Dress shopping?

COSmitty

I will be in San Diego (where the wedding will be) in a few weeks.  I am recently engaged and was thinking of going to a dress shop with my mom and best friend. 

I can make the appointment during the week (I'm at a conference but it's flexible) or weekend. 

Does anyone have a shop they enjoyed with a lot of selection? I'm not a tiny person (though I am fit) at almost 6' and am aiming for $750-$1500

Thanks

megmac24

I got my dress at Alfred Angelo and tried on about 12 dresses before I found "the one." They were really helpful and had tons of dresses. I browsed their website beforehand and picked a few I liked so I had an idea of what to try on. I'm pretty sure there's one in San Diego. They definitely fit into your price range, too!

saritak

I got my dress (Maggie Sottero) at A Nite on the Town. It's not the biggest shop, but their prices are good and I had a great experience with them. It was the only place I tried on dresses and I bought my dress the first time I went there.

http://www.anott.com/ 

I've also heard good things about 2000 Dreams Bridal. They seem to have a bigger selection. I got my head piece there, but did not try on dresses, so I'm not sure how the service is firsthand or what their prices are like.

http://www.2000dreams.com/wedding_gowns2.html 

Another shop I've heard good things about is Here Comes the Bride. Again, I have no firsthand experience with them or their prices, but they have a little bit different selection than the two previous ones.

http://www.hctb.net/site.html 

HTH and have fun dress shopping!

whatsurdamageheather

I went to Isis Bridal in Sorreto Valley.  It is an adorable boutique that really gives you the "dress shopping" experience and Courtney that owns the  shop is the best!  They have a large variety of prices.

CindyP1

I highly recommend Bridals by Susanti in Escondido. I had emergency alterations done on my wedding dress a week before my wedding there after the bridal salon where I bought my dress mangled it and swore there was nothing wrong. But, Hannah, one of the seamstresses at Bridals by Susanti, was great and she helped fix the dress as much as possible.

The salon itself is quite nice for shopping. The dresses are affordable, with brands like Maggie Sottero and Casablanca. They have large dressing rooms, angled mirrors, and good lighting. They also allow some photography (of your favorite dresses). They had a good veil selection--this is were I bought my veil after looking around all of San Diego.

For reviews of all of the bridal salons I visited in San Diego and Orange County, see my Yelp list:

http://www.yelp.com/list/bridal-salons-of-oc-and-sd-orange

cglassick

I did the same thing as you..live out of state and flew in to go dress shopping with my mom with the same price range. I went to Here Comes the Bride and had a fantastic experience. (Had gone someplace else a few weeks before here in Vegas a couple of weeks before and it was awful). Ask for Yolanda. She was fantasic. Very helpful and gave great suggestions on dress styles, ways to make the dress look better (i.e. belts, sashes, ways to alter a ballgown to make it A-line, etc). Some dresses came in that afternoon while I was there and she pulled dresses as they were unpacking them from boxes for me to try on. 

The dressing rooms are HUGE and private. They have a sofa for your family to sit on while you try dresses on and a huge mirror so you don't have to go out into the middle of the store with everyone staring at you in each dress. I found the dress that I think will ultimately be "the One." There was not much of a selection in the under $1000.00 range, but a decent selection under $1500.00. Hope that helps

cmorino12

Brides by Demetrios in Mission Valley. 

cmorino12

demetriosbride.com
2025 Camino Del Este
San Diego, CA 92108-1537
(619) 294-2575

Angela is my consultant there. She is very friendly, helpful and patient. All the ladies
there are. The salon is huge! You can chose from your dress, BM dress, FG dress, your
mom's dress, and its just beautiful & homey & welcoming inside.

konaemily

I bought my dress at 2000 Dreams Bridal--they are really no frills, but the service was excellent.  The only thing to keep in mind is that it takes forever for the dress to arrive (mine took almost 6 months) but if you get your dress far enough in advance, it should be no problem.  I had 1 alteration there and they did a fabulous job.  The dress was perfect and it was right in my budget (paid $500 for my dress plus about $200 for alterations).