Bri’Zan Couture — Local services in Naperville

1/2 I wish I could give Bri'Zan Couture more than three stars, as not all of my experiences with them were unsatisfactory. My initial appointment to find a wedding dress was exceptional, thanks to Lily, who is no longer with the company. Believing I had found my dress, I paid to have it shipped to the store in white, as only the black version was available on-site. I was eagerly anticipating my follow-up appointment.

Unfortunately, upon returning to try on the white dress, I learned that Lily had departed. The new stylist, while pleasant, did not match Lily's level of expertise. The white dress I had ordered fell short of my expectations, prompting us to continue our search. Although the second stylist's selections didn't align with my preferences, my mother fortuitously discovered what would become my actual wedding gown. After trying it on and falling in love with it, I, being naturally indecisive, decided to contemplate the choice overnight.

Following careful consideration, I scheduled one final appointment to ensure the dress still evoked the same "wow" factor as it had initially. During this third visit, I was paired with Lupe, whose assistance was truly phenomenal. Trying the dress on again confirmed my decision – this was indeed "the one."

During the checkout process, we were asked if we wanted to tip the stylist from my second appointment. In what I consider an act of excessive generosity, my mother tipped that stylist nearly $1,000 for her assistance. A few days later, this same stylist contacted me to request my Instagram handle for their "Say Yes to the Dress" post. Notably, she did not acknowledge or express gratitude for the substantial tip, which, while not obligatory, felt somewhat discourteous.

The subsequent chain of events became increasingly frustrating. Upon purchasing my dress on September 28th, 2023, I was informed of a July 2024 arrival date. As July approached, I waited until the third week to inquire about the dress's status. I was assured it was on schedule, expected to arrive between late July and early August. By August 9th, having received no updates, I contacted the store again and spoke with Sue, the owner. Sue explained that my dress was delayed in customs, a situation she could not monitor directly until it cleared.

Throughout late August, I received no communications regarding my dress's arrival, necessitating weekly follow-up calls. Finally, on Tuesday, September 3rd, the dress arrived. Elated, I promptly scheduled a fitting for Friday, September 7th, to try on and collect my gown.

Upon arrival for my fitting, I was disheartened to discover that the dress was significantly oversized. When I put it on, the dress quite literally fell off of me. I spent some time in the fitting room trying to zip it up more, only to find out that it was already zipped up all the way. When I stepped out from the fitting room, the first thing I said was "this dress is huge." One of the stylists, whose name I didn't catch, pinched the extra fabric in the back and stated, "Yeah, it is a couple sizes too big, but I don't want to clamp it and ruin the material." Curiosity led me to check the size label – a size 10. For context, I stand at 5'6" and weigh 118 lbs, making the dress overwhelmingly large for my frame.

I left Bri'Zan feeling deeply disappointed by what I perceived as a lack of transparency. To provide perspective, I subsequently ordered a second dress through another bridal shop, where I was measured as a size 0. While I acknowledge that sizing can vary between designers and that bridal sizes often run smaller, this discrepancy...

If I could give zero stars, I would. SHOPPERS BEWARE! As I was reading through some of the reviews I have to wonder how my experience was so horribly different than many but did find at least one other that had a similar experience but sadly it was a bride-to-be...I am just the Groom's mother.

I was in Naperville over a weekend in June for my son's church wedding and my soon-to-be in-law (Bride's mom) made us dress shopping appointments for the second wedding in December. Bri'Zan was the second shop and the assistant was very attentive and good at her job. I tried on several dresses and found one I liked. I hate shopping and was stressing over finding the right dress so I decided I would purchase the dress. At check-out, first I was told there would be shipping cost and an import tariff tax because these dresses are made overseas...that should have been the first sign to walk away. Then I was told to expect the dress to arrive the end of September or early October...this was mid-June so the lead time is 3 to 3.5 months (second warning sign). Then they said it would have to ship to them rather than directly to me and that I could either come back to pick it up or they could ship at my expense... I live in TN (third warning sign). The church wedding was the next day, Saturday, and we spent the rest of the weekend celebrating with the brides family and friends.

