Pros and Cons of David's Bridal

Pro 1: you can try on your dress size (they carry more than just one sample/one size in their show rooms)

pro 2: they have payment plans

con 1: my experience has been horrible... tried on a dress I love in a size two...but since my body is size two everywhere else except for my butt..the dress didn't fit right....the seamstress was not experienced enough to tell me that I should try on a 4 and get alterations (a thought I had after I left).. she simply told me that there was nothing she could do to fix the dress....when I asked further about alterations..she went on a rant about blk ppl liking their dresses too tight :-/ needless to say I walked out of there and never returned...

My sister got her dress there because she fell in love with it online. She only tried on one other dress and that's because the associate badgered her about it. We got our BM dresses there for her wedding and I had a terrible experience. I asked a simple question (realistically how many sizes can a dress be taken in) because I was in the middle of weight loss (I had lost about 15 pounds in the months prior and was working toward 15 more) the associate gave this long winded speech about how ridiculous it was to be on a diet before anyone's wedding (this was almost a year from the actual wedding date) and never actually answered my question. I was being realistic and didn't want to order a size that couldn't be taken in enough 9 months later. She was also very critical of my mom (who is fairly heavyset) and just overall rude. Then I had huge problems with their alterations department because the seamstress didn't seem to understand the structure of the dress.

I'm not a fan of the poor customer service (Usually received by almost everyone BUT the bride ON the first day you spend browsing.) I am also not a fan of the alterations departments at my THREE local stores. Haven't been impressed with their ability to locate a wedding for out-of-town members of the bridal party. I'm also not a fan of the quality of the materials they use. I'm quite biased. I REALLY don't care for DB.

I had to have it taken in several times and had to pay for each time because she kept grabbing the boning & saying that the dress was already tight (despite the fact that it was falling so low in the back that you could see my entire bra strap)...ugh. I know other people have had positive experiences, but I did not. It may have just been a lousy associate, I hope to think that every David's Bridal isn't like that, but needless to say I didn't even consider going there for my dress or BM dresses.

I'm going to chime in here if you don't mind- I recently had one of my brides have a horrible experience with this company. She ordered all of her bridesmaid dresses from DB, and only about half came in. She spent months trying to get it all sorted out and in the end had to search on Ebay for 4 similar dresses to match because DB couldn't get her order straight and she ended up loosing quite a bit of cash. Everyone had their own individual experiences with a company, sometimes it can be a hit or miss type thing, but I've never heard anything really great about DB. Have you tried some of the independent shops in the area? Good Luck!

@ncbride wow people are so rude. Black people like their dresses tight? who the fu*ck is she? people piss me off when they think they can run their mouth without knowing facts.

Wow ladies so sorry for all the bad experiences. I was looking at them online and was thinking about stopping in their store to check it out

I actually bought my dress at David's Bridal. They do have a rack for $99.00 dresses but I did not have any luck with those - there is a less variety but if you could find the one you like clearly $99 is superb.

They have a variety of dresses, I found that the prices did range, but a lot of them are in the couple hundreds. (Mine was $400 but I LOVE it).

Wedding dresses I was informed do run small, I was not aware of this, so keep that in mind when you're looking for your size

The girl I worked with was extremely helpful, her name was Courtney (young, mid 20's). I'd recommend her. (Hopefully she isn't the woman who the previous poster is talking about.... *@ncbride - I'm sorry you had such an awful experience).

My daughter, and her bridesmaids, had a very positive experience there.

Dress #2 was the one. The sales lady was very good that day, bringing items that may go with it. She actually "dummied it down" on a couple of items. We upgraded on a few of her ideas, which I am sure made her happy. LOL! Bottom line, she was not pushy.

The Bridesmaids also had a very positive experience.

Now, when I went there, thinking that I might get my dress from them, NO ONE greeted me, asked if they could help me. Nadda. Top price I planned to spend there, on my MOB dress, $125-150. I ended up at Nordstrom, spending $300. It is a much prettier dress, I must admit.

