Vintage Chic Bridal Boutique — Local services in Dubuque

Based upon my experience with Shelby, the owner of Vintage Chic Bridal Boutique, I would never do business with her nor would I EVER recommend anyone else do so. I had an appointment 11/17 at 10:30. Prior to the appointment I filled out an entire survey that had me give her ideas of what I was wanting/looking for etc. We got to my appointment, upon walking into the boutique we instantly had a couple concerns. 1, it was FREEZING. There were 2 space heaters running but it was still very cold. 2, the bathroom was DISGUSTING. I wish we would have taken a picture. Urine covered the toilet, the seat was broken, overall very unclean. 3, Shelby asked what I was looking for as if she hadn't even glanced at the form I had to fill out, the form which took a bit of time because she wanted in detail exact things I was looking for. There were a couple dresses that caught my eye so I tried them on, trying to ignore the other issues. There were a couple dresses I liked but I did not LOVE. We left and thanked her, she stated she noted what I was looking for and would look around. We left and went to find food and stumbled across another bridal store in Dubuque. I ended up finding the dress I loved there and purchasing it. During my time there, I checked my phone and had noticed Shelby called me and texted me MULTIPLE times stating she had found "the dress". I replied to her once I got home, at that point I had realized she had also continued to message me from her personal Facebook because I "had not answered her texts". I replied letting her know I appreciated her time and help but I did end up finding the dress I was looking for. She proceeded to attempt to make me feel bad and then ask where I got it. I did not reply because I did not feel that was anything I needed to answer. She then saw where I had gotten it from and proceeded to harass me from there. She childishly replied saying it upset her that I posted what a great experience I had where I purchased my dress. I told her it was nothing personal I just found the dress i loved there and again appreciated her time and her accommodating us. She asked what I ended up getting, I showed her the picture of the dress I purchased and informed her of some changes I was having done to the dress since they had been requirements of mine. She proceeded to then attempt to guilt trip me and harass me. She questioned the shop's knowledge in dresses and tried telling me she didn't think the changes were possible and if they were they would be costly. She proceeded to message a seamstress that the shop I purchased my dress from uses and ask her the pricing of what it would cost for the change. Absolutely unprofessional. She continued to drag down the other shop and guilt trip me. I finally replied informing her I felt what she was doing was VERY unprofessional, I am sorry I didn't buy my dress from you however this was not acceptable and I would appreciate if she stopped messaging me. She mentioned that where I purchased my dress is where she used to work but it "was nothing personal". I again told her I didn't ask for her input and I didn't appreciate what she was doing, I told her I was confident with my purchase and what I discussed with the shop and to have a good night. She responded with "well as long as you're confident..." I find it VERY unprofessional that as a business owner, you message someone who had been to your shop, and try to make them feel bad about purchasing elsewhere. This is part of the business you are in. Not every shop carries everything and some shops will not have what someone was looking for. That does NOT mean it is okay or acceptable for you to message that client and harass them about purchasing somewhere else and try to play it off like you're "just looking out for them". It does not look good as a business owner to drag other shops. Moral of the story, very unclean, unprofessional,...

