Dressing Dreams — Local services in Hartwell

We have a house on Lake Hartwell and I drive past Dressing Dreams whenever I drive through town. I've always admired how they always have a color scheme on what is showcased in the windows. And the displays are always beautiful. But frankly, I always wondered how in the world Hartwell could support a wedding/ formal dress shop. Well, now I know.

My daughter is getting married and I suggested we come here while we were at our Lakehouse so she could get an idea of what style dress she wanted. Our daughter lives in Indianapolis and this was going to be our first chance to go dress shopping. Since we live in the Atlanta area, I really thought we would end up buying her dress at one of the many bridal stores there.

My daughter reached out to the store early in the week and they explained you get an appointment time and there is a $25 fee but that amount is applied to your dress purchase, if you buy a dress. They told her since it was her first time trying on wedding dresses it would probably take around 2 hours. They were very quick with their responses and she said they were super nice. She was also told she could bring up to five people with her.

When we walked in the door I was in awe. The place is huge and beautiful. We were quickly introduced to Lauren, who would be helping us. She was truly amazing. She led us back to our area and got us seated and we were offered water or mimosas to drink. Then Lauren talked to my daughter and got an idea of what style she thought she might like. Lauren then invited my daughter and one other person to go with her and pick out dresses to try on.

(Upon asking her, Lauren said people come from hours away to buy their wedding and other formal dresses here. They had an entire middle section of the store where young ladies seemed to be trying on prom dresses. I think I heard they also sell pageant dresses and mother of the bride dresses. The set up with seating for family or friends is the same for the pageant/other formal dresses. After being here I am not surprised people travel to come here.)

They came back with five dresses and a few different styles to see what style she really liked. All in all, she tried on 14 dresses. During this time we were offered warm chocolate chip cookies twice. Such a nice touch. We were in an area at the back of the store that had four different seating areas to accommodate four different groups. You had two couches, a side table and a platform for the bride to stand on with large mirrors around her. Lauren helped my daughter put on each dress and put the clamps on to give her a better idea how it would fit since she is tiny and the dresses were larger than she would wear. Lauren was so patient and kind and helpful. I can't say enough great things about her and our entire experience.

My daughter narrowed it down to her two favorite dresses and Lauren helped her try each on again. She then also got some veils out for Samantha to try with the dress. But never did we feel pressured. In the end, my daughter found "the dress". (But don't worry, none of my attached pictures are of the dress she picked.) I asked my daughter if she wanted to look in Atlanta and she felt strongly that it wasn't necessary. So what I thought would just be a trip to figure out what style she might like best turned out to be the only place we needed to go. Half of the dress has to be paid for when you order it. We ordered it April 2 and were told it should be in sometime in early July. It will need to be paid off by the time it is picked up. They will steam the dress three times for you but they don't do any alterations in house. Lauren told us they do have a sheet they can give you with tailors they recommend to do alterations.

Dressing Dreams was amazing. It was a very special day helping my daughter pick out a dress that made her feel beautiful. Well done. Dressing Dreams is a wonderful place that works seamlessly to make each person there...

WOW! I could go on and on about the incredible experience I had at Dressing Dreams. I recently got engaged and Dressing Dreams was the first place I wanted to go to look for my wedding dress. While it was definitely further away than some of the local shops in Atlanta, I had a feeling that I might have good luck. We drove almost 2 hrs to get there and I’m so glad we did. They go above and beyond to make you feel so special. Ahead of time they will send you a quick survey asking some questions about your dress style, budget, people you’re bringing, etc. Once I got there they had mimosas and water waiting for us and my consultant Gracey had already selected a few dresses that I mentioned in the survey. They let you pick one other person to look through the dress racks and select a few that you think you might like. Your consultant will also pick a few. I’m so glad I got the chance to look through and pick out some just so I could have “the experience” but in the end I knew my consultant would know better than me. Gracey was SO WONDERFUL. She truly cared and guided me through the process with such kindness. Never once did I feel pressured. She listening to my thoughts on each dress and picked out incredible dresses. She was so encouraging and truly made my experience wonderful. Bethany, the manager, also listened in on my appointment and after a few dresses heard what I liked and didn’t like and selected the perfect dress. In the end, Bethany’s dress was the winner and I couldn’t be any more excited! Everyone at dressing dreams was INCREDIBLE. True southern hospitality and the most wonderful experience I could have asked for. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone to come to Dressing Dreams to find your dream wedding dress. They truly were such a blessing and made this the best experience. Thank you to Gracey, Bethany, and everyone at Dressing Dreams. I can’t wait for my dress to come in this November. If I could give 10...

Long sappy Review!! I had the best experience ever yesterday 8/16 !! I had a pretty large group and was expecting more to show but things came up, and i had about 7 people with me. From the moment we walked in we were greeted nicely and asked if we would like any water, mimosas, etc. My stylists name was Lauren, she had a new girl with her, (forgive me cause I cannot remember her name) but they both came to the front and grabbed me and my group, and showed us the area of which we’d be at. The Shop wasn’t too busy with my appointment being at 11 am, but when we got to the room we jumped right into it, Lauren asked me who I wanted to go with me to the dress rack, and of course I picked my mom. Lauren showed us the area we needed to be in for my budget, and just really helped out picking out a few to try on! When trying them on, her trainee helped clip the dress and zip me up which was super super welcoming. Laurens Manager even jumped in to help give some other options for me to try on which I loved doing! FINALLY after about 10 dresses i said YES. Afterward we took pictures and just took it all in once we got outside of the shop we were all super hungry so my mom went back inside and asked what around hartwell was a good place to eat at they recommended Southern Hart Brewing company! We walked down from the shop to check it out and get a bite (I had a dressing dreams water bottle at the table) , after sitting down my purse fell off my chair falling in the floor the man behind us picked it up and gave it back to me, after eating our waitress came over to tell us that the man behind us and his wife paid for our whole bill, & it so happened to be the owners of Dressing Dreams! Me & my group were all in shock! Thank you Soo Soo much for everything, Lauren, her manager, The lovely owners and the rest...