Wedding Blog

I only shopped for dresses while living in Seattle/Olympia, so sorry, NYC brides, I don’t have any local reviews. But for all you Seattle area brides, I hit almost all the shops in the area!

Here goes!

Bellevue Bridal Boutique - Downtown, Bellevue

I went here twice. It was also the first place I tried on dresses. It’s a nice shop - small but they have a huge selection. They also had a lot of great dresses marked down to almost 50% off. I’m not sure if that’s available all the time, but it was both times I was there.

I found a gown I really liked here. It was a sample gown close to my budget, but still required a lot of consideration. I was sooooo close to buying, but after looking at photos and sharing with the bridesmaids, I realized it was making me sea-sick. I love bustling and pick ups in dresses, but this one was way too symmetrical. Also, after trying on dresses here, I decided I did not want a veil. I felt too bride-y… though I guess that’s the point.

The positive side is that they allow you to take pictures.

Here’s a picture of me in the rejected dress. It was an Alfred Angelo Piccone with the most beatiful beading at the waist line. The quality was very good and I loved the ivory/champagne color:

I look scared in this one. Ha!

See what I mean by sea-sick?

La Belle Elaine’s - Downtown, Seattle

This is a fantastic store. Everything is organized really well and there is even a bridal runway for when you narrow down your choices to a few. You get to strut your stuff on the catwalk in a beautiful wedding gown. I would go to this store just for that experience. They have spacious, comfortable, and private fitting rooms with fantastic lighting. The staff is fabulous and very hands on. On your first visit, they encourage you to pick 10-15 dresses to get an idea of what you want. I can’t remember for sure, but I think they book the appointment for about 1.5 hrs, so you get a lot of time.

You should book in advance, but I got a last minute appointment for 4:00 pm on a Sunday. It was really quiet and I felt I didn’t have to shove people out of the way to look at dresses. They have a fantastic selection and all the samples are varied in size so if something is not your exact size, the consultant will clip it into place and help make it fit.

The downside was that the dresses were all really expensive. They had some samples, but even those were above my budget (~$1,000). I did find a sample discontinued dress that I liked in pristine condition. I tried to negotiate a price, but it was pretty non-negotiable. Their markup is quite high. Sadly, the consultant’s demeanor changed a lot when she realized I wasn’t able to afford even a sample dress at the price they were offering. So I left without buying the dress.

FYI, this is the dress I considered. It was a Watters gown, but since it’s discontinued, I could only find images of it on online shops. It was hand embroidered with floral/swirls on the top part of the bodice, and there was embroidery on the back bustling. The color wasn’t the best - it was in rum pink. I did not want a white dress, but preferred something along the lines of ivory.

David’s Bridal - Olympia, Washington (National Chain)

I know this is pretty faux-pas, but I wanted to see for myself what was so horrible about David’s. Plus, it would be a great basis for comparison.

I had a late evening appointment here. They are open until about 8PM so it’s great after work. I hear it’s mobbed on the weekends.

When you arrive, they make you fill out an extensive registration card. Make sure you check off the box that rejects all their direct mail and email, otherwise they start massively spamming. After you register, you are given about three catalogs and asked to flag the dresses you want. I sort of liked this process because I didn’t have to go scour the racks and through piles of dresses.

The consultant was actually very helpful. I told her what I liked and she flipped through the catalogs with me and made suggestions. She warned me about a few dresses that might have details that I wasn’t aware of. I tried on several. My favorite was a champagne trimmed, corseted dress with pickups.

Their prices are really reasonable, but quality isn’t going to be the same as some other designers– though you wouldn’t know this unless you’re wearing the dress. I had initially gone in to try this dress since it was so similar to my Lazaro dreamboat, but it just didn’t look right on me. The only thing I really disliked about the dresses is that you had to slip on a very itchy crinoline and I started sweating immediately (it was February) when I had the dresses on! Probably the polyester in the crinoline lining.

Despite their reputation, it wasn’t a bad experience at all. It was actually quite pleasant– they didn’t try to push anything on me and they were very extremely helpful and accommodating. So the moral? Don’t listen to the rumors! David’s Bridal is worth a shot if you’re shopping for a dress on a budget.

to be continued…