La Belle Elaines

I had the misfortune of purchasing my dress at La Belle Elaines and have regretted it immensely. I was quoted one price for the alterations when I purchased the dress, after talking with the sales person about exactly what I would need done, and then charged twice as much once they were completed. The dress came back stained, damaged and the alterations were done horribly so the dress no longer fit well and didn't look good at all on my wedding day. The manager of the store was completely unhelpful, rude and confrontational when I tried to deal with the issues. Even though I purchased my dress months in advance, there was no time to get anything fixed by the time the alterations were done and I just had to live with it. I don't like to even look at the photos of the wedding, because the dress looked so horrible. I've read several similar stories online. It appears it's the standard for their staff to intentionally mislead customers and not stand by the alterations done there. more

These guys were pretty good, near the top of the pack in the list of salons I visited. The store is laid out nicely, with double racks of dresses in a big circle around a "runway" staging area. They had a good range of prices, from a few hundred up to a few thousand; most of what I liked turned out to be in the $1400 range. While friendly, the two saleswomen I worked with seemed to only partly know the stock and stumbled a bit when asked to bring a few more dresses that matched my request. I visited once and wrote down a style number, and when I came back with my mom a week later and asked to show her the gown, they acted somewhat put out. The original salesperson wasn't there, you see, and they'd have to go find the dress by hand, by looking at all of the labels. My small complaints aside, La Belle Elaine's is well worth a visit. They carry a big selection of gowns. Their prices are fair. Their dressing rooms are large, well-lit and laid out like small lounges. They have a very good accessories selection. I would definitely add them to your list of stores to visit. more

i went dress shopping here with my sister. since it was only my second time trying on dresses, i was excited to see that they had a lot of styles and shapes to choose from. it was all going really well until the saleswoman started to get really pushy on me by trying to sell me a dress off the rack. she really wanted to me buy the floor sample of the dress i liked because it was being discontinued. at first she just offered $1000 off and then when that didn't get me hooked she offered free alterations. i agree that this was a great deal, but since i hadn't tried on that many dresses i wasn't exactly ready to commit myself. the dress was very beautiful but it was obviously a well-used sample (the hem line was very dusty and dirty, the base of the zipper on the back ripped for about two inches, buttons were missing, and the waist line had many snags). this method of selling a dress just did not work for me and it has completely turned me off this store. the saleswoman was just too pushy! i would not recommend this place unless someone has already gone to many other stores and is ready to buy a dress. and as an fyi, they only offer the discounts at your first try on visit! more

The first time I made an appointment (I came with my mom and best friend) I made it clear I was just looking (at this point, my wedding was over 18 months away). Liz, the woman assigned to help me, was very nice and didn’t care that she wouldn’t be making a commission that day. She gave me honest advice and feedback. I tried on 8-10 dresses, which, when you are talking about wedding dresses, represents a lot of time. At no point did I feel any pressure to make a decision but I also didn’t feel ignored. A few months later, after finding a dress at another store I thought was ‘the one’ I decided to go back to La Belle Elaines and look at what they had, just to make sure I was making the right decision. When I made my appointment, I explained the situation and said that I didn’t even need someone helping me (I didn’t want to unnecessarily take up anyone’s time). When I came in (by myself), the woman who ended up ‘helping’ me (their policy understandably requires a sales person be assigned) was extremely rude and informed me I only had 30 minutes so I should probably find two dresses to try on and that was all there would be time for. I ended up finding two dresses that I may have like more than the one at the other store but I’ll never know since I wasn’t allowed to try them on. I’d already used up my 2 dress quota. When I asked her if I could make another appointment to try them on, she gave me a piece of paper and a pencil and told me write down the style numbers. I asked if I could make my next appointment for an hour instead of 30 minutes. She then said that all appointment are an hour. But wait – I thought I only had 30 minutes. She looked like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar. She then informed me she was then told she was very busy and that I could make an appointment with the receptionist. All and all, my second appointment overshadowed the kindness I’d been shown in the first. more

I don't have my dress yet, but so far, La Belle Elaine's has been absolutely great to work with as a bridal shop. Stacy, the woman assigned to me for service, is personable, extremely helpful, opinionated without being overbearing or pushy, and sweet as can be. The store itself is beautiful, and ridiculously upscale in design - if you're into the "I want to feel like a princess/supermodel while I pick out my wedding dress" (which I'm not), this is the place for you. The selection is awesome and beautifully displayed, there are spacious and comfortable dressing rooms, and they actually have a runway you can walk up and down with lights cameras and all that (not my thing, but my parents got a huge kick out of it). Prices can be high, but I found something beautiful and reasonably priced there (for a wedding dress - what an industry!). Stacy has also been working with me on bridesmaids dresses and has been beyond helpful with my many requests. Definitely should be on the list of places to visit while dress shopping, and I'll let you know how things go with actual dress delivery, quality, timeliness, etc. Update: dress was beautiful, arrived with plenty of time and was altered expertly. I couldn't ahve asked for better. Bridesmaids' dresses were sort of a disaster - they arrived in the wrong color twice, and then ultimately weren't here until the week of the wedding. good thing I was a low maintenance bride! to La Belle Elaine's credit, the mix up was the fault of the dress manufacturer, the manager of the store called me to apologize, and they kept me regularly updated and did express alterations at no charge - well, no charge for the express anyway. awesome service, and everyone I spoke to there was always super gracious, professional and helpful. I highly recommend this shop. more

It was here that I finally found my bridal gown. What a fabulous store! They have gorgeous dresses in all price ranges. Their changing rooms are great, with room for your whole bridal entourage to accompany you! The sales girls that helped me were always friendly and patient (and let me tell you I tried on a lot of dresses before finding the one). The best feature about the whole store is the runway in the center of the store. It allows you to see the dresses from every angle. There is also a webcam above the runway so if you have moms or maids out of town they can see you online in your gown. I also saw a couple trunk sales when I went to this store. So be sure to check the website for upcoming sales. more