The White Magnolia Bridal Collection

My mom, sister and I had such a wonderful experience when finding my dress. Paige and Suzanne are just the sweetest and were extremely helpful during the entire process. Also, they had a great selection of dresses within my tight budget! Not to mention the store itself on Dixie Highway, is exactly what you'd image a fabulous bridal boutique to look like. I would highly recommend you go for a visit yourself if you're looking for a memorable experience.

I had an awesome experience at the White Magnolia! I went there with little expectation and left with the most beautiful dress. Alayna was nice enough to fit my sister in right after me because of a cancellation. Alayna was super knowledgeable and down to earth and made the entire process easy and fun. I would recommend TWM to all my friends for sure!

Of the seven (yes, SEVEN) bridal shops I visited during my wedding dress search, the White Magnolia was definitely the best overall shopping experience I had -- even though I ultimately found my dress elsewhere.

When I first moved to Tampa, I literally drove by this store every single day on the way to work and always thought it was just the cutest place. I said to myself that if I ever got engaged, I needed to try on dresses there. Well, pigs started flying somewhere, because I'm actually getting married -- so this was one of the first places where I booked an appointment.

As the date neared, my stylist Kinley emailed me a questionnaire to fill out, as well as a "bridal profile" link where I could browse their entire inventory on their website, filter by price, designer, or dress silhouette, and favorite the dresses I liked in advance of the appointment. No other stores I visited had this kind of setup, and I thought it was really cool. Kinley also texted with me at length about what I was looking for and browsed my Pinterest to get an idea of the styles and fabrics I was eyeing.

When the actual appointment day arrived, my future mother-in-law and I walked into the shop and thought it was just as cute on the inside. I loved the clean layout, the exposed brick, the chandelier, how light and airy it was... all of it. It's just a lovely store. Kinley led us back to our own private dressing area, which was quite spacious and pretty, and even had a welcome sign with my name on it set by the window.

I tried on probably 5-6 dresses but really gravitated toward the Maggie Sottero ones, and adored two of them in particular. One I liked everything about it except the neckline, and didn't know how I would change it, and the other I really liked overall except I preferred the train on the first one. Both were fitted gowns and I still had an A-line gown in mind from a previous store visit that I couldn't get out of my head... but that second gown made me think I should just get that. I thought I would show photos to my bridesmaids and get their thoughts. After we left the store, Kinley texted to say the second gown was actually discontinued, so if I wanted that one, it would have to be the sample in the store. After showing photos to my bridesmaids, they said to go with the A-line from the other shop instead.

I will say, the prices on the dresses here were more reasonable than I expected them to be. I really did anticipate them being pricier but was pleasantly surprised when I saw the price tags. One thing that gave me pause was they have signs in the dressing areas that say not to take photos until you've said yes to the dress. Now, it wasn't really enforced here and I'm glad since I couldn't have my bridesmaids with me (they all live out of the area/state), but that was definitely a concern of mine going into this appointment. Otherwise, this was a wonderful experience -- and even though I didn't "say yes to the dress" here, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to other brides.