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I will be hopefully starting my gown hunt soon and I keep getting attitude anytime I mention David's Bridal.
Is there something I should know before trying on dresses?
I'm on a budget and don't really like the idea of spending buck-o bucks on a a dress. (not that theres anything wrong with that! I'm just not that kind of girl!)
What are your opinions?
If in the LA area, any suggestions?
I have read some really bad stories, but I think that it's to be with any retail place.
Personally I bought my dress there and LOVED loved loved my consultant! I considered making her a bridesmaid! LOL - okay, that's a bit over the top but just so you know.
Not to mention that, my dress went home with me that day because it was discontinued and I got a awesome deal on it!!!
Go in there expecting exceptional customer service as that's what you're intitled too! You'll be fine!!! If you don't get the fantastic service just ask to speak to a manager or district manager, you could end up just getting a huge deal on your dress as repayment for bad service...;-)
Let us know how it goes!
If you're going, don't go on a Saturday. My friend and I went at around 2 pm on a weekday, and 'our' consultant still ended up helping two additional people while we were there. If you go on Saturdays, it's unlikely that you'll get much attention (at least what friends have told me). Also, to be honest, I was not impressed by their quality. I tried on several $500 dresses that looked much cheaper than $500 dresses I tried on elsewhere. I think if you get a $99 deal, it's worth it, but otherwise I'd look around - there are plenty of designers that make less expensive dresses.
EK is right about the Saturday thing, I went on one and my counsultant was working with 2 others as well. Though she handled it, I can see how someone less experiance could fall short of expectations.
Note though, I asked my gal abuot this while I was there and they are scheduled like waitress almost, they are expaceted to handle more then one while there - so they only schedule say 2 girls for 4-6 customers at a time.
I'm in MN so things could be much different in Cali - different area, different scheduling needs.
My biggest problem with David's is the quality and the "Wal-Mart" feel of the place. Sure the gowns are cheap, but you can find one *just* as cheap (yes really!) by going to smaller local boutiques--not necessarily high end ones, but smaller ones. There you'll be able to get an equally beautiful gown with much higher material, and the benefit of working with a truly personal consultant.
I bought my gown at a local shop and I absolutely couldn't imagine having bought it anywhere else. With all the times I went into the shop--alterations, to check out veils and shoes, just to 'visit' my gown, etc--I loved that each and every time I was waited on by the same person: the shop's owner.
Like so many other aspects of life and wedding planning (lol the two aren't mutually exclusive are they?), David's may be the *easiest* choice, but it's almost never the *best*.
I echo what everyone said. I went during a weekday early-afternoon so I had a consultant all to myself. She was nothing but nice and attentive and I liked her very much. However, I really did feel that the quality of their gowns were not as nice as other designers for the same price.
In addition, and maybe this was just at the David's I went to, I felt that I had no privacy. I changed into a corset and a crinoline in the changing room, but they told me to come outside, on full display, after that. Every time I changed gowns I stood standing there in front of the whole store in these undergarments. Even if I had changed gowns inside the dressing room, all the mirrors were gathered in the center of the store so that EVERYONE could see you - I'm a private person and I just didn't feel comfortable with this.
I also didn't like how everyone I had contact with at the store kept pushing me to choose a gown that day. They repeatedly asked me about my bridesmaids and pressured me to go look at the bridesmaid dresses. They kept leading my mom into the special occassion dresses too for her MOB dress. I just felt that they were too focused on sales, and like Blueberry said, the entire experience felt very "Wal-Mart."
To me, David's is a bridal department store, where as I feel like most brides want a bridal boutique experience. They get better attention, better quality and fabric, and better alterations elsewhere. David's dresses are more mass produced and easier to get more quickly, because they don't all have the same craftsmanship that others do.
With that said, though, if you TRULY love a dress that you see at David's, even after looking at other places, go for it. My best friend got her dress there, and she looked stunning while spending less than $600. We also got our bridesmaids dresses there for $130 and I don't think anyone had any problems. The dresses certainly held up well and looked really nice -- but don't rule out other stores just because you *think* they'll be more expensive. Explore all your options so you're as educated and sure of your decision as possible.
