I had, overall, a really lovely experience with Bella Bridal! The store was clean and well-organized. I was always greeted by at least one staff member - but usually 2 or 3 - upon entering. The dressing area is perfect - intimate, with only ...room for a few brides to try on dresses at a time so you get really personalized help, but also spacious enough that each bride can easily bring a few people with her. I worked with Jessica, and she was wonderful. She was endlessly patient when I wanted to re-try on a couple dresses over and over and when I agonized over the choices for accessories. She offered excellent ideas and suggestions. And she asked some wonderful questions that helped me really figure out what I wanted and what I felt most beautiful wearing. The customer service was great - my questions were always answered promptly and courteously. Finally, when I purchased my dress, I got a few really wonderful perks that made a big difference for me and my budget, including $100 off the purchase of accessories and free steaming for my dress!
There are really only a couple *very* minor downsides to this bridal shop. First, the hours are a little odd, and since you need to make an appointment, it might be challenging for some brides to find a good time to check it out. Second, there really aren't too many options for brides with a smaller budget. We had a very limited budget for our wedding, and it got a little discouraging looking through dress after dress after dress and finding only a couple that were in my price range. (Thankfully, the one I purchased was *perfect* for me, so I didn't feel like I sacrificed wearing a lesser dress because of my budget....but I *did* spend a bit more than I wanted to and felt pretty nervous at the beginning of my appointment when I saw how limited my options were). Finally, there is some confusion among some of the staff about protocol for picking up dresses after having them steamed. When I made the appointment for my dress to be steamed, I was told that Bella doesn't take appointments to pick up dresses. I was just supposed to tell them the day I wanted the dress to be done, and then I could stop in to pick it up any time. I told them the date, and she said it would be ready by then. The day that I was supposed to pick up my dress (which happened to be the day before my wedding), I called in the morning to confirm that it was ready and I could pick it up and was told that, no, I needed to have an appointment to pick it up and they didn't have any appointments available. I explained that I was told *not* to make an appointment before and that it wasn't an option to pick it up a different day, since my wedding was the next day. She spoke with another team member or maybe a manager and then told me that it would be fine for me to stop in, but I might have to wait a little bit to be helped, since they were booked. It wasn't a huge deal by any means and I did get my dress in time, but it did put some unnecessary additional stress on my last day before my wedding. If you decide to purchase a dress with them, *please* save yourself this additional stress and make sure that you insist on setting an appointment to pick up your dress after it is steamed.
However, again, these are minor quibbles, and overall, I would absolutely work with Bella again and recommend it to anyone in the market for a wedding dress!