Bella Bleu Bridal - By Appointment Only — Local services in New Trier Township

This review is for the management of Bella Bleu Bridal.

Two years ago I found my wedding dress at Bella Bleu. It was a form fitted Made With Love dress. When there I tried on the sample size in a 12 (I am 5’6” and at the time weighed 137 pounds) the skirt fit nicely but the top was swimming on me. I’m small chested but have wide hips and because of this I paid for split sizing so each part of the dress would fit me properly. The bridal attendant measured me and placed my order.

Fast forward to July when I went to try my dress on for the first time. I weighed 131.8 pounds and I was so proud of myself to have lost that weight. I go to try on my dress and literally, we could hardly zip it up. The skirt was way too tight and I looked like a stuffed sausage in it. You could see my seamless underwear and any “fat” I did have. It was so embarrassing and I was sobbing. When I asked the bridal attendant/manager Liz what happened she goes “well this is what you ordered!” Ummmm…did I? I don’t remember placing an order. I remember YOUR bridal attendant taking my measurements and telling ME what sizes SHE was going to order based on my measurements! She then assured me the dress could be taken out 2 sizes and that “any seamstress would be able to do that seamlessly!!!” Ok, but even so there was no guarantee that IF this dress COULD be taken out two sizes that it would fit me. That’s how tight it was. Because of this, I was forced to lose even more weight before my wedding.

I did take the dress reluctantly and went straight to my seamstress, who was as horrified as I was. I was sobbing as she said “I don’t know honey, I will do what I can but I’m going to need you to do your part too” which meant I would have to lose more weight.

The next day I emailed BB outlying this experience along with actual data of my weigh-in’s from the day I purchased the dress to the day I picked up the dress for proof that I lost 5+ pounds. Their response back was AWFUL. Liz sent me a bunch of garbage about how MWL dresses are constructed and sized (who cares???? The point is you guys ordered me the wrong size!) and blamed ME for choosing the sizing and even said “some brides choose to get their dresses smaller so they can take them out.” NO ONE INTENTIONALLY ORDERS ANYTHING TO BE TAKEN OUT. The ONLY sensible thing they offered me was to swap the dress for a full size 12 dress. A size 12 top would have looked ridiculous on me. The material would have been way too much.

I called Liz and rationally picked apart her email and the blame she placed on me, along with calling out the “many brides choose to get a smaller dress to let it out vs take it in” statement, which she agreed was ridiculous.

The only solution we settled on was that they would reimburse me ~$130 for the split sizing I paid for. That’s it.

For the subsequent weeks, I basically developed a forced eating disorder. I counted every single crumb I put in my mouth. I cut out sugar, grains, alcohol, and dairy. I weighed in every single day, multiple times a day. I kept losing weight and kept going back to my seamstress, and the dress still didn’t fit properly. She kept having to take it out more. I kept having to lose more weight.

By my wedding day I weighed 127 pounds, which was thinner than my high school weight. The dress fit me perfectly and I looked insane in it. But it wouldn’t have if I didn’t “do my part” and lose that extra weight.

So why am I sharing this now? Because at the time, I was weak. I’ve omitted that my mom actually passed away in May of that year, 2 months before this happened and four months short of our wedding. With all the grief and sadness, I did not have the energy to stand up for myself. I didn’t have my mom to stand up for me either. I had to focus on grieving, planning a wedding my mom wasn’t going to be at, and losing more weight. It was awful.

Sadly Bella Bleu never checked in on me again.

So what is my recommendation here? I really don’t know. I just know my story needed to be told so I can feel less taken advantage of. I wish my...

I do not recommend buying anything online from this store, as I had a very unpleasant experience. I live in Europe, and found a dress that I really loved in this store. It was a sample model, and discounted, so my mom called the store to confirm the condition. The owner assured her that it was in perfect condition (minus tiny details). She said that it had only been on display for 3 months, and that she personally inspected it. When I finally got the dress, I found a number of things that suggest that it was a used dress--much of the detail was coming loose, there was a rip in the train and front strap (difficult to notice, but definitely there) and the lining was dirty and stretched out. I took it to a professional dry cleaner and he agreed that it looks like it was definitely used before, and the store simply resold it as a 'sample'. When we tried to call and complain, the owner basically said that we were responsible for everything (including the rip!). Very disappointing and unprofessional. I definitely took a risk in good faith, and was sorely disappointed. Don't make the same mistake! CLARIFICATION: It did take a while for me to receive the dress, as I live abroad, and I understood the risk that I was taking when ordering, but given that my wedding isn't until September, decided to rely on the professionalism of the store. It is unfortunate that I couldn't get the dress until now, but doesn't change the fact that it came in absolutely unacceptable condition. I can understand that there might have been some imperfections, but what came is nowhere close to what is described below. I rarely write negative reviews, and certainly never with the intention or 'ruining' a business, but hopefully this will prevent others from making the same mistake, or perhaps force the store to reconsider how they treat...

Liz and her team at Bella Bleu Bridal deliver a luxury and extremely welcoming environment for brides. They not only worked so well with my preferences, but curated a wonderful lineup of dresses I had no idea would look good on my body type! This was the very first bridal shop I visited, and from the first dress I tried (ended up being THE ONE) I knew Bella Bleu Bridal was special. My maid of honor suggested I visit two more bridal shops to get a variety of options, but with each store, it proved that none of them competed to the selection, the experience, and the customer service I received here at Bella Bleu Bridal. I cannot suggest this place enough, PLEASE visit here! Not only will you see yourself even more beautiful as when you walked in, but you won’t regret how special this place makes you feel! Here are some of the dresses I tried on but didn’t end up choosing! I wish I can post the dress I said yes to but that review will come after the wedding! Thank you a million to Liz and her team for making a stressful decision a...