I did see the bad reviews before scheduling my appointment at Wendy's, but decided to try it out for myself.
My appointment was on a Saturday at 10am. This was the first place that I went to shop for wedding dresses. My consultant was Lila and she told me to look around and pick about 5 dresses. My parents were with me so they helped me find some dresses to try on. I think I picked 6 or 7 and then we headed back to the dressing room. Lila was very personable and made me feel comfortable trying on the dresses. I found a dress I really liked, but my Dad didn't like it. Lila left for a few minutes and came back with a dress that was similar (loved that she was listening to me and not my parents). I tried it on and both of my parents teared up.
I had another appointment scheduled at The Elegant Bride in the afternoon so I wanted to go there before making a decision. Lila had no problem with me leaving and coming back. She wrote down the dress that I loved and wished me luck.
I went to The Elegant Bride and actually had the worst experience ever. I wear size 6-8 in dresses and they mostly only had size 4, so it was hard to picture myself in a dress that wouldn't zip up. The consultant (which was the owner I think) would not listen to a word I was saying about my style and only chose dresses that she liked. She also told me to stop eating so much McDonalds and drinking coke -- RUDE!
I left there and went to Alfred Angelo's -- I had a GREAT experience there. I didn't have an appointment but they took me in and only put me in dresses that I liked. In the end though, they did not have the style of dress I was looking for.
I ended up back at Wendy's and Lila was just finishing up with another appointment. She asked me to wait only 5-10 minutes and then let me try the dress on again. I loved it and decided to make the purchase. Other reviewers complained that they couldn't take a picture of the dress before the purchase at Wendy's, but I'm pretty sure it's like this everywhere else (even Kleinfeld's on 'Say Yes to the Dress' hehe). As soon as I purchased the dress, Lila took pictures of me with my parents.
I received the dress and undergarments (bra and slip) for EXACTLY my budget going in (Lila didn't know my budget). My undergarments actually already came in and look to be exactly what I ordered.
I obviously haven't had alterations yet, so I'll be back to review once that happens sometime in November/December. I'm a little nervous because I ordered a custom sweetheart neckline and a different color dress than what I tried on, but I'm optimistic that everything will work out. I was definitely impressed with the whole experience and recommend that brides try Wendy's out for themselves.
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