MemberHello Ladies!
I am planning on going dress shopping in Edmonton in the next couple months and I was wondering if there are any shops that I shoud or should not avoid? And well just what your opinions are on them?
Thanks
Member@PennyLainne: Hi! I just went through the whole Edmonton dress things. didn’t end up buying from here because the reviews on pretty much all of them were terrible, I bought from Heavenly bridal in Calgary. But here is what I found on my journey:
ABC Bridal- Great selection, good prices, but reviews say they are not very good when ordering and sizing. They were very disorganized when I went in, but the lady that helped me was great. I wnet over my aplt time by almost an hour, they were fine aout it, but I booked a weekday evening to go.
Tifany’s Bridal/Bridal Plus- Great selection, very helpful staff, but again, terrible reviews when it comes to ordering and fulfillment
Wedding World- AVOID I left them numerous messages to book appointments. No reply. Emails, no reply. Now they are only open by appointment only. Horrible reviews everyhwere online, for everyhting.
Pure Bridal- More high end, nothing under $1500 when I was there, nor anything sized over 14. Nice gowns, very nice salon, great staff, but didn’t work for me. And they are no longer downtown, but north of west ed mall off 170th
Lustre- not much selection, helpful staff. new shop so no reviews.
Ethos- Chaos. I didn’t trust a lot of the gowns were authentic, all the tags are removed, which isn’t a positive prospect, and they won’t tell you who the designer is until you buy. Decent selection though.
Career Girl- Seriously chaotic. They have tons of gowns though to choose from and a large budget selection also. Not the best plus size selection though. Not sure about reviews
Crystal’s Bridal- Decent shop, some of the less common designers which was nice, good selection, again, not a lot of oversize gowns though. Decent price points, nice salon, ok staff.
Style America- West Ed Mall Busy place, decent selection.
I went with the Calgary shop because they had good reviews online, and had the gown I was looking for ina size I could try. I’m not a visualizer!
Hope that helps, I know there were ac ouple other salons I went to but can;t remember which ones…
MemberI went shopping in Edmonton.
Went to:
Pure Bridal-Really nice shop. I thought it was pretty good you could tell it was more high end and I think a lot of the designers you find there are at other stores for lower prices.
Bridal Boutique-Horrible. This place was crazy chaotic. It was super cramped I couldn’t even get to the mirror to see my dress. The owner was super sketchy, things didn’t have price tags on them. When I told her one of the dresses I liked so far that they carried she wanted to know the price I had seen at the other store before she would tell me the price at her store.
Ethos-I think the chaos of this store depends when you go. If you go weekday during the day its fine but if you go Saturday well its in West Edmonton Mall so of course its super busy. I had no issues with them telling me who the designers of the dresses were. When I liked some they wrote down the designer and name/number of the dress on a card for me.
Bridal Debut-This is where I bought my dress. They have two locations one in South Edmonton and one in Sherwood Park. I cannot say enough good things about them. The selection and prices are good. They have all dresses sorted by designer and you get to go through and pick out ones you want. THe consultants were fabulous and I never felt rushed. Excellent customer service so far. I also orderd my Bridesmaid or Best Man dresses through them. Would highly recommend!
MemberThanks! That helps a lot! I love hearing other peoples experiences.
I was in Bridal Debut in Sherwood for a friend of mines wedding and they seemed really nice.
I never even thought about checking the reviews on line. I am going to have to start doing checking some out!
We plan on going on a Monday during the day so hopefully it isn’t too busy in any of the shops.
Member@PennyLainne: I will say, that online reviews ar eoften more negative than positive because if you have a good experience, you don’t often think to share it out, but bad and everyone shares. So take them with a grain of salt. However, some have SO many bad reviews, you just can’t ignore it!
MemberBridal Debut in Sherwood Park is the best! I know of SO many brides (myself included) who have bought their dresses their and had a geat expeience. They have awesome, helpful staff and a great selection. Appointments ar required on saturdays and evenings, but you can drop in any other time. I ordered my dress in July and was told to expect it in December. Well I got a call at the beginning of the week and it is already in! They do alterations in house, and will hold your dress until the wedding if you want. They have so many accessories you can try on. If you buy your dress from them, you get 10% off Bridesmaid or Best Man dresses and accessories. And in December they have a 20% off accessories sale! Good luck!
Member@Cdoonan: I wish I had found them instead of going to Calgary!
MemberFirst of all, I was looking at full A-line/ballgown styles, so that’s where my pricing comes in. Sheath type dresses tend to be a less.
My sister and I both bought our gowns from Pure Bridal. They are a little higher end, but for the same dress they are actually cheaper than the Bridal House. There are dresses for less than $1500 (one of my favourites before I found the dress was $1250). They might seem slightly snobby their at first, but it keeps the wedding dresses looking nice. They don’t let you go through the dresses yourself, and will always get help trying them on. There also won’t be someone’s 2 year old running into your room like I had elsewhere.
ETA: Once you get to know the girls here they are great. I think they get too many people not really serious about buying. They remembered me when I saw one of them at a bridal show, and even remembered my mom when she arrived at the salon before I did. They also know their dresses well and will really help you pull dresses if you have an idea of what you want.
I got my bridesmaid dresses at the Bridal House, they get really chaotic on weekends, but if you’re looking in the $700 – 1200 range they will have a lot more than Pure.
As a bridesmaid, I got a dress at Wedding World. They came in much later than expected. I don’t know if it was really their fault, or the manufacturer, but they also didn’t call when they were supposed to. I took a quick look at the wedding dresses, but they weren’t the quality I was looking for. If you’re on a budget, it’s worth a look. Avoid grad times, that’s their busy time.
I looked at all the bridal stores in WEM, and had trouble finding bridesmaid dresses even worth trying on, let alone wedding dresses. Unless you’re on a budget (try Wedding World first), or need a chain like Ethos because of wanting to pick up a dress in another city I don’t think any store there is worth lookng.
MemberDefinitely avoid Ethos, they were such a headache. I bought my dress there, and it was a nightmare. Truly.
I had a great time at wedding world, but this was a few years ago, so I don’t know how they are no.
Member@PennyLainne: Hello Fellow Edmontonian! I’ve had a lot of luck at Nouvelle Bridal… its located on 124 just off Jasper. dresses range in price from 1000-3000
Member@Pappy8: HEY! Thank you!! I just looked at their website and I saw a dress that looks perfect! I booked in for Monday! I cannot wait!!
I am also going to bear the crowds and try out West Ed on Sunday. I am also going to check out Career Girl and BRidal Debut. I wanted to go and check out Pure Bridal but they are closed on Mondays and I am from out of town.
Member@PennyLainne: cant wait to see what you decide on… nouvelle is awesome because they allow you to take photos!
Member
MemberDoes Bridal Debut allow you to take photos of dresses you try on?
MemberYes! my best friend went there and they were great! We took a few cellphone pictures…. just to compare as we went along. No issues!