Ordering dress tomorrow, and reviews!
Hi ladies,
Thank you so much for all the advice and input you gave me during my dress hunt!
I went to so many stores in the past two weeks, and kept going back to Maggie Sottero's Jean, so I am ordering tomorrow. I tried it on in 3 stores actually, and I always liked it the best. And, the bottom, does not look like a tablecloth, I got that out of my head! (and the friend that said that, took it back after seeing a pic of it on me, not the website). Today, the words 'I love it' actually came out of my mouth. So thank you to all who gave me suggestions as to where to shop, and comments on the dresses I was looking at. I thought I'd give something back by reviewing the shops I visited, so here goes:
ETA: I just got back from ordering it from Lotus! They matched Lillette's price, and it will be here in April. I'm soooo excited!!!
1. Bridals by Roma in NJ -- Perfectly nice store. Nothing fancy, but a huge inventory. I went because my pregnant best friend lives near there. They include the price of alterations in the dresses, but I still think they were overpriced. They rip the labels out of the dresses, so you don't know the designer. I didn't like that. There was a dress I liked there, and it was 2K. Later that day I went to Macy's and found out that it was a Demetrios and it was only 1300 at Macy's. Alterations aren't $700!
2. Macy's -- Willowbrook Mall -- Lovely experience. The salon was beautiful, I didn't have an appointment, yet they helped me right away. Nicole was my attendant, and she was great. I just didn't find my dress there, but if I did, I would have ordered there.
3. RK Bridal -- Another great experience. Again I had an attendant named Nicole. She was great. The store is not fancy, but you have a huge selections of dresses to go through. I thought I found my dress there, and came back another day and tried on a ton more dresses, and they were as nice as can be.
4. Beautiful Bride -- The people who worked there were very nice, but I personally didn't find anything I liked there. Their selection was not huge.
5. Lotus Bridal - brooklyn -- I love this place, and this is where I will order from. Wendy was my attendant. Its a small, family-run boutique. I tried my Jean on for the first time there. There was no pressure, and I tried on tons of dresses, and was there after closing time. They don't have a huge selection, but they do have a decent selection, and the girls who work there are great at finding dresses that fit who you are.
6. Bridal Reflections -- Massapequa -- Lovely experience. Darnell was my attendant, and she was magnificent. Such a sweet person, and was so good that at picking dresses out for me. I told her my price range and basic style, and she brought me 5 dresses, one all of which were great on me. One of them was Jean, and while it was the least expensive of the bunch, she told me she thought it looked best on me, and did not try to pressure me to buy one that was its rival and several hundred dollars more.
The only thing I didn't like about the place was that my dress was almost $200 more than it was at Lotus.
7. Lillettes -- Another very nice experience. And they give you chocolate when you leave. Nice selection of dresses. The dress I'm getting was its lowest price there -- $25 less than Lotus. The only reason I'm probably going with Lotus rather than Lillettes is because Lotus is much more convenient to me.
8. David's Bridal -- Nyack -- this is where my sister lives, so we went one day a couple of months ago. It was a beautiful store, and the staff was wonderful. I only liked one dress there, and it was my first time ever looking so it got put on the back burner.
9. David's Bridal -- Westburry, or Woodbury? Don't remember -- not a LI girl, but it was TERRIBLE. So different than the Nyack store. Sure they had the same dresses, but when my mom and I walked in, there were two sales ladies screaming at each other by the front desk. We stood there for a minute or two unnoticed. Then a third girl walked up to them and said 'We have customers' and they kept arguing. I mean Jerry Springer like yelling. Finally the third girl helped us, the one not yelling. She was nice enough, but the experience was not at all as pleasant as any of the stores I've been to.
10. Macy's Herald Square -- Believe it or not, the NJ Macy's had a much better selection. I also received much better customer service in NJ.
11. Saks sample sale -- A little chaotic. Everyone was very nice, and you could buy a top designer gown for a fraction of the price. I had on a Kenneth Poole gown that was originally priced at $4600 and I could have bought it for $1400. I almost did. I'm glad I didn't. While it was a gorgeous gown with stunning beadwork, it didn't look as good on me as others did. I felt that I was being a little pressured, maybe by myself, to buy it just because it was such a great deal. I would recommend going to a sample sale if you knew exactly what you wanted, but not at the beginning of your shopping experience like I did.
