Dress Shopping thus far...

lillianchameleon

Thought I'd give some reviews of local bridal shops... since I've been to quite a few:The Wedding Gallery- If you're in the market for a traditional ballgown-like dress, its decent.  The prices are average.  They have a huge room of sample sale gowns, but they are dull looking.David's Bridal (St. Peters)-  TERRIBLE customer service.  The sales lady was SO rude.  I would not recommend here.Brides by Demetrios- Lovely dresses and helpful employees..  If you have a budget of at least $1500 I would definitely recommend it, but its definitely not in my budget.Shaely Bridal-  Very small selection, but very pretty gowns for very reasonable prices.  I would recommend checking it out.La Merite- Average prices and nice employees.  A couple unique gowns, but overall pretty traditional.  They have a good number of sample sale gowns.If anyone has any recommendations for a shop let me know!  I'm looking for something under $500.

shawna77inil

Honestly, if you can find a dress you like and try it on somewhere so you know the size, try Ebay.  There are alot of dresses on there, many brand new with the tags on them.  It's worth at least checking it out.

lillianchameleon

Yeah, unfortunately all the ones I've liked so far I guess are fairly new and I haven't had any luck on ebay.

StLerin

I am currently hunting for a dress also. I have been to a few places so far, but havent found anything i cant live without. Elite Bridal/Blustein's Bride House: in St. Charles, decent selection but they are a little pricey.... average 800-1100. If you go, try to get the younger girl to help you.I Do I Do Bridal: In Chesterfield, a litttle more expensive, but great selection. VERY nice!If you want to try again at Davids Bridal, try the one in Sunset Hills(off Watson), and ask for an appointment with a girl named Cory, shes awsome.Brides-n-Fasion (not sure): this is in Chesterfield Valley off Long road. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. the owner is rude and will NOT help you.Hope this helps, thats as far as I have gotten so far. Has anyone been to:A Bride to BeThe Ultimate BrideClarice's BridalAn Elegant Event

thelook

I went to Clarice's and they are AMAZING. I like that they they are sweet yet have no problem being honest about how dresses look on you. It really is great service, imo. I ended up getting my dress there and even ended up going back recently to order a bridesmaid dress for a wedding I'm in in January. You should def. check them out.

jastl32

I'd recommend staying away from I Do I Do. A lot of brides on here have horror stories with them. If you find something you like, try houseofbrides.com You can order A LOT of dresses from there for a reduced price. They are a reputable bridal store I think based out of NJ. My friend got her wedding gown there and her bridesmaid dresses, and I got my bridesmaid dresses from there as well. No tax and I think free shipping, and we saved a good chunk of change. It's worth checking out.

jastl32

I forgot to mention my friend paid about $400 for her wedding gown.

StLerin

Thanks everyone! I plan on continuing my search this week. You all helped a lot.Sorry, Imetyouonthedarksideofthemoon, didnt mean to butt in on your post.  

lillianchameleon

No, I appreciate the reviews!

ebrisk

I bought mine at Town and Country Bridal in Frontenac and my BM dresses are from there Chesterfield location. They were the nicest people ever and spend so much time with me everytime I go there!

aprilrose975

Sorry No recommendations here.  I got mine at davids Bridal but I had wonderful service.  But I got it at a store in San Diego CA.  But I am having it altered at the DB in Sunset Hills.  I am kind of scared though since DB gets such bad reviews,  Thinking my good experience may be a fluke. 

JeannieJ70

I got all my stuff from Brides By Demitrios However,... well worth it

crickit21

I got my dress at David's Bridal in Sunset Hills and it was altered there as well.  They were fabulous.  I worked with a girl named Callie.  She was so nice and patient and very honest about the dresses.

shawna77inil

I got my dress and all of my bridal party's dresses at the David's in Fairview Heights.  They have been very nice and helpful.  I go to pick up my dress on Wednesday.  They added some straps and a 5 point bustle.  We also had two people that needed alterations.  They are a little pricey, but so far it looks like they are doing a good job.  See, your experience wasn't such a fluke after all.  :-)

rrandolph

I am from Jefferson City Missouri, but my wedding is in STL so we decided to do all of our shopping there. I first went to look at wedding dresses in Charleston SC on vaction and fell in love with a dress. After some research and many phone calls my mom found the dress at Town and Country Bridal. The service was great on the phone and in the store and the prices of the dresses seem to varry, you may be able to find somthing there!

lillianchameleon

Has anyone been to Karen's Bridal in Clayton?  Or White Traditions in Cottleville?

rcd531

Karen's has a decent selection, and in addition to having a variety of prices, they usually have some samples for sale at a reduced price. It's  hit or miss with the lady helping you, but it's definitely worth trying out. I would also try Robin's on Manchester Rd. (in Kirkwood). The service there is really good, and they also have a good mix of prices. They will also try to work with you get the price into your budget if it ends up being close. Hope that helps!

lillianchameleon

Thanks!

