two huge rooms of bridal gowns (they also have multiple other rooms full of other types of dresses). One room is for "standard" dresses and the other is for "couture" dresses. And even in a less than $1,000 price range, I still found tons of dresses in the "couture" room. [FYI - I was told most of their dresses are under $2,000, and there were tons of amazing dresses well under $1,000]. I had the most amazing saleswoman Zena (I highly recommend her!). She took the time to look at pictures I had cut from magazines to get a feel for the "look" I was going for. I pulled a bunch of dresses to try on and Zena pulled a bunch of dresses that she thought I would like as well. She very patiently "laced me up" in about 20 dresses for my first round of "try ons." We were able to really figure out what shape/styles worked for my body shape (I am a curvy size 8/10, large chest, short waist, long legs. The short waist thing can really be a challenge because everything bunches up in the middle). After narrowing it down to what styles worked well, we pulled a second round of dresses (most from a designer that seemed to work well with both my shape and style). Again, Zena patiently "laced me up" in another 20 or so dresses. In the end, I was able to narrow it down to 7 amazing dresses (all between about $650-$850). I'm a pretty indecisive person and I knew it was going to have to sleep on it and come back a second time. But I left so happy knowing that I had many beautiful choices, all under $1,000! I would recommend making an appointment for a Monday or Tuesday when the store is slower (you have a better chance of a wonderful sales person like Zena spending more time with you). I was told that the weekends are busier and appointments are only an hour and a half (and I don't know about you, but I can't make up my mind that fast!) All in all, it was definitely worth the drive and I plan on going back with my "posse" of bridesmaids to make a final decision on a dress and pick out bridesmaid dresses. read more

I went to pick up my bridesmaids dress that I spent a considerable amount on (roughly $190) and it had a large pen mark on it. The sales associate brought it to the back to try to clean it only to make it worse. With the stain still visible, I requested a new dress. I live in Jacksonville, IL so I left with no dress. The sales associated called me back the next day to tell me they couldn't get a new dress. The associate told me that the manufacturer said the it was a dye mark that happens when working with chiffon and that it was a natural part of the dye process. Then they sent it to the main store in Ottawa to try to clean it more (I asked myself, why would they continue to clean it if it was a natural part of the dye process hmmmmm....) They then proceeded to send me pictures trying to convince me that the dress was no longer visibly stained.So I sent a family member to pick it up. When she got there, the dress was still not clean. I had to accept the dress since I had already paid for it, and they weren't willing to refund, clean or order a new dress. Essentially, I felt they had left me no other options. They finally decided to refund $20 after multiple conversations with the justification that it would cover dry cleaning costs. Wonderful. So now I not only have wasted time and energy to try to correct the situation, I also get the pleasure of getting it dry cleaned as well. How did I get so lucky? To sum it up, this is a poorly run business. Do not waste your time or money here. I got my wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses from Michelle's Bridal in Champaign, IL and would recommend driving a little further outside of Bloomington or Ottawa to avoid the headaches that I had to deal with. read more

CHECK CONDITION OF DRESS!!! The only good thing about this warehouse was they had THE dress I wanted.. The dress was discontinued two years ago.. My mom took me up there to try it on and I fell absolutely in love with it... However, many girls have tried it on since 2014 and it was frayed at the bottom and had some snags on the lace. Then it had a HUGE rip in the side of the dress.. Easily a 4-6 inch hole.. When the manager came out, she said she was willing to take off $25 for the rip, and it really wouldn't be a big deal because the alterations would hide the hole.. The dress is over $2,000, has been discontinued for two years, in fair condition, and they still expect that much for the dress.. It felt like a slap in the face. My heart sank, and I left in tears. As much as i knew it was the dress I wanted, I couldn't dare pay over $2,000 for a dress that is frayed and torn. Other cons: They also don't have an alterations specialist so be weary of that if you are short or need some extra work done to a dress. Also, they change the tags of the dress, so you don't know the style number or designer of your dress.. If you find one you like, you're unable to see it on a website unless you happen to know the designer/ dress number already.. And they don't allow pictures. read more

We had a good first impression. They sit down with the bride and the bridal party to ask what you like. However, once we got started and looked for dresses, the person helping us wouldn't let her try on anything other than her size and never brought any dresses that fit her tastes. Every other place I've been, they've let the bride try on a variety of sizes and will bring dresses that fit the bride's taste. Also, when we found the potential one" she wouldn't tie up the back because it was "too hard" so we weren't able to see how the dress would look (even though it was in her size). Just disappointed with the experience. read more

