The Gown Gallery — Local services in Kansas City

We came to Gown Gallery after visiting another salon that was warm, welcoming, and genuinely focused on helping my best friend find her dream wedding dress. That experience made what followed all the more disappointing.

We arrived a bit early for our appointment and decided to check in. We waited about five minutes before anyone even acknowledged us. When someone finally did, she didn’t greet us. She just asked for the name on the appointment and turned away. When she came back, we were directed to our seats in silence. No welcome. Not even a simple offer of water like the previous salon. Just a clipboard and an awkward wait.

No one explained what was going on or when our stylist would arrive. We sat there in silence, wondering what was happening. When the stylist finally showed up a few minutes before our official appointment time, she didn’t greet us or make any effort to connect. She simply took the bride away without a word to the rest of us. From the very beginning, the stylist never shared her name. By the end of the appointment, not one of us, including the bride, even knew who she was.

While the first dress was stunning and truly the one to beat, the stylist disappeared while we were trying to figure out if the sparkly underlayer could be changed. When she returned, we asked and she showed us a few alternate options, which we liked. But from there, the appointment only got more uncomfortable.

The bride had made it clear that she did not want sweetheart necklines and preferred a straight neckline instead. Yet again and again, the stylist pulled dresses with exactly the styles she didn’t want. It felt like she wasn't listening at all.

What made this even more frustrating was how the stylist reacted when we didn’t like her picks. She seemed personally offended any time we gave honest feedback, as though we had hurt her feelings by saying something wasn’t the right fit. It made the whole group uncomfortable. This was such a stark contrast to the stylist at the previous salon, who told us, "I don’t design these gowns, and they don’t have feelings. Say whatever you want. I’m here to help her find the right dress, not to take anything personally." That mindset created a fun and open experience. Gown Gallery made us feel like we were walking on eggshells.

After trying several dresses, we asked to see the first one again. Once it was back on and the veil was added, everyone in the room was clearly emotional and excited. The stylist, however, barely acknowledged it.

Another consultant walked up and asked about the veil right in front of us, acting as though we weren’t even there. Eventually, the bride had to directly ask, “Do you want to take the veil?” because the conversation was happening over her head.

Even after my friend told the stylist she had chosen the dress, there was no enthusiasm. No congratulations. Just a quiet “okay,” a turn to the iPad, and she walked off without saying anything else.

Then we were left waiting. For 45 minutes. Alone. No updates. No explanation. No effort to check in. We had to go find the stylist ourselves to ask what was going on. She told us she was ringing things up and would be back.

We genuinely debated walking away and trying to find the dress at another store. That is how bad the experience had been. When she finally returned, my friend asked if we could take a photo to commemorate the moment. The stylist said "yup," then walked away again. After we paid, she had clearly forgotten, and the bride had to ask again if we could take a photo.

It is devastating that my best friend found her dream dress in the middle of such a joyless, disorganized experience. A moment that should have been emotional and memorable ended up feeling awkward, impersonal, and draining. I would not recommend Gown...

I rate my shopping experience with Robin five stars. However the fitting/alterations experience I rate zero stars, so figured overall that's 2 stars. This review focuses on the fitting experience. Gown Gallery told me at the shopping time that when the dress came in, they could do fittings back to back on Friday/Saturday so I'd only have to make one trip (I came from out of town). They decided the times of these fittings; I relied on them to do what they do because this is after all their business. The first fitting was ok, but my gown was extremely wrinkled which caused me concern about if the length was going to be ok - because when fabric is pressed out, it will be longer. But again, they should know best right? (They had the dress for over week before my first fitting so plenty of time to get the wrinkles taken care of). Came back Saturday for second fitting. The dress was not there - it had gotten left at the seamstress' house - this is when I found out they contract out their alterations. I guess I just figured in KC that they would have a seamstress on site so this was disappointing. After the dress finally arrived back, I tried it on and since the Friday person hadn't pinned the cups, they were not in the right place and had to be moved. Even after that, they still weren't what I hoped for. Further the gown still wasn't pressed. The gown gallery person seemed surprised that we were planning to take the dress back with us that evening (our appt was 5 pm Saturday). I told them that they picked these appts times and told us this would work. They then said that this gown probably won't steam out very well based on the type of fabric and it would need to be professionally pressed and I may want to have that done at a local dry cleaners because they didn't have a press- what?! That would cost additional money and I told them I was told the dress would be ready to go and that was included. I was very upset at this point. Have they never had a gown with this type of fabric before?? We left that Saturday evening without the dress; I got in the car and cried. This is a once in a lifetime experience that was completely ruined for me. They sent the gown out to be pressed and the alterations person agreed to drive it to me the following Wednesday - which she did. The gown looked much better, but did arrive in a large plastic bag - I thought I was told I'd receive a garment bag for it, but did not, but maybe I misunderstood. I tried the dress on after the person left only to find out that indeed, now that the gown is pressed, yep, it's too long. I spent $3k on a dress/veil. They charged me $522 for alterations of which $300 was for hemming and they only hemmed the bottom layer because that's all we thought it needed, but in the end, after pressing, not only is the bottom layer still too long, but the other layers probably also need hemming - also $300 for hemming the bottom layer seemed a bit excessive, but I agreed to pay what they charged because I thought I was getting something professionally done. This is not the alterations person's fault as she just hemmed it to where it was pinned, but because the dress was not pressed at the start of this, none of the alterations are right. I wasted a lot of money and had a terrible experience and now, I have to find another place to alter my gown before the wedding in 6 weeks because I absolutely will not take it back to the gown gallery to finish the job they should've done correctly in the...

I visited the gown gallery as a bridesmaid to find the wedding dress my closest friend, a day we had dreamt of since we were children. This ended up being one of the worst experiences in a store I have ever had and NOTHING like the day we had dreamed of. Mind you we had traveled from out of state for this appointment.

Upon our arrival the energy was immediately off. I first chalked it up to us having come from true society which was an experience above and beyond our imaginations. While at the gown gallery we were greeted as if we were a nuisance and ushered to our area where we waited for a good 10 minutes before a young woman appeared. We then had to assume she was the stylist because she never introduced herself. The lack of communication was appalling and became a continuing theme throughout the appointment.

The bride began sharing photos directly from the gown gallery website and was met with “we don’t have that here”. Why put it on the site if it’s not an option?! I could see the immense disappointment on the brides face as that dress was the main reason we came to the gown gallery.

The bride began trying on dresses and was repeatedly brought dresses in the style she specified she was not interested in. While dresses were on there was no questions about what the bride did/ didn’t like about the dress so that the next dress could be improved. I wholeheartedly believe that the stylist saw the iPad screen more than the bride! When the bride stepped out in what we all could tell was THE dress there was absolutely no enthusiasm from staff, no “is this the dress” question, nothing. The bride then told her this was the dress she wanted she replied “is that the size you want”. Dress sizing is notoriously difficult to approximate and should be done from measurements but I guess the gown gallery just hopes you know your size. Once the decision was made the stylist disappeared for 45 minutes with no explanation as to where she was going or what she was doing. Finally we had to find another staff member to ask where she went. She returned to say she was ringing up the dress. The mother of the bride paid for the dress and out the door we went. No timeline of when the bride could expect the dress to be ready, how to contact them with any questions, or even a simple thank you. As we were leaving we learned our stylist was the granddaughter of the owner Sharon. We only had this information because she addressed her as grandma. Still never got a name.

It is disheartening to read the good reviews and see what could have been. I hate to see the experience and anxiety that is connected to my best friend finding her dress. Now we just hope it arrives seeing as some other people have had theirs just...