I went to David's when I started looking, and the experience at one store was okay, but the dresses there were just not for me. Too plain, and common. When I went to the second David's the salesperson was a nasty wench and forced me to try on dresses of certain styles that were 6 sizes too small for me. I couldn't even get these things over my hips, but she said that it should give me an "idea" of what the dress would look like. Hell to the no! It made me feel fat and yucky and very un "bridal". The prices for the quality of the dresses are ridiculous. I ended up getting a designer dress from a smaller boutique LESS than the price of a brand new David's. You'd be much better off to look somewhere else to see if you find something you love and then find it on-line and order it cheaper. You can save hundreds that way. The only really nice David's gowns are their couture ones that run over $1,000 anyway. I've been to several weddings where the brides wore David's and for an afternoon/informal wedding, they were fine - but lacked a lot of the sophistiation that a formal wedding warrants. In other words, they look like fancy, white prom dresses.
Just a side note - when you register at David's (which they will make you do), you will get tons of junk mail and phone calls stating you won free crap. I went 4 months ago, and STILL get calls. So, you may want to leave your phone number off.
I agree with previous posters about saturday dress shopping at david's. While I didn't find anything that fitted my style there, i found great - very reasonanable priced bridesmaid dresses there. We all know that bridesmaids "never" wear their dresses again (I know i haven't!) so I didn't feel comfortable asking my gals to spend alot of money on a dress they most likely only wear once. I found my BM dresses there for under $150 and my girls love them. They were much better quality than I thought they were going to be and most more reasonably priced than any ugly bridesmaid dress i've worn in the past.
Good luck!
I've been to David's a number of times for other people's weddings and got my dress and bridesmaid dresses there as well. I've never had any problems! I like it because they have such a huge selection and you can find whatever style you want for a good price. I think it just depends on your personality and whether or not shopping in a small boutique is something that's important to you. Good luck!
I recommend lying on your paperwork, give them a fake phone number and wedding date. For 6 months I got hounded by tuxedo rentals, DJ's etc. I finally told them we called it off and the calls have stopped.
I think a lot of it depends on which store you're going to. I went to a few places when I looked for my dress, a couple of boutiques and a couple David's Bridal stores. The first David's Bridal I walked into was super TINY! I actually walked out after about 3 minutes. After that I went to a couple of boutiques. I actually received pretty poor service at these stores. Maybe it was because I tried on the cheaper dresses or something? When I went to the David's Bridal by my mom's house, in the LA area, I received great service. I was assigned to my own personal consultant that brought out all the dresses I wanted to try on as well as some she thought I would look nice in. She never left me to tend to someone else & was patient when I needed to try on dresses a second or third time. I ended up buying one of the dresses that was her suggestion. It was the complete opposite of everything I always thought I wanted, but it's stunning & it makes me feel like a bride! It is a dress from their couture line, but they were having a sale & I got it for 20% off! I thought the service was awesome. Don't rule it out!
I bought my dress from David's Bridal. Sure, it felt like Wal-mart but I was overall pretty happy with the experience. My saleslady had bad breath and a couple times I couldn't find her, but when I DID find her, she was very helpful, helped me in and out of every dress and recommended veils and headpieces. I liked that they had big comfy couches and big mirrors and were totally fine with picture-taking. My dress was soooooooooooooo beautiful though, and I got plenty of compliments. and it was waaay under my budget! so I got to splurge on my photography :)
Two things I dont like though, is that one, I'm embarassed when people ask where I bought my dress expecting me to say a nice fancy boutique. A little vain on my part, but oh well. and two, the salesladies lied about their "sale," saying that the sale was the last of its kind and I better buy the dress now when that 50-200 dollar off each dress sale happens like ALL the time!
I bought my dress at David's Bridal and was quite happy with the service, and the quality. I looked at multiple boutiques as well, and my favorite dress just happened to be one of the David's dresses - also the cheapest, so it worked out well! I loved my dress and got tons of compliments on it, and I never really felt it was of 'lesser' quality than the ones I tried on at more upscale boutiques - though I think that depends on the dress, because I definitely tried on some that weren't as nice.
