The reason I kept coming back was because my first bridal appointment, I happened to be paired with Andi (who unfortunately no longer works there). She was wonderful, efficient, and actually cared about her job and her customers.
On my last visit, I brought my Mom. I chose a gorgeous gown which was out of my price range, but worth it. There was a bit of an issue with fitting - I've got a very small chest and wide hips; but the "head seamstress" came out and told me what they'd do to make the bodice fit for me; and she recommended which size to get. It was May; I was getting married in November. The associate told me the gown would take 7-10 weeks to come in, and then we'd need at least two months for alterations (in case it needed a second alteration)... so, rather than sit on it and wait to see if it would go on sale soon, I bought it.
7 DAYS later, I got the call that my gown had arrived and I needed to pick it up within 7 days... ?!?!?! 7 more days later, the gown went on sale for 30% less than I'd paid for it... [Here's where it would have been in their best interest to hold the gown for 7 weeks - because then I would have believed that they hadn't blatantly LIED to me about how long it would take to come in; and I wouldn't think that they had known that it was about to go on sale, so they had to get me to buy it RIGHT NOW.]
I picked up my gown and wanted to try it on - NO ONE offered to help me; even though I was told that I HAD to come get it that week... I managed. I made my alterations appointment for August. I watched the lady write it down.
I called the day of my appointment to confirm. They didn't have my appointment that I'd made in MAY!!! Luckily, they had someone available to help me that day at my scheduled time (I'd taken off from work to make this appointment!). When I arrived, they told me they'd switched to a computer system and the book where the lady had written down my appt didn't exist anymore.
During my appointment, I was told that my initial cost for the alterations needed (re-shaping the arm holes, adding padding to the bust (dress was backless; so no bra), hem, and bustle, was about $400... which was 2/3 what I spent on the dress (and just over what the dress went on sale for AFTER I'd purchased it!))... I asked to speak to a manager and asked if they could give me any kind of a break on the price, considering the fact that I felt the associate had lied to me to get me to buy the gown just before it went on sale. She offered me a $50 credit, which I thanked her for. It turns out, the price for the hem (listed in their book by dress model number) was listed at $50 more than it should have been; so I ended up paying only about $300 for the alterations - including $71 for a 6 point bustle... $50 for 3 points; and $7 for each additional point.
When I picked up the dress (when it was supposed to be ready), another woman - the "head seamstress" from my purchase date - was the one who helped me. She helped me into my gown and there were pulls around the bust - evidently, the dress form they had the gown on has a bigger bust than I do (even though they'd taken my measurements); so the bodice didn't sit right. I told her that I REALLY didn't like it... she told me "no one will notice"... [excuse me?!?!]
She ultimately fixed it by putting another set of pads into my bodice to flesh out the bodice and make it lay properly. Fine.
Another issue was that my bodice had a lacy cut-away over the bust. The pads were showing when I tried on the dress... again, "No one will see that"... sure... the 100 friends and family at my wedding, who will each hug me multiple times won't see the pads sticking up out of the front of my bodice.
The bustle had 5 points... No big deal, even though I paid for 6. "We always do an odd number of points"... ?!?!? I asked her to make a video of how to tie the bustle, because I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one doing it and my bridesmaids all lived out of town. The bustle was NOTICEABLY CROOKED. I asked her about this and she told me it looked straight to her. Annoyed with this woman, I took the gown home; but the bustle was nagging at me. I tied it up, per her instructions, and tried to see what was wrong. They had measured for 3 on each side; they moved the centermost point on 1 side to the center and dropped the middle point on the other side. It was completely uneven. I called the next day and took it back for them to fix. I explained to the lady who had done my 1st fitting what I think had been done to it, and she agreed and "fixed" it.
I got it home and saw that it was STILL crooked - it's like they don't have a measuring device anywhere in the building... I borrowed a dress form from a friend of my sister and fixed the thing myself.
If you buy a dress here, enjoy it - for the price, they're great. DO NOT let them alter it here! Take it to Nordstrom or ANYWHERE ELSE! Don't let these people touch your gown!! read more