Brandi's Bridal Galleria Etc — Local services in New Glarus

I have mixed feelings about Brandi's Bridal so I'd like to share my experience.

I first went 11 months before my wedding with only one person, just to get the feel of what it was like before I go with a whole group of people. I worked with Emily who I felt just really listened to me and understood exactly what I was asking/looking for. She was so amazing, so helpful, and made me feel really good. I am a plus sized bride so feeling confident and comfortable was really important to me and she really made me feel like such a queen! I ended up falling deeply in love with a dress, but I couldn't say yes without everyone else there.

I went back a month or so later with the whole group, but this time I worked with Abby (sp?) and I have to say, the entire experience sent me away in tears. It was horrible. She was incredibly rude the entire time. It was clear she did not want to be there or help me at all. Every time I picked out a dress, she would sigh and complain about something about the dress. When I went to try on the dress I knew I loved, she complained the entire time about the buttons and said the dress was "massive" then she gave up on putting it on me. She didn't say a word after each dress I put on, gave no input or anything. She wouldn't even fluff my dress when I was standing in front of my group. I had to keep asking my guests. She kept just handing me the dresses to try to get in to, whereas Emily would lay them out and grab my hand to help me step in to it and she would pull it up to put on me. Abby did not do any of that. She would hand me the dress and leave it for me to figure out on my own. The entire appointment was a disaster, even though I ended up saying yes, I definitely left crying because I felt robbed of the one experience I've dreamt of since I was a kid.

The alterations were pretty good, overall. My first fitting was pleasant and the older woman I worked with really knew what she was doing. During my second fitting, I started crying because the dress was cut way too short. The seamstress (a totally different person than last time) assured me it "looked fine" and that it should be that length and that nobody will notice the length. I was devastated. I didn't love my dress anymore and I didn't know what to do with that. I didn't have time to get a new one. My mom tried to comfort me the entire time of the appointment and tried to convince me it was fine. I begged them to please do whatever they can to fix it. They suggested steaming it really well so that all of the layers of material will relax and maybe that will add a little length back to it but "there's not guarantees". I was crushed, but I agreed. My third fitting, the length was PERFECT, thank god! I was so happy with how it all looked! Now the only problem was the illusion neck line still wasn't right. They assured me it will be fixed by the time I picked it up.

It was still baggy in areas it shouldn't have been, and it was no longer a capped sleeve dress, but almost more of a tank top style. It didn't bother me too much, though I would have preferred the capped sleeves. It looks a little baggy in the front in some of my wedding pictures, but honestly, I didn't mind that as much. I would have been much more upset if the length didn't get fixed.

The dress itself was nearly 1300, and alterations were about 750. I'm upset that I had to pay that much for alterations given all the upsetting discoveries, but it is what it is. I also would have strongly preferred having the same seamstress each fitting instead of 3 different ones.

I'm not entirely sure I would recommend Brandi's and I think if I could go back in time I would have chosen Vera's. I will say that the shop was beautiful and very clean and there was a very large selection of dresses, even for plus sized brides! I loved the lighting and the roomy dressing rooms and the amount of mirrors. The accessories were absurd in price so I went a different route there, too.

Overall I think that if anyone else had been my consultant, this would be a 4 or 5...

I want to emphasize that my poor review is by no means at the hands of my consultant (of which I sadly do not recall her name). Matter of fact, she is the only reason this is 2 stars and not 1.

Long story short: My 2-stars are due to the store's policies. I fully understand I signed and agreed, but I think it is simply poor business to not allow for a forfeiting of deposit. All in all, this serves as more of a BEWARE to shoppers. In signing/purchasing the dress, you are committing to paying in full, regardless if you pick up the dress. I will now be not only down $900 for a dress I am not wearing, but $1,800 + 2 hours of drive time to retrieve the dress.

