Thoughts and Opinions on David’s Bridal vs Boutiques

I personally didnt have a great DB experience as a plus size bride. I went to a boutique that specializes in plus sizes and was in love. So much I didnt mind spending $1400 on my dress!!
My mom asked if that was fair though. Because we had a cap of $500 originally at DB but I just didnt enjoy the experience enough to try them again and I am in love with my dress so I guess it all worked out!

I’m a plus size bride and had an excellent experience at DB.

They have higher priced dresses $1500+ and more budget friendly options.

I would definitely recommend trying out a smaller boutique. I went to David's looking for a deal and was shocked that their dresses cost as much or more than the nicer places. My favorite dress there I later saw was a cheaper looking version of a Mori Lee style, so that was the final nail in the coffin for me. I think with a $2000 budget you should be able to find a higher quality similar dress at a local bridal shop. Best of luck!

I couldn’t get past the snobbish consultants at David’s! We were only there as a starting point for my bridesmaids and see what they looked good in, the second she found out none of the girls were ready to make a purchase, we never saw her again lmao!! I purchased my dress today at a traveling trunk show, got about 40% in discounts and purchased the dress AND a veil, both for about $300 less than the original price of the dress alone, and they give additional discounts for anything else you want to purchase through them when you get a dress. Plus the women there were BEYOND helpful and welcoming!🥰 They are a local mom and pop bridal shop.

I went To several places that had cheaper gowns and was not able to find anything. I was only willing to spend 1200 at the most on a dress so I could not go to a store that had designer dresses. When I went to David’s I was very impressed with the amount of dresses they had in my budget and I did not feel pressured to buy at all. I ended up finding a dress in my budget that I am absolutely in love with. The quality of my dress is very good in my opinion. I ended up in total paying around 900$ because I bought it on sale and then called after the price was lowered and got a price adjustment. This is my dress so you can see what I got for what I paid.

View Quoted Comment I saw your dress yesterday when I went shopping; it’s STUNNING!

I think David’s Bridal is great for getting to know your style and what you do and don’t want in a wedding dress. I personally had a better experience at small boutiques. I found the dresses to fit more into the category of what I was looking for and it just felt more personable. At the place I ended up getting my dress at, they only do one customer at a time and you (as well as whoever you bring with you) are the only ones in the store. Not that that’s a huge deal or anything, it was just nice

View Quoted Comment Thank you I’m so glad I decided to buy it. It’s perfect for my December wedding and it reall gives a fairy tale vibe off to me which is what I wanted.

View Quoted Comment That’s good to hear. Congrats on your dress find. I had a bridezilla episode at David’s. We had two appointments. 1 for me and 1 made by my bridesmaid. The receptionist tells me to kick rocks because I was late. Yes it was my fault but my friends were on time and they had to wait another 10 minutes after I got there for a sales rep. My bridesmaid’s sales rep said asks if we were sure we wanted the bridesmaids gowns chosen first without knowing what the bride wanted for herself. So, my bridesmaid kindly offers them her appointment to be given to me which ofcourse the receptionist tells us ”no”-they only have a room for bridesmaids not brides. This made no sense since my 3 bridesmaids shared the same room which I later used with the help of the same sales associate. Rude receptionist lady made no effort to reschedule me or apologize or offer solutions. I felt like it was a cattle call and customers were a dime a dozen to her. The nice sale rep made the suggestion to book a later one which my bff did for me since I was so pissed that I was going to bite that receptionist head off. Later on, that mean receptionist person even was talking about me and whispered my name to another employee who asked about a room or a sales rep. Another reason I hesitated to purchase.

View Quoted Comment Wait, what! More details on what a traveling trunk show is? I didn’t realize trunkshows offered discounts. Just figured they have a corporate rep showcasing the dress line.

I think the Oleg dress you tried on is one of their most beautiful gowns! I didn’t get my dress from David’s Bridal but that’s just because they didn’t really have my style and everyone has different preferences so there’s no wrong place to get a dress from imo. You can try going to other boutiques before deciding! It sounds like you won’t know if that dress is for you unless you go to some boutiques to check out their selection!

