May have found the dress, but now I need a store

Get ready for a long blog folks...lots to cover today. Yes, I'm still on the hunt for a dress. It's sort of funny how hard this has been. I didn't think I had the kind of body that would be amenable to so many different styles, but I've been shopping about 10 different times and each time I've found a dress I could have bought right there. I figured I'd have to go to 10 different places and only find ONE at the last place! Wrong. Oohhhh poor me.

I thought the pattern would continue on Tuesday when I went with our friend Kristin to a place outside of Philly. As usual I brought in a stack of photos of dresses from the designers that the store carried. And as usual, they didn't have 1. (Seriously, where are these dresses? Why is the Internet full of pictures of gowns that no one actually carries in their stores???) We got cracking on trying dresses...which didn't look like anything I had come in to see, but with a store full of strapless, ballgown style dresses I didn't have a lot of choice.

I went through about 4 and while they were all lovely, they weren't me. I was getting excited, maybe tonight I'll finally NOT find a dress? I don't need to add anymore to my confusion than I already have.

We got to the end of the pile and the assistant said "okay, I want to show you one more." Sure why not, I'm standing here in the store's only 38C strapless bra (normal women don't shop here...I could tell because there were 3 girls there at the same time all getting their fittings, none of them bigger than an A cup.) Of course while I was jealous of their ability to actually zip their dress up in the back, they in turn were jealous that I actually had boobs. I win.

But I digress....the lady brought back a gorgeous lace dress. I hadn't tried on any dresses in lace until this point and I am so glad I waited! It was really really nice, I mean REALLY nice and my friend Kristin agreed this could be it. It wasn't too ballgown-y, it wasn't too destination wedding. It was classic looking but also modern. And with a corseted back, it really showed off my curves while making me look 2 dress sizes smaller. Oooh we like that. And sidebar: it was from the same designer my sister bought from when she got married!

So done right? Whoohoo! I got my dress! That's it!! Here's my check, order my dress bitches! But wait...oh yes, there is a wait.

Being the uber-researcher I am, I looked up the store online. I'm all about reviews these days. If I'm gonna drop $2,000 at a place, I need to know I'm going to get my money's worth. Now...would you shop at a place that had 3 reviews like this?:

"My whole Bridal party bought our dresses from *****. When we first went into the store, the owners were friendly and helpful. Once we gave our payments for the dresses in full, the service changed dramatically. A majority of the bridal party received dresses that were one size too big (keep in mind the owners measured us and told us which dresses to purchase). Of course, we could have told the owners we wanted smaller sizes, but when I told them I thought the dress size they were going to order was too big, they said I was wrong and assured me they were ordering the correct sizes. I tried to discuss the problem with them, one of the owners was very rude and even yelled at me over the phone when she got frustrated with me. I could not have had a WORSE experience buying bridal gowns and would never recommend this establishment to anyone. It is hard to believe someone would run their very own store in this manner."

Holy crap! And that's just one. I only found 1 good review and that was from 2 years ago. I know you have to take these reviews with a grain of salt, but I sensed a level of rudeness there that I wasn't entirely thrilled with. And I lived in NYC for 9 years so I am used to this! I was 30 minutes early to my appointment and I got this really frazzled "well, you're going to have to wait" from the owner. Then she yelled at my attendant in front of me for not properly hanging up the gowns I'd tried. No one was really rude to me, but if that's how you treat your staff, I don't want to reward that behavior.

So now what? I may have the dress, but I don't want to do business with them. Back to the Internet.

I found a place nearby that carries the same designer. Actually won Bridal Salon of the year last year, and they're up for it again this year. Their reviews are off the charts with 5 stars, and when I called and got an appointment, the owner actually offered to give me references of other brides who had shopped with her to make sure I was making the right decision! They don't carry "my" dress as a sample, but can order it easily since they carry the same designer. I'll go in on Monday to try on more - just to get a sense of their service - since i don't expect to find a dress that is better than the one I found on Tuesday. Unfortunately I will have to go back to Rude Store to show my mom the gown, but I want her to see it so we'll endure what we have to.

Lesson learned: research. Find out what you can about your vendors. All I did was Google the name of the store and the words review and BAM. Trust your gut. If you're not happy with the reviews or the 'tude their giving the help, don't be afraid to take your money elsewhere. There are great stores and vendors out there, the bad ones shouldn't be rewarded just because they happen to have something in stock.

I'll report back next week to let you know if the new store passes my test!

By the way, for anyone keeping count, we have 435 more days until the wedding.