We had a wonderful experience at Bridal Elegance. We were there to buy a prom dress for my daughter and our sales associate, Emily, was fantastic. We walked in with a list of style numbers that my daughter wanted to try and were pleasantly surprised to learn that they had all but one in stock. Emily went out of her way to find similar styles for my daughter to try on. We walked out with the perfect dress and an unforgettable experience. My daughter felt like a princess and will look beautiful in her gorgeous dress. I highly recommend Bridal Elegance for their extensive selection of beautiful dresses and Emily for her patience and genuine hospitality. read more

I took my 16 year old daughter to buy a prom dress...knowing it was going to be at least $500 to get what she wanted. We drove about an hour to get there. We were greeted by a 50+ year old lady we told her what we wanted she asked what size we told her a size 10. She said "Sorry we do not carry many dress in that big of a size" A size 10 really----I will never ever ever shop at any of their stores again. I could not believe my ears. What was that old bitty thinking oh wait she wasn't!!!! read more

I went to Bridal Elegance twice - once to shop for my own bridal gown, and again to shop for mother of the bride/flower girl. Both times I ended up leaving very unimpressed and feeling like 'what the heck just happened?' They don't let you take photos & they re-code all of the dresses away from the designers numbers. I get that they don't want you going to order a counterfeit dress, but this really complicates the shopping process when you are trying to find THE dress and you want to compare two from different stores. Bridal Gown - They have a TON of options. They do this weird 'one of kind' thing where they can only get it in that size or something. It's hard to understand and it was never explained well to me. The girl who helped me that day was very friendly and not pushy. She was probably my best interaction there. I also found two dresses there that I had tried on at another shop, and both were more money at BE. Unfortunately for me though, the overwhelming amount of options worked against me. I left with a ton of favorites but not one that felt like "mine." My experience that time was meh. Mother of the Bride/Flower Girl - First, we called to see if we needed an appointment for this. They said no. We went in & we had to wait 15 minutes to be helped (so why couldn't we just make an appointment to avoid waiting?) Then, they brought us to the 'flower girl' section. There were literally 10 dresses, half of them way too big for my 3.5 year old niece. It also would have been nice of them to mention this when we called. The girl helping us said they were moving away from flower girl dresses - so why not forewarn customers of that? The mother of the bride selection was also rather underwhelming. There were only a couple racks in the massive store, and each one only came in THAT size & THAT color (which I hadn't encountered elsewhere either). Also, the girl who helped us was very unfriendly, not talkative, and rather unhelpful. read more

I found my dream dress here and thought everything was going to be perfect. I was told they could alter my dress in house which turned out to not be true when I picked up my dress and when I picked up my dress and several buttons were missing on the back. They did not offer to refund my menu or have the buttons sewn back on. They just sent me buttons so I could pay to have them put on. I will not recommend them to anyone as there customer service is poor as well as their communication with their customer. So disappointed in how this experience was for me. read more

I have purchased 2 bridesmaids dresses from bridal elegance. Be careful, they try very hard to make you buy dresses that are much bigger than you need. I assume its because of their strict no return, no refund policy, but the dress I ordered for the first wedding was so oversized I ended up paying more than the dress for the alterations (actually the brides mom did because she felt so bad that I would be paying so much). I pretty much had a totally different dress. Also check your receipt, they automatically add a steaming charge and shipping insurance ($10 each). And if you are having alterations, your seamstress will do the steaming. read more

Came here for a homecoming dress. We did find dresses we liked but the experience was terrible. Very rude, unhelpful, annoyed staff. They could not be bothered to help us with anything, and it's not like we were very needy or anything either. I think we asked for help twice. I was shocked at how snooty the girls were. I mean, come on. You work at a Bridal Elegance way out in hillbilly country, you're no Givenchy stylists. Get over yourselves. And to top it off they sold us shoes that had these shiny little gem-type things on them. They fell off AS the girl was boxing them up. I said, "Hang on a sec, can we get a different pair?" The girl retreated into a room, came out with another pair of shoes, and said "Those are the only shoes in that size, but the same pieces came off of another pair too. You can take the pieces and glue them on at home." I said "Do I have to pay full price for the shoes then? Since they already need to be repaired?" "*Scoff* Well yeah." We did buy a dress and were very happy with it. But I'm not sure if the experience was worth it. There are plenty of other establishments selling gorgeous dresses. read more

