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California-San Diego

Here Comes the Bride -- Any reviews of this shop?/General thoughts on wedding dress

Hi everyone,

I am about to purchase my wedding dress from Here Comes the Bride (hctb.net). I did some research on Yahoo, etc., about the shop, and a lot of people seem to say that they were treated like royalty until they made their purchase, and then were discarded/treated poorly. The dress I love is only available at this shop, or in Manhattan, so I'm kind of stuck unless I decide to buy it in Manhattan and have it shipped to me directly. So far I've had a great experience with them, but, again... I haven't ordered the dress yet. The girl who helped me at the appointment has been stellar, but a couple of the other women I've talked to have been snide with me on the phone.

Has anyone here purchased from them? I guess it doesn't really matter how I'm treated after I order the dress as long as it comes in on time, etc. But what if something goes wrong? Some brides said that they were pretty much fed to the wolves if something went wrong, even if it was the shop's fault.

Any kind of feedback about this shop, or about your dress buying experience in general would be SO helpful. How do you handle an apathetic/non-responsive shop? Does it matter that much? To be safe, should I take the dress elsewhere for alterations? Thanks!
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Re: Here Comes the Bride -- Any reviews of this shop?/General thoughts on wedding dress

  • Macaroni212Macaroni212 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Hey violinvixen!

    I've been in there to try on dresses, but it was because it was my first time doing so and my friend is one of the consultants, so I knew she wouldn't be pushy trying to sell me anything!

    For alterations, I was planning on going somewhere else. I've been to an alteration place for prom dresses, etc and they've turned out nicely and they were really helpful and probably a whole lot cheaper than alterations through a bridal place.

    Sorry I'm not much help! 
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  • gemini87gemini87 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I have never been there, but Bridal and veil in Mission Valley is Great.  See Ivon.
  • edited December 2011
    Thank you both for the recommendations! I talked to a friend of mine who just got married and she gave me her alteration lady's number, since I am set with my dress and can't get it anywhere else. Seems like a much safer bet! :)
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  • edited December 2011
    here comes the bride charges a lot for alterations. where did you guys go to?

    i love my dress...

    the service was great...

    they let me bring a bottle of champage hehehe
  • MonciaanneMonciaanne member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    So far I have had a great experiance.  My dress arrived a few weeks ago and I was going to do alterations through them, but now I am a little worried.  Recommendations on alteration places would be really helpful.  Thanks in advance.
  • cmanicmani member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I went to HCTB and didn't like how i felt. I can't explain it, but it didn't feel like any of the other stores...kinda rushed and unimportant.I ended up getting my dress at White Flower and definitely recommended them.
  • edited December 2011
    The store itself is great (those dressing rooms are out of this world), and their consultants are spectacular. Mine was so understanding and happy to help. I just ordered my dress. It should be in by February. I plan on picking it up and then using someone in LA for the alterations (I live in LA and drove all the way to SD just to find this dress!). I know what you mean about the bad feeling... as soon as I said I was buying the dress, I felt a little rushed into the contract, etc. All the reviews I read prior to purchase said that they are amazing up until the moment you buy the dress. I will keep you all updated with how I'm treated/my general experience.

    Monciaanne -- if you'd like, I can give you the information for the woman I am planning on using for my alterations. She did my friend's dress when she got married as well as a couple of other girls we know. I've heard nothing but amazing things. Let me know, and good luck!
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  • megan_glaciermegan_glacier member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I too bought my dress at HCTB and did not feel very warm and fuzzy after the deal was done! The dress came in on time and was as I ordered it. However, they (of course) convinced me to get a larger size even though the sample size fit and now the alteration price seems extremely high so I'm looking for alterations in San Diego. It's scary to take the dress elsewhere so recommendations would be very helpful. If anyone has an alterations shop in SD they love, please pass it on!
  • edited December 2011
    Listen to your instincts, ladies!  I'm knee deep in bad feelings about HCTB.  They said my dress would be here in June........  It was here in late August.  Why?  Well one of the consultants let it slip that my dress and several others were held up at the manufacturers because of "an accounting error on (HCTB's) part."  I don't think I was supposed to know that they didn't pay their bill so my dress was two months late.  I didn't freak out because there was still time to do the alterations.  THEN...  I did my first fitting, scheduled my second, and rec'd a call asking if I would reschedule and push my appt back by 30 minutes.  No big deal.  I called to confirm that it was okay and could not get through.  So the day of my appt, I call 40 minutes ahead of time and am told "everything is ready for you at 5:30."  In those exact words.  I get there.  I sit.  I wait.  at 6:05 I'm called into a room in the back.  The door shuts and I'm told "You're dress is not here."  So they let me leave work early, drive all the way there, sit and wait for almost 40 minutes, all the while knowing my dress is not there and I'm wasting time while I have 8 million better things to do.  Allegedly, my consultant "just heard about it five minutes ago."  But no one bothered to call me to tell me I would need to reschedule and they let me sit there waiting almost an hour like I was some kind of chump.  I didn't freak out and go Bridezilla like I wanted to because after the initial burn of waiting for 2 months (without a courtesy call to tell me that my dress was late, mind you) for my dress, I was a little relieved they weren't telling me that it died in a fire!  I'm going back tomorrow for fitting number 2 and my fiance, AKA my attorney, is dying to go with me and "burn that mother to the ground."  I might wait until I have the finished product in my hands and then demand my alterations money- all $460 of it- back.  I've been very calm up until now, but it's about to come out!  

    So in short, skip HCTB.  There's a hundred other dress stores out there, but you only get one opportunity to have a nice experience buying a wedding dress.  
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