Wedding dress shops!!?

mj1028 · September 2010

The search is on for the dress!
Where have people had good experiences finding a dress?
I did the Davids bridal, now I'm going to try Charlottes weddings and more.

kizat · September 2010

I had a fantastic experience at Beautiful Brides for Less in Vancouver.

I was on a really tight budget... but mostly the sales people there are very nonpushy and nice.

DramaGeek · September 2010

Bridal Exclusives in Clackamas is a great one to check out. I saw a couple of places downtown when were there for Race for the Cure that had amazing looking dresses in the windows - The Silver Lining on 4th and Stark...and another one just a block or two south of there, Lianne's? Something like that. No idea on price or customer service but the stuff in the window was gorgeous.

mj1028 · September 2010

Thank you both!! Everything I have tried on has been so pretty...but nothing that felt like the one. So I wanted to get a bigger list of shops together to go to.

heidirobbins · September 2010

Not sure where your shopping sounds like Portland. But I had an AMAZING experience at Bridal Gallery in Salem. The owner was soo personable and helpful!...and they had the current styles also amazing prices! 2 thumbs up for me:D

barlinkafire · September 2010

I had a really bad experience at Charlottes. They were very rude. The girl asked me "If I was going to be that pastey shade of white on my wedding day". WTF! I am naturally very fair skinned. I don't fake and bake b/c 1. I burn and 2. I don't want to be all leathery when I'm 40! My maids and I couldn't believe that comment! We left right away and I called later to talk to a manager about it but of course no one returned my call.
They have nice dresses- very good qualtiy but they are all very expensive $800 - $3000 at least. Plus you have to deal with the snotty sales people.
I have a friend that got her dress there $3000 dress- it came in with a huge snag in it and they said it couldn't be fixed! For $3000 I would want my dress to be flawless!

I ended up getting my dress at David's Bridal. They were really nice and I didn't have to pay a fortune for my dress!

bethcoug · September 2010

Go to Bridal Exclusives! I went to 3 other places before going there and wish I had just gone there first. Ask for Patrica, she is the best!!!! Happy dress shopping.

mj1028 · September 2010

@ Barlinkafire. I'm so sorry you had that experience. I can't believe they didn't both even calling you back..was that recently? I kinda had a vibe when I made my appointment..just off how they were on the phone. So that was when I decided I needed to find out from brides where they went and had a good experience.

Thank you all for suggestions and advice!

barlinkafire · September 2010

Yes it was just about one month ago. I would avoid them if you can. It really made me self consious about my fair skin and about wedding dress shopping in general. Just remember YOU ARE THE CUSTOMER! They should be happy to have you in their dress shop.

Good Luck!

KyGronseth · September 2010

I bought my dress at Bridal Exclusives in Clackamas (also location in Salem). However, I LOVED my experience at Charlotte's as well, just didnt find THE DRESS there. I even had a second appt scheduled at Charlottes but cancelled when I found my dress. I HIGHLY recommend both. I am sorry someone had a bad experience but mine were excellent-- great personal service and they KNEW what to pull.

heidirobbins · September 2010

I found my DREAM dress at a shop in Salem "Bridal Gallery" the owner helped me herself and gave such wonderful attention.They had all the latest styles and were a full service with a full taylor service on hand..very easy to work with! Biggest plus was awesome prices!

Portland09102011 · September 2010

I went to a second hand store in Fareview that is for a non profit. There's a lot of junk but a few nice dresses. It's worth checking out before spending a lot on a new dress. They ask for a minimum donation of $100 per dress.

http://adornedingrace.blogspot.com/

Don't forget about Brides against breast cancer on October 9th and 10th.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/clo/1970104485.html

danibruno · September 2010

I had a wonderful experience at Charlotte's! I bought my gown at "Brides Against Breast Cancer" in Texas (Im getting married in Oregon) and Charlotte's let me bring it in to the shop and try it on for my mother, MIL & bridesmaids. I explained to them that I was out of town military bride and it would mean the world to me if my mother could have the "bridal shop" experience; they were more than accomodating even though I didn't purchase a thing. I would highly recommend them for their service! Happy hunting!

kareneweigel2008 · September 2010

I drove all the way to Boise to look at a dress that I was dying to see in person. Turns out it was THE dress so I ended up ordering it from Bridal Exclusives (they carry Sottero Midgely) in Clackamas. I was hesitant after my first experience there resulted in me not even getting a Hi! However, upon return visits, and working with Amber, they redeemed themselves and I can highly recommend them.

