Wedding Blog
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After leaving the Alfred Angelo boutique, I went to Olga’s Bridal to try on some Mon Cheri Bridal and La Sposa gowns that I had found on The Knot. I was really excited to try on the MCBs & LSs. They were so soft and dreamy and romantic looking - totally my style. Here’s what I had planned to try on:
In my head, this was “The One”. I was head over heels for this dress. The bottom is just so flowy and ethereal.
The lace on this baby is so delicate and amazing! I love the scalloped detail on the neckline, too.
I’ve never seen anything so lacy and yet still so simple. I was intrigued.
I got to Olga’s and… WOAH! Tiny! Where do they keep all the dresses?! I called ahead to make sure that they carried both brands, but when I got there they told me that I could order the dress from them, but that they don’t have any samples to try on. Am I the only one that thinks that makes no sense? Confused, I asked her, “Soo.. I’m just supposed to order one sight unseen so I can try it on?” “No,” she responded “you’ll have to go to a boutique that carries those specific dress samples, try them on, see which one you want, then order it from us!” Hmm… okay. Why would I come back and order the dress from you? Why wouldn’t I just order it from the boutique that actually has the samples? Alrighty then… out the door I went!
On the way home, I was feeling a little discouraged. I really thought I’d find something that I was really in to, or at least be able to try on the dresses on my list! But no such luck. On the way home, I decided to swing by Brides by Demetrios, although most of their dresses were out of my $1000 price range. Would this prove to be a good decision or a bad decision?
I guess you’ll have to wait to find out!
Have you ever run into any questionable bridal boutique sales tactics or policies? How did you deal?
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Share this post: Somewhere over the Rainbow: Journey to the Dress Part Deux
I ran into the same thing.. Why would anyone do that? It made no sense to me either.
That’s pretty crazy. I’m kind of glad I didn’t have to actually do any dress shopping.
That is really annoying.. i was told the same thing by 4 bridal shops..
I fell in love with the designer picture of that Mon Cheri dress too. When I went in to try it on I was certain my search was going to be over…. nope.
The picture does not look that much like the dress. It’s heavily beaded on top and much more mermaid than the picture suggests. I loved the dress from the hip down, but the top was a HUGE no for me.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful dress. Just not what I was expecting it to be.
Here’s a real life picture of it. It’s from the dress shop I tried it on at.
Weird!!! I’ve never heard of that before! I agree - why wouldn’t you just order from the other store then? I don’t get it!
Once you do find the dream of your dress, try calling those shops again to see if they’ll cut you a better deal. Often times if they don’t carry the sample dress anyway, they’ll more likely give you a bigger discount (they’ve got nothing to lose!)
@zippylef: Wow! You’re right! It looks almost nothing like the original picture! That makes me feel much better about about not being able to try it on!
You’re so right. I’ve noticed that putting the word “bridal” or “wedding” in front of a phrase instantly ups the price. Why is that? Just inspires me to do more DIY projects. 
That first dress is amazing! I’m sorry your trip to the bridal salon didn’t work out. I can’t wait to hear what happened next!
Yes! I didn’t ever try on my dream dress because no boutique convenient to me carried it. I ended up falling in love with another but part of me still wishes I had tried it on. There are so many choices online and depending on where you live, it’s just not achievable to try on every dress you fall in love with online I wish that weren’t the case.
This is VERY common where I live. It is called “trans-shipping.” What happens is a few bridal salons that are not direct competitors (they are far apart, sometimes in different states) make an arrangement that says that they will all carry samples of different lines, but will advertise or say that they can order from ALL the lines that ALL the stores in the agreement carry. This means they are able to offer more dresses and make more sales without having to provide samples. In my experience, some stores were willing to call the stores they had an agreement with and ask if they did have the sample, and if they did, they could have it shipped there for me to try on. Way too tedious in my opinion. I believe this is considered unethical in the bridal industry, but I hear it is happening more and more. For example, one of the shops local to me advertises on their website that they carry Maggie Sottero, but they are not listed as an authorized retailer on the Maggie Sottero website…
Ugh! Crazy situations…and…darn you and your cliffhangers!
If an actual dress company hears of two stores that are trans-shipping, they have the right to stop offering their dresses at the offending store AND cancelling all pending orders as well. This means that even if you ordered a dress that is from a company authorized to carry it, if they are shipping to another store and are caught, your order may be cancelled. It’s pretty crazy stuff. I used to work in bridal and heard a lot about it.
I would have been really upset if I hadn’t been able to try on my dress before I ordered it. My only questionable experience came from an extremely pushy sales consultant who kept harping on the fact that I was shopping for a dress “SO late”. I was shopping 9 months before my wedding, which certainly didn’t seem like too late to me (or any other consultant). I think she was trying to stress me out in order to force a sale, but it just made me want to get out of the store. Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything there.
Surprisingly, I received that response from a lot of boutiques in my area. I wondered the same thing — why would I bother coming back to order a dress from you, if you don’t even have it for me to try on? Craziness.
I’m waiting with baited breath to see what happened!
I went to Olga’s as well actually at one point! There were some dresses in there, but yeah…only a few dresses from each designer. I found one that I liked, but I ended up moving on down the road to a different boutique! I was determined to not have to “order” a sample dress in! A previous coworker of mine actually did that…it was about $70 to order the dress in…I thought she was a bit crazy for doing that!
That totally doesn’t make any sense. Bad business model. I am SO in love with that first dress! It’s absolutely beautiful!
That seems a little bit silly…would you have been getting an amazing deal from them or something to make it worth it??
I ran into that as well. I really wanted to try on a certain Amsale gown as well as a certain Christos gown. When I arrived, the bridal salon didn’t have any of the samples for me to try on-they carried those lines, but not the specific gowns. Its pretty common apparently. Worse than that was the pushy Priscilla of Boston store in Boston. When I had trouble deciding between 2 gowns (and the hour appt. was nearing its end, she said ” oh, just pick one!”. Needless to say, I walked out.
Lovely dresses! One of the stores I visited wouldn’t tell me the designer or style number or price. I bought my dress from a place that was more straightforward!
Those are some great dresses! But that does seem a little strange at Olgas …
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Miss Rainbow, Tampa
Age and Occupation: 22, Makeup Artist
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Electrical Engineer/Programmer
Engagement Date: November 27, 2008
Wedding Date: May 2010
Venue: The Gamble Plantation
About Me: I'm a quirky (and slightly Type-A) freelance makeup artist who was born in Washington State, raised in Alabama, and now living with my one and only in sunny Florida. I'm fashion and beauty obsessed, and have recently discovered my inner domestic diva extraordinaire. I'm a wannabe chef, decorating addict, and trying desperately to be as crafty as possible---albeit only with a glue gun. I'm hopelessly in love with my fiance, and all things sparkly and feathery. Despite the glittery exterior, I'm a total hippie on the inside. When I'm not making up pretty faces, I love doing what I can to help people, animals, and the environment. Someday the FI and I will change the world, but first we're tackling our modern-vintage-Marie-Antoinette-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland inspired wedding. I just can't wait to be Mrs. Rainbow!
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