Disappointing Dress Shopping Experience

Sorry you went through that but not every appointment is like that! I had one appointment where of course I mentioned my budget and she stuck with a couple of them. There was one she pulled out and had me try on and after she saw I was in love with it, she dropped on me that it was TWICE my budget. I wanted to slap her something stupid!

For the most part, my appointments have been handled very well and professional. If there was a dress over my budget, they would let me know ahead of time and ask if I still wanted to try it on. Usually, it wasn't more than a couple hundred bucks. Some are pretty pushy but definitely don't be afraid to speak up. I hope your other experiences are positive.

I’m sorry you had such a poor experience. Unfortunately some shops look at budget and wedding as two things that don’t go together. It’s a very emotionally driven event so they try to get a your positive reaction and attachment to a more expensive dress.


You definitely have to be a strong advocate for yourself if you’re sticking to a budget. Try going multiple times and see if you get a better consultant. Do you have consignment bridal shop in town that you can try instead?
It also helps to have an understanding of alteration costs before you fall in love. I had two dress options - one was WAY cheaper to buy initially but hemming the beaded fabric was ridiculously expensive. The other was more expensive but the simpler fabric was easier and cheaper to hem.

Sounds like you just had a terrible consultant. Most bridal consultants get a commission so she may have suggested those dresses with the intention of lining her own pockets. If so that’s horrible.


Did you see anything that you did like in store ? Don’t let this appointment get you down. My first appointment almost every dress that I liked they did not have a sample in my size. Go into your next appointment just as hopeful as you did with this one. You will find your dress!

My appointment was great. I would go somewhere else.

I’m sorry you didn’t have a good experience! The boutique I went to during the national bridal sale event last year literally every dress was marked down, the most expensive were $600, I guess every shop handles it differently 🙁.
I would definitely go somewhere else next time, and hopefully you’ll find someone who will listen to you! To me, there’s no reason to show someone dresses outside their budget, especially $700! That’s cruel in my book! My budget was not flexible.
The only other place I went, the consultant let my family browse the racks and they picked a few way out of budget. I don’t completely blame her because it was the first time and everyone was so excited by the pretty dresses. I hope next time goes much better for you.Also, if you loved the over budget dress and know the name of it, you could also look at sites like silk white and see if you can find it used.

Oh girl! I’ve heard some horrible stories about dress shopping & I was so nervous when I went. My consultant was awesome- I told her my likes/dislikes & my budget. She kept to it. She narrowed down the things I thought I would like but when I tried them on, it didn’t look good on me. Finally, she said I think I know your style & have the perfect dress that’s in your budget. Lucky #7 was perfect & was $800! I live around 2.5 hrs away from Phoenix AZ & I got my dress @ Brilliant Bridal. They have several locations (Dallas, Denver, Mesa & Phoenix). Their dresses range from 30-70% off the sticker price. What I loved (besides my dress) is once you pay for it, you take it home right then!

I'm so sorry your experience wasn't great! I visited a total of 4 dress shops, and one of them was a total waste of time. I was shown dresses that were basically the same dress, except with different style tops (strapless, V neck, etc), but all were the same shape, even though I stated that I didn't like the shape. I didn't pay attention to the dress pricing because I didn't like any of them, so I don't know if they showed me any that were outside my budget. At a different shop, the consultant was very careful to stay under my budget, and paid attention to what I said I liked and didn't like, and it was a much better experience. I would suggest trying a different store. Not all dress shops are like the one you went to - try out a few different ones, and don't let any consultant try to upsell a dress outside your budget. Happy dress shopping!