Wendy's Bridal

Chocmom24

Has anyone purchased from Wendy's?

Initially I wasn't interested in shopping at Wendy's, but I found that they had a larger selection of Maggie Sottero dresses than most of the smaller boutiques. I went to try on dresses there yesterday and fell in love with a dress. It's not a Maggie. No problem. However, when I inquired about the designer my consultant said it was one of their national designers and that they really don't have tags. It wasn't even one of Wendy's house designs.  Is this odd? Other boutiques have mentioned the designer when they put the dress on me. I would prefer to know the "story" behind my dress. I want to know the designer so that I can do some research on the craftsmanship etc. and maybe get reviews from other brides.

Is it really one of the designers advertised on their website and they don't want me shopping for a better price elsewhere?

green795

It is probably that they don't want you shopping elsewhere but I have been to other boutiques where the tags were not in the dresses and with a little nudging I was able to find out the dress designer. The first time I went Wendy's they did not list the designers on their website. When I went back after dress shopping all over the state (about 6 months later- this past April), I fell in love with a dress and knew they weren't going to tell me the designer (I was told they do not provide the information to their clients until the purchase because they have an agreement with the designers), so I looked on their website and checked every listed designer's websites until I found the dress. Was it tedious? Absolutely. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I figured out it was a Maggie dress (and I never thought I would end up with a Maggie because I'm not even a huge fan of most of her designs- but I love my dress!) Anyway, Wendy's never found out I knew the designer. My advice- look online at the listed websites and if you find the dress, you can call other stores for a price check. But if it really is their private label, you won't find a website with all of the designs anyway.

jodski

I had the same thing hapen to me. I was very frusterated because I knew they were 'misleading' me and I think they should at least have the decency to say that they do not provide that information to their clients. I really, really wanted to know the designer of the dress for the sole purposed that I wanted to try it on for my OOT sister. I had full intentions of purchasing the dress at Wendys but they refused to tell me who designed it and tried to act like it was not a designer name. I ended up using the list provided on their website to find the dress I fell in love with and bought it elsewhere because I was so disappointed with the way they treated me.

tryoung1

They were upfront with me and told me that they could not tell me the designer until I bought it.  I understand why, they don't want you shopping anywhere else.  However,you treat me well I'll buy from you.  Although, I didn't agree with their policies I still bought my dress (mori lee) from them.  

I tired looking for my dress by going through all the different designers (spent hours!) and I could never find mine.  It's worth a try though!

chasegl

It's their policy not to tell you so that you can't shop elsewhere (has nothing to do with agreements with designers).  It was the only place I visited that wouldn't tell you who the designer is.  They think it helps ensure you buy from them, but I've found that  brides often end up figuring out the designer and buying elsewhere just because of the deception.  It's silly, really.

shae726

That is the thing that ticked me off about Wendy's, I found a dress there and of course they wouldn't let me knw who the designer was. But I researched my butt off and found my dress and it was about $400 cheaper when I found it.

Freckles27

Even worse, I purchased my dress from there, and that day they told me it was a brand new dress in the Wendy's Private Collection.  After many hours of researching their site, I finally gave in and called the store.  It is an '08 Blue by Enzoani.  I LOVE my dress, but after handing them a huge amount of money it would have been nice to have been told who really designed my dress, the first time...

wynterfreshy

I looked at Wendy's Bridal in the very beginning of my dress search.  I was very dissatisfied with the service rendered.  They did not want to disclose the desgner of the gown to me.  I personally did not feel comfortable wiht that considering that there are so many knock-off dresses out there.   I also found that there prices were considerably higher than many of the places I looked at.  I ended up ordering a Maggie Sottero gown from Alan Ray Bridal, which is down the road from Wendy's.  They have been amazing to work with.  There dresses are far more affordable than Wendy's.  Plus you know what you ordering before paying.

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BrittBritt22

This is the reason so many girls do not like Wendy's.  Same thing happened to me.  I went in wanting a Maggie and they told me they couldn't tell me which ones were Maggies and told me to just go look.  Noone even helped.  RUDE.  Luckily for them I ended up falling in love with another dress in the store and bought it from them but based on my experiences with them my sisters have already decided to go elsewhere for their dresses.

[Deleted User]

I agree with what all the other knotties are saying.  When my Mom and I first started looking for dresses, we went to several stores, one being Wendy's. Even though it was close to closing on a Saturday afternoon, I still felt like I did not get good service since I told them I was just looking. They did not offer to show me specifics for my body type/size, etc and just told me to walk up and down the rows and see what I might like. Prior to that, we had went to Alan Ray where I had tried on a bunch of dresses with a great, very helpful and knowledgable consultant, but I just wanted to be sure the 2 I had it narrowed down to at Alan Ray were the ones I was gonna choose from. One of the dresses was a Maggie Sottero, the other was a Sottero Midgley. That is exactly what I did. I came home 4th of July weekend where they were having a sale and re-tried on the dresses (they wrote them down and everything and told me just to come back in if I decided) and bought (of course the more expensive [Sottero Midgley] of the two) the dress of my dreams. I was so pleased with their level of expertise and service, it outweighs the price of the dress. Alan Ray is excellent, I would definitely recommend them to any friends that are getting married.

skippylouwho

If you make an appointment at Wendy's in Dublin, make it with Lil. She really does give outstanding service. My daughter had narrowed her choices to a dress there, a dress at Elegant Bride in Dublin, and Alan Ray. 

We went back to each store at all 3, she eliminated the Alan Ray first (pretty,shantung silk and very nice but we felt it wouldn't photogragh well, and that the others were just more fitting for her and more in line with the budget she had set for herself.   She ended up buying the dress at Elegant Bride.  The dress is lace (as was the dress at Wendy's) and has lace straps over the shoulders.  The dress she chose had a much lower v at the neck than she was comfortable and the straps over the shoulder were wider than she wanted. Another dress by the same manufacturer wasn't as low cut in front and the lace straps were narrow. For $100 they will put the bodice from that dress on the dress she wants.  This will give her less of a low-cut v neck and narrows lace straps.

Chocmom24

Thank you ALL.  for confirming my suspicions. It didn't dawn on me until yesterday morning that they were intentionally keeping the designers a secret. I thought maybe I was being a little paranoid.

gmmoore21

You know, I have to say I was hesitant about going to Wendy's after reading some of the previous posts over the past several months. However, I had heard good things about the Cincinnati location before, and I decided to try it out. If any of you decide to try out Wendy's despite the bad reviews, you should definitely go to the Cincinnati location! Ask for Sandra, she was amazing. I went in with my mom and my sister last Friday, and not only did we have her full attention all morning, but she actually was the one to pick out the dress i bought based on my description of what I wanted! AND she picked out a complimentary bridesmaid dress to go with my dress and we ended up getting that too! She wasn't trying to upsell me, I asked and she delivered!! I highly, highly recommend Sandra! 

I do agree with the PP about the not disclosing the designer, which is annoying. But in my experience, many stores follow the same practice.

GL!