TaylorLee

I went to Maiden Voyage (in Manchester, I believe) and absolutely loved it! I got my dress for $475.00 off the rack and it's stunning. They decided to discontinue one designer and had a bunch of her new dresses left for half off. They have the most samples that I've seen as well which is probably what you're going to have to do if you're looking for around $500.00. I would make an appointment but they have really personalized service and they treated me wonderfully. Plus they really worked to stay within my price range which other places didn't do. I do, I do is actually no longer in business. It's now called Happily Ever After Bridal, I believe. The owners of I do, I do got into some big trouble and were losing dresses, using other peoples money to buy new dresses, etc. The new owners seem very nice though and were really trying to fix the mess so it might be worth taking a look at now. Good luck in your search! I hope you're as lucky as I was!

ivygrads

I went to pretty much every bridal store in Saint Louis, and found the best service to be at Simply Elegant downtown - at 10th and Olive. They have a fabulous dressing area and they are really not pushy, just very warm. There were several other brides there that day and I did not feel claustrophobic. I actually fell in love with a dress there and was about to purchase it from them, but found a better deal on the same style of dress (fabric, cut, etc) from Clarice's. Clarice's is good for reasonably priced bridal wear - they have a large selection. The only thing is it can get a little crazy on the weekends. Maiden Voyage was nice, but they send in the sales lady to close you once you find the dress. I told them numerous times I was not going to buy that day, as it was a large purchase and they were first in my stores to look at, and they still pushed me. Hope this helps!

KJDOHERTY

BEWARE the new I Do I do, the ownership/management is basically exactly the same.  The new 'owner' is the old manager known for treating brides like crap.  I would never do business with the new company.

cheerbear323

I've heard GREAT things about Clarice's. I've been to Bridal Inspirations and they were great! The customer service was amazing and they always have a load of dresses for $99-$299. I bought my dress at Robin's Bridal and they are excellent. I love the ladies there and they are reasonably priced.

StLerin

I forgot, Maiden Voyage was one of my first stops, because I had heard good things. I had a terrible experience there. I went in the middle of the week without an appointment. They made it seem like an "inconvienence" that I wanted to look at gowns. They ask you what your price range is and mine was on the lower end of what they carry, so the lady helping me treated me like i was wasting her time.... she never actually helped me look... just pointed to a short rack in the corner (maybe 10 dresses) and disapeared.... neadless to say, my MOH and I left. They are only willing to help you if you look like the right type of customer and are going to drop BIG bucks. Only plus is they have BEAUTIFUL gowns... visit at your own risk.

jgleespen

I bought my dress from Karen's, the customer service is amazing. Betty (the owner) kept the shop open after hours for me because I wasn't able to make it there after work in time. I would not recommend I DO I DO. They were the first shop I went to and they were talking bad about a girl who was just in the dressing room before I was. I found it to be incredibly unprofessional. Good luck!

buttonbean

I got my dress from A Bride To Be. It wasn't an amazing experience by any means but it's a cute little place with nice, sweet girls working there. It seemed like the girl helping me was shy and awkward which isn't bad but I'm shy and awkward too so it didn't make for the best experience. My dress came in early and exactly what I wanted though. so no complaintes there.

jeffloveslaura

I do not recommend Robin's Bridal at all. I ordered bridesmaid dresses and jr. bridesmaid dresses there. They screwed up the order twice -- in the end I had to pay full price for their mistakes. They did not stand by their policy at all -- and they were rude by not taking ownership of the problem and worst of all they didn't seem to care.

TaylorLee

I went into Maiden Voyage without an appointment as well. At first they seemed pretty unhappy that we didn't make an appointment (which is why if you go, I would make an appt). The lady sat me down though and asked exactly what I wanted out of my wedding dress and tried to help me find a dress in my price range. She seemed really happy for me when I found the perfect dress for only $475.00. I guess it just depends on who you talk to. They do have some very expensive gowns but they didn't seem to be turned off at all by the fact that I didn't want to spend a lot of money. She let me browse all the aisles and brought in a few dresses that fit my description exactly. Plus she had some great advice on how to distinguish THE dress from all the others and helped me rank them to keep perspective. I forgot I also went to Amore in West County. A really cute little shop but the lady didn't seem to care much about my budget. She put me in a $2,000 gown and when I asked her how much it was she said, "don't you worry about it." The other shop I went to was Bella Bride in the Winghaven area of O'Fallon. That was my first stop since it was right down the street from us. The owner was wonderful and very helpful although she didn't have a very large selection of gowns and the vast majority of them were over $1000.

b2bc

Bridal Inspirations was very nice to work with, but they have gone out of business. I found my dress at Brides by Demetrios and Karen's, but ordered it from Pearl's Place right outside of New Orleans because it was about half the price. From what I've read on here and other sites and my own experience so far, I'm thrilled with Pearl's. They have been wornderful to deal with.

lillianchameleon

I'm going to DB again for their $99 sale or whatev this weekend.  I'm doubting there will actually be anything, but its worth a shot I suppose.

Jmm10

Karen's is amazing.  Betty keeps the store open after hours for me every appt I have made, she truly loves everyone she works with.  And Jean is amazing with the alterations.  I just had my first appt for alterations yesterday and was so impressed with what she's going to be doing for my bustle!

elissa81

I don't know if your still looking or not but I just went to Bridal Connections in North County today to try on dresses and they were awesome there. They let you go thru the dresses yourself without someone standing on top of you- you put the ones aside that you like and they set a room aside for you- no appointments needed as I called them the day before to make sure- And they had many reasonable priced gowns. Also I went to David's Bridal in Fairview Heights last month and they were also very helpful and easy to work with - I do think I will go back to Bridal Connection and get a dress as I think I found the one today at there place! Good Luck with your dress search!