I visited Cherie with my mom to see if I found a dress I liked more than the simple one I bought for my European wedding. I love the mission of second hand dresses supporting their... non profit partner. The shop is very cute and bright and a lovely selection of dresses. The dresses are still quite expensive (speaking as someone who doesn’t care to spend thousands on a dress I’ll wear once. most are $1-2K plus alterations costs) and the experience didn’t match my expectations for a bridal experience.
The young woman working there was a bit gruff and unprofessional.
They don’t do in house adjustments and are final sale so you are taking a gamble as to what the cost of adjustments will be as tailors need to see the dress in person. Most estimates I received for hemming and bustling the dress were 3-5x what the girl at the shop suggested they would be (which was more expensive than the dress itself). It would’ve been a more comfortable and cohesive experience if they had an associated tailor to give accurate quotes, but perhaps that’s the value in traditional bridal shops.
When compared to the same dress second hand online (stillwhite.com), Cherie had priced the dress several hundred dollars higher.
It’s a $25 visit if you bring up to 3 people with you, but $75 if you bring 4. Not really sure why they charge extra as all they need to do is put another chair in the room. They don’t provide anything else like champagne or snacks, so really no cost to them. Just odd.
It’s final sale, can’t give accurate quotes on adjustments, don’t allow holds (even for 24 hours) so you can think about or get quotes for adjustments, so you are taking a $1-2k gamble.
I have a seamstress friend who was able to give me confidence in the dress I liked and able to make the adjustments despite not doing bridal adjustments professionally, so I was willing to take the gamble.
The young woman overcharged me for the dress, wanted to take my card to go pay for it in the back room without bringing me to a register or bringing in a card reader. Again, odd.
If my mom hadn’t loved the dress so much, I would’ve passed on it as the experience was completely lacking for the cost of the dress.
Some simple changes could make the experience feel more personal and professional since the shop is so cute, the prices aren’t cheap, but the experience was very underwhelming.