Party Dress Express — Attraction in Fall River

If I could go back in time I never would have come here for my wedding dress it was a terrible experience from start to finish. The first weekend of January I went in for my appointment to try on dresses, I was with Jessica. I came in not knowing what style dress I wanted which when I booked the appointment they insisted was not a big deal at all. Well I begin trying on dresses, we start to figure out what I like and don’t like. Jessica quickly became irritated with me and was extremely condescending when I tried on a dress and said I liked it but it wasn’t the one. She became irritated and raised her voice at me because I couldn’t tell her what I didn’t like about it but the truth is there was nothing wrong with the dress just not THE dress. Which you would think somebody who owns a dress shop would understand. Jessica was also irritated with me when I said one dress was too plain and the next dress she pulled for me to try on was too much. I finally found a dress I loved, we ordered it and paid in full that day. I wanted to add sleeves to the dress so planned to order extra tulle and lace appliqués for my sleeves. Jessica told me that they would email me with pictures of the appliqués and I could decide what I wanted and how many. I never received any follow up regarding the appliqués, I emailed on January 20th and January 28th about this and asking for confirmation that the appliqués and my dress had been ordered. On January 29th I received an email stating that they were waiting on an order confirmation despite the fact that at this point nobody had reached out regarding appliqués or the extra tulle needed for my sleeves. Finally on February 8th I was emailed pictures of the appliqués and we discussed how many should be ordered etc. March 22nd I emailed again because I still had not received order confirmation, they called me to tell me they had already sent my order confirmation which I never actually got but I was just glad to know that my dress had been ordered at some point. We were told in January when we ordered and paid in full my dress would be in end of June, it did not come in until beginning of August. I tried on my dress this past Monday, it’s beautiful and fits great just minor alterations needed. I brought along a veil I had bought elsewhere and discovered the ivory of my veil and the ivory of my dress were very different. So I asked to try on veils while there, Jessica brought 2 options neither of which I was very happy with. I wanted a veil with a blusher and Jessica told me “they don’t make those anymore” and that was the end of that. I ended up buying my veil from a different bridal store and they had a ton of options with blushers and I found a wonderful veil that I love. Towards the end of January we went in for bridesmaid dresses and we had Ashley. Ashley was AMAZING to work with I have nothing but good things to say about her. I struggled to find the perfect burgundy and blush colors for my bridesmaid dresses and Ashley was SO patient with me and truly wanted to make sure I found what I was envisioning. For the bridesmaid dresses we were told that if all of my bridesmaids (almost all live out of state) called in their measurements and ordered by February 14 the bridesmaid dresses would be in by mid July which is when my bachelorette/bridal shower was and all my bridesmaids would be in town. So the idea was that all my bridesmaids would pick up their dresses while in town in mid July and they would take them home with them for alterations with their preferred tailor. The bridesmaid dresses came in at the same time as my dress and I am now having to figure out shipping dresses to my girls across the country so that they can get alterations done. Dealing with party dress express has honestly been the most stressful part of my wedding planning experience. I am just thankful that I now have my dress and don’t have to worry...

I went to Party Dress Express in August to search for my wedding dress. In no way do I want this review to impact our sales associate, as she was not the problem.

The things I had a problem with were the policies with this store. There were too many contingencies present with the slogan "when you say yes to the dress...". I was immediately caught off guard when I told that when I made my purchase today that my mother of the bride dress would receive a discount. Please do not assume that every bride that enters the store is fortunate enough to have her mother present for her wedding day.

I tried on 17 dresses. My sales associate was very patient, but I definitely felt overwhelmed, especially at the end when I was asked "do you want to make a purchase or a sale?" I was very much thrown off that they would think that someone who was presenting with my responses would be ready to spend money on a bridal gown.

At the end of the appointment I wanted to cry as I was told that even with my wedding being 8 months away that they couldn't guarantee that I would have my dress in time to allow for alterations. Since they have signs posted everywhere about no pictures, I asked them if I could have the stock photos forwarded to me and I was told to email them.

I was feeling so-so about my experience until the next part. I asked over email if I could have the stock photos emailed to me of my top 3 dresses. The email I received back was not signed and restated the policies about pictures (which I respected and why I was asking to reference the pictures from their website). I was told that if I wanted to know which dresses I picked that I could schedule a follow up appointment. I wrote an email back inquiring about getting the reference numbers so I could refer back to them and stating I found one of the styles already out of the three, and this email was ignored.

A few weeks later, I received a phone call from the store in which they used a wrong first name for me twice (and my voice-mail has my name) asking about scheduling a follow-up.

Advice- write down the style numbers before you leave as they have every dress listed on their site.

Over the next 2 weeks, I went to 2 local bridal boutiques where I found the same designer gowns in a low stress setting. I was encouraged to take pictures. The prices were also hundreds less than this store. A month later, I am still frustrated with how I was treated after leaving the store. I highly encourage other brides to visit their local...

Had my very first dress appointment today (yay!) However, my experience was not one I’d like to relive. As you ladies (and men) know this is such an exciting time for us, especially when it comes to finding the dress for your big day, and it should be handled with excitement and thrill for the buyer. Unfortunately this was not the case at Party Dress Express in Fall River. Please don’t be mislead by their website as they do not cater in store to many people over a size 12. They also do not have all colors available in store, you can order them, but as a first time buyer I felt very mislead. I understand you can’t have everything in every size in stock, but options need to be there. But, the problem isn’t the business itself or the dresses.

My main concern is with their staff. Our consultant wasn’t warm from the start, she wasn’t rude but didn’t seem like she cared that I was satisfied at all. I felt more like I was shopping for a funeral rather than a wedding. She was consistently ignoring my requests for the styles I like, trying to put me into dresses that were very under sized. For someone who is a trained consultant, this should be the first skill you learn. As I watched the other bridal parties be treated with respect, offered snacks and beverages while they waited, my group was not given any of this consideration. There was dress on a mannequin that I was very interested in trying on and, as another staff member offered to remove it for me, my consultant flat out told her no because I “already had enough dresses.” She did not respect a single request I gave, giving me essentially the opposite. It was like going shopping for a convertible and the salesman only shows you minivans.

To top everything off, after emotional stress on a day that should be treated with care, she pulled open the curtain on my half-naked body while getting dressed. This is absolutely unacceptable and was emotionally scarring to a degree that no person in a public setting should ever feel. As a marketer of a business, and as a member of the community, I am absolutely appalled at what happened to me today.

If any of you lovely ladies have any recommendations for another shop that offers more respect to their patrons, please let me know. I was willing to drop $4000, and unfortunately for Party Dress Express, they will not be receiving any business or...