(Closed) Dress Stress – have bridal salon reviews influenced your dress decision??

• mrandmrsgoing
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: July 2017

I am a self-confessed shopaholic/fashionista, so I thought that dress shopping would be the best part of wedding planning, but it’s starting to become very stressful. And when I start to think of other things that need to be decided upon like photography, videography, DJ, etc. I get discouraged because I thought the dress would be easy since it was in my wheelhouse and I can’t begin to figure anything else out until the dress is resolved.

I went dress shopping a few weeks after getting engaged with my mother, and she fell in love with the second dress I tried on — Kenneth Winston’s 1645. There are a lot of things I like about this dress — the corded lace, the nice big train, the illusion back, the ivory over light gold color option, the sweetheart neckline, the beading… but then there were things I didn’t like as much, such as the deepness of the V of the sweetheart relative to the top of the cups (and I was told that in my correct smaller size the rather large difference between the bottom of the V and the top of the cups would still be similar to how it was on the sample dress) and I didn’t like how the crystal beading was concentrated only on the torso with none on the skirt.

I also wasn’t crazy about the salon experience when I tried on the Kenneth Winston 1645. It was part of a trunk show that weekend and would be transferred out of the store at the end of the day and I felt like I was getting pressured to buy right then and there. I was told that even though I’m a year out from our wedding date, I was pushing being late to make a decision about my dress as they take a long time to come in (possibly true with Kenneth Winston because custom sizing based on personal measurements is an option – if I’m even understanding that correctly). My mother wasn’t helping because she kept insisting 1645 was the “one”. She got huffy enough at one point after the appointment and went as far as telling me she wasn’t interested in seeing any other dresses since 1645 was it for her. I also wasn’t allowed to take pictures of me in 1645, so my memory of me in the dress is fading, and I’m having a hard time remembering if it was as great as my mom has made it out to be. And when I went home, I looked up Yelp reviews of the salon and while there were some very good ones, there were some really bad ones too, and it was also obvious that some negative reviews had been deleted.

I went to a different shop to try on some Sottero and Midgley dresses I had found on their site (Zinnia, Ettiene, and Jordan specifically) – and I had a great experience. The consultant was so awesome and patient, and it was a pressure-free experience (I also decided to go by myself and this shop actually encourages pictures and will take them for you and email them to you after the appointment). But there were issues with all the dresses – the train seemed a little shorter than I would like on Jordan, Zinnia only came in an ivory over blush option if I wanted a colored underlayer – gold underlayer was not an option, and while I liked the loosely spaced design of the lace/beading, it was not going to be proportionate on my smaller frame even in a smaller size. I liked the light gold option of Ettiene, but I couldn’t envision how the scoop neck would fit in my correct size.

I loved the second shop and they have great reviews, but if I wanted to move forward with 1645, they can’t order it because they don’t carry Kenneth Winston. And I can’t even confirm how I feel about 1645 because no one seems to have it in store to try on. Only one store has it in stock, and that store has many bad reviews too – basically every store that carries Kenneth Winston in my area does hsa negative reviews. I’m not sure if the dress is worth putting up with a bad sales and/or alterations experience.

I’ve since found the Tessa style by Sottero and Migdley on their brand site, but that too seems impossible to track down. The second shop didn’t have it in store. So I’m attending a trunk show at a different store and hoping they can get it in for the show, since otherwise it’s a $90 fee to order any Sottero and Migdley sample that stores don’t have on hand. If I like it, I will still probably order from the second shop because their customer service was just above and beyond.

Sorry, for the long post… but how much do people think customer reviews matter? Are reviews really worth heeding to save the hassle and headaches? I can’t believe that every single local and not so local store that carries Kenneth Winston all have bad reviews… 

• mrandmrsgoing
• 4 years ago

• Wedding: July 2017

@duchessfriedrich — I agree with you to a degree. I certainly don’t want to judge a book by its cover and I would try my best not to judge a salon based on things like out of date decor, etc. I was more concerened about bad reviews concerning customer service — specifically poor customer service after they have your business with the confirmed dress purchase, like intentionally ordering the wrong size to create the need for extensive alterations, delays in getting the dress in time, rudeness with requests around alterations, etc. I also would be worried that if they know you aren’t going to use them for alterations, I could see a salon with poor customer service being in no hurry to ensure you get your dress with time to spare to get your alterations done elsewhere.

@nikabee I am definitely going to keep looking — even with the insistence from the first bridal salon AND my mom (my cousin who got married a couple year ago didn’t help the situation when she told my mom that dresses can take a while to come in) that I’m running late. I think my mom is expecting me to make my decision by September. I’m so thankful that the consultant at the 2nd salon told me I’d still be okay if I ordered October/November. And I’m thankful to my feisty aunt who asked my mother who would be the person wearing the dress when my mom was going on about how 1645 was it… Don’t get me wrong, I liked 1645 a lot from what I can remember, but the prospect of having to buy it from a salon with negative reviews — because that seems to be my only option no matter where I go, does not have me enthused. I hope I can track down the Tessa and that it’s the one!

@torontobride28 I wasn’t even offered a deep discount for buying during the trunk show (probably because the Kenneth Winston was well under the budget I mentioned at the beginning of the appointment — it was half of what I said was my top limit). But yes, so for them to apply the pressure tactic and then not even offer me a good price on it (I think all I was offered was free alterations), was not selling me on buying that day. While the nice consultant at the 2nd salon said they couldn’t order it for me, nor did they have the manpower to take on alterations for dresses not purchased there, she offered to give me the name of a very reliable seamstress. So I may go that route if I end up with the Kenneth Winston.