Other shops that I have received excellent customer service:

Rosewood Bridal in Tigard -they don't require appointments and and are all super nice. In fact, they are the ones who made trying on dresses a very positive experience for me.

Silver LIning Downtown-- excellent choice of dresses and a great sales team.

Magnifique Boutique in Sellwood. Cute little Victorian house shop tucked away in Sellwood. Very nice owner and she follows up with you via email when new stock comes in.

Charlottes was nice to me but I didn't find anything there I liked-- the salesgirls were very pleasant to me though. And if you end up in Boise, The Chic Boutique-- also fabulous.

Places I would NOT recommend-- Anna's in Lake O. I don't get why they keep making the Portland's Best list in all of the magazines. There was a dress I liked but I was a year and half out from my wedding so I wasn't quite sure about it. I got the Used Car Sales approach to the dress, i.e. "I need to know today if you want the dress because I do have someone else interested in it". I wouldn't buy a car from someone who said that, much less a wedding gown. I don't like that tactic at ALL.

Anias- not only are they overpriced, they ignored me altogether.

Tower Bridals- Snotty, bored salespeople. Don't tell me the average size of women in America is a bridal size 6-8 when I ask if there are dresses in a larger size. The vast majority of dresses in that store are 2, 4, 6, 8. You might find some 12s. I still don't understand why wedding dresses are 2 sizes smaller than normal. If it's because they are "European" then put European size tags on them. I think it's demoralizing for women who are on the curvy side when they can't even try a dress on because they have no selection of anything larger than a 12.. But that's just me.

Hope this helps!

Becca0517 · September 2010

Bethcoug, I also used Patricia at Bridal Exclusives!! I thought she was amazing! I got my dress there, 7 of the 8 brides I know (Including myself) have bought their dresses at Bridal Exclusives after shopping there! They have a really great 'bridal dress shopping' strategy where they put you in one of each style of dress to determine what you like the best.

pikles01 · September 2010

Although I'm not the original poster, thank you to everyone who listed so many shops! I too am about to start my search, but am on a budget. I see that Bridal Exclusives was recommended by a lot of people. Can anyone tell me the price range of the dresses they have? What about some of the other shops?

Thanks for your help!

kareneweigel2008 · September 2010

Rosewood Bridal in Tigard has dresses under $1000. My dress from Bridal Exclusives was more than that but one of the others I was looking at was in the $780 range. If you're looking for less than that, Beautiful Brides for Less in Vancouver has dresses for $400 and under though limited in quantity. You can also find dresses for under $1k at Bridal Exclusives. Another thought is to look at bridesmaid dresses. A friend of mine found one she liked for her wedding , ordered it in white, and it was only $200.

mj1028 · September 2010

Thanks again! This is all great stuff for me and for any other bride in the area looking! I have two appointments this weekend with shops so we'll see where I go from there. I
I don't know if its a bad thing, but I haven't really thought about dress prices yet. I just havent found anything that I felt like is perfect.. or a range that I wanted to stay in. I have just been focusing on finding the dress!!! This will probably cause me some trouble later huh! :P

vidapuppy78 · September 2010

I got my dress at AniA's and I thought they were absolutely wonderful. The quality of dress is far far superior to anything at David's Bridal (though David's bridal does have nice styles). They sent me a swatch of the dress fabric in the mail while it was being ordered so I could match shoes, etc to it. They also do free pressing, which is great after the dress has been altered and gotten wrinkled. I highly recommend this store.

David's Bridal is decent, but it has a wedding dress chain/mass produced feel to it. I saw many dresses there that brides I know have worn. They are pretty pushy sales people too. The dresses are quite affordable, but the quality of fabric is not nearly as nice as the boutiques.