Service-wise, I agree it can be crazy on Saturdays during wedding season, so if you have the option of going during the day on a weekday you will likely get much better service. Another plus of David's is they have very fast turnaround time. This was great for me because I had a short engagement (6 months), so with any other boutique I would have had to rush my order. But at David's the dress came in within 6 weeks, and alterations were done in about 2 weeks, so I had everything ready in plenty of time - it was great not having to stress about this :)
My DB experience wasn't that great. I went on a weekday evening when there was barely anyone else there and for some reason I got bumped to the back row of dressing rooms without the pedestals and the nice mirrors. The girl helping me didn't know much about dresses and wasn't very helpful.
So perhaps it depends where you go, but I was very impressed with the knowledge, helpfulness and attitude of the people at a "higher end" boutique.
As for the dresses, there's really no comparisson when it comes to the fabric. I also feel like DB's dresses are variations of two styles. I really want a mermaid style dress and they didn't really have any to offer. But it really is a personal choice. I'm sure any dress you get is sure to make you look and feel gorgeous.
I went to David's Bridal to try out the dresses simply because there were a few that I liked and it was well within my budget. Service was average, I've had worse and better service at salons. My biggest problem was that the dresses just didn't fit me well. I think the quality of the dresses (fabric aside) is just not as high as other dresses, especially the fit and cut of the dress. What I did appreciate about David's Bridal is that they carry almost all their dresses in a ton of sizes. So instead of being clipped into a dress, you'll actually be able to try on dresses that are your size so you'll know exactly how it looks! I don't think it'll hurt to go and try on their dresses!
i haven't been to david's bridal since there aren't any near me in west LA, but i figure it would be very department store like. i've heard horror stories about limits to the dresses you can try on, and i didn't really like it.
when you do make an appointment, just like everyone else, try to go on a weekday. you will DEFINITELY get better service.
as for an LA suggestion, i went to the alfred angelo company store on la cienega and received excellent services and found a dress that i liked (i have not bought a dress, since i'm having it made now) for only $350.00. sign up for their mailing lists - they are always sending out promotions for either a free tiara, money off your dress, money off your bridesmaids dresses, etc.
I did NOT like Davids bridal, but sucked it up and tried on awful beaded dress after awful beaded dress at my mothers request....
My experience with Davids bridal was not good, my problems were:
1.) The dresses are dated, very 90's - beaded, lacy, strapless. no real variation. They will not modify the style of the dress at all.
2.) The material is very harsh. scratchy and bleh
3.) The prices are not THAT great. the semi-decent looking dresses that they have are upwards of $800 is I remember correctly
4.) The service sucks! Even with an 'appointment' plan to wait at least 30 minutes for not one-on-one service (my appointment was on a weekday)
I live in San Diego and I got an amazing gown (new) that retails for $2100 for $850 at Prevu Formal Wear in La Mesa, CA. I found the dress I liked at a nice dress shop called Mon Amie (they wanted $2,800 for the dress), I then found the dress info on-line and started calling around for the best price. Prevu had the best price by far!!! They are very attentive, but beware they do a TON of prom dresses and special occasion dresses so that place can be a disaster zone at times... 10:00am appointments are usually the best time to go...
Good luck, bargain dress shopping can be tough, but I'm living proof that it can be done!!!
Some of David's Bridal's stuff is a bit chintzy, quality wise. And you can get better stuff at around the same price with some of the other brands; e.g., Moonlight Bridal and Mary's, whose dresses are around the $600-$700 range.
I suggest you check out Alfred Angelo as well, which is around that price range and has great customer service.
Also check out some of the cheaper bridal stores, like on the Asian row on Las Tunas Avenue in Temple City. 2000 Dreams Bridal and Love Boat Bridal are there, and there's a bunch of other ones around there as well. They will carry brands like Moonlight and Mori Lee. Be prepared for rather brusque customer service; but the tradeoff is that they will give you a significant discount from the chi-chi bridal salons.
ALTERATIONS!!!
i just want to say that i bought my dress at a very good price at a local shop (was under $400, woot, huh?) and then I had to get the thing massively altered (was cheap {sample dress!} but it was very much the wrong size) and paid $250 for alterations.
so my advice to brides trying to save money is to
1. see if your shop includes or offers alterations & get a price
2. if you have to pay for them (instore or elsewhere) think about if the cost of alterations is going to mess up your great dress deal!
that's my advice to the frugal brides. :) (only slightly off topic)
I bought my dress at David's Bridal, and I got it for $250. I knew exactly what wanted, and what I wanted was really, really simple. I tried on three dresses total and bought the first one I had my eye on. It's just a completely plain white strapless dress.
