As I just spend the last four days looking at wedding dresses in Atlanta, I thought I would give my impressions on the shops I visited for fellow brides just getting started on their wedding dress search. I was looking for a "budget" dress (under $800), so I went to stores that stocked some one the less expensive lines.
Bridal Sense: This was the first dress I looked for dresses at. Ever. They were very hands off (which was appreciated as I was trying to get a feel for what I wanted). Had a good selection of gown both to order and buy off the rack. I found a beautiful Atelier Diagonal dress sample in my budget that wasn't my style but would have been a complete steal if it was! When I was ready to leave, they got my email address and sent me an email within a few hours with links to my top 3 dresses.
David's Bridals Collections (the boutique store in Buckhead): I had a great experience here. I came in without an appointment (on a Thursday afternoon) and they gave me a consultant (Tracie) right away. She was fantastic. Really listened to what I wanted and walked with me through the store pulling dresses with my input. She gave me the long line bra, slip, and shoes to try on dresses with and helped me into every dress. The lighting in the store was great. If you have had bad experiences with other David's Bridals stores, go here - it may change your mind about the brand. I found two beautiful dresses but definitely wasn't ready to buy and got no pressure from my consultant either. If I hadn't found the dress elsewhere, I would have bought one of the two dress I loved there.
Bridal Outlet of Atlanta: This is where LaRaine's Boutique sends their sample dresses. They had a very limited selection (even in a sample size 10 - which shouldn't be hard to find). The dresses weren't my style as I was looking for a lace dress by that point. If you are looking for a satin dress, you may find it here. The service was...weird. Not rude, just a little off.
Affordable Bridal (in Buford): The store had a large selection, but it all veered towards big poofy ballgowns. The service was hands off, but the consultant helped me clip gowns at least. I did find a beautiful a-line WTOO gown (the Ariane) there for a very reasonable price that I was seriously considering.
Formally Yours (in Lilburn): The dresses were a little out of my price range, but the consultant was very helpful and pulled some beautiful dresses for me. I loved Maggie Sottero's "Bronwyn" that I tried on there, but it was a little out of my price range. If you are a plus sized bride, I don't know if you'd feel comfortable there: something about the way my consultant said "And those are our plus sized samples, you don't want to look there" while she was showing my around really turned me off. The sample dresses weren't in great shape either.
New Natalie's: I had read horrible reviews of New Natalie's so I was very apprehensive about going, but I decided to suck it up and check out their selection. I went on a Saturday without an appointment and was able to pull dress right away. There was one lady who walked me through their selection and told me their system (pull 5 dresses, put them on a rack, let them know, and then wait for a fitting room consultant). The dresses were all in bag, so some of them were hard to see, but they had a big selection. The prices weren't fantastic, but it you are looking for a chiffon or satin dress, you could probably find it here. Their selection of lace dresses under $1000 was a little limited. One thing I didn't like about their system was that they don't list the designer and dress style anywhere (and cut out tags) so you can't look up the prices of the dresses when you leave without some serious sleuthing. My fitting room consultant was great though. She helped me into every dress and pulled some similar styles she thought I might like. She even let my mom take a picture of me in my favorite dress so we could consider it later (which is against their official policy). I did find a beautiful dress but it was (again) just out of my budget.
Bride Beautiful: I dropped in their store (without an appointment) on Saturday and they were busy and couldn't fit me in. The manager of the store walked me through their selection though so I could see if they had anything that might work for me in case I wanted to come back another day. They were setting up for their semi-annual sample sale, so suggested I come back the next day (today) and see if anything would work then. The receptionist/cashier was very friendly too and suggested I get there a little early for the sample sale as they are usually very busy then. I decided to go back today and actually found the perfect lace dress sample for $500 (well over half off the retail price). While the regular stock dresses would probably have been out of my price range, they had some beautiful samples for sale. The service I got, both yesterday and today were great too. Very happy to have found my dress there!