Bridal Gown/Veil Fitting Rant...LONG
Yesterday was my first bridal gown fitting and I was incredibly excited to see my dress for the first time.
I was excited as I put on my shoes and saw them sparkle. I know that they are radiant white and the dress is ivory, but they will be dyed, so no worries. I put on the bustier and the earrings and stepped into the diva slip. I called the girl over and she took my dress out of the bag, unzipped it and slid it over my head. She fit the panel in behind and zipped up the dress. It was a tight fit in the bodice but the chest needed to be taken in a smidge.
I came out into the main area and stepped up on the platform. It is gorgeous. My friend arrives just as the seamstress is putting pins on my bodice. Then she starts on the bustle. My step mom arrives and watches as the seamstress begins to bustle and when she's done, she tells me to look in the mirror. It looks awful - it is a rectangular panel through which you see the beading, but most of the craftmanship is hidden. So I look at my stepmom and say, 'This wasn't how it was bustled when we ordered it.' At this point the head saleswoman tells me that the girl who showed me the bustle was not a seamstress but just a saleswoman and she wouldn't know how to properly bustle it (or something to that effect). I ask if we can get the salesgirl who was there the night we ordered the dress. The head saleswoman tells me that she isn't here. I clearly remember her being in the shop when I arrived because I said hello to her. Apparently her shift ended at 5:30. So I calmly tell this other woman that the reason we chose this dress was for the gorgeous beadwork that is on the back and when it was shown to me bustled, it was in a triangle shape falling from the main bodice of the dress. The panels that were tacked were removed from their tacking and they were tucked under so that more of the shimmery stuff was in view. EVENTUALLY, by using the floor model of the dress we were able to explain exactly what we wanted. The seamstress made modifications and we were all happy with the final results.
So we move along to the tiara and veil. Stepmom grabs my tiara and we put it on my head. The salesgirl helping me tonight pulls the veil out of the bag and places it under my pony tail. I look in the mirror and tell my friend, 'I feel like a Teen America Contestant'. The veil was MOST DEFINITELY NOT MINE. They obviously ordered the wrong veil. Originally I wanted a satin ribbon edged veil, but when we saw it on, it cut across the beaded bodice in a funny way, so we nixed the ribbon idea. That was when we put on a simple veil with edging of silver and rhinestones. It was fingertip length, delicate, simple and elegant. What she handed me last night was just past shoulder length, had a silver lining around the main edge, then a second line of silver edging about 1/4 inch above. In between these two lines are silver rhinestones all along in a horizontal pattern. Then, to boot, there are scattered rhinestones all over the tulle. I was floored. The head saleswoman was not amused. Now, in the grand scheme of things this really is a small setback. But it was the principle. This saleswoman INSISTED that I wanted and ORDERED THIS veil. First of all, she was not there the day that I ordered my dress and veil. Second of all, if I didn't want the ribbon veil, why on earth would I want one with two horizontal silver lines? Third of all, I was going for simple elegance that would not detract from the beauty of the bodice. Why then would I opt for a veil that has scattered rhinestones. I was just as adamant as she was indignant. She kept telling me that the number on the contract is the same as on the veil. Well, duh, that is what you ordered. That does not mean that was the same number that was on the original veil.
I was really trying hard not to be a bridezilla (and my friend told me that I wasn't at all) when I told the woman that I had pictures of myself in the CHOSEN veil, just not on my person. And I do. I went back and looked at my pictures and found a picture taken of me in the dress (in a larger size) and the veil.
I asked if the veil I currently had on could be ordered and the other returned. We were told that it was a special order and they *might* be able to put the credit towards the new veil. The difference is $45 more, though, and as of last night, they couldn't guarantee that it would be here before March. The saleswoman was a bit haughty and rude. She told me that either the owner or the girl who originally sold me my dress would call me back sometime today on my cell.
I waited till the afternoon and finally called the bridal salon. I asked for the original salesgirl and was placed on hold for a good three minutes. When someone finally answered, it was the haughty woman from the night before and all I heard her say was 'the girl with the veil?' to one of her colleagues. I asked who she was and she then identified herself and told me that the difference in the veil price was $100. I told her that was impossible, that I looked at the label yesterday and even said to the girl helping me that the difference in price was $45. She told me to hold on and that she would check. She did and then told me she was sorry, that I was right. She told me that she could have the veil in before the wedding and did I want it? I told her to go ahead and order it. I was slightly irritated that I wasn't permitted to speak with the original salesgirl. That right there almost makes me wonder if they knew I was right.
I was just really irritated at the fact that she would not even entertain the possibility that her salesgirl wrote down the wrong number initially which resulted in the ordering of a veil that I obviously did not want. What ever happened to the adage that the customer is always right? I don't always believe that myself, but as a woman in the workforce, I at least give people the benefit of the doubt.
