Irini's Originals LLC — Attraction in Wilmington

TLDR: Nikki was very rude to my mom, kept us waiting, and insisted on selling me a dress that was too small.

The long version: My mom and I arrived for my initial appointment and were kept waiting for 45 minutes beyond our scheduled time. We felt much better about it when Nikki finally joined us and gave us her full attention for my appointment. I purchased a sample dress (at a discount) because Nikki kept raving about how it already fit me perfectly. I expressed that it felt tight, and Nikki kept telling me that this was how a “structured” dress feels and that she could zip me into it, no problem. She also said there was room to let it out and there was additional fabric that would make letting the dress out easy. When I pointed out that the beading behind and under my arms was scratching me, she said it could be ribbon-lined. So, we purchased the dress and walked out with it that day.

I went back with my mom & future MIL to look for their dresses a few weeks later. We had an appointment. When we arrived, Nikki told us she was busy with other appointments, and we were welcome to help ourselves to dresses in the back room. I had to help both moms find dresses, zip and clip them into it and Nikki was nowhere to be found. When we tried to grab her and ask her for her help and opinions, she seemed extremely annoyed that we wanted her help. However, my MIL purchased a dress that night. Nikki tried to sell her the sample, but my MIL insisted it was too small and ended up purchasing a dress two sizes larger when Nikki finally measured her. My mom made another appointment to come back the following week and try on a dress she was considering. When she arrived, Nikki told her that the dress was still in the fitting room from the last time she was there and she could go try it on herself, with no help from Nikki. She was, of course, busy with another appointment despite the fact that my mom had made an appointment for this time. My parents felt very unwelcome, so they left without trying the dress on and my mom found her dream dress at another shop where she was waited on and made to feel so special.

My MIL had to call repeatedly to check on the status of her dress, which took much longer than Irini’s had told her. When she went to pick up her dress, Nikki had the nerve to make rude comments about my mom to my MIL! At this point, my MIL and I decided that we would go elsewhere for our alterations….and boy I’m glad we did.

Fast forward to yesterday, when I went for my first dress fitting with a very reputable tailor who worked magic on my friend’s wedding dress last year. I was nervous about the fit of the dress, which I told her. I am EXACTLY the same weight as when I purchased this dress, and the tailor told me I need an additional 4 INCHES to make this dress zip comfortably. There is NO additional fabric to let the dress out, which led me to tears during my fitting. Thankfully, this amazing woman is going to find fabric to match my dress, let it out, and is going to take some appliques from the fabric that is hemmed to cover the added fabric and make it match. When I showed her how scratched my arms were and asked her to ribbon line it, she said this is all because the dress is too small, and I should have never been sold this size.

So, buyer beware: my initial experience with Nikki was semi-positive and I found a beautiful dress. But after she had our money, it all went downhill from there. From convincing me to buy a dress that didn’t fit, ignoring us in future appointments, and talking badly about my mom behind her back, she is very unprofessional. Please learn from my experience and go...

It takes A LOT for me to give a 1 star review but this is completely necessary. If there was a zero star option that would be more fitting. If you want a fun and enjoyable wedding dress experience, I would highly suggest going elsewhere.

Niki roped me into coming to Irinis when I saw her at a bridal expo in January. I asked her if she carried Hayley Paige wedding dresses and she said that she did, so I made an appointment to come in the following week. I get there looking for Hayley Paige dresses and she then tells me that she only has their bridesmaid collection (and a very limited quantity at that, literally one or 2 dresses). That was the first of many bait and switches she pulled on me.

Each time I went there with an appointment time scheduled, I still ended up waiting an hour most times. Once, she left me in the store for an hour and 15 minutes while she went home to pick up her son and change. Other times, I would have an appointment scheduled for one day and she would have to switch it to another day weeks later because she booked a trip to Greece (right in the middle of her busy season). Then I would get there and her famous line would come out, “I really had to squeeze you in today!” Excuse me, squeeze me in? The only reason these appointments were rescheduled was to make it more convenient for YOU!

Fast forward - I ended up finding a dress I loved and started the alteration process. Each time the alterations were not started until I got there in the store at my appointment time. I asked her at the first alteration appointment how many alterations I would have and she said 3 and on the 3rd the dress goes with you. On my third and final fitting day she had just returned from Greece and very casually said that she “still had things to do on my dress”. Keep in mind that was 2 weeks before my wedding day. She told me I would have to come back a week later, ONE WEEK BEFORE MY WEDDING! During this time I also had 2 bridesmaid dresses rush shipped that were due to arrive in early August. I texted Niki when she returned home from her vacation to ask if the bridesmaid dresses were in yet. She told me that they were, so I arranged for my bridesmaids to come with me to pick up their dresses. When I got there she saw that they were with me and she blankly looked at me and said, “I don’t even know if those dresses are here and if they are , they aren’t tagged, I told you they were in to shut you up”. What kind of person speaks to a customer like that?! She lied to me about my these dresses, luckily they were in the store but were delivered right before the appointment time. She later had the audacity to call me a bridezilla, any bride knows that the weeks leading up to their wedding are critical. Worrying about your dress is the last thing that should be adding unnecessary stress and frustration. I ended up finally getting my dress with days to spare and when it came to wedding day my dress could not even be bustled because it was done improperly, yet I was still charged 425 for alterations that were done...

For my first bridal dress shopping experience, I visited 2 other salons. At the time, I didn't realize how poorly the consultants did. In those shops, they did not do a great job fitting/pinning me into the dresses and although asked for what I was looking for also had me go through the stock to pull dresses rather than helping suggest things in my style and that would fit my body.

So onto going to Irini's and seeing Nikki. It was a completely 100% different experience. She's obviously knowledgeable not just in bridal dresses but her stock and how to make you look your best. She's also a seamstress so she has a completely different view of the dresses than your standard consultant. I described the style I was going for, showed her a dress I had liked before, and she pulled a whole bunch. She let me walk through the racks, but I honestly don't think I pulled a single dress I tried on. She was so down to earth and honest. She perfectly followed not just my style but what was most flattering on my body. The first dresses everyone knew they weren't the ones, and she was able to help determine what it was about them that wasn't quite right and keep moving forward. Eventually, she put me in THE PERFECT dress. And honestly, I think she knew it was the dress well before we got there but she built up to it. She was able to help me envision quite a few changes/customizations to elevate it from a great dress to the most perfect one imaginable. The seamstress in her stood out strong when she described changes that could be made that I never would have thought of, but were also absolutely perfect for my vision. In addition, she has a relationship with the designer and was able to get them to agree to a completely custom dress, combining features from a couple of their dresses into one. She was also very conscientious of my budget and tried her best to make all of these customizations affordable.

So in summation, I had an AMAZING experience here, Nikki was absolutely fantastic, knowledgeable, nice, honest, and just overall great. I would 100% recommend anyone and I wish I had started here. It would have made the whole experience much better and less overwhelming. (though there's a chance I wouldn't have been able to pick the dress without having tried ~30 on before, but...