The dresses at the Silver Lining were very very expensive, and the lady was so nasty I coudln't wait to get out of that store. She was condescending, and made me and my friends feel very uncomfortable. Many of dress styles were also quite a bit older (would better suite a woman in her 50s) than a younger bride (at least the $1,000 and under range were).

The service at Anna's Bridal Boutique in Lake Oswego leaves a little bit to be desired, but the dresses are nice and quite affordable.

Readingdiva123 · October 2010

I too recommend Bridal Exclusives. Although I have yet to go in there to actually try on gowns. That's where we got our bridesmaids dresses for my sister's wedding. We went in there just to look around and see what they had to offer. They acutally were able to squeeze me in to try on some dresses and we even found the dress for the bridesmaids that very night. We also had cut it kind of close with the timing but the particular designer that we chose did rush delivery. Also I've gone in there a couple of times since I got engaged just to look around. And they have been extremley welcoming. I just explain that we haven't set a date yet and they just told me that was no problem. I definitley have every intention to at least make an appointment there once we set a date and i begin dress hunting.
Good luck for those of you on the hunt for a dress.

mj1028 · October 2010

I went to Charlottes this weekend, and they were nice! just the lady didn't realize what I was going for until the end of the appointment so I didn't get to try anything I wanted on. It was an hour and half appointment. But she was nice and I did get to try on dresses.

Later in the day I went to Bridal Exclusives... and I loved it. I loved how they figure out what looks good on me, and it was all so informative. Plus in 2 hours i went through a ton of dresses and I found 3 that were amazing. and what I was thinking I liked she was able to find after the first couple of dresses so the rest of the appointment was focusing on detail of the dresses. I will be going back there. I just have to say I wish I had known about this place earlier and I would have just gone here first.

DramaGeek · October 2010

I ended up with a strapless dress because the gal at Bridal Exclusives (Amber, though I doubt it was the same Amber who works there now since this was 9 years ago) asked me to trust her and just try on one of every style. I did, and fell in love with the strapless look. They were so helpful and informative and really made dress buying a pleasant experience.

That said, I used their seamstress and would not do so again. Use Kathi in Gresham, fo' real. She's amazing, and it's probably the only regret I have from our wedding.

Ariset · October 2010

I just bought my dress from Bridal Exclusives in Clackamas. I found a dress I loved for under $700 but I know that they have dresses in a wide range of prices. I was very nervous going in because I don't like to shop for clothes and I had heard horror stories about not being able to try anything on if you aren't a small person, which I am not. Dispite my worries, I must say I had a wonderful experience! I was able to try on every dress I picked out and they gave me great advice on what styles would be more flattering for my body shape. They have tons of dress styles in many sizes. The sales associate, Amber, was very nice and answered various questions and wasn't pushy at all. I hope you have as much luck finding something you love where ever you decide to go!

mustanggoonie · October 2010

I too agree that alterations from Kathi's Stitchery in Gresham is the way to go.

mj1028 · October 2010

I just wanted to add an update to this!
I had gone back to Bridal Exclusives (in Clackamas) with out an appointment (this was totally last minute and I live 2hrs away and just happend to be in the area) when I decided to see if I could try on my last two dresses I liked so that I could just pick one and get it ordered. Well I had a bad experience.. I was treated...not very well......by two different people there. My first expeirence was great but it took just these two people acting very stuck up and rude to ruin it. Then when having to make an appointment to come in she told me I couldn't come on the weekends because they don't allow Bride backs...just First time appointments only. I had said weekends are what will work for me and my family to come in. I was so annoyed. But I think its a hit or miss with them...because later when I called about the appointment one lady was so nice and didn't care if I was coming back f a 2nd appointment or if I needed an appointment on the weekend.
I ended up driving all the way up to Weddings with Joy in WA to check out one of the dresses I wanted to try on again. She was great and so helpful and had a ton of dresses by the designer I loved. She had the most out of any store I have gone to yet.

Wedding dress shops!!?

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