Overall I had a good experience and would go there again. But I had adjusted my expectations from what I saw on TV (ie-Say Yes To the Dress) prior to going. I knew that I wasn’t going to get the same individual attention which was fine with me. When I went to a ‘full’ service salon, I felt like they were always impatiently hovering and didn’t give me enough time to just look at myself in the dress and see how I felt in it.
I was very lucky. I found a dress that was $250 and it arrived in 10 days—yes 10 days!! Which is highly, highly unusual. I also haven’t used their alterations service. I’m not sure who I will use, but the review boards have not been kind to the David’s in-house alterations.
I wanted to pass along some tips and suggestions.
Specific David’s Bridal
1. Go with someone who can help you zip up. My associate was very nice (Anne), but this is not a ‘full’ service bridal salon. Anne was great in that she made sure I wasn’t overwhelmed by the number of dress I had. On my second visit, I must have pulled 20-30 dresses (some were duplicates). She would bring over 3-5 at a time and take away the ones I didn’t like. But then she would disappear. At which point my friend was the one zipping me up. Just when I was done with that batch of dresses, Anne would appear from nowhere with then next batch to try on. She helped with a few zip up dresses and all the corseted backed dresses. I would say she was there about 30% of the time to help me get into the dress.
2. Bring a camera. David’s let’s you take photos. I took front and back pictures of the favorite dresses (which turned out to be 11). Then I made a PowerPoint photo album with each dressed labeled. Then I sent it to my Mom and other Brides’ Maids. This made it very easy to have conversations about the dresses. (“I like dress 2, 10 and 11)
3. Use the David’s catalog to keep track of your opinions of each dress. This may not be necessary if you bring a camera. But even if you take pictures of some dresses, after a few days you might not remember which other dresses you tried on and your opinion of them. It was nice to go back through the catalog and be reminded that I gave that dress a 6 or that it made me look short.
4. Go during the week (after work). I went on a week night. I haven’t been there during the weekends, but I’ve heard it’s a zoo.
5. David’s Bridal in Springfield is a test store, so they get dresses that aren’t in the catalog. When you go in, ask to see the ‘test’ dresses that aren’t in the catalog.
6. Buy the dress bag. Yes it sucks that after spending hundreds of dollars that they make you buy the dress bag, but it’s $10 and totally worth it, even if it’s really cheap quality. You aren’t using it as checked-baggage on a trip.
7. Bring your own clips. Anne had to scrounge around for those clips they use to hold the back of the dresses. They had them, but if there were a lot of brides that day, there might not be enough.
8. They have samples in most every size. (sometimes they are missing a specific size, but they should have it in the next size up) This is great for two reasons. First, you can try on a dress that isn’t too big. I’m a size 12, but at some stores I was trying on size 16 because that’s the sample they had available. I don’t care how many clips you have, it’s impossible to get a real feel of what the dress looks like when it’s so big. Second, you can try on the size dress you are going to order. There are many stories of stores that order dresses too big, just to force brides to pay for more expensive alterations.
Overall Bridal Dress Shopping
1. Try on *everything*!! Unless you really hate something (like the type of lace), try it on!! I cannot emphasize this enough. I tried on one dress (to make my MOH happy) and I was shocked at how I looked in it. I carry my weight in my tummy area (and have a square shape—no curves) and try to hide it. So I thought I was going to get an empire waist dress. The dress I tried on had beading right across my belly. Instead of making me look bigger, it made me look thinner. And the overall dress made me look curvy and tall. I didn’t get it just because it wasn’t quite the right style for my outdoor, daytime wedding. But it was an unexpected beautiful dress.
2. Wear long lasting lipstick. (Some people say it dries their lips out, but I swear by L’Oreal’s Infallible. Doesn’t stay on the 12+ hours like Cover Girl’s, but it does nicely at 8-10 hours -depending on what you eat). You don’t want to look washed out while you try on dresses, but you also don’t want to get lipstick stains on the samples or have to keep re-applying it.
3. Bring something to pull back your hair. I wore it down just because I it would be impossible to keep it neat when getting in and out of dresses. But I wish I had brought something to pull my hair back once I was in the dress.