I had bought all of my daughter's prom and homecoming dresses at Bridal Elegance. A year ago when occassion #9 rolled around we got horrible service. Rude sales girls, snippy management......No check policy is crazy! Then, recently, my friend Carl looked at me with tears in his eyes as he was dying without seeing his youngest daughter Sarah in her bridal dress because Bridal Elegence would not even allow a phone picture with more than half of the dress paid for. A flock of people started collecting money and Illinois Valley Jr. Women's Club wrote a $100 check. The shop refused the organizations check and Sarah had to run back and forth AGAIN! Phone calls to try to smooth the process were responded to by "my manager said to tell you no one was here to talk to you" and "I'll take your name and number and it will be up to my manager to call back if she wants to". Need a dress? They have about 1,000 crammed onto racks. Want to deal with human beings that care about your special day? Go somewhere, anywhere else. They were denying a dying man his last wish. read more

Let me start out by saying that if I had the option of giving this store zero stars, I absolutely would have. This was the WORST experience that I have ever experienced in dealing with a place of customer service. From my appointment time in November of 2014 until now (there are STILL issues happening and it's March of 2015), I have had several issues with this store. I would not recommend this store to any bride, bridesmaid, or even a customer in general. If you are considering using Bridal Elegance and have the time, please read this review. I made my appointment for my bridesmaids dresses back in October (wedding is in July). I was able to bring seven of my eight bridesmaids to get fitted. I had previously selected five gowns that I liked (all chiffon) and the girls were going to choose. Out of eight girls, four needed red dresses and four needed blue dresses. While we were trying on, the consultants were less than friendly. When one bridesmaid asked for a sample in something bigger than a 10, the girl immediately said they didn't have any and dismissed her comment. (We all know that a 10 in bridesmaids dresses is probably a standard size!). She never thought twice. When the girls went to get fitted, the consultants measured them and recommended the size that matched their measurements. When we went to the register to pay, the dresses were coming up as different prices. Nobody ordered a different style and nobody ordered a plus size (which usually means a few dollars more). THREE cashiers and nobody could figure it out, so the girls all paid different prices. Never once an apology and it didn't seem to phase them. I was quoted 3-4 months for arrival. Fast forward to four months exactly. I called because I hadn't heard anything at the end of four months. The girls told me they were to ship on April 9th and wouldn't arrive until the end of April. That would be MORE than five months. I called back the next day to explain my frustration and wanted to speak to a manager and the girl told me my dresses were in the warehouse. Yesterday, they were to arrive in April and today they are in the warehouse? Nobody was able to explain that. I sent my groom to pick them up because I couldn't make the hours that they were opened. When I arrived home and looked at them, one had a torn seam, one zipper was broken, and the four blue dresses were the WRONG shade of blue. When I delivered the dresses to the girls, four of them didn't fit. All of the girls took the sizes that the consultants recommended and they didn't fit. When I called and spoke with a manager, she said I should have inspected them when I picked them up and I shouldn't have sent my groom to pick them up. What? Seriously? She then told me that she had them inspected three times and there was no way that she could have missed those things. Now, I'm being accused of doing these things when the dresses are all hanging in my kitchen. As I continue to discuss with my bridesmaids, I begin to write a list of all the things that have gone wrong. The list is two pages long. I have spoken with the manager several times and nothing has gotten solved. With the color issue, it turns out that her consultant showed me the blue shade in SATIN instead of CHIFFON! We tried on chiffon dresses and she showed me the wrong blue. She made excuses beyond excuses and also told me her consultants never recommend sizes. I said, "How would a girl know what size to order?" And she continued to say the same thing. Let's just say that this place is AWFUL and I will NEVER recommend this store to anybody. From the receptionist, to consultants, to manager, I cannot seem to get a straight answer, let alone an APOLOGY! To all those brides, DO NOT waste your time! It's not worth the stress and hassle. I am currently still waiting for her to call me back and now have four dresses that don't match tuxes. Frustrating is an understatement. read more

