I was so excited to go wedding dress shopping and Chic Parisien was my first stop. In the beginning, Lucy our consultant was very charming. She took the time to look at all my pictures and we spoke about my budget. Before I even went to the sto...re, I called ahead and asked if they had dresses in my price range and was told "absolutely".
When I finally found the dress of my dreams, they brought us champagne and rolled out the red carpet. Then Lucy told me I would have to spend 3,900 on the dress and veil (not including taxes!!). My family was shocked as was I. I had been reminding Lucy of my 3,000 budget on every dress she pulled.
Immediately Lucy, the charming sales associate, turned into Lucy the pushy, rude, car salesman.
Me: "Lucy,this is just too high. My budget was 3,000"
Lucy: "This is a 6,000 dress which I got down to 3,400!! This is a DEAL!"
Me: "Ok. But again my original budget was 3,000 for a dress."
Lucy: "Well what did you expect! I mean did you think alterations and a veil would be FREE???"
Me/Family: "Well this is our first experience doing all this and we didn't know alterations and a veil would be almost 900 more."
Lucy: "Well we just don't carry dresses that are $3,000. That's just a weird number for a budget."
She continued to tell us that this was a deal and that she would only be able to do this today, that the dress would certainly be gone by tomorrow. It was a horrible feeling, especially to be doing this all still standing in the dress of my dreams while awkwardly holding champagne.
We asked her to give us a moment and instead she was flinging the dresses off the hangers and out of the room. I don't think she could have gotten me out of the dress any faster. When she heard that my family and friends were encouraging me to just walk away she said "3,700 but that's only if you do it right now!!" The more she pushed, the more uncomfortable I became.
In the end, I left the store very unhappy. I was terrified that all my dress shopping experiences would be like this. However, I had a second appointment scheduled that day at J Del Olmo (only 3 minutes from Chic Parisien).
From the moment I walked in to J Del Olmo, it was a completely different experience. My sales consultant was very sweet. She didn't pressure me at all. She let me try on the dress, told us a little information about it and then walked away so I could have a moment with my family and friends. It was by the third dress that I knew I had found THE ONE.
Overall, J Del Olmo worked with me on my price. I told them 3,000 when I walked in the door and I spent 2,200!! The service was excellent and I am so glad I didn't cave to the pressures of Chic Parisien.
My advice to future shoppers, skip Chic Parisien and visit the bridal shops on the Miracle Mile.