Dress Shopping

RailWayWife

Was nothing like TV makes it out to be!

I went to Davids Bridal on Saturday for my first dress shopping experience.

The consultant said to us "Okay go find some dresses you like then we will set up a changing room." Okay great. So My mom and I grabbed some dresses. Turned out none of the styles I originally thought I would like looked good on me. The consultant just stood there, didnt give any adivce or pull any other dresses for us. We tried to find more dresses but we just got frusterated. All the dresses look the same on the hanger and its difficult going through hundreds of dresses when you dont know the store inventory. The consultant didnt even help me get into the dresses, some of them were extremly heavy and hard to get on.

All in all it was a disapointment. I am gonig to make a couple of apointments for next month in a few little shops downtown and hope those go better


Who knew dress shopping would be so hard?? I honestly thought I would try 3 dresses on and find one I liked lol!

jennylee813

lol - yeah, what looks good in pictures doesn't always cut it in real life...

It doesn't sound like your consultant was very helpful - sorry. :-(

When I managed a salon, I let the brides tell me what they wanted to try THEN I made suggestions based on what I say during the session. I knew every dress inside out (Literally lol), and can't tell you how many times brides said to me, "I never would have tried this on without you telling me to!"

And they were talking about the dress they bought.

Smaller boutiques with appointments will likely be much more helpful. It should be closer to what you were expecting, and the consultant SHOULD have been helping you into the dresses, at the very least. She should have also been pulling styles for you. She's supposed to know the dresses - they do all look the same and can be overwhelming to a bride.

But at least now you have an idea of what you don't want, and that's  start.

audubonbride2013

Railway- I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience.  I really hope the smaller boutiques work out better for you.

I completely know what you mean about it being nothing like TV.  I also went dress shopping for the first time on Saturday and Sunday.

The first place we went on Saturday (a small boutique by my apartment) was a bit pushy and sketchy.  They only showed me about 5 dresses and tried to force me into a decision then told us to leave and come back when we were ready to make a decision after only 40minutes.  She actually pulled the dress that will be my dress after a few alterations, but I won't be buying it from her.  She told me it was their private collection, but really it's an Allure.

The second place was a bigger boutique about an hour from my apartment.  The consultant there was wonderful and they had my dress for about $400 less.  They also had a beautiful beaded sash for the dress, but the sash is overpriced.  I may buy my dress here because I loved my consultant, but they have terrible reviews about alterations so I'm looking for a place that has great reviews and carries my dress.

The third place was another small boutique.  They only carried about 20 styles, but I found one I really liked there too.  It's a one woman shop and she gets wonderful reviews, but she was so unhelpful.  She only allowed me to pick 6 dress from her catalog and didn't pull any others.  She put the 6 dresses in the fitting room and walked away.  My friend had to help me into all 6 dresses and the woman didn't do anything to try to help me.

Sunday we went to Alfred Angelo and it was the worst experience ever.  I had an appointment and they made me wait over 30 minutes after my appointment time before anyone came to help me.  They told my mom and I to look around and pick out ones that we liked.  When we started pulling out dresses they told us we were not allowed to touch the dresses and could only write down the style number.  The dresses I tried on looked very cheap compared to the ones I tried on in the boutiques for the same price.

Overall I'm happy I found my dress, but now I'm searching for a great boutique to purchase it from.  I fell in love with the Allure 8862 although I would remove the applique since it looks like a snowflake and add a simple beaded belt around the waist.  It was completely not what I originally wanted but it looked great and would be comfortable to wear for an entire day.

sparkellyy

That's unfortunate. I started and finished in one day at David's. I definitely think location makes a huge difference on David's customer service.

It was just like the TV shows for me. I decided to go the Sunday of 4th of July weekend thinking it would not be crowded, and I was right. We were there for 4 hours and I was the only bride in the store. It was awesome!

I tried on 20+ dresses and narrowed it down to about 3-4 that I really loved. Then, the consultant told me that there was one that the warehouse sent to them that hasn't even been steamed to be put out on the shelf yet. It was a discontinued style. I put it on and it was the one. Fit like a glove & the faces of my mother, grandmother, and cousin said it all.

I am in love with my dress & my experience @ David's!

Ashelton09

Oh I'm so sorry your experience was a bad one! I found my dress at Davids, but I agree with the P.P. It really depends who you get there, I went to one out of town for my brothers wedding, and it was soo different (in a bad way) from the one right by my house. Hopefully you'll have better luck at the smaller shops. You'll find your dress! I had to try on like 6 or 7 before I finally found mine

TiffanyT816

I heard David's Bridal is more about the sale than the experience. I'm sure you'll have a better experience at a boutique than somewhere like David's.

I went to a sample sale a while back and had a great time, and it was crazy and hectic in there but the girl was SO helpful.