MemberHello there,
I am new to this so bear with me! As a bridal shop employee, we are experiencing friends of the bride or her entourage pulling dresses before the bride even arrives to shop for herself…how have you the bride handled this? Are you okay with it or do you discourage it? Any other bridal consultants out there-how do you and your staff handle this? What policies do you have in place?
MemberWhen I went shopping with my mom and 2 friends they all pulled dresses for me. It was fun to let them be invovled in the process. Some I liked, some not so much. We had the most fun and the best experience when the consultant let us (me and the people with me) pick dresses to try on.
MemberI would definitely be overwhelmed if my group was pulling dresses for me to try on before I even got to the shop, but at the same time I think it’s good to keep an open mind and try on something you normally wouldn’t, especially if your close family or friends really think it would look good on you.
MemberNot that i discourage it because I do believe they should be involved, however if your groups were pulling 15 dresses before you arrived, you would be overwhelmed wouldn’t
MemberI let the consultant choose a selection then my mum and friend chose what they liked out of the selection.
MemberI think it would be too much for me to walk into a bridal shop and have 15 wedding dresses waiting for me before I even had a chance to put my purse down. I also think it depends on how many people are involved in the appointment. I went with just my mother, so between myself, her, and the consultant, I didn’t feel like it got to be too much. I would never shop with a gaggle of people though. That’s just not the kind of experience I enjoy.
MemberI did not even invite my group to try on dresses because I was worried about there being too many opinions. I just brought my mom and my sister and they supported me as I picked dresses with the consultant.
MemberThis sounds a bit harsh but it sounds more like the bride placating her ego and causes the shop attendant more work. Sounds terrible
MemberI just bought my dress and I had about 10 appointments total at 5 shops. I always either came by myself or with no more than 3 people: my mom, Maid/Matron of Honor and my grandmother or flower girl.
I always saw the other groups around me with like 10 people, so much going on and I can see how picking a dress with that many opinions would be hard. I don’t think it helps, and it can actually make it suuuuuuuuck for the other groups with appointments. There’s no where to sit and sometimes the family and friends are pulling dresses that other brides are waiting to try on (happened during my appointment yesterday: I had my stylist set it on the bar outside my room bc there was no room to move, they were all ball gowns. They (her family) legit took it off the hanger next to my room! And I went to get it and I was like “where the hell did it go?”…it’s hanging in the other girls room….)
You really shouldn’t be pulling dresses by yourself, if you want to see something, ask the consultant. Usually the consultant will ask the bride if they can pull dresses suggested by family or friends.
MemberI haven’t gone gown shopping for myself yet, but went a few years ago as my sister’s Maid/Matron of Honor. Ugh, my mother pulling dresses was SO FRUSTRATING!!! She kept pulling things way out of budget, and ones that fit her idea of what she would have worn for her wedding decades ago, not what my sister wanted. It wasted time and annoyed everyone, including my sister, me, and the consultant.
That being said, I think it also depends on the type of store. David’s Bridal seems to be more open to that, while the kind of place that gives you champagne, not so much.
MemberMeh I think its ok I mean you invite your bridesmaids there so they can be part of the process.
But to be honest it depends on the store, I got my dress at Kleinfelds and the girls who arrived earlier than me were sat in the waiting area, they didn’t let anyone on the floor until I arrived and consultant talked with me about budget etc… which I think is the right way, but once that’s done I see nothing wrong with them pulling dresses.
MemberNone of the appointments I had officially started until I got there, which I liked, but at one my friends did start looking at dresses– it was fine, they all kind of stood next to the racks and asked me to come over and look at the one they liked to see what I thought before the consultant took it to the dressing room. At one place, they gave me cute clothespins to mark which dresses I liked so that the consultant could grab them all, so I gave one to each person with me and kept the rest for myself. It was fun to see what they picked, and as the bride I veto’d whatever I didn’t like regardless of who picked it. Maybe my friends were just super organized, but it worked out well!
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