My friend who was with me was mortified that not only did I have a problem, but that this woman was insistent that they did nothing wrong.
I was excited as I put on my shoes and saw them sparkle. I know that they are radiant white and the dress is ivory, but they will be dyed, so no worries. I put on the bustier and the earrings and stepped into the diva slip. I called the girl over and she took my dress out of the bag, unzipped it and slid it over my head. She fit the panel in behind and zipped up the dress. It was a tight fit in the bodice but the chest needed to be taken in a smidge.
I came out into the main area and stepped up on the platform. It is gorgeous. My friend arrives just as the seamstress is putting pins on my bodice. Then she starts on the bustle. My step mom arrives and watches as the seamstress begins to bustle and when she's done, she tells me to look in the mirror. It looks awful - it is a rectangular panel through which you see the beading, but most of the craftmanship is hidden. So I look at my stepmom and say, 'This wasn't how it was bustled when we ordered it.' At this point the head saleswoman tells me that the girl who showed me the bustle was not a seamstress but just a saleswoman and she wouldn't know how to properly bustle it (or something to that effect). I ask if we can get the salesgirl who was there the night we ordered the dress. The head saleswoman tells me that she isn't here. I clearly remember her being in the shop when I arrived because I said hello to her. Apparently her shift ended at 5:30. So I calmly tell this other woman that the reason we chose this dress was for the gorgeous beadwork that is on the back and when it was shown to me bustled, it was in a triangle shape falling from the main bodice of the dress. The panels that were tacked were removed from their tacking and they were tucked under so that more of the shimmery stuff was in view. EVENTUALLY, by using the floor model of the dress we were able to explain exactly what we wanted. The seamstress made modifications and we were all happy with the final results.
So we move along to the tiara and veil. Stepmom grabs my tiara and we put it on my head. The salesgirl helping me tonight pulls the veil out of the bag and places it under my pony tail. I look in the mirror and tell my friend, 'I feel like a Teen America Contestant'. The veil was MOST DEFINITELY NOT MINE. They obviously ordered the wrong veil. Originally I wanted a satin ribbon edged veil, but when we saw it on, it cut across the beaded bodice in a funny way, so we nixed the ribbon idea. That was when we put on a simple veil with edging of silver and rhinestones. It was fingertip length, delicate, simple and elegant. What she handed me last night was just past shoulder length, had a silver lining around the main edge, then a second line of silver edging about 1/4 inch above. In between these two lines are silver rhinestones all along in a horizontal pattern. Then, to boot, there are scattered rhinestones all over the tulle. I was floored. The head saleswoman was not amused. Now, in the grand scheme of things this really is a small setback. But it was the principle. This saleswoman INSISTED that I wanted and ORDERED THIS veil. First of all, she was not there the day that I ordered my dress and veil. Second of all, if I didn't want the ribbon veil, why on earth would I want one with two horizontal silver lines? Third of all, I was going for simple elegance that would not detract from the beauty of the bodice. Why then would I opt for a veil that has scattered rhinestones. I was just as adamant as she was indignant. She kept telling me that the number on the contract is the same as on the veil. Well, duh, that is what you ordered. That does not mean that was the same number that was on the original veil.
I was really trying hard not to be a bridezilla (and my friend told me that I wasn't at all) when I told the woman that I had pictures of myself in the CHOSEN veil, just not on my person. And I do. I went back and looked at my pictures and found a picture taken of me in the dress (in a larger size) and the veil.
I asked if the veil I currently had on could be ordered and the other returned. We were told that it was a special order and they *might* be able to put the credit towards the new veil. The difference is $45 more, though, and as of last night, they couldn't guarantee that it would be here before March. The saleswoman was a bit haughty and rude. She told me that either the owner or the girl who originally sold me my dress would call me back sometime today on my cell.
I waited till the afternoon and finally called the bridal salon. I asked for the original salesgirl and was placed on hold for a good three minutes. When someone finally answered, it was the haughty woman from the night before and all I heard her say was 'the girl with the veil?' to one of her colleagues. I asked who she was and she then identified herself and told me that the difference in the veil price was $100. I told her that was impossible, that I looked at the label yesterday and even said to the girl helping me that the difference in price was $45. She told me to hold on and that she would check. She did and then told me she was sorry, that I was right. She told me that she could have the veil in before the wedding and did I want it? I told her to go ahead and order it. I was slightly irritated that I wasn't permitted to speak with the original salesgirl. That right there almost makes me wonder if they knew I was right.
I was just really irritated at the fact that she would not even entertain the possibility that her salesgirl wrote down the wrong number initially which resulted in the ordering of a veil that I obviously did not want. What ever happened to the adage that the customer is always right? I don't always believe that myself, but as a woman in the workforce, I at least give people the benefit of the doubt.
My friend who was with me was mortified that not only did I have a problem, but that this woman was insistent that they did nothing wrong.
