Bridal Elegance

Reviews 3

KR

Kristin J

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE!!!!!!!!!!! If I could give less than 1 star I would. I was so upset after visiting Bridal Elegance in Bloomington, Illinois that I had to write my first Google Review. I went here in search of some ideas for my wedding dress today just over an hour before closing time. I realize that an hour is not much time to try on, but I just wanted some ideas, not necessarily to try on. I didnt go in with the expectation to be waited on hand and foot. With that said, I also did not walk into the store at closing time. ... I will start at the very beginning. When my sister and I pulled into the parking lot, we could see 5 or 6 of their staff through the windows, lounging in the chairs by the entrance on their phones and tablets. Nobody was standing or moving around. As we got out of the car and approached the door, they suddenly all got up and stood by the counter, as if to appear busy. (One of them even had her shoes off, and quickly ran to put them back on when we got to the door. Yeah, we saw that.) The moment we walked in, they greeted us by saying that they were "very short-staffed today" (there were 0 customers in the store at this time), and that they "would NOT be able to help me today," because the "REST" of their staff was at the Bridal Expo. This was even before I had a chance to say that I just wanted to look around so I could some ideas for a future appointment there. I also feel the need to mention that I, too, was at the Bridal Expo today. I went to Bridal Elegance to check out their selection after talking to the one and ONLY staff member that was present at the expo. This is what really made me upset. Obviously, they didnt want to get started with a customer an HOUR before closing, and thought they could use the Bridal Expo as an excuse.. Now, I would like to mention that I, too, have worked retail. I understand how it is... It is frustrating when people come in at the last minute, but that does NOT make it acceptable to just dismiss an interested customer. With that said, once again, its not like I walked in there at 15 minutes to close with all of the associates helping other customers. They had 0 customers when I got there. ZERO. But yet, they were too "short-staffed" (I saw 5 or 6 girls there at least...) to even bother with me. I felt just like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, because they CLEARLY did NOT want me there; however 5 minutes later, a couple of other girls came into the store "just looking," and they all IMMEDIATELY offered to help them. The same goes for the next ladies that came in. They were super friendly to them. Still, I was completely IGNORED. I promptly left after witnessing this, and they never even noticed/said anything to me before leaving. HORRIBLE customer service. This is NOT how I imagined being treated when looking for my dream dress for my dream wedding. I will never set foot in this place EVER again. Also, if you send a representative of your store into a place like the Elegant Bridal Expo, you should expect interested (and serious) customers to come and visit the store, and NOT turn away eager brides.

CI

Cindy Li

After reading the reviews online, I decided against Bridal Elegance; I mean some of your reviews are just downright nasty. Instead I visited a place in Peoria that had great reviews but I personally had an awful experience. Based on that visit, I decided to give Bridal Elegance a try (of course I read and re-read all the reviews once more to better prepare myself). My first impression when I walked in was it was very organized. Ive never seen so many different types of dresses in one store. They definitely have a great selection. I was directed to the waiting area for my stylist to finish up with her current client before she could start with me. It was fine, I was too busy gawking at all the rows upon rows of dresses. I didnt wait long, Heidi came over and introduced herself to me and led us to the wedding dresses. There was a lot of information to process at the time but she made sure to stop and see if I had any questions before giving me more info. My favorite part about Bridal Elegance was that I got to go through and pick my own dresses. Unlike most places where youre pretty much at the mercy of your stylist and her taste, I got to decide which dresses I wanted to try on. While they didnt have the designers name on the tag, they did display the price (which was helpful if youre a budget conscious bride like me). Everything was piled in according to size and after walking down a few isles and only picking maybe 3 dresses, Heidi came to my rescue. I had found this particular dress on pinterest and had no other information other than a picture of what it looked like. It was my dream dress. She took one look at the picture and told me to hang on for two seconds; literally in two seconds, she comes flying around the corner with my dream dress in hand. It just so happened to be the first one I tried on and it was the dress. She grabbed some accessories to "jack me up" and I knew it was it. There was some unnecessary drama with the family but the stylists were never pushy. They gave me enough time to make my decision without feeling rushed. I ordered my dress on the first weekend of July and they called me July 26 to let me know it they had received it already. I even received email correspondence from Heidi with information on tux rentals and accessories that I had requested. I cant ask for a better experience and I think these guys deserve a better rating. Overall: Fantastic selection, great prices, and fabulous people to work with!

EM

Emily Ohmart

Im a pretty low maintenance bride and really just wanted my bridesmaids to find a dress they all loved and wouldnt mind paying for—maybe even one they would wear multiple times. When we first walked in I was skeptical, because their bridesmaid dress selection is pretty slim pickings—at least for styles that we all liked (also, be warned—all their bridesmaid dresses are pretty small sizes). You have to understand that this is not a bridal store where they will dote on you and give you a stylist all your own...we picked our own dresses that we wanted to try, we did a fashion show at our own pace, and we had fun doing it! One of the last dresses we pulled ended up being the perfect one, and I got to leave knowing my girls were happy and I could check another thing off my list! The sales ladies were very pleasant and helpful when we had questions. I dont know that I would strongly recommend this boutique for your perfect bridal dress shopping experience, but for a laid-back casual day out, its definitely worth a swing by to see what they have! However, be extra careful when sizing for your dress. The one we picked ended up being a disaster for the two bridesmaids that ordered from here. They recommended sizes that were 5 times their normal size but told us to trust them because the dress ran small. When it came in, they were incredibly big on both of them and they had to invest even more money to get them altered. We were not happy at all with that aspect of our purchase.