Bella Bridesmaid

as long as we order in the next month we would get the dresses in time for my wedding. We decided on a dress and were set to order a few weeks later. My bridesmaids had their measurements taken which was a task – my sister had to call repeatedly to get an appointment set up – they were not very responsive to her requests. While my sister was having her measurements taken finally, she was told to order a dress 2 sizes bigger than her measurements showed. She was very hesitant but went along with the person helping her at Bella. Then when they placed their orders, they were told that they had to pay to expedite the shipping, even though we were ordering within the amount of time they had originally said was acceptable. What a scam!! Then I was sent their orders to confirm and sign the contract. The order had some of the dresses in Small/Med/Large and some in sizes 4/6/8 – it was the same dress, so this made no sense. The dresses then arrived over a month before they were supposed to – which made me wonder again if the expedited shipping was really necessary? My sister’s dress was HUGE on her – she could have fit two of herself in the dress. She should not have trusted the person taking her measurements. Overall, this was the worst experience I have ever had with a company. They are unresponsive, not organized, and I believe they were dishonest when it came to the expedited shipping. I would not recommend!!!!!!

es. There was a problem with the skirts on the dresses (the designer changed the manufacturing of the dresses but one of my 'maids had the old style from a previous wedding and no one told me the skirts would be different). Once I figured this out and called Bella Bridesmaids, they, at first, were unhelpful and said that they would not be able to do anything about the dresses since it was past the deadline of letting them know that there were any issues. But, they were willing to call the designer who did acknowledge the design change and agree to send new dresses free of cost. So in the end, it all worked out.

r my friend's wedding that was a size too big and the proportions just were off. They recommended sizing up but the dress looked so bad and would have cost me $300 plus to tailor. I requested to return the unused dress and only got emails of how I tried on the dress, which I didn't, and how they couldn't accommodate. Just for due diligence I made sure this wasn't just coming from the floor manager, I requested a note from the owners. They were just as unhelpful. New York is full of too many shops to keep this one open.

ood selection of dresses - better than the two other stores we visited in NYC. The staff was friendly and responded quickly via email. I had 3 girls living out of state who were able to order their dresses online. One of the girls was able to go to a Bella location near her to try on the dresses and she was able to order and pick up her dress in store. The dresses came in 2 weeks earlier than expected. The color was perfect and there were no ordering issues (each of my girls received the style of dress that she requested). I received a discount given the number of bridesmaids I had. What could have gone better: It was somewhat difficult to make the initial appointment and equally as difficult getting as many of my 12 bridesmaids as possible in there to try on the dress options and get sized. That’s a lot of girls so understandable however they typically don’t do fittings on the weekend which is not okay. One style dress that was ordered by two of my bridesmaids (each bridesmaid got to pick her style of choice) did not have a zipper. Everyone that tried on this particular style including myself, did not realize this when we tried the dress on in store because the sample was so large that we just slipped it right on (no need to even look for a zipper). Well when the dress was delivered both girls had a tremendous amount of trouble getting it on. It was impossible to step into the dress and get it over the hips and it was equally as difficult putting it on over head without two other people helping (try dong this with full hair and makeup done!) Well it turned out that one of the girls had no choice but to get a zipper put in. I wish we noticed this problem when we were trying the dress on, but honestly it didn’t even cross my mind. In the 11 times that I was a bridesmaid, every dress had a zipper. I believe that this should have been pointed out by the sales representatives in the store and I was rather surprised that it was not. In fact, every style of dress in the line we picked did not have a zipper but not once was this mentioned to us. I emailed the staff about this and they did acknowledge my frustration and said they would be sure to point this out to costumers in the future (however not before trying to defend themselves). Finally, the dresses came in and were big on everyone, but I guess this is to be expected unfortunately. All 12 girls had to have their dress fixed.

