Amanda's Bridal & Tux — Local services in Arvada

I never write reviews, even though I know I use them to pick good places, but when I saw even one bad review for Amanda's bridal I knew I had to say something. I went to Amanda's bridal at the recommendation of my sister in law because of the amazing experience that she had, and my experience was nothing short of perfect. Heather was the associate that helped me find my dress, she was so nice and accommodating from the beginning. I made my budget known from the start, which wasn't a huge budget, but I never felt like I was treated any differently because of it. Heather was so professional, but so personal the same time. She pulled dresses that were slightly above my budget but within the style that I was requesting, dresses that were slightly under my budget, and dresses that were right on my budget price. Of all the dresses that I tried on, the one that I ended up loving, and being the perfect dress for me, was the one that Heather picked out and was below my budget. It was a dress that I told her I never would have found on my own, and I was hesitant to try it on, but she was confident that it would look great on me, and it did and was so perfect and I couldn't have been happier! When it came to schedule an appointment for my husband and his groomsmen fitting, I called to make the appointment not knowing that they didn't do Saturdays for groomsmen, so I said I will call back with a different date. Not even a day went by, not even an hour, I got a call back from one of the associates saying that she spoke to her manager and that they would make an exception and would allow the groom and groomsmen to come in on a Saturday to do their fitting. I never beg or plead it, or was upset, this associate did this for me without me asking. And I know that Saturdays are their busiest days. I wish I could remember which associate this was, because I would thank them again for that. Every time I went in to Amanda's bridal it was pleasent every time, and whenever Heather was in she always remembered who I was, and greeted me with a hug and a smile. Since my experience was flawless, one of my bridesmaids who is getting married now is using them too and has had every bit the same perfect service as the last 6 years has shown my sister in law when she got married 5 years ago, and myself 1 year ago and today. Reconsider those bad reviews because you'd be missing out on a fabulous experience with...

So thankful for Melissa! I'd scheduled a few appointments at different bridal shops, and my first was at Amanda's. I had such a great experience and ultimately rushed back after my second appointment (at The Bridal Collection) to purchase the first dress I'd tried on with Melissa--she even stayed past store closing to make it happen for me!

Although I was of course given the opportunity to pull any dresses I wanted to try on from the great selection, I immediately lost interest in anything I thought I liked once I saw Melissa's recommendations for me. They were all so spot on and completely consistent with my vision that I immediately trusted her experience and expertise. (Not to mention that they all easily fit into my stated budget of $2,500.) I was with my mom, sister, and maid of honor and everyone was in agreement about how talented Melissa is.

I'm a size 12-ish (with a firmly pear shape) and was a little worried about fitting into sample dresses so I'd called all the boutiques in advance to make sure they could accommodate me (they all gave a kind of generic "yes, we carry sizes 2-24" or something). I was able to fit into just about every (gorgeous) sample I wanted to try on at Amanda's, and this was in stark contrast to my experience at TBC, where I could barely be squeezed into any dresses (not to mention that for almost every option they offered me "jackets" to wear over my dress, which honestly made me feel like they just viewed me as a fat bride to be downgraded to a matronly look).

I also had so much more help getting into the dresses with Melissa, and it made everything so easy and comfortable. The dressing room was big, bright, and very comfortable. At TBC, I was in a much smaller room (with lots of really hot lights!). I was quickly rushed in and out of dresses and was just handed them to get into more or less on my own. I hated this because it was difficult and within the first 15 minutes I'd broken a sweat and felt miserable/gross. I also silently tolerated some skin pinches from quick clipping, which wasn't at all something I experienced with Melissa. My guests and I couldn't wait to leave and whispered exit plans back and forth whenever we had a chance.

At the end of the day, I found the perfect dress that requires only very minimal alterations, and I...

Ask questions. Ask 100+ questions so nothing is a surprise. I will say, staff were really great, supportive and very nice. However, the process was unclear at times and took the shine off of the whole experience. When trying on wedding dresses, I was under the impression that when all of my measurements were being taken, that meant the dress I was ordering was going to be custom fit to me and my measurements. That is not true & it wasn’t explained to me until I came in for my first fitting and my dress fit horribly. I was told that alterations were going to be $750 which resulted in a complete emotional breakdown when I was driving home. After being extremely shocked and confused about the alterations, I told the seamstress I think the consultant took my measurements wrong because there is no way my custom dress should fit this bad. The seamstress explained that when measurements are taken, they order a standard size (for me it was size 18 I believe) that matches the largest measurement they took. So although the dress could zip, the entire top of the dress was huge and needed multiple appointments to get fixed. The seamstress is very talented and I can tell she cares about her brides and wants to make their dress perfect. It was the shocking price and lack of communication about alterations that really dampened the experience. My husband also bought his tux from Amanda’s bridal and the only surprise with that is that they just order the pieces based on a standard size, order it to the store and then send you to an outside tailor to take the tux to. Tux alterations are not done in house. We thought this was odd, but maybe other places do this as well. Overall, I am very happy with my dress! My consultant, Jessica, was always WONDERFUL. The seamstress did a wonderful job and the other employees always seemed happy to be there. There were a couple expensive surprises along the way, but I hope this review helps others! As someone who has never been married and gone through this process, I wish I knew what to expect before...