Great Lakes Wedding Gown Specialists

Sherry Hettinga altered my mother-of-the-bride dress. Great experience!

My experience with Great Lakes Wedding Gown Specialists has truly been horrific. They messed up a bridesmaid dress for me this summer, then "fixed it" (Still very tight, and so long I ripped it walking around at the reception) Worst of all, they messed up my wedding gown itself on 2 occasions, then refused to let me come back into the shop to fix it for a third appointment. Both occasions asking me if I had gained weight, etc, making me feel extremely guilty. I had to go to another alterations specialist who was shocked that they took my money for such poor craftsmanship. (Big thank you to the other shop for saving my wedding day) Not once did they apologize for a single mistake. Ladies, do not give your wedding gown to these women! So heartless that they refused to even let me come back and get the gown fixed. Waste of money, time, and a lot of emotional drama.

I brought my dress, my veil, and my 2 MOHs dresses to Tami 2 days before my rehearsal, and she did a fantastic job pressing them for the big day. I had brought my dress through multiple states driving to our destination, so it was quite wrinkled, and Tami made it beautifully smooth which was crucial for my fitted Mikado dress.

I went in for just a bustle and ended up needing to have my dress shortened and they were able to fit me in on pretty short notice. On our wedding day, I realized they forgot to hem up the lining on the inside. When I went in afterward, they refunded me some of the cost no questions asked and hemmed up the lining anyway for no charge before having it cleaned and preserved. They were extremely apologetic and sincere!

I saw wonderful (hand-selected) reviewers on their website, so I drove out to the lakeshore several times to have my dress and shoes cleaned and preserved. I have searched high and low for the beautiful satin sash that was definitely with my dress in the original garment bag, but it was lost somewhere in the process without so much as an “I’m sorry”. They got rid of the original garment bag and said that they used special bags for preservation (okay, fine), but no efforts were made to rectify the situation - discount, apology, efforts to search, offers to clean my shoes at a discount, etc. They just assured me that it wasn’t their fault and that they’d “let me know” if the sash ever turned up. It was from BHLDN, perfectly matched the satin layer under the lace on my dress, and wasn’t cheap or easy to come by that color as it seems to be in limited supply. Additionally, I brought my shoes to them to be cleaned and they were still dirty (actual dirt and blades of grass were in them) when I picked them up. Again, no apology, just instance that they’d done their job when I asked if they’d even been cleaned. When I asked about the cleaning process, the answer was vague. I would definitely NOT recommend this place to anyone who wants their precious and expensive wedding garments to be taken care of properly.

Horrible service from the moment we walked in the door. The seamstress wanted to take out the low back of my dress instead of tailoring the sides. When we questioned it, we were yelled at and told not to question her sowing experience. The entire alterations would have been $450-$500, and with only one seamstress they were very busy so the dress would be available about a week before the wedding. Decided to take my gown elsewhere and had an amazing experience at Miller Bridal in Fremont, and saved at least $150! So glad I followed my instincts. You only get one wedding dress! Weddings should be a happy experience.

Tami did a fantastic job with my dress. I had it preserved and am very happy with it.