The Bridal Emporium was the worst experience of my wedding planning. My first impression from Maryanne was extremely unfriendly. I had a scheduled appointment right after I got engaged. I live out of state, but wanted to try on wedding dresse...s for the first time while I was home with my mother, sisters, bridesmaids and aunt. I was considering wearing my mother's wedding gown, so I brought it along. Once Maryanne realized there was a chance she wouldn't get a sale out of me, she was done with me. That same day I picked out 7 bridesmaid dresses from the Bridal Emporium. You would think that nearly $1,300 in sales would make Maryanne perk up a bit, but only the younger girls in the store were helpful. This was my first "bridal outing" and it was very disappointing.
I chose 2 different style dresses; one from my maids of honor and one for my bridesmaids. Before the orders were placed, I ask on of the girls to read my order back to me and they had it all wrong! Had I not asked, they would have ordered 3 dresses in one style and 4 in the other. Luckily, I caught there mistake. During my engagement, I went out of the country and while I was gone my bridesmaids were asked to get fitted for their dresses. 5 of the girls were fitted, and 2 were not. When I returned to the US, Maryanne called me to alert me that the company who was making my dress discontinued the dress, and only had enough fabric for my dresses if all of the bridesmaids were fitted on time. She said that because 2 did not come in on time, the order would likely not go through. I was heartbroken and it caused a rift between myself and the bridesmaids. I went to another store, and they called the manufacturer and assured me that what I was told was untrue. I told Maryanne what I learned, and miraculously, the order went through.
Also during the process, I was told that the store would ship my bridesmaids dresses to the out of state bridesmaids at no additional cost. When it came time for them to pay, they were of course, charged shipping. The maid of honor dresses (2) were ordered in the wrong size. My sisters ordered a size 6 and a size 8. On the receipt, the Bridal Emporium clearly scribbled a 4 and a 6 on top of the 6 and 8. They changed one dress size from a 10 to a 6 and blamed it on the size chart. Their excuses were inconsistent and the refused any accountability. My family was in awe that they would be so underhanded. It was extremely shady to change the size on the receipt without telling us. I went to the shop to discuss the issue in person and Alissa was very nice, but still did not help the situation. Maryanne didn't even acknowledge me when I walked in.
Our last terrible experience was when we picked up all of the remaining dresses. I wanted to pick up my veil as well. They had no record of the veil I chose, and asked me to look through the veils to see if I recognized it. I left the Bridal Emporium and purchased my veil at a much more reliable and honest shop.
Through this experience, I have visited several high-end bridal boutiques, and not one of them had the terrible customer service that I experienced at the Bridal Emporium. Planning you wedding is such a beautiful and memorable experience. All of my other vendors have been fantastic, so I know how smoothly things can go with the right people. I would beg any bride-to-be to stay away from the Bridal Emporium.