Downtown Bridal & Dress Shop — Attraction in Idaho Falls

I'm not really the type to leave a review, especially a bad one as I usually hope that my experience was a bad one and others didn't get the same experience.

Years ago, my sister was having her 15s and we chose this shop to get her dress and rent suits for the chambelanes, everything was set up with no problem. They gave us a contract where the families could make small payments to pay for the rented suits that included full suits and shoes (shoes specifically were listed down as a free included item).

About a month before the event, we called to see how much the families had left to pay for the suits, one of the ladies working had said they didn't have a file with our order nor did they have our rental for the suits listed. This was BS, my family visited 3 times and my sister also accompanied every chambelan's fitting for their suits to make sure they got the correcting sizing. The lady at the front kept saying they changed owners and they got a new system where they conveniently misplaced all printed/written orders due to the new system the owner wanted. We did talk to the owner and she told us that we would have to create a new order and any payments that were made prior would "not count" as part of the payment they had already made towards the rental fee as there was no evidence of those payments. This completely took us by surprise and we visited in person where we had to argue with the receptionist on how they had misplaced contracts and actual transactions files.

We were ready to ask the families for bank transaction statements to prove payments when my sister had heard and had actually taken a picture of the contract with written payments every family had made towards the fees the last time they visited. Even with this evidence the owner tried to charge extra for shoes even though the contract said in bold font "shoes were included for free" (clear as day in the picture). Finally they sort of accepted the photo evidence.

Couple days before the event, we went to pick up the suits with my sister and her friends, well another problem struck. They somehow couldn't find the dress shoes they said they would include. We waited and discussed heavily with the staff that our contract said "SHOES INCLUDED" for 45 min. Eventually they magically found the shoes and gave them to us.

Day of the event the shoes were dirty and one of the suits was also stained. I had to spend 2 hours cleaning every shoe while the guys got ready and my mom cleaned the stain. Well what's a storm without more chaos? The suits they gave us came with dress shirt, pants, suspenders and a vest (NO JACKET). Again we had explained to the staff several times that we specifically ordered full suits as that's what my sister wanted. I mentioned that the guys could just wear the suits without the vest and we had to just accept it. Clearly this isn't the end, when we returned them they tried to give us a cleaning fee because the suits were "very dirty and stained", we had actually cleaned off any stains professionally, except the ones they came with (which I took photos before they were even worn). Also took photos of the suits before we gave them back.

I'm not saying this to say the shop is horrible, I'm saying I don't want this to happen to anyone. Everyone should have a chance to enjoy their event and be supported by those closest including businesses and people who build the...

Edit part 2 : after updating my review the owner called and reached out to me explaining that all the seamstresses are 3rd parties and the one that was recommended to me ( Bobette) does not work for the bridal store. I really appreciated the explanation UNTIL she asked me if I would re word my review which I wasn't planning on doing. She then explained how its "its bad for business " . I left it at 5 stars the first time but asking someone to change their review because it wasn't all entirely positive is baffling to me.

Edit : Kathy did a fantastic job and I still very much love my dress. The seamstress however I could not get a single response from. She knew I was very limited on time where my wedding was in 2 months and reassured me while I was there that she had plenty of time to alter my dress. She made it very clear to only text her and not to call but she doesnt reply. ( at least to me) I ultimately had to find a new seamstress. The dress shopping experience was great but if you need it altered you may as well find a different place to help you

Kathy was incredibly helpful picking out dresses ! She was very friendly and kind. She was so excited for me when we found the one ! The prices were really reasonable and I found my dream dress for under 1300 with a beautiful veil ! She was patient while I kept swapping out 3 different ones going back and forth for the one determining what one i loved. She was great and...

I highly recommend that gay couples don't go here. Went in with my fiancée recently and when the lady working the front asked what brought us in that day, I told her that we had just gotten engaged and wanted to explore our options for wedding dresses. Her face immediately dropped to one of thinly veiled disgust and she just went "Oh. Okay. Have a look around," then walked off. She didn't check in with us again after that.

And while yes, there was a person already there trying on dresses (who seemed to be getting help from someone else anyway), she didn't have to consult with us deeply at all. I was expecting just a few simple things to point us in the right direction, you know? Like "What's your budget?", "What size are you?", "What styles do you prefer?", etc. We would've been happy to browse longer on our own if we felt like we were welcome. And if I'm wrong here I'll gladly say that I am, but I also feel like it's common courtesy to congratulate a couple when they tell you they've just gotten engaged, not gape at them like they just said they're throwing a puppy kicking party.

Fellow Idaho Falls LGBTs, take your business to somewhere where the employees don't make you feel like a freak just for existing. And to this shop, congrats on losing two clients and I hope you outgrow your childish ignorance...