Bijou Bridal & Special Occasion — Attraction in Paramus

I bought my wedding dress at Bijou in October for my July wedding. I heard of Bijou from a couple of different people. They have a very impressive dress selection and have dresses at a variety of price points. I would say the minimum dress cost is $1,000. My dress was $1,500 and I added a decorative bridal belt. I thought the cost of alterations was reasonable. For what they consider normal or easy alterations (hem/bustle) everything is included for $500. For alterations I needed my dress to be made a little bigger, straps added, hem and bustle. The store is beautiful. Everyone is friendly. My only suggestion for area of improvement would be communication. When I ordered my dress the store was getting a little busy/appointment was running a little over and there was a misunderstanding. Everything ended up being fine but reflecting back this is my feelings. My dress came in around May and I called to tell them I was concerned about it being too small. They told me not to worry when they do the fittings they will take care of everything. In June I had my first "try on" and the seamstress made a bunch of suggestions to make the dress bigger. The next day I called to ask if I could order a yard of my dress fabric. It ended up not being a problem, they ordered the yard of fabric ($80) and it came in time for my first fitting. I just felt a little ehhh because I felt that they should have said that was an option and the option should have been offered from the moment. I am the kind of person that even if I didn't need the extra fabric I would rather have it and not need it then want it and it not be an option. Luckily I thought enough to advocate. The seamstress who altered my dress did a good job. The work was professional. However, the experience during the fittings lacked some communication. There should be an additional associate with the seamstress department checking in during the appointment and there at the end of the appointment to review what was done/what is going to be done. Again, my seamstress did a great job but all she said was "don't worry don't worry." I am a little more type A. My dress was beautiful and everything I wanted. They allowed me to try it on on the day that i picked it up. When the steamed it and I brought it home it did smell a little musty. Maybe they haven't descaled the water tank in a while but I hung it up and re-steamed it at home and it was perfect. It was comfortable for my entire wedding day. I had no issues. I was very happy with my dress. The appointments moved along and everything was just as it should be for the day of. I would recommend Bijou they have a great selection and have something for...

I cannot express how happy I was with my experience at Bijou Bridal and with Sandi. I made the appointment because I had heard great reviews about the number and variety of dress options, and since I was looking for a black/non-traditional wedding dress, I thought it might be worth a visit. I was blown away by the sheer number of dresses available, let alone the variety.

Before my appointment, I got a message asking me for inspo, a pinterest board, etc. so my assigned stylist could better prepare for our appointment, so I sent over a detailed paragraph of exactly the vibe I was going for, styles I wanted to look at, colors, and more. This was my 4th or 5th dress shopping appointment and I expected that Sandi, my stylist, would come as prepared as the other stylists I had worked with - namely, not prepped at all. At other large stores, I was basically ignored because I wasn't looking for a white dress and they knew it would be a difficult sale, so I guess they didn't even think it was worth putting in effort.

Sandi blew them all out of the water. The very first thing she said to me after greeting me was a comment that I was looking for something very specific and she loved that - she had not only read the guidance I provided, but also clearly considered in advance what options at Bijou would be the best fit for my vision. She had pulled a few dresses in advance that she thought might work for me and we were able to get the appointment going right away. She was attentive, listened to my comments, and implemented my feedback so every subsequent dress we tried was closer and closer to "the one."

The last dress I tried was one that we hadn't considered originally and which wasn't even really on display yet, but Sandi remembered that they had just gotten a new sample in and ran, literally ran, to grab it so I could try it on. It was perfect. When I mentioned that I planned on a cape-style veil, she went and found a gorgeous black veil we could pin to the dress to mimic what that might look like so I could get the full effect. She truly went above and beyond and the dress I ended up choosing is everything I could have wanted and more. Further, Sandi made sure that throughout the appointment I felt confident and enjoyed the process, even with dresses that ended up being rejected.

I could not have found my dream wedding dress without her and I highly recommend both Sandi and Bijou to anyone looking for a dress regardless of how "out there" it might be. If I could give a hundred...

Overall the place is absolutely beautiful! The front desk person was really nice and tried to help me a lot! Unfortunately I don't remember her name but she was awesome.

However... The person who helped me with the fitting didn't make my experience nice at all. I felt so uncomfortable the entire time since she was having a weird attitude towards me. I mentioned that my budget was under $1300 and she was kind of annoyed (apparently, I might be wrong) and she couldn't stop mentioning why was I shopping this late when my wedding was in December. I wanted to try a dress that was out of my budget and she said "I recomend you not to try what's out of your budget because then you'll like it and won't be able to buy it". I mean it does make all sense but was it necessary to mention it?

After she helped me to try the different dresses (about 5) I said that I had all my options recorded in a video so that I could decide later and she said "NO! You cannot decide a wedding dress through a video, you have to wear it and feel it". After that comment I said that I just wanted to show it to my mom since she's not in the country. Once again... I understand her comment but but was it really necessary?

I mentioned I like tulle and she brought really beautiful options! However, every time I tried to explain the way I wanted the tulle (because tulle has different textures and weight) she wouldn't stop contradicting what I was trying to explain. I'm a costume designer and I also have knowledge about fabrics and textures. She didn't know for sure cause I didn't mention it but still what was the reason for keep going against everything I was saying.

She was always mentioning "yes but if you do this alterarion is going to cost you more money" on and on and on when I wasn't even asking about prices or talking about money.

She was having a weird attitude towards me and even the people who came with me asked my "why is she having this attitude?" And the end I just wanted to leave as soon as possible 🥺

I apologize for making this long review. Once again the place was absolutely neat and beautiful and the front desk lady was EXTREMELY nice and kind. I definitely recommend it if you have a good budged but it's sad I had an experience like this with the person who tried to help me.

The amount of dresses they have is amazing!! This one in the photo was definitely one of my...