I went to David's Bridal twice during my wedding gown search and their service left a lot to be desired. Both times a consultant never really helped me in any way. If you go, definitely bring a friend or two to help you in and out of the gowns. It's a good place to try on off-the-rack dresses and to get a general idea for shapes and silhouettes that you like. But I also went to full-service bridal salons to try on gowns that were of a better material and make. I would always try and see if I could figure out the designer (labels are normally cut off or changed) and model #- then I'd go home and do internet research and I ended up buying the gown I fell in love with through netbride. I spent less than I would have on a gown at David's Bridal for a much better quality gown with prettier detailing.
I never went to a David's Bridal to look for my own dress, but I've been in the stores before to help a friend try on BM dresses, to get a longline strapless bra with my sister, and to look for Mother of the Bride dresses with my mom. We had pretty negative experiences each of these times, the same sort of things that have already been written about over and over. I do have to say, the second time we were in there looking for my mom's dress, we had a pretty helpful girl. Unfortunately, the experience was soured when my mom's dyed dark gold shoes came back a very light ivory!
All in all, the reason going to David's Bridal never even crossed my mind for dress shopping because none of their merchandise appealed to me. I wanted a mermaid shaped gown, and David's seems to stick with more tried-and-true styles rather than anything fashion forward. I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with brides going to David's Bridal but I have to remind everyone that you can get inexpensive dresses elsewhere. My dress (which I'm going to make a post about soon!) was right at $1000 and the construction is wonderfully done, the fabric is far from cheap, and the silhouette is very "in" right now. So it's definitely possible to find dresses from smaller, boutique type shops!
i second Beckums' comment - I put down my info last year to try on gowns with my cousin and I got wedding vendor mail for six months afterward...I know it was David's Bridal because that was the only wedding-related place I gave my info.
My overall personal experience with David's Bridal was... okay. I shopped there for my gown (but ended up getting one elsewhere) and got my bridesmaids and junior bridesmaids dresses there.
The bridesmaids dresses I selected were adored by my girls and the dress fit them all pretty well. The color was exactly as I'd envisioned, and David's was actually the only place that I'd been able to find that exact color (the newer "Regency" purple color). The day of the wedding everyone looked beautiful, and I'm so happy we chose those dresses. My MOH also got her BM's dresses there, as well as her own gown off the rack, and had a very good experience.
Although I loved the dresses, I had quite a few problems with the customer service... I echo what was mentioned earlier about busy times... weekends are horrible, but I had that problem elsewhere as well. They immediately ask you if you have an appointment upon entering the store, and I was made to feel uncomfortable when I told them I did not (the store wasn't at all busy). As I tried on dresses, the salesgirl also helped someone else, and I was given very little attention. On another visit while just browsing with my mom, we asked if they had any dresses that weren't A-line, as most of the ones we saw were... the salesgirl was very rude and said they didn't carry many dresses as I had described that I'd seen on their website... They made an error when ordering the BMs dresses... and they called numerous times to complain that the dresses hadn't been picked up yet (but they had just arrived a few days prior).
Like I said... overall... okey, because the bottom line was that I liked the BM dresses I found there. I received far superior service at the store I ended up getting my dress from though, and my dress was still in the David's price range... I wouldn't suggest skipping David's, but I would suggest shopping other places as well... good luck!!
we made this a hot thread on the frontpage, but forgot to disable comments and people commented there. in case you didn't see, here's the link: http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/09/18/hot-threads-why-does-davids-bridal-get-such-a-bad-rap/
i've been to dbs three times to very different results for bridesmaid dresses. the first was a weeknight appointment with a bridal consultant that wasn't really there - with only one other party in the store being helped by another consultant. she didn't try to sell us anything [thank goodness] but just kind of left us to our own devices. we only went shopping to try on the dress that we were going to have made for much less than they were selling it for.
the second time was a saturday morning appointment, not too busy with a great consultant. she was very helpful and happily kept going back to the racks to help with choices for dresses and even suggested a few good ideas.
the third time was a DISASTER. the bride already purchased her gown at a different db so we were in for bridesmaid dresses again [same store as the second visit] but with a different consultant because the one we had before had another appointment. it was a sunday afternoon with two other parties in but the service was horrible. with four bms, we had to share one dressing room [in a practically empty store] and she kept pushing us to buy the dress that day, and wasn't happy when she found out the bride was going to let us pick our own style of dress [which we ended up not doing] and shoes and accessories and that we weren't going to be buying the latter at the store. but she kept pushing the sale and even called the bride "very indecisive" because she wasn't going the traditional route. needless to say i sent a very harshly worded complaint letter to both the store and headquarters and refuse to shop there ever again. even with the discounts in alterations and further purchases i was given. i'd rather not deal.
so every store is different. it's really just a crapshoot. good luck!
