I expected to be treated like a bride from first appointment to final fitting. I wasn't. I wasn't able to use the bridal room after purchasing the dress unless the shop was empty-at one of my fittings I was kicked out of that room. I had fittin...gs in a small corner room with no door that is filled with small stalls more appropriate for a prom dress fitting.
Alterations
Lena is technically not affiliated with, but is highly recommended by the shop and was a part of my experience at Brides of Today.
I bought a strapless dress that had a lot of support and that I felt comfortable in. It has since become the dress that is currently rumpled in a ball under my bed because I can't bear to look at it.
The first alteration was to get rid of all the boning in the bust. WHY would that be the first "go to" for an extremely busty client? After that alteration it was so bad even the shop employee grimaced. Lena did not offer input to fix it but did comment that now my breasts were "jiggling" (Ouch). At my final fitting, Lena recommended making the removable straps she'd added permanent-she made them too short so my dress didn't fit properly on my wedding day. This led to needing an extra 30 minutes to get ready, not being able to wear a bra, not feeling comfortable, and missing my first look with my husband in the location we were hoping for.
Lena also altered my sister's maid of honor dress. When my sister put on the dress it was so tight she had to take off her bra, could barely breathe AND the dress was MISSING the hook at the top to keep the dress zipped.
The Veil
Bev assured me for months that the veil was ordered, arrived and steamed. The week of my pick up I called Bev and to confirm-she responded "Oh, are you coming to get it then". She admitted she had completely forgot. I double checked the veil would be ready and she said it would.
On pickup day, dresses in bag and halfway out the door I asked for my veil and was told it was in the bag. I verified it was not. The employees whispered in the back for a while before finally informing me Bev never ordered the veil, in fact, she never wrote down the product number so they didn't even know which veil it was. I found the correct veil on the sample rack, they put it in a grocery bag and handed it to me. I asked for them to steam it and the woman replied "I folded it". The veil was not in new condition from being used so often. I called the shop when I got home and when Bev finally got on the phone she said she'd overnight a new veil Monday.
The veil arrived Tuesday night and was the wrong color. I called the shop before closing-no one answered. Bev emailed the next morning (3 days pre- wedding) and said a new one would be overnighted.Thursday morning I got an email that there was an issue with my order- the mail carrier received the shipping label but no shipment. I called the distributor since it was now 2 days before my wedding. Bev emailed me later to reprimand me for doing this and said a new one would be overnighted again.
The veil arrived AFTER my rehearsal dinner the night BEFORE my wedding, and thankfully my mom was kind enough to steam it out for me
I can not express enough how much I regret buying my dress here. I felt like absolutely everything at my wedding was beautiful except for me. Bev never followed up in any way. She never called me back to offer any type of compensation for her negligence, not even an apology. I do not recommend this shop.