Dress Shops? Looking for recommendations

mooselissa · October 2010

Hi,

I'm going to be dress shopping in the San Francisco area in a few weeks and would love suggestions for places to go. While I want something nice, I'm more into spending the budget on amazing wine than on my dress, so shops with lower price points would be ideal.

Thanks!

reese511 · October 2010

sorry! i got my dress in NYC. hopefully one of the other girls can help you...but there arent very many that frequent this board =(

vb0000 · October 2010

GOOGLE, google, google, Yelp, yelp, yelp. Choose the city you want and go to Google maps and search "bridal shops" or something like that. Look at the store's website to see if they describe themselves as "affordable" and/or if they are having a sale or are even going out of business which means they are selling everything cheap. Then look up the names you get on Yelp and see if anyone described the shop as "affordable". Do some internet research up front and you won't waste your time going to shops that you can't afford.

But I can tell you though that if you go to almost any wedding store inside the city limits of San Francisco it won't be "affordable" so you may want to stick to shops in the outlying areas.

[Deleted User] · October 2010

Hello

I went to a shop in Vacaville (Northeast of San Fran) called Downtown Gowns. The consultant, LeAnne, was amazing. I told her my budget (didn't want to go over $1500- including tax and hopefully alterations as well), and she found an amazing gown for me at $1100 (alterations will be minimal for my dress). I believe I found my gown after trying on 2 before "the one." The overall experience was great- we had her undivided attention and I brought my mom and FMIL and they had a great time as well. Obviously it's not in San Francisco, but if you want to go for a short drive, I highly recommend them! Just make an appt before stopping

Good luck!

mnp555 · October 2010

I bought my gown at Glamour Closet which is in the North Beach area of San Francisco. They sell sample gowns, so they are all relatively affordable (my Carolina Herrera gown was, when all was said and done after alterations, probably around $2,500). They have a ton of styles. Some of the girls on here have said some negative things about it, because some of the gowns are a little worn, but that's why you're getting them for such a great deal. That being said, the gown I bought was in mint condition. HTH

mica178 · October 2010

I heard good things about Glamour Closet too, but unless you're close to a wedding dress size 10, it's probably not going to work out. Everything I saw was too big for me and/or in really horrible condition.

I went to Trudy's way down in Campbell. It was fine, but not Kleinfeld's. I heard good things about the Priscilla in downtown SF.

GJones27 · October 2010

I liked Priscilla of Boston in SF and David's Bridal which is in Colma, right outside of SF. Didn't like Bridal Galleria at the Embarcadero... had an arrogant consultant there who brought me nothing I liked.

MegieM · October 2010

I just did the dress shopping thing last weekend. I can HIGHLY recommend Nelly's Bridal in South San Francisco. They're normally closed on Sundays, but Nelly herself opened the store just for us (me, my mom, and two of my bridesmaids). She had a bottle of champagne chilled and ran across the street to get us orange juice to go with it. She spent two hours suggesting dresses and chatting with us. It was exactly the magical bridal gown shopping experience I wanted. And since she's not paying SF rent, she can pass the savings along in lower dress prices. No matter where I find THE dress, she said she can order it for me, and I definitely want to give her the business. An A++ shop!

On the other side of the coin I have to warn against the David's Bridal in Colma. Had a horrible experience there. The sales lady didn't listen to a thing I said. I told her I didn't want sequins, so she brought me a dress covered in them. I don't think she understood what I meant when I said I wanted a dress with straps. I had a hurt ankle, and she left me standing in the dressing room half naked for long periods of time (sometimes even leaving the door open). A horrible experience, but at least we went to Nelly's first, so we just laughed our way through it.

Have fun!

ElleestJenn · October 2010

I actually had a great experience at David's Bridal in Colma. I got both my wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses. I know other's brides who had experiences there too. That's why I went there

.

If you go outside of SF I wouldn't recommend going to Petals and Papers in Burlingame. A friend of mine ordered her bridesmaid dresses there and well really long story short they didn't get the dresses until the week of the wedding.

Have fun!

urpezy · October 2010

If you want to come down to san jose. I got my dress at bella mia bride. I went to davids bridal here in san jose and their milpitas location and hated it. I like bella mia b/c it's private and small and you can work with the same person every time you go. I did not want to spend a lot on my dress either. I did end up spending 1000 after taxes which was the top of my budget but my dress was amazing and looked like I spent more. Alterations were more then I expected but I'm short so and it was a corset so if you don't need a lot of alterations you can probably get a nice dress there. They have trunk shows and I believe they post it all on their website.

They have good deals on tuxes too.

I believe they have another location but I don't remember where.

slubkin · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_california-bay-area_dress-shops-looking-recommendations?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:602Discussion:414a8864-00de-4acb-9bb6-0590501815f5Post:712e210f-bc5b-4ea5-83ca-edb4b302fcd3">Re: Dress Shops? Looking for recommendations</a>:
[QUOTE]I actually had a great experience at David's Bridal in Colma. I got both my wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses. I know other's brides who had experiences there too. That's why I went there :p. If you go outside of SF I wouldn't recommend going to Petals and Papers in Burlingame. A friend of mine ordered her bridesmaid dresses there and well really long story short they didn't get the dresses until the week of the wedding. Have fun!
Posted by ElleestJenn[/QUOTE]
I agree on Papers and Petals, I didn't really like the customer service when I went there.

I also agree with a previous poster about Trudy's in Campbell- it's a drive but I thought their customer service was very good, they have a wide selection of gowns at a range of price points, and I really enjoyed my experience there.

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