I have to assume if you're reading reviews, you want to know what you're getting into with a vendor. I'm sure some have had seamless experiences with Bella (I call these people "The Chosen Ones"), but what I experienced was such a flagrant insult to common sense and customer care that it's safe to say I regret subjecting myself and my lovelies to Bella's "service". Chapter 1: Location, Location, Location Bella writes on their website, "Our online order form makes ordering a breeze - whether bridesmaids live in Boston or Brazil!" This is so carefully worded it almost impresses me. OF COURSE ordering is easy. A company will reduce any friction to getting money in the door. The snag here is whether it's "a breeze" if you want to pay for your dress or have it shipped. One of the reasons we chose Bella was because they had locations in each of my bridesmaids' cities. In theory, it would have been great because each could go to the store, order their dress, and be done with it. Not so. Bella is on a franchise model, so they require you to order all of your dresses from a single shop, playing on your nuptial anxieties that the "die lot won't match" if you order separately. Then they charge everyone shipping, despite the local stores' existences. There should be a Hunger Games where companies survive based on how well they treat their clients. Bella would die first (preferably by Tracker Jackers), and the bridal industry would have no chance to mourn its weakest link. The irony that echoes from Boston to Brazil is that Bella doesn't accommodate international purchasing/shipping. This was inconvenient to both our London bridesmaid and to the concept of logic. Chapter 2: If A = B and B = C, then A must certainly equal 9 Bella airheads That same "breezy" online ordering form would have been great had we not had to correct a number of errors the Bella Blockheads entered into the system. At the end, the selection still included incorrect dresses, but luckily my bridesmaids know their asses from the doorknobs, as they were able to wade through the Bella boogers. Chapter 3: Bully Bridesmaids "Bella Bridesmaids will not ... ever force a bridesmaid to order a certain size." I like to call these fact-based opinions. Hey Ruth Bader-Ginsberg, can I get a definition of "force" please? One of my bridesmaids was clearly a 6, and the Bella Bully pressured her into buying the 8. The dress doesn't fit at all, there are no returns/exchanges, and the cost of altering it is nearly the price of the dress. Here is my own fact-based opinion. They tell you to order a size up, so they can charge you for alterations. Trust your bodies, ladies. Chapter 4: Disorganization for Dummies I mail a check for the Londoner's dress, since they won't accommodate her. Bella Bozo 1 emails me many moons later telling me I need to send a check. When I gently (honestly) ask them to please double check their files, Bozo 2 finds it. Oops! A week later, B3 informs me that my credit card was declined (didn't I pay by check?) and that the next time it declines I would be charged $25. B4 follows up and I remind her AGAIN about the mailed check. I get another "oops!" from B2. [For rest of the story/review, see Bella's NY Yelp Page]

weeks!

t the bridesmaid dresses. Sometimes with bridal salons that also sell bridesmaid dresses you are hidden in a back room and the experience is second class. Our consultant was really helpful and had swatches of the dress in the colors I was interested in. She even sent me home with an envelope with the name of the dresses I was deciding between along with the swatches. They were responsive to email even after the dresses had been ordered. Folks were able to go to the store and pick them up or have them shipped since my bridesmaids were everywhere. It was a pretty seamless experience.

desmaid styles I was seeing everywhere else. I ultimately found perfect dresses for my girls for my destination beach wedding. The staff was so helpful in picking out dresses - I needed some guidance given that none of my girls live in New York and are, quite literally, around the world. The staff was also easily accessible by email, which made the ordering/coordinating process really simple. I would definitely recommend Bella!

he store looking for (7) different dresses. Casey and the entire team helped me with the different textures, colors and designs for all the dresses to ensure they would all be unique but still cohesive together. They really understood my vision and helped me execute it perfectly. The entire process was seamless. They are very responsive, costs were reasonable, they can order things even if they don’t have it in the store and everything came in earlier than expected. I would highly recommend Bella Bridesmaids in Manhattan!

ision to imagine what new custom ordered gowns will look like. The salesperson was helpful and informative and provided good suggestions and kept the women on the couch as I got to pull my top picks. I liked that we could look at gowns from Monique Lhullier, Amsale, Vera, others all in one place. She also gave us a small discount for our multiple purchases. The dresses came earlier than expected and in the exact styles and sizes - happy with the process!