I went to Davids Bridal, even though I was worn about them, but I didn't think that they were as bad as I was worned about. I went and didn't really find a dress that I like, but everyone was saying that this one dress looked really nice on me. Also, as I was trying on the dresses, my gal that was helping me kept leaving the door open, so that everyone could see me standing pretty much in my skibbies, so that made me very uncomfortable. Well anyways, I looked nice in that dress and it was a nice dress, but it didn't give me the feeling that it was the one. Well, I ended up buying the dress, because they kept telling me that it is on sell and the sell ends on Sunday (I went on a Friday), and they kept pushing me to buy this dress, well the manager was also friends with my soon to be mother-in-law (that's anther reason I gave it a chance), and so I ended up buying it. Need less to say, I was still not sure about the dress, so I went to look at other dresses, so that I can see if that dress was the one I wanted or if I really only bought it because they kept pushing me to buy it. I ended up finding a dress that I did want. I mean I got the feeling, "this is the one." I have never felt the greatest about my looks and I loved myself in this dress, and it was actual was less than what I paid at David's Bridal. Well, Davids Bridal had to order my dress, so they didn't even have it. I tried to see if I could cancell my order, and they said they can't do that. All sells where final and I had signed a receipt indicated that. I didn't recall that my receipt said that, so I checked the receipt and sure enough it said in on the way bottom of the receipt. The manager said that all bridal shops are that way, when you purchase a dress, you can't return it to them. Well, I know that's not true in all bridal stores. My friend had bought her brides maid dress there as well, and they wouldn't let her even to cancel the order for her dress. If you ever go on bisman.com, you will see lot of people trying to sell wedding dress, and most of them are from David's Bridal, and have never been worn.
Well I have heard all the stories about Davids but I will tell you I have had far worse experiences at the other bridal shops than I did with them. Try being completely ignored at a coutore shop for 45 minutes after haveing an appointment and asking for help (that's bad service.) Yes you shouldnt go to David's on a weekend or if you do bring someone with you who can help you try on the dresses, my MOH was awesome about this so we didnt really care if we had a ton of attention. I am sick to death of people saying that all David's dresses look cheap or chinzy. Yes some of them do, if you are trying to get a dress that looks like raw silk no this isnt the place for you, cause let's face it unless it's actual raw silk, it just looks cheap to try and make it look like it is. However many of there dresses are absolutely beautiful and if you are like me and would rather use the 2000 bucks you could be spending on a dress somewhere else in the wedding then davids is a good place to look. Let's face it ladies this is only a dress you are wearing once so it doesnt need to last forever just 15 hours. :)
The pro's of Davids are:
Cons:
Give it a shot you may hate it you may love it but dont let us talk you out of trying it you may just find THE Dress there. Good luck.
I purchased my first bridesmaid's dress from David's Bridal last spring. Not knowing what the whole experience was going to be like, I was pleasantly surprised that the horror stories weren't that true for me.
The bride picked out a bridesmaid dress previously and since most of her attendants lived in other states, it was so convenient that we could all find a DB somewhat close to us and personally try on the sizes. I wasn't too fond of the thought of wearing a strapless dress, but our dress (#8567) was so comfortable and flattering on all of the different shapes! My dress fit me perfectly; no alterations were needed.
One thing that was a bit awkward was that there is a main location with a mirror with dressing rooms off to the side; when I came out, there were so many people clustered in that area that it was a bit packed but I went on a Saturday so that is to be expected. Another thing I didn't really appreciate (but could have been more firm on) was that the sales lady gave me a bra/slip to try on with the dress, saying it wouldn't fit me well without it. I didn't want to purchase it, but after I paid I realized she added the slip to my order! When it was the day of the wedding, I forgot all about the slip and my dress fit me just fine...I went to return it unopened and unworn and they wouldn't allow me to (they have a no returns at all policy). Thank goodness for ebay!
