Weddingbee boards

My favorite was Majesty in downtown Danbury.  I think their selection is mostly in the mid price range (maybe 700 - 1500). 

I went to a few dress shops in CT: 

The Bridal Mall (Niantic): Nice sales girl, but they take the tags off of all the dresses and won't tell you who designed them.  You also had to ask for the price on some of the dresses.  No pictures either.  Large selection if you want to buy off the rack and are around sample size; not so much to try on if you are petite.  I've been told they have a lot of plus-size dresses, but I wasn't looking in that section, so I don't know how the variety was.  They claim to have the widest selection, but most of the dresses looked to me like they were styles from a few years ago.  Also, a very sterile feeling environment.  

David's Bridal (Manchester): I actually had a great experience here. Walked in without an appointment.  My sales girl was super helpful, but definitely only brought me dresses in the upper range of my budget unless I specifically asked for other styles.  No problem with pictures.  Sales all the time. I liked that I was able to look online ahead of time, and they also have catalogs in store.  Dressing rooms are TINY though.  

Brides to Be (Glastonbury): A bridal gown consignment shop.  The owner was the sweetest lady, they just didn't have much in stock in my size (I'm very petite), but they did have a LOT of dresses in more average sizes.  A lot of the dresses aren't used, but are samples or "new with tags" dresses that brides had second thoughts about.  I came this close to buying a Pronovias dress with tags for $1200, but ended up finding a different dress later that day.  They do allow you to put holds on a dress for 24 hours for free, or indefinitely for a small fee (I think it was $50).  In house seamstress can give you estimates on the spot.  I will probably try to sell my dress here after my wedding.  

Fairy Tales (Glastonbury): I ended up buying my dress here!  Lauren was so nice, and is getting married this year herself.  I tried on dozens of dresses, but never felt hurried.  The only dresses they showed me out of my budget were ones from the pictures I brought in.  In-house seamstress.  Comfy couch for your mom to sit on.  They also allow pictures, and all of the dresses have the designer labels and prices right on them.  

I got my dress at Brides to Be... I love that place.  Phyllis, the owner, is a gem.  And saved my bacon... my future stepson inadvertantly spilled coffee on my dress - 15 minutes in Phyllis' hands, the stain was gone.  Barbara, the in-house seamstress, is awesome - when it turned out we needed to add a corset back to my dress (I'd gained some weight from when I bought it)... it was only an extra $40.  It blows my mind that she did that much more work for so little extra.  Just a wonderful store... we were even able to find a MOB gown for my plus size mom on short notice, too.