About this vendor
Emerald City Gowns is a wedding dress boutique in Berkeley, CA, specializing in handmade gowns and luxury consignment items. Founded in 2011, the boutique originated from owner Emilie's experiences helping her best friend shop for wedding dresses. Blown away by the eco-friendly significance of consignment companies, Emilie also saw the opportunity to give exposure to local high-end fashion design houses.
Situated on San Pablo Avenue, Emerald City Gowns welcomes to-be-weds to explore beautiful wedding gowns and accessories in a luxury setting. Racks and racks of sample dresses in various sizes and styles await their perfect match, enveloping prospective clients in silk, chiffon, and crepe. Nearly-weds are sure to love browsing the selection to find their dream wedding dress.
Easily book an appointment to shop, copy & paste this link into your browser ; https://emerald-city-gowns.genbook.com/
Details
Accessories
- Veils
Business Attributes
- Woman-owned Business
Dresses
- Shower & Party Dresses
- Wedding Dresses
Fashion Services
- Bridal Stylists
- Plus Size Available
- Private Appointments Available
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
4.8
out of 5.012 reviews
- Top reviews
- Newest first
- Oldest first
- Highest rated
- Lowest rated
Sort by
The dress we wanted was beautiful and affordable, but the tailoring was far more expensive than we had anticipated. It would have been nice to know ahead of time.
Beautiful selection of gowns--both new/made to order and consignment (but flawless). Really lovely customer service, gowns to fit a range of budgets. I don't always love trying on clothing, but the dresses that we chose for me to try on were perfect!
Beautiful gowns and reasonable prices!
Beautiful, unique dress shopping experience curated expertly by the owner, Emilie.
I was struggling with my schedule to find a time that worked for me and my loved ones to dress shop. Emilie worked with me seamlessly on this even though my plans changed a couple of times. When I got there it was a very calm, warm welcome and they made me feel like I was in excellent hands. I also loved that the dresses on display were easy to view. It’s hard to figure out what a dress looks like when it’s all in plastic.
On arrival to my appointment Emilie asked me a few quick questions and I showed her one photo of what I knew I liked at that point. She clearly has a lot of experience distilling a bride’s vision from a brief description because she got it immediately and she absolutely delivered. I thought it would take forever to find a dress. I tried on several because it was actually a lot of fun and they were all really beautiful. She also was really great at keeping the dress options recommended within my budget. I ended up completely torn between 2 dresses she picked out for me but I’m so happy with my choice. I also came in well under my $1500 budget. Emilie was super helpful and supportive but no pressure. She gave my guests and me space to deliberate, there was so rush. It was overall a really great experience.
I love that the dresses are consignment and samples and that it’s a female run business. They also were very helpful with connecting me to a seamstress for alterations. It was a super easy process.
I highly recommend Emerald City Gowns. Amazing selection and service. It was an exceptional experience.
I decided to drive to Berkeley from Santa Cruz to shop for my dress from Emerald City Gowns because they specialize in consignment and sample dresses. I didn’t want to have a new dress created just for my wedding and also planned my wedding in a short time period which made buying a dress I could take home the same day very appealing. My sister and mom came with me to help find a dress and they’re organized by size. We found so many gorgeous dresses that it was hard to decide on one, but I was able to make the decision on that first appointment and absolutely loved it for my wedding day! After the wedding I had it cleaned and consigned it back with Emerald City Gowns and hope that another bride will be able to use the dress again. Thank you Emilie and Emerald City Gowns!
Wonderful experience - personal, unhurried and invested! The dress she imagined for me was THE perfect one. I’d recommend Emilie and her staff to any and all.
Very helpful staff and great discounts on the sample/consignment gowns.
Emerald City Gowns has so many gorgeous dresses, I don't know why you would need to go anywhere else. You need to see their latest on pinterest and then quickly call to make an appointment so that someone else doesn't snatch it up. Prices are good. Service could have been a little bit better (I definitely felt rushed). But found my dress here and loved it. Lots of options.
At my wedding, people loved my dress and commented that it was the most beautiful dress ever! People also loved the hair pieces, all picked out by Emilie! Emilie is amazing! I pinned dresses I liked on Pinterest, and Emilie remembered the pins I liked and pulled dresses in my size and price range. She went above and beyond to find a perfect dress, veil, tiara, and headpiece for my wedding. She was so attentive and knowledgeable about gowns. She also has an eye for what looks good and which accessories match perfectly with various gowns. I went in having a vague idea of what I would like, and I came out with a stunning gown and accessories! Even though my wedding is months away, I went in thinking I would get a better sense of what I'm looking for, but with the outstanding service I received from Emilie, I just had to get the dress she pulled. She was very understanding when I told her I had to think about it, and when I came back, luckily she had time for me to try on the dress a second time just to be absolutely positive this was the dress for me. I couldn't be happier with the selection, service, and overall experience at Emerald City Gowns. If you need an expert eye on anything wedding, I suggest you make the trip out here. You will be pleasantly surprised. I am very happy with my dress and with Emerald City Gowns. The salon where I got my hair wanted to know where I got my dress and hair piece, and I was so happy to say Emerald City Gowns. Emilie is like your friend in the dress business: she is looking out for you to make you feel beautiful on your special day, and I totally did!
I loved my dress from here, it was perfect. The owner was extremely nice and helpful. The whole experience took about 30 minutes. Highly recommend this shop in Berkeley.
This was the first place I went looking for my dress, and I felt like it was almost too easy. The gals there understood exactly what I was looking for, and were able to pull about 8 dresses off the rack that were perfectly in line with what I wanted. They are also really careful (protective) of the dresses, which I appreciated. I also love that they have their inventory on a pintrest board, which allowed me to browse before I went in.
Emily is your best friend when it comes to wedding gown shopping. Mostly, you feel like she's your best friend while you're in her shop. She works with one client at a time and is good about reading your face and reaction to different dresses. She uses that to move through her inventory that she knows very well. She has a wide variety of dresses and sizes and they are all in great condition. She has a lot that have actually never even been worn. I went there twice. I would have bought something from her the first time I was there, but I hadn't looked anywhere else. After going several other places and hating the experience, I went back and found the perfect gown for me. Really she had several dresses that I would have been happy with...
I do plan to take my dress back to her after it gets back from the cleaners as I really have no need to hold my dress in the closet for the next 40 years.
Contact
1411 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA
Emerald City Gowns
Emerald City Gowns's photos