I had quite a bad experience at Vintage Chic. I was very excited because previous family members have gone there. It started out fine I booked an appointment for the $49 package @1pm. Then I started to receive multiple messages from her planning a time and price range out, her expectations on arriving early, parking, which was fine. Then I told her my wedding day that is 9 months out she continued to message me and made me stressed that I wouldn’t get a dress in time I had to pay an additional amount for a rush order. I messaged her back asking if she did “of the rack dresses” and/or can I cancel my appointment then/get a refund of my money. She told me she will not give me my money back and they don’t offer off the rack, keep in mind this is weeks in advance. So in my head if she won’t give me my money back, I will still go and get my moneys worth and have fun with my family. I made an appointment the same day at 9am at a different dress store, they were amazing. Words cannot describe the experience I had with the other shop. Upon my arrival I was early, she was waiting by the door. Never gave a tour or let my family look at the dresses or give me any to try on. She had already preselected dresses out for me. Once in the dressing room she asked if I have gone anywhere else, I told her yes. She asked to see photos of some of the dresses I tried on. Shelby’s mood instantly switched she became very short/snippy almost jealous. I’m usually not one of these people, but the whole store stunk as well as Shelby, I had to hold my breath a few times. I had to put all the dresses on myself and get out of them myself. She had to take a break in between and left me standing in the dressing room with only my underwear on. Shelby’s mother continued to come in when I was getting in and out of the dresses made me uncomfortable. I tried on all the dresses she pulled for me and wasn’t in love with any of them, don’t get me wrong she had stunning dresses at her business. My family made a comment that “you’ve only said you loved one dress today.” Shelby instantly snapped back and got mad that I came to her shop after loving another dress. We went back to the dressing room I got out of the dress, she told me to get dressed and go to the front by her desk/office. When I came out my family members were shocked to see me dressed as we were only there for 20-30 minutes, I told them she wanted to meet me in the front. When I went to the front she preceded to tell me, when I was showing her the photos of the dresses I tried on at the other store she saw my yes sign from the store (which I never did say yes) She then says “if you already had a dress you loved, I don’t know why you even came here.” I shook my head shocked on how unprofessional she was and said I never actually said “yes” to it yet I came here to try your dresses on to be 100% sure. I walked out of the store, she ruined the whole experience of dress shopping. I have never wrote a negative review in my life but I would hate to hear or see a future bride have the same...

I'd recommend this beautiful, private, and personalized experience to everyone!

I'm not a girly girl and had a fair amount of anxiety about trying dresses on to begin with. Shelby was positive and excited chatting with me when I first reached out inquiring about selection and the process in general. I immediately knew I wanted to work with her! She put many anxieties to rest.

Fast forward to the week of the appointment - she reached out, again more than helpful and excited about my appointment. She asked about what I was envisioning, if I had tried any dresses on yet, and if I had any pictures to go off of. All of my answers were loose and, I imagine, not very helpful. Haha. My vision was very blurry. I had 1 detail I was set on, the rest up in the air. I hadn't tried any dresses on yet, and I had very few pictures but all were vastly different. I also asked her to bear with me as I knew I was all over the place. She was VERY reassuring and said she had a plan.

The day of, I ended up scheduling another appointment prior. This appointment went well, and I had found a dress I thought I may end up with but hadn't said yes as I really wanted to give Shelby a shot. I am SO glad I did!

I walked in, was greeted warmly, and did introductions. She told me she had pulled some dresses and asked if I was ready. Absolutely - let's go!

I tried on 3 dresses. The first, I loved - and already wrote the dress off from the first store. The 2nd, to my surprise, even better! And then the third - WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU MA'AM!! It was like she knew. She picked up on little details - my body language, my facial expressions, even just my stance - and stepped it up for each of the following dresses.

And the craziest part? I had looked through her gowns prior to the appointment and 100% wrote my "yes dress" off beforehand (unbeknownst to Shelby, as I was trying to trust the process and had already decided I was going to try things out of my comfort zone - I wanted her to guide me). But man - it's the one! Hands down.

I'm WILDLY impressed with how welcoming, comforting, and down to earth Shelby and her mother were! For someone who was uneasy about the whole process - they made it a walk in the park! And you'd swear she knew me prior based off how well she narrowed the process down!

For someone who's very much not a girls girl, and someone who is quiet and private with emotions - these two nailed this process and even got the "yes to the dress" tears from me! From calming nerves to entertaining to making the process smooth to even dress prices -- 1,000,000,000/10 recommend them!!

And don't even get me started on how absolutely gorgeous the shop alone is!! Kudos to you both, and many thanks! You will absolutely be my first recommendation for any future brides I come...