Hi! I just had to proclaim - that I bought my dress yesterday!! I fortunately only had to make two different trips to a few places to try on dresses - Latelier Couture in St. Paul, Rush' Bridal in Minneapolis & the Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul. I found the most gorgeous dress at the Wedding Shoppe yesterday & put down my payment....and I couldn't be more excited! It is by the designer Mikaella - style 1367. I LOVE it! Now that I've proclaimed that, just thought I'd offer a couple reviews of places I visited: Latelier Couture: WONDERFUL service - I was treated like a princess. Betsy, the woman who helped me, really got to know who I am and what kind of dresses would suit my personality. She was very knowledgeable about all the designers, too...and very honest on how dresses looked on me (which I appreciate). One of my two top dresses from there was one she had picked out herself! Unfortunately, my budget isn't as high as the higher-end prices there - so I couldn't buy my dress there. Like I said, the service was fantastic, and it wasn't crowded or hectic. The dress selection wasn't huge, but I found one there I was in love with! If I had the budget, it would be mine
Rush's Bridal: Big selection of dresses - different prices & mediocre to bad service. The dresses are sorted by designer. Since that was only my 2nd place, I hadn't become fully aware of what designers I like. The woman who "helped" me did not help pick out dresses...just left it up to me & my sister-in-law. She was not knowledgeable about the dresses or designers, although she was very nice. She wasn't able to answer my questions well...and really only helped zip me up, etc. I got weird vibes there, and knew I didn't want to purchase my dress from there! It was not crowded there, so at least it was easy to walk around & pick out dresses to try on. The Wedding Shoppe: Bought my dress here! The service was okay, not awesome. But like I had heard before going, this place is busy! My helper had another bride she was helping too. She was very honest on how the dresses looked on me & was very helpful in helping me find more dresses after I had gotten a really good sense at what I wanted. She was very nice & friendly. It was very crowded here - lots of bride-to-bes! But it was okay - huge selection of various prices of dresses -and they were mostly sorted by price. I recommend coming here! My dress will arrive in February...and I cannot wait! Hope this was helpful?