View Quoted Comment Wow glad to hear you had a great experience that they were caring enough to call you about price adjustments. Lovely

View Quoted Comment It was the second year this bridal shop has done this! They are in a different city, about 4 hours away from where I live and every January they literally pack up all their dresses and make the drive up to us and set up in a casino/hotel. They were only up here for the weekend and some of the dresses were 80% off!! I’ve never heard of it and my MOH tagged me in the event on Facebook!

View Quoted Comment I think its really all about the location/people if you had a bad experience maybe try another place with different people. I think the Oleg dress is beautiful. I saw it when I went but it was out of my price range. If it was cheaper I totally would have tried it on.

View Quoted Comment Congratulations on finding your dress? Did you have the dress in mind prior going to the store or tried on others at different places? If I do go back, I’m going to avoid their weekend rush hours. My bridesmaids tried on dresses at around 4pm and I had mine at 6 to closing time at 7:30. Big difference in the chaos of the shop.

View Quoted Comment I’ve only ever shopped at DB.

My opinion of them was already poisoned early on when I had a terrible experience with them as bridesmaid. I won't forget it because it was the only thing that nearly ruined my brother's wedding. I live near Northridge, CA, which is west Los Angeles County. So, completely clueless as to how they spin their murky web of lies I went in March to get a dress for late June. OMG! The bridal consultant there, there was only just one and she was reading the newspaper when I came in on an afternoon in the middle of the week treated me like a I was a leper. She said there was no way she could order in time for me to get the dress I needed in the color I needed.
So, to get the dress I needed, I ended up calling all around town to every David's Bridal in Southern California. I had to drive for two hours to the Costa Mesa store where the sales people just listened to what I wanted, wrote it down and said there was no problem--imagine that! I got my dress in May, and because I simply told them what size to order I didn't need fittings.

Fast forward to when to recent time. I did visit another David's Bridal and I can't say I was impressed. Why? For one the dresses are cheap, scratchy made in China cheap, I couldn't find a single thing on the floor that I wanted to try on. And then on top of everything I went through with them when I was a bridesmaid, all the horror stories I've read online, to subject my bridesmaids to that? No!

So I did what any smart woman would do: I picked up swatches for all my girls from David's. I told them they don't have to buy anything they don't want from anywhere they feel uncomfortable. "Just pick any dress you like in that color that you think you can wear again and is church decent," and because they are all smart women they all look perfect. No Fuss!

There wasn't a single salon that I went to that made me feel like I was a waste of time and space more than David's Bridal, and I went to plenty. I tried Pebbles, Liza's Bridal, R-Mine Bridal, the Bridal Suite at Saks and Marylin's to name a few--the stylists there were the picture of civility. David's, I merely walked through the door and I got the elevator eyes from the sales lady--little did she know I was ready to plunk down enough dough to buy five of their "top dresses" or whatever didn't pass muster for dragon scales at this year's lunar festival!

If I have a daughter someday. I would never take her to David's. And to add insult to injury, they sell your information, any information you give them to the highest bidder. So give them a fake address, name and number unless you want to hear from telemarketers afterwards.

I haven’t been to David’s Bridal yet but at a small local boutique I felt extremely pressured to buy and I ended up putting down a deposit on a dress I’m not sure I want 🙄

View Quoted Comment So I better be prepared if I go to another shop. Thanks for the info..

View Quoted Comment Oh my. That sucks. If you read my comment above, I also had a bad start to my fitting. My bffs and I had two appointments. I was late which was my fault but not late enough that my bffs still had to wait after I came. An employee/check in person basically rolls her eyes at me and says you’re late sorry go online make a reservation next week. My friends say they’ll give their reservation to me and the woman still said no. I get it I’m 1 of 100’s shoppers that day but she could have at least offered to reschedule me or see if there’s any other no-shows which she didn’t. The sales associate helping my friends and I actually made my visit better by seeing what times are free and helping me out later. All 3 of my bridesmaids ordered their dress and I have another 2 calling in soon.

Thanks for the info on the telemarketing. Almost entered their contest too.