Oh! Another plus was that all five dresses were in two months after we ordered them...we were thankful for the quick turnaround time!
All this to say: your wedding dress is probably going to be the most beautiful dress you'll ever wear, so take the time to go to many different places and comparitively shop, but I wouldn't rule out DB so quickly. You never know what you'll find.
i haven't had a huge problem with david's bridal really. their gowns are nice and even the designs are not so bad. but the sewing is not as nice quality as the nicer brand dresses. not to say that the prices are cheaper at david's either. i wouldn't discount david's, but i would also go to other smaller boutique shops and try on dresses there. then go to www.pearlsplace.com or www.netbride.com and see what discounted price you can find. they're sometimes almost 50% off and less than what david's would sell.
good luck!
I've been a member of the Knot for years so I can't even tell you how many horror stories I've heard about them. I never ever thought that I'd eventually be a customer, but I had a wonderful experience! After visiting every single boutique in three major cities, I only found 4 or 5 dresses that I liked (not loved), and some of them were out of my budget. As a last resort, I took a trip to David's and had two amazing consultants! (one of which turned out to be a local Knottie... lol). They helped me tremendously and were really patient. I never even had an appointment and only had to wait, at the very most, maybe 5 minutes to get a dressing room.
I wanted a mermaid style dress and although they didn't have many to choose from, they had one that I absolutely fell in love with. It's technically an Oleg Cassini (style #CT229). I was blown away by the quality because I had tried on literally hundreds of dresses by that point, and the quality of the Oleg was far superior to any other dress I had seen at other shops. Everyone always raves about Casablanca, but I thought the quality of their lace dresses were pitiful. My Oleg, however, is simply stunning and I've already received numerous compliments. I wanted something with lace and lots of beading (more of a vintage look)... It's very heavy and well made as opposed to Casablanca's gowns for example (which were so thin, they felt like they would rip apart). Obviously, I'm very pleased with my choice. It was originally a $1000 (an appropriate price in my opinion), but I received $200 off during one of their sales.
Unfortunately David's is a chain so much like any other chain store, the level of service is going to vary a lot depending on who works there, how busy they are, etc. Also, because of the huge volume of customers they deal with every day, by default there will be more complaints (that's just basic probability lol). I highly recommend utilizing your local board on the Knot because the women on there will tell you if your local David's store is worth visiting or not. Some are better than others. Also, I would advise not having your alterations done there. Alterations can be really tricky so you want to make sure you use the best seamstress you can find (DB is somewhat known for overcharging).
One of my coworkers told me horror stories she and others had either buying or just visiting. One girl got a deal on her dress (couple hundred dolloars). Even though it fit ok, she still had to have a number of alterations done. The costs of the alterations about killed her.
I have no personal experience with them. I had heard plenty of bad tells of the few that are around here, so I went to another bridal store where they stock thousands of wedding gowns at discount prices (imagine House of Brides dot com). I scored a very very very beautiful dress for a fraction of the cost.
Although I have never purchased a dress at DB, I have tried on bridesmaids dresses there a couple of times, and a friend bought her wedding dress there. When I was trying on the BMs dresses, one of the consultants at the store I was at told me that each consultant is "assigned" dressing rooms. Meaning that if the person that helps you is assigned a dressing room that is not near the bigger three-way mirrors and platform, you don't get to see yourself over there.
I went on a weekday both in the mornings and evenings. They were very busy, and, almost every time I went, it seemed like the entire place was in chaos. Brides everywhere! Consultants arguing about one "stealing" another's client. They also have a really shotty selection of sizes, so if you want to try something on that is only available in a size 20 when you are a size 8, too bad.
As for taking the actual dress home with you on the day, I warn against this. Chances are the dress you try on and are thinking about buying has been tried on by several, and I do mean SEVERAL, other girls. Almost every dress I saw was slightly damaged in one way or another. You can request that the dress you want be ordered new, but they usually balk at this. You practically have to beg them to do it.
If you do end up using DB, please get your alterations somewhere else. As many other have pointed out, they are way over priced at DB.