The more I thought about the length of time it would take to arrive, and then have it shipped to me and then have it altered, I started stressing concerned it would be to close to the wedding and was having second thoughts. My new daughter-in-law shared a website where she has previously purchased bridesmaids dresses and had great luck, and they are extremely easy to work with, and the dresses are good quality dresses, and ~1/3 the price of the dresses at Bri'Zan.

We flew home Monday and I tried to call Bri'Zan that afternoon but they are closed on Mondays. I left a voicemail for a call back but did not get one so I called again Tuesday mid-day and Sue (the owner) answered. I requested my dress order be cancelled but Sue informed me that ALL SALES ARE FINAL, there are no refunds and the order could not be cancelled. I pulled out the hard copy receipt I was given, which is a Letter Size piece of paper, and there are NO terms printed on it. She suggested I open the email they sent. She said "you signed a contract", I said the only time I "signed" anything was on the Credit Card pen pad and I was never verbally informed by the clerk that all sales are final. I was with 3 others and none heard any comments about all sales are final. She then claimed the order is immediately (electronically) sent to the factory and production of the dress had already begun and she claimed it was a custom dress. There is nothing custom about the dress, it was one they have on the rack...No one walks out of that store with a dress same day, all dresses are ordered from overseas and take a ridiculous amount of time to ship and arrive.

As I quote another reviewer, THIS STORE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU AND ONLY WANTS TO STEAL YOUR MONEY.

It is just so sad that Bri'Zan treats customers the way I and others have been treated during what should be the happiest time in a Bride-to-be's life or in my case, my first child's...

ZERO STAR REVIEW: If you could run as far as possible from this place, it wouldn’t be far enough. Any bride that wants a positive bridal experience and doesn’t want to be scammed out of money, SHOULD AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. In short, I am out about $3,000 and had to buy a new dress AND veil five months out from my wedding date. Before I bought my dress, I told Lily that I loved it but had slight concerns about fit. I wanted to feel comfortable on my day, and because the dress was a mermaid style, I wanted to make sure it was loose in the hips and knees so I could walk with ease. Lily assured me it would be no problem and the size that they would order me would fit how they clipped the sample on me (not skin-tight in stomach/hips and loose in the knees so I could walk, sit and dance). For some extra reassurance, Lily called Sue over to chat alternations with me, and she also assured me that the dress would fit like the sample I had on. With this, I had my measurements taken and Lily put in an order for a Size 4 dress, which was recommended to me for sizing. When the dress came in, Shannon told me to "sign the pen pad saying I was picking up my items that day". She then proceeded to let me try my items on which I confirmed I could do prior to my visit. I was flabbergasted as the dress didn't fit as I was promised and was so tight I couldn't even walk one step. Yes, I ordered a Size 4 - but this specific dress was WAY tighter than I was promised it would fit when it came in. I have proof of how they told me it would fit as they don't let you take photos of dresses until you buy them (see pics of how they told me it would fit below vs. how it came in). I was fat shamed by Sue (owner) and Ana (manager) and was told that I "gained two inches" and "it was likely from the holidays just wrapping up". I am 110 lbs for starters and I did NOT gain weight. Sue also told me, "I couldn't gain any more weight" if I wanted to wear it. The veil they gave me also had pearls with holes in them that aren't sewn, and it has glue all over it. I recently requested a copy of what I signed on the pen pad saying I was "picking up my dress that day". The store returns a copy of a contract I've never seen before that includes verbiage stating that I, "thoroughly inspected my merchandise" picked up that day. I told the store I had never seen this language before and it wasn't presented to me when I signed. I am still waiting for the store's response back to me on why they would ask customers to sign language like this PRIOR TO SEEING THE ITEMS they're picking up. Two visits and no solutions presented and no offer to order me a bigger dress for THEIR mistake or a new veil that is of QUALITY. These people are THIEVES and FAT SHAMERS and don't care about you once they have your money in their pockets. All of the bad reviews make sense now and why a bride walked out in front of me during one of my visits now makes sense as well. DO NOT SHOP HERE FOR ANYTHING I WARN YOU NOW. THIS STORE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOU AND ONLY WANTS TO...