I would not recommend shopping at French Bridals for a wedding, or any other occasion. I have had two negative experiences there.
Last spring, I attended a vendor fair at my reception site. While there, I met with a French Bridals employee who presented me with an envelope, explaining that if I made and kept a bridal appointment, I could open the envelope and win a prize. At my French Bridals appointment, I was thrilled to learn that I had won a free veil! I began trying on dresses, along with a few different lace trimmed veils. The salesgirl assured me that my free veil voucher would allow me to have any of the lace-trimmed veils I liked, free of charge. She suggested that I purchase my dress before choosing a veil, and more than once, she urged me to buy a dress if I liked it because ""samples sell out fast, and without a sample on the floor, it can be tricky if you return at a later date looking to try it on"". Unfortunately, I did not find a dress that day. The selection did not include many of the designers I liked, and the experience felt very rushed. I checked my free veil voucher for an expiration date, but it did not have one. I asked the salesgirl if I could return after finding a dress to order the veil. When she realized that I would not be purchasing a dress, her tone changed. She quickly took down my information and walked downstairs.
I have since found my dream dress (at Allegria in Belmont - excellent customer service!) This morning, my mother and I returned to French Bridals to begin looking at mother-of-the-bride and bridesmaids dresses, and to order the veil I had won. The dress selection was, again, disappointing. When I mentioned that I had won a free veil, the salesgirl immediately said, ""Well I'm sure if you check the voucher, it has an expiration date."" I explained that it did not, and that in the spring, I had been told that it would be honored once I found a dress. This seemed to annoy her and she quickly told me that I could choose from ""two veils"". The selection did not include the lace-trimmed veils that I tried on last spring.
Talk about false advertising and poor customer service! I have a lot of recently engaged and soon-to-be engaged friends, and I will be sure to tell them to avoid French Bridals.
I had an amazing experience at Allegria in Belmont, and my mother had an equally pleasant experience at Lorraine Roy in Danvers. At no point did employees at either of these places make us feel rushed, or pressured to purchase. In fact, they encouraged us to wait until sample sales dates!
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