I agree with everyone else saying that you can find a lower priced dress elsewhere. I recommend finding a store in your area that carries Alfred Angelo dresses. In fact, if you look closely at their designs, many David's Bridal dresses are actually lower end knock offs of Alfred Angelo designs.
i'm BUMPing this for any new bees out there... that and i am stuck at home on a saturday nite
my personal op: i loathe, hate, cant stand david's bridal... from the staff (rude, act like they dont see you or it's understaffed) to the dress selection (yucky fabrics and "designer" names that try to sound fancy --- "monique luo"? are they f'in kidding us??)
i walked in, looked around for 10 minutes, then walked out - yuck!
the fabrics are cheap, not inexpensive, but cheap and it's wal-mart-ish and honestly, you can find a better made dress from way better fabric in a small bridal boutique from someone who can give you the attention you need when you are picking out the best party dress you're ever gonna pick out!! but that's just me...
my 2cents - check it out yourself - if you're cool with it, then go for it!
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Haha Anti-Zilla. I actually hadn't read this post. I absolutely hated DB - for all the same reasons. Even though we had an appointment, we got no service. I went in with style numbers written down, and they wouldn't even pull the dresses for us. In fact they did not have my size (6) in most of the dresses I wanted to try. I thought that all the dresses I did try looked cheap and were poorly made, even though all were around $1000. They made absolutely no attempt to figure out what dresses I might like better, or what I even wanted... just tried to sell more stuff in every case (the back's too low for you? How about a little bolero jacket?) They did make us 'register' before they would even help us, and I have since called them directly to complain about the phone calls about tux rentals etc... thank heavens I did not give them my email.
My dress, purchased at a small local bridal salon, is much nicer than any I saw at DB. It was $650. We had a private appt, with an entire room to ourselves to walk around and look in the mirror, and a nice couch for my mom to sit and watch. (No dressing in a tiny cubicle, no waiting in line for the mirror.) The lovely consultant did a great job of lining up dresses in my price range based on the photos I had brought in, adjusted the selection based on my comments on each dress, and also kept my mom appropriately distracted so that she didn't bug me to death.
I agree - if you really love a DB dress, more power to you. If you are going there because you think its the only place you can get a reasonably priced dress, and you have to put up with the WalMart atmosphere just because you don't have $3500 to spend, think again. You can absolutely get something better made for less money at a private salon, and with the service you deserve.
I went to Running of the Brides and bought a 100% silk dress for $250 by one of the mid-range designers that was originally like $1,500. If you want service this was not the way to get it (except from my mom who is the best assisstant/critic). But if you don't have a "pretty princess" fantasy you could give it a shot. I also did not have a dress budget but also didn't have a dress fantasy so it worked out well. The key is to try on EVERYTHING and not have a preset notion when you start out.
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My bridesmaids got their dresses there -- but I hated their wedding dresses. The service has been good (South Coast Plaza DB), and they have been very willing to work with my bridesmaids -- they are each wearing a different dress in the same color. My only issue with them has been with "quality control" or lack of it. Once bridesmaid dress came in ripped, and instead of ordering us a new one they are going to fix it, another was missing the straps -- they said they will "hunt them down" and mail them to us, and another had issues with alterations. I only have one bridesmaid left who has not yet picked up her dress-- we've already started betting on what is going to go wrong when she picks hers up.
I'm going to ditto the Alfred Angelo suggestion. I bought my BM dresses from them and they've been nothing but helpful, and we got a great deal. I kind of wish I bought my dress through them - though, I bought my dress on craigslist (an Amy Michaelson steal), so I really can't complain.
Part of what I don't like is that they copy designs from other designers with lesser quality fabric, and then charge just as much, if not more. I'm sure "sharing" designs is common, but that bugged me. Probably wouldn't have if I didn't already have a problem with them though!
I went in, and asked them if they had any dresses with sleeves. They said yes, they have lots of options (all the sheer ones you attach to a strapless dress). I told them I didn't want sheer, and they made me fill out the form with all my information on it, before telling me that they would only put sleeves on for religious purposes, or that I could tie a wrap around my shoulders and under my arms. It's my wedding, and they made me feel like I was the biggest inconvenience for wanting something different. My mom and I said "No, thank you", and walked right back out the door.
That said, it was about 1pm on a weekday, and the store was empty. So, at least a weekday makes it better!
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