IDINA Bride, Seattle — Attraction in Seattle

It all went downhill as soon as I paid for my dress with Idina Bride. I specifically came here to look at Liz Martinez dresses. I was promised by purchasing a dress there I would receive a custom Liz Martinez veil, the dress would be completely custom fit to save on alterations, and if I purchased a dress that day I would receive a 10% discount (which also felt a bit salesy). After purchasing a dress on my first visit I was told Nadine takes all measurements and I would have to come back when she was in. Later that day I noticed on their website they had a Liz Martinez trunk show coming up and was surprised they didn’t mention this when I told them I specifically was there to look at her dresses and they didn't have a few I wanted to see. After a few days of trying to get a hold of Nadine she finally got back to me and recommended I come in during the trunk show to see the other dresses and that she can take my measurements then. She said she would get back to me if there are any fees, but I never heard back. I was a bit naive at this point to think that since she didn’t have my measurements (therefore they haven't started making the dress) that if I looked at other dresses by the same designer the fees would be minimal. At the second appointment I tried the other Liz Martinez dresses that I was excited about and fell in love with one. Nadine assured me that it should be fine to make the switch since she didn’t even have my measurements and she would be in contact with me if she needed anything else. A few weeks went by and I reached out to check on my dress and Nadine said that I would now have to pay a 15% extra rush fee in order to get my dress in time for my wedding, which was shocking as I had already paid for the dress. This was in January 2021 and my wedding was at the end of June 2021. She said I needed to pay the rush fee to guarantee it would come six weeks before my wedding. It was upsetting she took weeks to get back to me and it felt scammy. Feeling stuck at this point, I paid the additional rush fee to assure I had my dress and tried to put this behind me. On May 17th Nadine emailed me and said my dress should be arriving soon. Then she went dark- never emailed or called for the next month. I kept calling and emailing and no one got back to me. My dress arrived ONE WEEK before my wedding. I arrived at my first fitting to try on a dress that was about two feet too long and no matching Liz Martinez veil, as I was promised. I asked where the veil was and Nadine said I never picked one out. I have confirmed emails from her stating she will have a matching Liz Martinez veil with my dress. When I asked Nadine why the dress didn’t come in the correct length she said “We thought there was an issue with the measurements because the dress shouldn't be that short '' then looked at me and said “oh now I see what the issue was” Referring to my height, I am 5’ 2” this was just incredibly rude and hurtful for her to be so judgmental about my body. I told her how disappointed I was about all of the issues and she said “I am sorry, weddings are stressful”. What I thought would be a quick appointment where I could pick up my dress and move on from this terrible dress shop became an hour and half of me standing in my dress while each of it’s 6 layers of tulle could be pinned and by the seamstress (she was the only good thing about the shop) Nadine also came in at one point and told her she needed to hurry. Which was extremely unprofessional and rude. I don’t think anyone wants their wedding dress to be hurried when it is being altered two days before their wedding. She could have avoided this by just confirming the measurements with me with a quick phone call. Nadine was so rude to anyone she wasn’t trying to sell a dress to. She ruined what should be an exciting part of someone’s big day. I debated on leaving a review for this experience since I provided private feedback to her but looking at her most recent reviews it seems she is still doing the same thing to others with her...

Advice to future brides: STEER CLEAR OF THIS PLACE. Unless you want a horrible customer service experience and to be stressed before your wedding, run - don’t walk - from Idina Bride.

