No one should have to go through what we did. Spend your time, money, and emotions elsewhere for your big day.
Initially, had a lovely appointment picking out bridesmaids dresses. Maria and the other ladies were accommodating, helpful, and honest. They measured us (5 bridesmaids), and we waited for the dresses to come in.
When the dresses arrived, all had to be hemmed and 3/5 had to be let out. We were frustrated that they did not fit, especially because we asked to size up for comfort. (To give you an example, I wear a 4P regularly. I tried on the sample 8 size and it fit perfectly. Given that it's a sample and samples stretch, I asked them to size up and they ordered a 10. Unbelievable that that wouldn't fit.) At that first fitting, the assistants were defensive and suggested twice that all three of us had gained weight.
At the second fitting, the hemline was still too long. We again left the dresses there (1 week before wedding).
When we go to pick up the dresses, there was a rip in one of the dress's seams. The material around the zipper of another dress did not line up. When we complained and asked them to fix it, the assistants AGAIN were defensive, blaming us despite the fact that we had not touched the dresses since the second fitting.
Through all of this, which included a lot of anger, frustration, panic, and fear, the assistants at Amelia's Bridal berated us for gaining weight (which we did not). They said comments like "You're having a puffy day" and "If your daughters had stayed the same size"...ok so all three of us gained weight and shrunk? They REFUSED to offer any sort of discount. We had to pay for all the alterations despite one dress not being shortened on time; we had to take it to an outside tailor.
More than the money aspect - no one ever offered an apology or acknowledged their own mistakes. Mistakes happen. People are willing to forgive you for them. But when you berate them, try and deflect the blame, and refuse to try and make the situation right...that's when you lose customers and they turn to the Internet.
No one should have to go through what we did. Spend your time, money, and emotions elsewhere for your big day.