Long story long: After looking at several bridal stores in south central WI over the course of a few days, I thought I had found the dress. Full transparency, I felt like I needed to order one ASAP seeing as I was 9 months out from my wedding. I really liked the dress I ended up buying, but developed regret and ended up finding one I loved on a sale rack from a different store that I could take home that day. I knew I would be taking a loss in the $900 deposit I place at Brandi's for my 1st gown that hadn't arrived yet (and wasn't in my possession). What I found out and am genuinely disappointed and saddened by in terms of simply being a good business is that they won't allow me to simply forfeit my deposit and not pick up the dress. There was nothing 'special' about the order. I simply ordered a dress in a regular designer made size, so I am unsure why the verbiage acts like my order was 'unique' and 'custom order'. The whole reason I started to get remorse is because I saw so many others with the dress! I must pay the remaining balance despite knowing I am not wearing it and pick it up or be charged $25 late fees until I do so. One would assume the $900 loss in deposit would be punishment enough, but the additional $900 I owe is kicking me while I'm down. I obviously did not want to fall out of love with that dress, but life happens and I deserve to feel beautiful on my wedding day. This is not how one typically thinks of a deposit (non-refundable or not), so perhaps the store should rethink its verbiage and sympathize more with its customers. This is the biggest day of most of our lives, one would hope a good business would have more empathy with wanting us to feel 100%, even if it means going a different dress route without penalizing our bank account.

In response to the owners response below: I had someone else call on my behalf a few weeks ago, so you never spoke with me because I wouldn't have been as cordial as she was. Even the consultant who first answered the phone didn't think I would be charged the remaining, but just have to forfeit what I already paid. She double checked with someone else who told her that I would in fact be charged the remaining. As for it being 'normal practice', while I don't know the policy of every store, the one I ultimately got my dress from did not have this policy and said it certainly isn't common.

I will reiterate, I understand I signed the policy. BUT, it should be much more clear that not only are you signing for the "deposit" but the remainder of the dress as well. The money down was not a "deposit" it was a payment. Deposits are forfeitable with...

I had nothing but problems when going to Brandi’s for my wedding dress. The first time I went the girl was new and hadn't done many fittings before. She didn’t have any clips at first so I’m trying to picture myself in a dress while holding it up because it’s too big. At the end of the appointment I scheduled another one and had told her there were two dresses I liked and she said she’d write them down so I could try them on again next time. Well when I came back she had written down one of the dresses wrong, luckily I had taken pictures of the number or we would’ve spent the whole appointment trying to find the correct dress. Picking the dress wasn’t the main problem though. I should’ve listened to other reviews that said not to use them for alterations. When my dress finally came the bra cups were poking out of the dress and other things needed to be fixed. I went back for my second fitting and the cups were still poking out and the dress was bunching on the sides. I was told again this would be fixed. I went for my third, and what should’ve been my final fitting, and had a new seamstress. The bra cups were still poking out and the dress was still bunching on the sides. This seamstress told me that she didn’t know why the cups weren’t fixed and the tightening line the previous seamstress used to try and fix the bunching never would’ve worked, and she was unsure why that seamstress chose to do that. At this point they wanted me to schedule my appointment to take my dress out, but I said no I want to try it on again for another fitting, because I didn’t feel confident it would be finished. They only scheduled me for a try on, but not with a seamstress. I went back and again the bra cups were poking out over the dress, the bunching was fixed by boning but that was stabbing me because they didn’t trim it. My dress actually got even worse at this point because there was lace hanging off, and the back of the dress had more loops than buttons! These are obvious things that can be noticed on the hanger and don’t require me in the dress to realize it’s not right! It was two weeks out from my wedding at this point. We came to an agreement that the main seamstress was the only lady who would touch my dress moving forward because the summer help did such a terrible job. The reason for the 3 stars is because when I went back a week before my wedding the dress was finished and it eventually came out beautifully. However, the only compensation I received was not having to pay for my 4th and 5th visits, but I still had to pay over $800 in alterations. I did receive many compliments on my dress, but I recommend anyone that’s looking here for a wedding dress should take it somewhere else for alterations. They have no clue what they’re doing at this place. I have no idea why they continue to receive awards for...