Describe your dress shopping experience

CatalinaGirl · May 2012

Hi ladies,

I am in the pre-planning stages and I'm a little overwhelmed by the number of bridal shops in the DC area. Where did you go and what was your favorite shop? Where should I avoid looking?

island07b2b · May 2012

For the wedding I am planning now and the wedding I previously planned in 2006 which was canceled I visited the following stores:

Bridal Images (Rockville, MD) - Went here in 2006. Did not like it. They limited you to a certain number of gowns and were not friendly at all (at least not on the day I was there). Pricing was on the high side on many of their gown. Hopefully things are better in 2012.

Couture Miss Bridal (Upper Marlboro, MD) - Went here in 2006 when it was called Country Miss Bridal. I liked them a lot. Very friendly and had a nice selection. Pricing varied. I purchased my gown from this shop in 2006. I pass by this store every day and they have the prettiest dresses on display. I still heart this store.

David's Bridal (Bowie, MD) - Went in 2006 but nothing much seems to have changed. Complete mad house. Do not go on the weekends. They will rush you for sure. However, they had a big selection and still do. I was therre with my BMs not too long ago to try on dresses. Several brides there were trying on the Vera White line of gowns. They were really pretty. Pricing is very affordable at David's.

Riziks (Washington DC NW - Connecticut Ave) - Went here also in 2006. Hoity toity stuff. This place is not for the budget conscious bride. They tended to be a bit stuffy too. I work near this store now and they advertise sales fairly often. Might be worth visiting.

Curvaceous Couture (Colombia, MD) - This is where I bought my gown for my current wedding. LOVED this store. It's designed for the street size 12 and over brides but any size bride is welcome in the store. They had a lovely selection and great try on rooms. I was able to try on as many gowns as I wanted (went on a weekday). Pricing varies but they go out of their way to make sure you get the gown you want in your desired budget range.

Places I didn't visit but have heard good things about are:

Curvy Girls (Fairfax, VA)
Hitched (Washington DC NW - Georgetown)

EricsBlushingbride · May 2012

I went to store all over because I am not that perfect sample size. Some shops were just plain wrong on all accounts, I agree with the post above. Katherins in Old Town was ok to work with,

2dBride · May 2012

We had two brides, and were hoping to keep the dress prices from getting overwhelming, so we concentrated on bridal consignment stores. A few notes:

1. I Do I Do in Gaithersburg had the biggest selection.

2. Our favorite was La Bella Bridal Boutique in Occoquan, VA. Even though we live in Maryland, it was definitely worth the trip! When we made our appointment, Ellalyne asked us about our preferences and sizes, so she could have some items picked out for us before we even arrived. Our requirements were tough. I'm a plus size. I was 56 on our wedding day, and NotFroofy was 41, so dresses designed for people in their 20s don't work for us. Because there were two brides, we needed outfits that would complement each other. NotFroofy is 5'1", and I'm 5'9", so identical gowns were not going to happen for us. Our budget was low: no more than $500 per dress.

When we arrived, we were the only people in the store, and Ellalyne gave us her full attention. She listened carefully to our preferences, and had an eye for what would look good on us, so we weren't trying on a bunch of impossible gowns. LaBella has consignment gowns as well as new ones, which helped keep the price down. (And she didn't try to push us toward more expensive ones than we could afford.) Throughout the visit, she was warm and gracious. While it was clear that working with a lesbian couple was a new experience for her, she was clearly accepting of us. And unlike some salons, she worked to find something that would look good with our figures, instead of suggesting that we were the "wrong" size or shape.

Both of us found "the dress" there. In each case, it was a dress that we never would have given a second glance to on the rack. However, Ellalyne picked it out, and it turned out to be perfect, with clean, elegant lines that covered our problem figure areas and enhanced our good areas.

3. St. Anthony's Bridal sells donated gowns for $150 each. We never got a chance to visit them. (They are only open 10:00 AM to noon on Saturdays.) However, they might be worth at least a visit.

4. We also visited David's Bridal in Rockville, but cannot recommend it. First off, you really need an appointment, even if you come mid-day and mid-week. Second, they get you to give them your e-mail address, then send it to every vendor spammer around. Third, their consultants were totally unhelpful. They would basically tell us to tell them which of the dresses in the catalog (which had no prices) we wanted to try on. If I could pick out dresses that would look good on me from a picture, I could just buy online. What I wanted from a physical store was some help on choosing which dresses to consider. Plus, I didn't really want to try on dresses outside of my price range, and I had no way to find out what price range any dress was, without asking about each one.

5. ChicBrides.org was another one where we had a bad experience. We went there because they advertised previous seasons' dresses at a discount. We therefore made an appointment. However, it turned out that they are just the clearance listings for Pattrapon Brideal. Unless you dold them in advance a particular clearance dress you wanted to try on (from a web page that had no prices listed), they would not have those dresses available. And they didn't show us a single dress that was under $1,000.

dewingedpixie · May 2012

I had lists of dresses picked out and fell in love with one on a dummy at a bridal show. We went the next weekend to For Everly Bridal in Alexandria. Very small shop all handmade beautiful gowns. They have 1 dressing room and its a mom and daughter team plus a few employees. I was treated like a princess! I tried on a handful of dresses but I absolutely did buy the one off the dummy. It was everything I thought I originally didnt want but in the end just absolute love. I really love this store I reccomend it if you want a smaller bridal shop experience.

SyAmaya · June 2012

I started out by looking through David's Bridal site just to get an idea of what's out there and made an appointment at their Springfield, VA store. I signed up online, and opted out of all the spam. I favorited a few dresses that I kinda liked and showed up for my appointment at 11:30am still thinking it was just to figure out what was out there. First off, there was ton of people there already but you wouldn't know it by the service I received! Everyone was friendly. While I was waiting for my consultant I was sent to browse and see if there was anything else that caught my eye. That was nerve wrecking for me, I was alone (my mom and sister were late), didn't know my size and there were a whole lot of dresses! My consultant Karen came and seriously rescued me, she took me back to my room and the first dress I tried on (Check it out in my profile), I knew was it. I showed it to my mom and she knew it too, but I still tried on a few more just to make sure... Karen was patient, she answered all my questions and really listened to all my concers. I ended up leaving and not buying the dress and for a week I couldn't think about anything else. I went back as a walk in at around 2pm on a Thursday and was happy to see Karen was there. She showed me a beautiful cathedral veil that came in that would go perfect with my dress. I tried it on, and bought the dress that day! The veil really did make me feel "bridal" Karen did an awesome job! Lol, and I was thinking I wasn't gonna buy my dress from there....

alcon79 · July 2012

I've only been to Nordstrom in Tyson's Corner so far, but they were awesome. Christine was awesome - nice and helpful. Prior to my arriving we discussed my likes and dislikes in wedding dresses and a budget, so she already had 6 dresses picked out. My friend and I also noted that we really liked the dress in the window, and she worked for a good 30 mins to find the man with the key so I could try it on - and it's the front runner.

I was suprised by how many dresses they had in my budget range - I guess I assumed they would be more expensive, but overall she pulled 10 dresses under $3k. And played around with shoes and accessories, so it was a great time. Going back this weekend with my mom to show her my top 2 choices.

Describe your dress shopping experience

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