This was the first store my daughter and I chose to look for her wedding gown and when we walked through the doors, we knew it would be our last! We were immediately greeted by a friendly face at the front desk who took my daughter's information and introduced us to our wedding consultant Andrea. Andrea listened intently to my daughter's wishes and proceeded to pull gowns that actually matched what my daughter wanted. There was no high pressure. The atmosphere was very relaxed and we felt comfortable to pull gowns on our own as well. In the end, it was a gown that Andrea pulled that matched exactly what my daughter was looking for and she fell immediately in love! Andrea even found my mother of the bride dress as well! If you are looking for a lot of selection without the high price tag and a relaxed atmosphere, then I highly recommend visiting their store in Ottawa. It was definitely worth our 4 hour drive! read more

The sales person was not helpful. They were fairly rude for an appointment where we are shopping for wedding dresses. My friend was told they would pull similar dresses if her favorite designer and we had to pull them all ourselves. They did not have much of the styles she was looking for and the sales person was not very knowledgable. Waste of tine brides. Don't go if you expect to be helped and have a pleasurable experience. read more

I used Bridal Elegance solely because of location. I thought it would be very convenient with it being up the road from me. Sadly, I wish I would have driven somewhere else to get my dress. Getting information from them was like getting information from the government. Despite the fact I had just spent $800 on a wedding dress, they would not tell me over the phone if they carried a certain bridesmaids dress style, and would not tell me what the cost would be if they ordered it for me. They removed most of the tags from the dresses so people can't try to order the dress in any other way. The issue with this was more, when I asked about a certain dress and who the manufacturer was because I liked the color of the material and wanted to see what other styles that designer might have, I was told "Oh, I don't know who it is." Of course they had a book they could have checked, but they just didn't want to. We were choosing between 2 flower girl dresses, one style which they carried. I couldn't even get them to tell me what the dimensions were for a certain size. It was ridiculous how tight lipped they were with every detail. If I could have canceled my dress order I would have. To top it off, I didn't find out until after purchasing the dress that they do not have a seamstress on staff. So, I had to lug my dress over to a seamstress and worry about it getting dirty. When my dress came in, there was a large flaw in it, part of the applique was left off. They sent it back, and when it returned there was another flaw. The sales lady actually tried to tell me maybe the sample they had was wrong, and that the dress I had just gotten in was really how it was supposed to look. Give me a break!!! They sent it back again and it finally came back correct. All in all, an extremely disappointing experience. I will never make any purchases from them again. The wedding dress was supposed to be one the most exciting parts of the wedding process, and sadly it was the worst part of the process for me. I strongly recommend Bella Bridal in St Charles. I had stopped in there to look at fabric swatches because they carried both lines of bridesmaids dresses we were considering. They knew I had purchased my dress elsewhere, but were more than willing to help me match styles with fabric colors. VERY HELPFUL!!! White Carriage Bridal and Boutique in Shorewood were also very helpful when looking at fabric swatches and styles. read more

I went in to find a wedding dress for my 10 year vow renewal that I'm planning. I didn't have a mindset to buy, just too look & try on dresses and if I found the one I loved I would be happy to figure something out. When I got there we had a consultant named Holly. She was very rude, only showed me to the clearance room. Wasn't very helpful at all and didn't make me feel comfortable at all. I only tried on 2 dresses from that I was fed up and wanted to leave. She stated her appointment was here and that we had to leave. I asked if she could show us the bridesmaids dresses so I can look at the styles and colors and that would give me a better mindset of which color would look good on all 5 of my girls. She showed me a few dresses then told me she was going to walk me out. I felt rushed and wasn't appreciative at all. I would of been a little happier if I just got left alone and I could try on whatever dress I wanted. I would rather go to David's bridal. read more

Shopping at this store was one of the worst mistakes I can say I've made in my entire lifetime. The staff here is horrible to say the least. They do not help whatsoever in the selection process, fitting and trying on, give no details and disappear when you need help with any of these things. The selection seems great but good luck getting your size as "they cannot order other sizes on over half of the dresses", they quote one price then charge you more than the quote, the items I did order came in weeks later than promised and in the wrong sizes (the girls do not measure properly), if you want to speak with someone with a bad attitude you'll feel right at home, then when I had my dress shipped to me it arrived in a tiny box SMASHED, TORN, and HORRIBLY WRINKLED!! I wouldn't recommend this awful place to my worst enemy. Save yourself the added stress and frustration and go elsewhere. read more

