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Wedding Dress Shopping - Bridal Shop Reviews

ellen.jansenellen.jansen member
First Comment
in Missouri-St Louis
I am beginning the search for the perfect wedding dress.  I'm getting married on the beach in Florida and want a more "destination" type dress.  I'm trying to keep my dress budget under $1000.

I'm looking for reviews of bridal shops... good or bad.  Where did you go to look for dresses?  What did you think about the places?  How was the price range at the different stores?  Where did you end up ordering from and how were they?  I just want to make sure I go to a good place!  Thanks for your help!
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Re: Wedding Dress Shopping - Bridal Shop Reviews

  • maryandkirk0909maryandkirk0909
    First Comment Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    I went to Simply Elegant.  My dress, with alterations, was about $1300- but it was a heavily beaded and embroidered ballgown.  There are a lot of price ranges, and this was the best for my style of dress and the designer I wanted.  They're fairly helpful, so if they don't have what you want and they can't get it, they'll usually make a suggestion as to where else to check out.
    White Knot
    Stand up for something you believe in. White Knot
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  • mrsthiel2011mrsthiel2011
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am getting my dress from Amore in Chesterfield. At first, I loved them and would have recommended them to anyone, but they have been increasingly difficult to work with. My bridesmaids dresses are also coming from there and they have been nothing but a headache to deal with. When we originally found the dress, we were told a price, which was within $10 from a dress we were considering at David's. When my girls ordered their dresses, they were charged $15 for measement, even though one fit in the sample perfectly and asked to just order that size. The day the last girl ordered her dress, I got a call that they "forgot" that the color I wanted only came in an upgraded fabric and it would be an additional $30/dress to get it. I feel like that was their mistake and they shoudl have eaten the difference, but they didn't. We wouldn't have chosen that dress if we had known the true cost.
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  • mihuffmanmihuffman member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I loved, loved, loved Clarice's on South Hampton.  They were helpful, attentive, honest, and accomodating.  I have gone back there to get my bridal belt, got my dress in after only 3 weeks, and just stopped back in today to check out bridesmaid dresses.

    Only downfall is that they don't do alterations.  Paid under $500 for my dress, but they had a good range of prices.  My budget was actually $1000.

    Good luck!
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  • redhead1216redhead1216 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I would like to second Clarice's on South Hampton.  They have an excellent range of prices and if you go to a bridal show, you can get a coupon-(I got $100 off my dress and a free slip!).  Everyone was kind and helpful, I couldn't ask for a better experience.  (I also shopped at three other stores, David's and two other private boutiques whose names I can't seem to remember - they didn't hold a candle to Clarice's.)  
    Hope you find the dress!
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  • eck036eck036 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I'm another happy Clarice's shopper. Jaz, the woman who helped me, was really great and knew what she was doing, I recommend her.  My dress hasn't come in yet so hopefully it will be smooth sailing the whole way through.  They treated me great when I was there. Oh and I spent just under 1 grand.
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  • crh1020crh1020 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I loved White Traditions on Main Street in St. Charles.  They are a smaller store and don't do alterations, but the service there is excellent.  Most of the time it is the owner that helps you, and she is fantastic!
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  • kabeln220kabeln220 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I am a vERY happy Clarice's shopper!  I found the dress I love at Simply Elegant and checked the price, for the same dress, at Clarices.  Instantly $300 less.  I have found that Clarices has high quality for much less than other stores.  Plus, the girls there are just fantastic.  Ask to work with Jenny.  She is awesome!
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  • aragx6aragx6 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I've gotten a BM dress from The Wedding Gallery in St. Charles and Robin's Bridal in West County on Manchester and have had good experiences with both. Definitely worth checking out.
    Lizzie
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  • kkm34ckkm34c
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Clarices is the place to go! That is where I ended up buying my dress-- the girls were always attentive and helpul. I visited Brides By Demetrious (pricey dresses, not to friendly of staff), Simply Elegant (same experience), and a shop in Fairview Heights that is now closed.
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  • rombacjarombacja member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I had my dress from Robin's Bridal and it was a nonstop disaster. They put the wrong date on my paper work, so they didn't order right away. I picked it out in Nov, called to check up on it in April and they hadn't ordered for my July wedding. So they put a rush on the order and when it arrived, they didn't notice it was missing ALL of the beadwork until I pointed it out at my fitting a month before the wedding.

    I did a second fitting, everything looked good, but they still needed to press. So my mother picked it up when it was ready and brought to my wedding out of state. When I opened the bag, I found that they had apparently done something bad while steaming and it left marks all over the dress. We spent the Thursday before my wedding driving around trying to find a dry cleaner or seamstress who could help and everyone just kept saying there was nothing they could do. They damaged the fabric and didn't have the guts to tell my mom when she picked up the dress.

    So the good news is that we got a full refund for the dress and most people didn't notice (or didn't say anything). Lots of tears on Thursday and Friday but let it go for the wedding date and enjoyed myself despite my dress. Stay away from Robins.
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  • eck036eck036 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    rombacja, I am so sorry that happened to you!  How awful!  I will let my friends know this too.
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  • katt25katt25 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I shopped around at Clarices, the Ultimate Bride(too expensive), and Robin's and ended up finding the one at Blossom's bridal in Ellisville.  So far they have been great to work with and they have a seamstress there for alterations who I think is the owner of the place..they just moved to Clarkson/Clayton shopping plaza into a bigger space.
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  • treneebtreneeb member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Stay away from Carol Frew's Bridal.  It was one of only two places in the area that sells my dress.  We went there first and it was a dump.  They didn't have the dress I wanted, and there was only one dress from the same company.  They were very rude and unhelpful, telling me to go look up other dresses on a computer in a back room, and never checked on us.  After I was ignored at the front desk for 15 min, I had to go searching through the store for someone to help me pull the dresses.  They put me in a side room with a door that wouldn't close (and nasty stained carpet) and said they would be back if I needed help with any of the dresses.  Thankfully I didn't need help because I didn't see them the rest of the time I was there.  We just walked out and didn't turn back.
    On the other hand, the second store that had my dress was wonderful.  I would recommend White Traditions in St. Charles to anyone.  Everyone was very nice and helpful.  The store was cute and personal.  I loved them!
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  • kmschulerkmschuler
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I shopped at 8 different dress shops when I was ready to give up.  My mom made me go to Claries bridal and found my gown right away.  My budget was $1000 and I ended up buying a dress for $749!
    They were very friendly to work with and had a big selection.  I also got my bridesmaids dresses as well as my flower girl dresses from there
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