I went to Yolanda's three times and each time had an absolutely miserable experience and was witness to other brides' miserable experiences. The unprofessionalism there, catty nature of the salesgirls and especially Yolanda herself, and the high pressure sales tactics turned me off and cheapened the experience of finding my wedding dress. Their only concern is that they make a sale in the shortest time possible and get you OUT so they can move on to the next sale. For my first appointment, I was only there 40 minutes trying on dresses and they started whisking away dresses behind my back that I hadn't even decided on, then said we were out of time and tried to force me to make a decision in that instant.
Unfortunately, the dress I initially wanted I couldn't find anywhere else. However, I did not trust buying the dress there after what I saw. The saleswomen literally drag the dresses across the floor (even those that are already altered and paid for!) Each time I was there, I saw brides in crisis with serious problems with their dresses within days of their wedding. (i.e. dress not in, order got screwed up, wrong alteration, etc,) I didn't feel comfortable buying there if it meant I could wind up in that kind of situation.
I ended up buying my dress at Vera Wang in Boston--one that I liked even better and was actually LESS expensive than the one I had been eyeing at Yolanda's. AND, the experience was a night and day difference. When you are at Vera Wang (and their sister store, L'elilte, which I also recommend highly) you feel like you are the only bride there and there is absolutely no pressure. None whatsoever. The saleswoman was so sweet and seemed like she was really excited for me. In the end, she steered me toward a much less expensive gown that actually suited me better than the more expensive ones I was considering.
Also at Vera Wang and L'elite, you get to look through their entire inventory of dresses and pick out what you want to try on. At Yolanda's, they decide what you will try on and you have no idea what else they have in back--you never get to look at it. If you are interested in looking at more than say, 6 dresses, they get visibly impatient.
When you are at Yolanda's you feel like you are wasting their time if you don't make an immediate decision, they are catty and they are
condescending to brides behind their backs. They have abrupt, shoddy service and finally, there is absolutely no way that a bride should spend thousands of dollars on a dress only to have some salesperson drag it carelessly across the floor when she comes in for her fitting.
My recommendation is to really think twice before buying your dress at Yolanda's. They won't treat you well and they won't treat your dress well either!
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