I'm sorry but this place is a joke. LOL. From the consultant having me moon the store in a gown to her tucking the corset straps in my butt I really would not recommend this salon to any one. I was pretty disappointed with this salon. I have been to several salons over the last month or two. I am a size 22 so finding a gown that fits me is relatively hard. I had heard that this place had a massive amount of gowns. So I decided to give them a shot. They took me to a back room that had about three racks of gowns that I could look through. Those were the only gowns in my size I could even look at. All the gowns on these racks were from several seasons ago. Many were at least 10 years old. The satin was dingy. All the sequins were extremely yellowed on the gowns from age. The styles themselves were from the early 2000s. Back when pick ups and satin embroidery was in fashion. I told the consultant that I was looking for something lacy, beaded and fitted. Either a drop waist style, fit and flare or a mermaid. I might be a larger girl but I have fantastic curves. I said that I didn't want to try on anything that was a natural waist or empire waist stating funnily that just because I'm fat doesn't mean I want to hide in in layers or fabric. However, she just kept bringing me A-line natural waist gowns. I was not liking any of the old fashioned and aged plus sized gowns that were in some weird annex warehouse looking room, so my bridesmaids and I made are way to the rest of the rooms with gowns. This is when my consultant got nervous and started following me. Two other consultants were watching us very closely. Ready to pounce and announce that there was no way I was going to be able to try on those gowns. The looks I was getting from just looking at the gowns. Turns out that everything outside of the creepy "fat girl" room were all size 12-14 and under. All of these gowns must have been the ones that everyone had been talking about. They looked a bit newer but not all that much. The gowns were too big which is fine with me but the consultant didn't really even clamp the back to give the gowns shape. She just laced the corset and that was that. For the gowns that were too small she would lace the back a little and leave my bare back and my butt (because her moving the gown around had pulled my panties down in the back) hanging out. I asked if there was a modestly panel or something that we could put in the back of the gown so that I wasn't mooning the whole store. She said nah, it's fine. So I went out and mooned my friends and we had a good laugh about it. But honestly it's not appropriate to let a customer moon the entire store lol. Another gown she laced the back up and went to tuck the corset strings into the back of the gown. Instead she tucked them into my underwear. Let's just say feeling her fingers slid up my cheeks was not the highlight of my day. Needless to say, I did not purchase a gown from this place. Consultants had noooo clue about bridal gowns, designers, styles, fits or even FABRIC. (tulle and organza are not the same fabric...) Selection is old and out dated. Perfect for a bride that isn't up on current treads. The whole "one of a kind" thing is ridiculous. I used to work at a bridal salon. We had "one of a kind" styles too. They were gowns that were purchased from a warehouse of outdated styles and overstock. Some are discontinued gowns from yeaaaars ago. Be honest with your customers. PS Get rid of the brown shag carpet and dark brown dressing rooms. It's like a creepy motel. Also, above the dressing rooms the strange metal cheese grater see through ceilings with extension cords dumped on top is kinda unnerving. I think you might have forgotten what the word Elegance means in your store's title. read more

Upon entering the store with my daughter to shop for a prom dress, we see a girl seated behind the desk. I tell her we would like to look at prom dresses. She begins to ask questions. Address? Phone number? Date of prom? High School...Etc...Why? Store policy was her response. Sorry, this is the 6th store we have been to today and we haven't found anything in our price range. You do not need my address. She insisted that she did due to store policy and in case we need something ordered and mailed. No. So then she calls someone to show us where the prom dresses are. We are told they are assorted by color. Prices I saw ranged from around $300-$700! I asked if there were any dresses marked $200 or below. "Yes, you just have to look for them. They are all mixed in". Unable to find a dress in that range I asked again. The girl showed us to a smaller area of bridesmaid dresses and seemed to be trying to discourage us from buying something cheaper by saying "These are not as glam as the prom dresses." Then walked away. I would not come back to this store even if I won the lottery. read more

