OK, so I have not had one good experience with this place since I pad for my dress. It has been one problem after another and well I finally had all I could take from them so I picked up my dress and left. Now I am 7 days from my wedding, my dress is not hemmed nor are any alterations done. =(
When I found the dress I loved and wanted everything was great but I wanted a longer train. I was told the designer will customize anything on the dress I wanted and the charge is like $175. I was ok with that and the associate went to help me figure out how long of a train I wanted. When she was back there she noticed that a lot of the material was being caught on my butt (I have a big butt and I know this). She said as soon as the dress comes in, in my size (without a custom train) I will have an extra 3 inches of train. I was ok with the length she showed me so opted not to get the custom train done. I then asked about hemming the bottom of the dress because it is all lace and jewels and I knew I was going to wear flip flops. I was told that it would be no problem at all and all they would have to do is hem it from the waist, sounded reasonable so I placed the order for the dress.
OK, so my dress was delivered at the beginning of August and I asked if I could come in and try it on and look at it and what not. So I went in and out the dress on and was in love with my dress just as much as I was when I placed the order. The only problem was – the train did not gain any inches from when I tried on the store dress. I was sad because I wanted a long train but I figured whatever I could deal because I love the dress. I asked the associate about the hem again because it was still very long. Once agan I was told no problem. Before I left I made an appointment for that next week to have my first fitting with the seamstress.
I arrived the next week with my wedding flip flops in hand to find out there was a mix up and there was not a seamstress that week. I had to make an appointment for my next fitting at the end of August because my FI was coming home from Iraq and I didn’t want to have to cancel the fitting because I was picking him up (you don’t get an actual date of when they get home – you get a 24 hour call and an 8 hour call before they arrive).
OK here is a little TMI and I am sorry for that, but it does play into this semi vent. I am a surrogate and I was about 15 weeks along to find out the baby had not grown. I found this out on the Wed before my fitting (the fitting was Thursday). I decided I would go to the fitting just the same. My MOH took it upon herself to call the dress place and tell them what had happened (don’t ask me why but I am still pissed at that). We get to the fitting and put the dress on and the seamstress comes out and starts pinning the top part of my dress as the bust is a little loose. The owner of the dress store walks in and says “oh is this that fitting?” She then looks at my MOH and asks if she can talk to me about it as if I was not even in the room. She then turns to me and says that she will not allow my fitting that day because my body is going to change and she doesn’t feel comfortable with having them do the fitting right then and I should make an appointment for after the holiday to come back. I looked at her and said my body isn’t going to change and that this was my 4th pregnancy and I should know my body by now and I am ok with doing the fitting. She argues with me and sends the seamstress away and said I will have to come back in a few weeks. WTF I said ok as long as you can GUARANTEE that my dress will b done before my wedding on September 19th. She said it would be no problem. I was beyond livid at this and just numb from it all.
So I waited for the holiday weekend to come and go and I called this last Tuesday to make my appointment. I was told by the receptionist that “my fitting should have been done weeks ago and my poor planning should not get me in the door right away for a fitting just because I say I need an appointment this week.” At this point could not hold my tongue any longer and I told her it wasn’t my poor planning it was Lady M who decided she knew my body more than me and insisted that my body would change after a miscarriage. I then added that in fact my body did NOT change one single bit. She scheduled my appointment for this last Thursday to have my fitting at only 10 days out from my wedding.
So I walk in this last Thursday and decide I will let the past be the past and move on because my wedding is in 10 days and I am super excited and nothing can ruin my good mood, or so I thought. Get my dress on and am sitting there waiting for the seamstress to come out and waiting some more, oh and waiting even longer. FNALLY the seamstress and Lady M (the owner comes out and Lady M says “WOW, I was certain your body was going to change.” WTF kind of statement is that? Whatever, I was over it. I was going to do my fitting and be done with it. The seamstress starts looking at the bust area and we talk about the bra cups I was wearing and I asked if she could put some in and I was told no problem. I then asked about the hem and Lady M perks up and goes “ oh we can’t hem the bottom of this dress, there is too much lace.: Umm, WTF? She then goes on to say “this should have been a custom ordered dress with custom length.” I lost it at this point and told her I asked over and over again every time I came in to the store about my dress and the hem because I knew it would need to be hemmed. I told her every time I was told no problem at all and that they can just go from the waist and hem it that way. Lady M decided to tell me they can do it but there isn’t enough time for them to do that and it would cost about $300 for them to do that if they could, plus an extra $50 rush fee. She then asked what kind of shoes I was wearing and I told her I was wearing a very basic flip-flop. She then said “ well we should have known that from the beginning and we would have known to order this dress with custom length just for you.” Umm excuse me, I knew all along I was wearing flip-flops and I DID tell your associate that I was wearing flip flops because we all joked about it.
At this point I have had enough and no longer trust them to even touch my dress so I tell her I am done, take the dress off of me and prepare it for me to pick it up. You can tell by her facial expression she did not expect that answer but she goes with it. Then the sales associate comes in and says “ok let me show you how to work the bustle we put in for you.” Umm excuse me, what bustle? I asked her when they did that and she told me it was done the week before when they fixed the flaw in my dress (oh I didn’t mention the designer flaw did I?). So she put the bustle up and it is exactly what I did NOT want in a bustle. The entire train is lace and have a very pretty design on it, so I had wanted to show t off with an over bustle and they took it upon themselves to put a bustle on my dress without even talking to me about it and it was an under bustle so you cannot even see the train design and it makes my butt look even bigger.
These are just the problems we have had with MY dress; all of my bridesmaids have had an issue with them as well. I am so pissed off, I am 7 days from my wedding and now I have to go find shoes that will be comfy and lift my dress off the ground. I also need to go find some sort of water bra to help make the bust fit better and I have to come to terms with my ugly bustle too. My dress is no longer my dream dress, it has been a nightmare. =(