Worst wedding dress experience !!!

Sounds a like really bad experience. I would definitely complain and never go back there. It should've been a more enjoyable experience like the first place.

And also, I think you're still on time to order your dress. Every place I went to said it would take about 6 months to order a dress and for it to arrive, then 2 months for alterations. Don't let them get in your head. You're good on time. I hope you have better experiences from here on out.

Ten months is still a good time frame to order a dress. Stick with the first shop that was pleasant to work with.

I think it would be helpful to future brides to write a Google Review.

Hello Elena,

Thank you for your response. Bridals by Elena was absolutely amazing. I also feel like Mary judge me on my budge as well because she kept saying things in reference to my budget. She was very rude to be an owner of a bridal shop. I have one more shop to go to this Saturday in Norfolk, Va to try on dresses. I do believe Bridals by Elena will be the shop i choose.

Don't believe the "hey if you got it in New York it would be three times more." That's not true. They should not be selling anything above MSRP and that number is the same all across the country, and if they are, they can get in trouble with the manufacturer. So this lady gave you a load of baloney and she knew it.

Pro tip from a bride who has dealt with a lot of horse manure from bridal sales people: NEVER tell them your real date. "Why oh why?" some of the other brides here are scratching their heads wondering. Because you don't want to gamble with telling them your real wedding date and then have it not come in on time or worse scramble to do alterations and have them ruin your dress. It happens all the time. I only tell the people who really need to know the real date, everyone else get's a date that is at least 4 months early after all it's stuff I decide to wear when I want to like any other piece of clothing. It's none of their damned business when exactly I'm getting married.
Also never tell them your budget, or at least the upper limit of your budget. It's like going to a car dealership and showing the car dealer your bank statement. Of course they are going to push the closest dress to the upper limit of your budget as possible. So don't play that game with them. You are the patron, they are the salespeople they are supposed to do their job and interest you in their wares.

My reply to anyone asking about my attire budget is simple: "I'll set my budget once I see something I like, now show me what you have" or a I like to smile and say "Like I told my ex, if you have you ask then you can't afford me."
Bridalshop or no bridalshop, these people work in retail. That means more often than not they are going to be lazy, stupid and just plain mean. That goes for about 98% of most humanity and about 99.99% of sales people.
I would file a report with the Better-Business-Bureau and let the chips fall where they may. It's not they are the only bridal shop in the world. As I found, for all the shops that didn't want my business, there were plenty more who did and were willing to work for it( like the amazing bridal attendant that helped carry my dress to my car, which was parked four blocks away across a major intersection).

One more thing: don't get bamboozled into committing to buy a dress immediately because "it might be too late." There are other ways to get around that. First of all a reputable salons in good standing should be able to put in a rush order and get it for you as early as three months if your dress is assembled in the States, sometimes earlier. There are other things that they can do too: if the floor sample of the dress you like fits near perfect or just needs some taking in, they are sometimes amenable to selling it to you(that's another option you have and its perfectly legit--the draw back is you may have to buy it as is but normally they should give you a list of recommended seamstresses in your area and you may have to pay to have it cleaned and pressed so that it is pristine). Finally, there is nothing wrong at all with getting a dress from a different year. There are hundreds of thousands of dresses out there, some have never been worn, that are still waiting for a bride to wear them. So don't think the salon is your only option. It's not and it shouldn't be the last place you look.

Soon2BeMrsR

...Are you seriously attacking retail workers as "lazy, stupid, and mean"?

You do realize lots of people in retail may also come on this site and get married?

So many things to say, and you label an entire class of workers instead of supporting other brides?