I always heard that bridal elegance was THE place to get your wedding dress. I loved it when i walked in, I found my perfect wedding dress, put the money (more than half) and asked if I could take a picture to show my father. My father was dying. I was told no pictures. So were the people with me. My father was on hospice and was in his last weeks of life and he said he would love more than anything to see me in my dress. I couldn't do it for him. I did not have the money, a couple of days before he passed a close friend of the family was talking to my father and he told her he would not get to see me in my dress, so it broke her heart. The next day she called me and said that people got money together to get my dress. Junior League along with many more donations got together enough money by March 17th 2011. I was at work and so my brother went to pick it up. He had money and check in hand and the people at the store refused to let him take the dress because we have to wait 2 weeks for a check to clear. So my brother drove an hour home went to his bank and got the money. We got the dress home after being treated horribly except for by 1 young man Nathan in the store. I got to take my picture with my father who passed just 10 minutes after our picture was taken. He kept his promise to wait for me. And he never would have been able to do this for me if it wasn't for the wonderful people that donated the money to us. I will never go to this store again. read more

I have always gotten my prom and homecoming dresses at bridal elegance. So when my friend sarah needed a wedding dress we went there. the second dress she tried on was perfect. it was her dress. that day she put more than half down on the dress. when we asked to take a picture with the dress so that her dying father could see her in it we were refused. we decided to raise the money to get the dress. junior womans league donated a sizable amount that we will forever be greatful for. however they refused to take their check. this was not a personal check, it was a check from an organization. when i was told this i called to talk to the person that had refused the check i was told by the receptionist "um they said to tell you that noone is here to take your call" i told her that if she didnt find a person to take my call soon i would call the reporters and they didnt want that kind of press this close to prom season. amazingly a woman decided that she was there to take the call. the first lady i talked to was horribly snotty and rude. i told her that we needed to get this straightened out so that a dying man could see his daughter in her wedding dress. she said "my hands are tied, this isnt my problem" i was told a manager would call me back later. no more than 15min later a wonderful man named nathan called me back. he was very apologetic any sympathetic. he called the owner since he couldnt get a hold of the manager and she also refused the check. he called back and offered to stay as late as he had to in order for us to cash the check. if you must get a dress from this horrid, inhumane place then nathan should be the only one you deal with. finally after hours of running around, several more snotty looks, rude comments, and in general a horrible experiance we had the cash and exchanged it for the dress. nathan was just as nice to my friend in person as he had been to me on the phone. sarahs father died that night, not ten minutes after she took off her dress. no thanks to the inconsiderate women at the store carl and sarah both got their wish. nathan should get an award for the kindness he showed that day. and for having to work with the rest of the women there. read more

If I could give this place zero stars I would. I went here with my mother in-law to browse for bridesmaid dresses for an upcoming wedding that she's in. As soon as we walked in we were bombarded by a woman sitting at what looked like a security desk asking for our names and what we were there for, despite the fact that we told her repeatedly that we just wanted to browse. Once we made it past her, we started looking around. A saleswoman approached us and was totally up our butts until we assured her that we would let her know if we had any questions. We noticed a dress that we'd found in another shop and picked it up to look at it. Right off the bat we noticed that it was 2ce the price that it was in the first store that we looked in. The saleswoman immediately ran over and started telling us about the dress.......she pointed out that there was an attachable bow. We knew from the first store we'd been in that this bow belonged in the front. But this woman just said "Um.......I think it goes in the back. Maybe the front? I'm not sure.....". Call me crazy, but shouldn't a salesperson KNOW the products that they're selling? We continued to browse a bit, and then we really did have a question. However, once we had an actual question, the woman was nowhere to be found. When we did track her down, she seemed annoyed that we were asking her anything. After that we immediately left, completely annoyed, and flipped off the entire building on the way out. So yes, they have pretty dresses, but their attitudes do NOT make it worth it if you ask me! read more

I came here having heard good things about this shop from friends. I wish I knew what store they were thinking of. My time at Bridal Elegance was easily the worst retail experience I have ever had anywhere and this is somewhere I was supposed to be looking for a dress to cap off high school. From the terribly rude staff and poor customer service to the sheer lack of inattention make sure you avoid this store at all costs. I went in to pick up my dress two weeks before an event. They had recommended I purchase the size of the dress I tried on in the store despite my reservations. When this new dress arrived it was too small. What do you know? Like I told multiple staff the dress had been tried on so frequently that it was stretched out, but they still insisted buying the same size. When it was discovered to be too small they then blamed me for picking the wrong size and refused to reorder/refund me. I was out $600 because of their lack of attention to detail. The customer service was so poor that words cannot describe it. Please stay away from this store. They do not care about you and they are liars. read more