So that's it, that's my dress shopping experience. I've received so much help from so many of you, I hope these mini reviews helps someone!![]()
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Thank you so much for all the advice and input you gave me during my dress hunt!
I went to so many stores in the past two weeks, and kept going back to Maggie Sottero's Jean, so I am ordering tomorrow. I tried it on in 3 stores actually, and I always liked it the best. And, the bottom, does not look like a tablecloth, I got that out of my head! (and the friend that said that, took it back after seeing a pic of it on me, not the website). Today, the words 'I love it' actually came out of my mouth. So thank you to all who gave me suggestions as to where to shop, and comments on the dresses I was looking at. I thought I'd give something back by reviewing the shops I visited, so here goes:
ETA: I just got back from ordering it from Lotus! They matched Lillette's price, and it will be here in April. I'm soooo excited!!!
1. Bridals by Roma in NJ -- Perfectly nice store. Nothing fancy, but a huge inventory. I went because my pregnant best friend lives near there. They include the price of alterations in the dresses, but I still think they were overpriced. They rip the labels out of the dresses, so you don't know the designer. I didn't like that. There was a dress I liked there, and it was 2K. Later that day I went to Macy's and found out that it was a Demetrios and it was only 1300 at Macy's. Alterations aren't $700!
2. Macy's -- Willowbrook Mall -- Lovely experience. The salon was beautiful, I didn't have an appointment, yet they helped me right away. Nicole was my attendant, and she was great. I just didn't find my dress there, but if I did, I would have ordered there.
3. RK Bridal -- Another great experience. Again I had an attendant named Nicole. She was great. The store is not fancy, but you have a huge selections of dresses to go through. I thought I found my dress there, and came back another day and tried on a ton more dresses, and they were as nice as can be.
4. Beautiful Bride -- The people who worked there were very nice, but I personally didn't find anything I liked there. Their selection was not huge.
5. Lotus Bridal - brooklyn -- I love this place, and this is where I will order from. Wendy was my attendant. Its a small, family-run boutique. I tried my Jean on for the first time there. There was no pressure, and I tried on tons of dresses, and was there after closing time. They don't have a huge selection, but they do have a decent selection, and the girls who work there are great at finding dresses that fit who you are.
6. Bridal Reflections -- Massapequa -- Lovely experience. Darnell was my attendant, and she was magnificent. Such a sweet person, and was so good that at picking dresses out for me. I told her my price range and basic style, and she brought me 5 dresses, one all of which were great on me. One of them was Jean, and while it was the least expensive of the bunch, she told me she thought it looked best on me, and did not try to pressure me to buy one that was its rival and several hundred dollars more.
The only thing I didn't like about the place was that my dress was almost $200 more than it was at Lotus.
7. Lillettes -- Another very nice experience. And they give you chocolate when you leave. Nice selection of dresses. The dress I'm getting was its lowest price there -- $25 less than Lotus. The only reason I'm probably going with Lotus rather than Lillettes is because Lotus is much more convenient to me.
8. David's Bridal -- Nyack -- this is where my sister lives, so we went one day a couple of months ago. It was a beautiful store, and the staff was wonderful. I only liked one dress there, and it was my first time ever looking so it got put on the back burner.
9. David's Bridal -- Westburry, or Woodbury? Don't remember -- not a LI girl, but it was TERRIBLE. So different than the Nyack store. Sure they had the same dresses, but when my mom and I walked in, there were two sales ladies screaming at each other by the front desk. We stood there for a minute or two unnoticed. Then a third girl walked up to them and said 'We have customers' and they kept arguing. I mean Jerry Springer like yelling. Finally the third girl helped us, the one not yelling. She was nice enough, but the experience was not at all as pleasant as any of the stores I've been to.
10. Macy's Herald Square -- Believe it or not, the NJ Macy's had a much better selection. I also received much better customer service in NJ.
11. Saks sample sale -- A little chaotic. Everyone was very nice, and you could buy a top designer gown for a fraction of the price. I had on a Kenneth Poole gown that was originally priced at $4600 and I could have bought it for $1400. I almost did. I'm glad I didn't. While it was a gorgeous gown with stunning beadwork, it didn't look as good on me as others did. I felt that I was being a little pressured, maybe by myself, to buy it just because it was such a great deal. I would recommend going to a sample sale if you knew exactly what you wanted, but not at the beginning of your shopping experience like I did.
So that's it, that's my dress shopping experience. I've received so much help from so many of you, I hope these mini reviews helps someone!