I am not a fan. I have been to quite a few bridal stores and the level of service the quality of the material and the knowledge of the staff I found to be severely lacking. When I went to DB the associate seemed to be really overworked didn't listen to me, never once did she ask whta my budget was, or what i wanted to look like on my wedding day. Half way through my appointment one of the other associates basically took over the appointment and started grabbing dresses and pushing me to try them on. NO matter what dress I put on she said I looked beautiful! Even though my mother, sister, and my friend knew i looked ridiculous. I would not spend my money there but it is a good place to start to try on different dress styles to truly learn what fits you best.

^cont. During my try on session there it I actually tried on a dress, and they didn't have any smaller sizes as it just fit me so long as I could lose 5 lbs (this was achievable for me). The manager happened to be there and she said if I was able to do that that she would let me exchange one of the pieces for free (I don't know wedding dress lingo - but I believe she was talking about the hoop skirt thing that goes underneath... and that thing that pulls your stomach together).

Hope this was helpful! Goodluck!

*note: their veils/accessories, in my opinion, are terribly overpriced. The veil I was looking at was about $350, I found the same veil online else where for under $100.

I should of checked out their shoe variety...but I'm probably going elsewhere for the shoes as well to find something cheaper.

Just to put the other side in I bought my dress, my bridesmaids dress and my MOG's dress there and had a good experience. I was a little anal about which dresses I would try on because I didn't want them pulling crazy dresses so I went with a list of my favorites. She pulled them, was honest about the dresses and really great about the other things like pulling different veils. However, I went during the day when no one else was really there and the store was almost emply. My bridesmaids and I went on a busier day for their dresses and it was hard to get the girls attention sometimes but still she was very sweet. when I went for my fiance's mom they took her back to alterations, helped her pick the right size and were really honest about how much alterations would cost and agreed when she said she knew a woman that it would probably be cheaper and just to go there.

It wasn't a pampering place but my experience was overall good.

I bought my dress at David's Bridal and had an AMAZING experience! I felt like my consultant listened to what I was looking for, worked to make things perfect for me and didn't try to upsell me. She actually found me a dress I loved for 1/3 of my budget!

I think your consultant makes a huge difference with them! But you are limited in your alterations. I wanted to shorten my train and add sleeves, but they won't do that. That's fine with me- I have a lady that does all my alterations and knows me and my body like a glove anyway- so I'm not complaining!

I have had several positive experiences at DB... I've had some not so great ones too, but those were more about individual sales reps and not about the company as a whole. Their prices were reasonable and everything I purchased was on sale. Every item ordered arrived in less time than expected. Times when I was unhappy with the sales person assigned to me, I simply requested someone else. No problem. I've had sales people spend hours with me and be helpful despite my indecisiveness... I think it's worth going in and deciding for yourself.

Ok I had a moment thinking that everyone here was from the same place....realizing that I should add that the David's Bridal I went to, and had a positive experience at, was in Danvers, MA.

I haven't had any personal experience at DBs, but my friend got her dress from there and no one thought to warn the 110 lb girl that her dress was going to be over 40 lbs with all the beading and a few layers added in. Needless to say, she couldn't dance by the end of the reception.

I would NOT recommend going there... except for their prices. Their customer service is awful. Their associates are rude and not very knowledable.

It's your special day... you should be treated as such.

I didn't even want my dress tight... there was a pucker on the front .. because my butt was pulling it from behind... it was too tight... and I guess in her mind I wanted her to alter it to make it tighter... I just wanted it to fit right...so she should have told me to try on a bigger size... so she can alter everywhere else... yea.. that was plain old rude...

I think because their dresses are cheap... they don't really invest in professional development for their staff... idk... I missed out on having a lovely dress... but thank God I found another

You should try...as the saying goes "dog luck is not cat luck"

@futuremrsP.... customer service is def lacking....O..and the rep gave me the dresses I asked her try on...she left and didn't come back until I saw her passing by and called out to her. I asked for a caged veil...she went on and on about how she hates those and then just kinda threw me the most expensive one they have...

I bought my dress and the BM dresses at David's and my experience was really good. But I have had a bad experience in the past (3 years ago) when I had to get a dress for friend's weddings. I like their prices and I really liked the seamstress at the one I went to (Lombard, IL.) I think it all depends on the store and who is working there. I would give it a try, doesn't hurt to look around! Just remember they do make you have an appointment (no just in the neighborhood and stopping in) at least at my store.