From start to now, this experience has been a mess. The first associate who “helped” me (if you can call it that) had no idea about wedding gowns and is clearly unfit for working in customer service altogether. I had paid a deposit and made an appointment for a trunk show and when I arrived, nobody greeted me for a five full minutes .. and finally when the lone associate came out of the back to me she informed me the trunk show “had not arrived” and told me she “had no idea why” and followed up with “it’s not my fault” three times as I stood there, confused and saying nothing. In the end, I was very understanding, despite the fact that I received no call nor an offer for a refund. Okay, whatever. My mom and future MIL were there together with me so we decided to make the best of it. I ended up falling in love with a gown— actually, TWO! Undeservingly, I bought two dresses from this joke of a shop. From miscommunications about pricing, sending me conflicting info, to lying about when I would actually have my gown, I am furious. I called the store to inquire about the status of my dress. I had not heard anything except an email in September that it would be shipped in Feb 2023… then well into March I had still heard nothing. When I called (why should the customer have to take initiative on this?), I was told I would receive an email immediately from the manager and the associate still didn’t give me ANY information… Instead, my mom received an email with a bill that states MUST be paid within five days… (what? Why didn’t anyone call/email/text/send a carrier pigeon?), even though we had set up an automatic payment. The lack of communication and myriad of miscommunications is beyond frustrating. I kindly asked to be put in contact with a manager as soon as possible. Eventually I did receive my gown and a referral to a seamstress. The manager was apologetic, and by way of making it up to me she gifted me a veil. This was nice of her, and I was prepared to forgive and forget. My maid of honor and I decided to test hairstyles for my wedding. I had purchased a nice headband from Idina Bride at the same time as my gowns. The headband was placed on my head as I tried it on, and then boxed and bagged. I suppose it was my mistake for never checking to see whether it was damaged, because when we opened the box my MOH and I immediately saw that the metal was snapped. It was shocking to say the least, as it’s literally been boxed since last summer and not once touched. I called Idina bride and was promised it would either be replaced or repaired and I would receive a follow up call the next day. Days later, I called again. (Zero follow-up, I swear…) Now they say they will not replace it and there’s “nothing that can be done”. The assistant also talked over me repeatedly, which was very frustrating. But not to worry, said the girl, she will call me back on Monday. Now, it’s Tuesday. And again, for what feels like the 50th time with these people, I have not received any calls, emails, texts, or otherwise. Honestly, what a disappointment. I had placed a lot of trust in Idina Bride and have not been impressed at all — in fact, utterly dismayed and stressed out— with what I thought would be a fun and meaningful experience. I heavily regret going with Idina bride for my wedding purchases.

Dear owners, if you’re reading this, please for the sake of your business, train your workers on proper business decorum and follow-up. Maybe you can turn it around.

Dear future brides, go find somewhere else to conduct your business. I should’ve read the one-star reviews (all recent, you’ll notice) before I went. Don’t...

This was one of 3 bridal salons I went to, and the experience wasn't terrible but it was far below average. I chose this salon despite the poor reviews because they're the only retailer in the state that carries a specific designer I wanted to try.

The main reasons I can't rate Idina highly are: 1 - they were about 10 minutes late to service me (despite having an appointment) because the two staff members were taking measurements for the previous client. Not a huge deal, but not a great first impression.

2 - When I arrived, Hannah briefly greeted me and told me to go around the store and somehow pull out the dresses from the rack to indicate I wanted to try it on. There wasn't any conversation about what I was looking for, liked/didn't like, venue style, or budget - I had to bring up budget and ask how I should account for this while looking through the racks. Only then did she ask what my budget was and loosely pointed to a couple of racks that I should avoid.

3 - I went through the racks, as requested, but not every dress had a price tag on it so I was partially navigating blind. Also, there were dresses already pulled out from the previous client (who was still in the store/dressing room). Lastly, it was logistically difficult to fully pull out some of the dresses, so there were some dresses that I tried to "pull" that I never actually got to try on because I assume the stylist/consultant overlooked them.

4 - Once the previous client was gone, I didn't get much conversation from the more senior employee either (owner?). She was pleasant enough, but we did tell her we had found a dress I loved at the previous salon and showed her a picture to give her a sense of my style. I also specified I wanted to try a specific designer and was willing to go A LITTLE over my budget for that one designer. She didn't really ask any follow-up questions about my style/venue/likes either which resulted in strapless dresses and a ball gown (the only 2 styles I knew I didn't want).

5 - I don't think most of the dresses I got to try on were actually ones I "pulled". I did get to try a couple of the chosen designer I came for, but then the stylist started handing me other options outside of this designer including one that was almost $1200 over my stated budget. Big no.

6 - Sample sizes were XS. The past two salons I had been to had some samples that were small, but some that were more around a 6/8. Nearly every sample was an XS here. And she made virtually no attempt to clip and zip the back or straps so I could at least imagine what the dress would look like (again, other salons had no difficulty in doing this). This resulted in me literally holding up at least two dresses with my hands over my chest to keep the dress in place. This is not how you should visualize a wedding dress, especially one that's thousands of dollars.

7 - The two staff members were distracted and paying very little attention to us throughout the appointment because they were still completing the order from the previous client who apparently needed a rush order from Barcelona. We learned a lot about the previous client's wedding dress that day because that's really the only background noise we had and any conversation beside that was minimal.

Overall, I'm sure it's a nice enough team of people but I'm so glad I had already had two positive experiences that day or this one would have really soured it. If you have a specific designer that's in stock here, I would still say go for it for peace of mind. But just know your budget will not be respected and there does seem to be some hands-on bridal expertise missing from this...