Wedding Dress Shopping Frustrations?

The store I found "the dress" at, the rep that was helping me was very snobby and not very happy, like she didn't want to be helping me. She knew her dresses and fabrics and what not which was great but the experience is a huge part of dress shopping I think. I left without the dress, which I was disappointed about at the time. We went to another appt that afternoon at a different store, and the rep was so amazing and upbeat made the whole experience amazing. Even though this shop didn't have the exact dress I wanted they did carry the designer and were able to order "the dress" I feel in love with at the other store and they were able to give me a great discount.

I did go back to that 1st store to try it on again and a new rep helped me and was nice but I saw my original girl (same day I tried on the dress just later in the afternoon) and she was all smiles with her new client. I have no idea why she was that way with me and my mom and dad but my dress experience in that store was pretty horrible, and I don't recommend them to any brides.

View Quoted Comment I went to DB to and i am a big girl i told them when i made the appointment about what size i am. I got there had a twig woman helping me who was being a twitch right from the start i showed her a dress i seen on pintrest that i would like something to look like that i looked around found a few that were decent after trying them on i told the girl helping me i asked if she couldfind me strapless bc the lace shoulders looked horrible on me she says to me as shes eating while handling dresses that they dont have many plus size dresses so she can't find me anything ...i took dress off with help of MOH and left! I will never go back to a DBridal ever again made me feel like i was so huge when there were woman bigger then me there ringing their bell saying they want the dress they had on. But this woman couldnt help me for nothing find a dress and make me feel like i shouldn't be there . Was BS horrible service from them. I have 8 months till my wedding and i have to go dress shopping again bc im so scared

View Quoted Comment Omg gorgeous...great find ..i have 209 days left to find mine and only went looking once so hopefully once i get my tax money back i can find a nice dress like you did ..congrats..best of luck

I agree, for the expense I expected higher quality materials and better structure. Also dissapointed that 99% of the dresses were strapless. I feel like the most important thing about trying on clothes is making sure they fit perfectly, but for $2000 you try on a dress in the wrong size! It's a racket for sure.

View Quoted Comment I had the same thing happen when I went to DB! She left without telling me, and with no instructions. I had no idea if I could even begin trying on the dresses I picked out! She also didn’t bring out any of the dresses beyond the first 2 I picked that I had showed her I liked!

I almost didn't get my dream dress because the sales consultant told me the sample was too small. So instead I went to another lady in the dress store that took the sample off the mannequin and let me try it one. And wouldn't you know it fit me like a glove!!! So I made sure to show the dress off in front of the sales consultant that turned me away from my dream dress 😋😋😋

Wow... I have to say the sleeve thing for me was definitely annoying but that was really it. I only went to DB and the sales person I had was amazing. They told me the busy times when I made the appt and so I was only 1 of 2 brides there. I tried on about 8 dresses and left with the one I felt, that day, was the one. 6 months later, changed my mind and they exchanged it, no issues at all. Sorry you all had such nightmare experiences.

I wear a larger size and people keep trying to push me into a line styles that start right under my boobs to "hide" my tummy and I want sleeves and the same people keep trying me to wear straps or strapless. I feel like I need to go by myself next time!

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I did! I went by myself first. Then I did a trip with my mom/sister and another trip with my mom/friend. But I ultimately found my dress on my own. I would highly suggest going to at least one shop on your own. You can always bring your mom or BFF back.

Bought my dress years ago.... but these alterations I need now that the wedding is finally here... I want to go to David's Bridal because that's where I got the dress, but I keep hearing bad reviews on how they mess up dresses! So i'm freaking out because I need to to be hemmed and that's like $200.00 there, but i'm too short to NOT get it hemmed. Even with heels, it's WAY too long.

I didn't like how each dress on the rack only came in ONE size. So if I found a dress I LOVED, but it was 6 sizes too small, I couldn't even try it on. That really upset me because there were a lot of form fitting dresses I wanted to try but couldn't because I couldn't even get them on everything I was able to fit into was either A line or ball gown style- which was not what I was going for.

I don't think anything drove me crazy per say...but I was upset that the dress I wanted to try on online wasn't in the store, and 3/4 of the dress I did try on weren't in my size so I had to guess what my final look would be because they won't order the dress in your size just to try it on. My brain couldn't fathom spending a ton of money on a dress that I didn't know would look great on me because it wasn't' in my size.

I ended up going with a dress that actually was in my size and everyone loved, including me. Can't say it's because of the dress or because it fit me, ha! But I'm happy with it either way.

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Carrie,

I got my dress from David's Bridal and I'm 5ft tall so I had to have a lot hemmed at the bottom it was like $60 bucks and they did a great job! It was quick, too!

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I was also frustrated because I couldn't find a simple, elegant dress in white. Most of the stores that I went into had dresses with a lot of bling, beading, and lace and I knew I wanted something simple. I walked into a bunch of stores and didn't even schedule a fitting because I didn't see anything that was simple. I ended up finding a dress at Macy's Bridal that was simple and elegant and I was able to order in white.

I skipped the in-store experience. I ordered wedding dress samples from Azazie, had them delivered to the house, invited over my mom, step mom, FMIL, sister/ MOH, ordered a to-go cake tasting sample box from the bakery, and bought a few bottles of wine. They tried on some bridesmaids and MOB type dresses (also samples from Azazie), I tried on my wedding dresses, we ate cake and drank wine, then went to lunch. It was awesome. The only frustrating part was that I have been losing weight and didn't know how to size the sample dresses, so overall they were at least a size too big (but hey, it's a good problem to have). I'd recommend the experience to EVERYONE, my group LOVED it and said how much more fun they had than a trip to a traditional shop!

All of the above.

I'm heavy set so there were less options for me since samples only go up to X size, even Davids Bridal

The Price tags were ridiculous. I went in with an $800 budget to DB and I felt like there was only Mermaid and A-Line. And there was very little that had as much detail as I wanted.

The sales rep at DB kept bringing me dresses WAY above my price range.

Lucky me the other store I went to is a small boutique in the middle of nowhere and though they only had maybe 20 dresses for me to try, the rep was amazing and even offered to let me look through the magazines and order a few samples in. She was also a little heavy set so she helped me to find dresses that wouldn't make me look like the little teapot (Short & Stout), she also stuck to my budget. I tried on another dozen dresses there but I found the one three dresses in. Just goes to show that the pricier, name brand isn't always better.

The dress is definitely the most frustrating part for me. I'm only 5ft tall and it's hard to find a petite dress. When you do find one, it looks like someone took a weed eater to it. Regular size wedding dresses drag 3ft behind me. And yes, the cost. When I first got married, I had to settle for my 5th choice in wedding dresses. I'm renewing my vows next year and I'm going to attempt to make my own. I'm so over these wedding dresses!

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DB is really bad about that. I refuse to go back. They did the same thing to me and when I didn't find a dress that suited me they started badgering me to buy one on the spot, saying they had the best selection and I wouldn't find anything else. When they finally realized that I would not be bullied into buying, they were ready to toss me out the door.

I want a dress with 3/4 sleeve so I'm just having someone make me one because searching for it is tiring.