Dress Shopping

kiwigreen11 · June 2011

Hey Girls,

I know this is super redundant and I've perused the boards for shops that have been used and are recommended. Here's what I've coem up with:

Brides and Grooms
Bridal & Tuxedo Shoppe
Claire’s
and of course, there is always...David's Bridal

Ok, so..my mom's coming in for 2 days from North Jersey, and we'd likely to be as efficient as possible. Basically, I can NOT justify spending a whole lotta money on a dress I'll be wearing for a few hours! So the criteria are a) reasonably priced (like...not DB styles on my DB budget), b) shop is known as being reliable, and c) good service. I want to make this as easy as possible for my mom since we're going on a weekday and she's missing work for this.

If I've missed any please let me know. Thank you so much in advance!

wicked+faery · June 2011

DB does have a huge veirety of styles that (if u ask me) are just about the same as u'd find in other stores (yes i know "designer" is probably wanted) but honestly think of it this way...who's gonna really know or care what designer u're wearing as long as u look good.

good luck on ur shopping. hope u find something great! ^_^

kiwigreen11 · June 2011

honestly, i have no problem with DB's designs, materials or any of that stuff.! it's the sales tactics that annoy the crap out of me (does continually harassing ppl really make them more likely to come in and buy from you! sorry, off the soapbox...)! It's seems though that the kirkwood hwy DB is ok for the chain, so that's def a good sign and it will likely be on the list of places we check out. wicked, you had a good experience with them, right?

wicked+faery · June 2011

yep. i just didn't use their alterations. & u do get some added free stuff & coupons after u buy ur gown there. & thoroughly inspect the dress if u're buying 1 off the rack. mine was in mint condition...but i've seen some that are horribly torn.

EiDuffy · June 2011

i got my dress from irini's on philadelphia pike...they offered me a lower price from another store where i had tried on the dress...service has been great so far and it is a family run business.

lilapple27 · June 2011

Absoultely go to Brides and Grooms (ask for Carmen!) My experience there was phenomenal and the prices are very reasonable. I found 2 dresses I love (it was my first time shopping) and both were marked down below the average retail cost.

RecoveringActor · June 2011

I went to Bridal & Tuxedo Shoppe... and I had a limited budget. I wanted to spend between $500 and $700 on my dress. Now, I did spend more than that, but there were a lot of dresses in that price range.

I had a wonderful experience there. Kristen helped me, and she was awesome. They also have a sample rack where they are selling the sample sizes, and a lot of them are $99. You have to take that dress... you can't order it... but there are some really beautiful dresses on that rack. I tried 1 on that was very pretty, but it wasn't ME.

Also if you order your dress early, you have some time to make payments. They won't order the dress until they have 60% of the price of the dress. I went shopping about a year before my wedding, and I gave them the 60% in November. My dress came in sometime in April, so it took a little more than 5 months to come in. Give yourself at LEAST 6 months for the dress to come in. I gave myself extra time, and I'm glad I did for my own peace of mind.

Also with B&TS, if you pick your dress the first day you are looking there, and put a down payment on it... they will take $100 off. I didn't know that when I went shopping, and I was determined to find a dress the first day because I didn't want to be searching for weeks.

MrsPnky2B · June 2011

EXACTLY! Brides and Grooms and ask for Carmen!

I went to 4 bridal shops, no bad experiences, high end and moderate priced and had my best, most fun, shopping experience with Carmen. I found my first dress with her (a mermaid gown) ...went to a high end shop and tried full A-lines that I liked but not enough to buy and was stuck. The full A-lines I liked were $4000+ (not happening.) I went back to Carmen @ B&G and she helped me find full A-lines in my style and price range. My chosen dress was cheapest of any I tried. Carmen cares more about your shopping experience and helping you find what you like than about making commission. Plus she knows her stuff!

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_delaware_dress-shopping-2?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:77Discussion:c89a70c9-66a9-4a5c-a2c5-85acf80973c1Post:b66ac666-f548-413f-a68d-f556379e5e60">Re: Dress Shopping</a>:
[QUOTE]Absoultely go to Brides and Grooms (ask for Carmen!) My experience there was phenomenal and the prices are very reasonable. I found 2 dresses I love (it was my first time shopping) and both were marked down below the average retail cost.
Posted by lilapple27[/QUOTE]

animalluver0612 · June 2011

I got my dress from Irini's on Philadelphia Pike! Niki is the best!!! I got my bridemaid dresses for my wedding there too along with bmy own bridesmaid dress for a wedding i was in. She does alterations on the spot and will match prices from other bridal shops. She is always ready to order any dress for you to try on if she doesnt have it in stock

Ms.BriarRose · June 2011

This is probably a little late, but I also used Brides and Grooms (I used Faith and Susan), and my dress was $500!

If you have not found a dress yet, a tip that was suggested to me by Faith was to go up to Alfred Angelo, up in Lancaster PA, and try on the dresses there, and then order it from B&G- they beat prices like nothing else! AA in lancaster wanted 800, and I got it for around 500!

Also, remember that if the shop is eligible to carry a line, while they may not have the dress you exactly want, they can order it for you and get it without any problems. That's how we got my dress. So if you find a dress you want, and know it's brand is sold at a different shop, then go ahead and check the pricing of the other place. You never know!

paprika28 · June 2011

Yep. i should check this board more. I went to both DB and Bridal and Tuxedo Shop. I bought a dress at DB and just for S&G I went to B&Tshop. I ended up getting a Maggie Sottero gown for $500.

(and that was one of the more expensive ones on the discontinued rack!)

If you don't mind a drive, there's also a shop on rt 1 closer to Rehoboth beach. I can't remember the name of the shop, but I looked at gowns there, and they were ridiculously reasonable.

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