Kleinfeld Bridal — Local services in New York

I visited Kleinfeld this past weekend, traveling from New Jersey for my VIP appointment with my two sisters, mom, and bridesmaid, who all came in from the Washington DC area. Prior to my appointment, I filled out the questionnaire, listed my budget, and added some favorite dresses to my Kleinfeld profile online. This was my very first experience visiting a wedding dress shop and was so excited to have the Kleinfeld experience. We arrived 10 minutes prior to my 9:15a appointment, and noticed some really upset bridal parties who look like they had been waiting a while. I spotted one mom visibly upset speaking to the front desk who looked less than interested in addressing her concerns. I think we may have waited 10-15 min at the most before we were introduced to Lisa our consultant, who had such great energy and was just as excited as we were. I had seen Say Yes to the Dress a few times, but really only knew Randy. My sister instantly recognized and was thrilled we got her. We went into a private room and discussed more things that I had answered in the questionnaire. She also asked my budget and I confirmed $8,000, a budget I felt was significant and wanted to stay within. Lisa asked me if I had pictures of any of the dresses I was interested in and I said no although I had favorited them on my profile. I thought this would've at least been looked at before I arrived, but nonetheless, it didn't take much time to pull the dresses I liked. Lisa was amazing. She taught me how to step into the dresses, helped me get them over my curves and really did give great advice and advocated for what I wanted. She deserves all the praise! I tried on maybe 6-7 dresses. The first dress I tried on I liked and I was really starting to feel like things were going well. There were a couple dresses that didn't measure up, and two dresses that ended up replacing the first one I initially liked: one my sisters and mom liked and one that I really liked. Both dresses had likes and dislikes about them, which only made the decision to choose a dress much more difficult. Looking back on the experience, I wish I was given more time to try on different dresses, even though I had a 3-hour VIP appointment, my family were never given the opportunity to find me a dress, I never got a chance to browse, and Lisa didn't pull any dresses herself. Instead of trying to see what else was available, I felt pressured to make a decision between the two dresses I wasn't sold on. Out of the two dresses, one being a mermaid dress and the other being a 2-in-1 ball gown type, I did like the mermaid dress more, but I didn't like the color (which could be changed), and I didn't like the bottom (which prompted to add a custom Tony Ward skirt to the dress $$$). Adding a 3ft train to the dress was also recommended and purchasing the custom veil. The additional add-ons and alterations were really starting to make me nervous regarding my budget. Lisa did ask me if we had wiggle room in the budget and I did say yes, thinking wiggle room was anywhere from $500-1000 more. The skirt they had me try on with the Mermaid dress I selected did not look good at all, but wanting me to see the vision of what it could be although the dress was never intended to have a skirt. The dress looked great on me, I'm not going to lie. It accentuated my curves and made me feel beautiful. But the fact I needed to make so many costly changes to the dress made me uncomfortable and I should've been given an opportunity to see more dresses that would've required less adjustments. It was almost like they needed to "fix" the dress for me to "love it" instead of me finding the dress I "loved". I did say yes, but the entire time I felt uneasy about it. It became even more uncomfortable after measurements were taken. Additional costly add-ons were recommended without disclosing the cost. It was just sign here, sign there, we're going to this, add this, add that and then I was rushed to a financial office for a $12,000 dress. $4,000 over budget. I was so upset! We ended up canceling the order...

Wow!!! 5-star experience for sure. TLDR --amazing value, once-in-a-lifetime experience, would highly recommend that you book one of the 'VIP packages' (more time, private stylist, money off of dress purchase). getting dress fitting soon, will update with each step of the process!

Long version: My mom and I are lifetime "Say Yes to the Dress" binge-watchers. I was incredibly surprised that everything lived up to the hype. I'm originally from rural Midwest (now live on east coast), and this was my mom's first trip to NYC, first time riding a train, in an uber, etc -- this experience was JUST as much for her as it was for me!

I booked an appointment 11 mo out from my wedding, and this was plenty of time. I went with the VIP "Platinum" package ($500, 3 hrs with a personal stylist -- i got two stylists!, up to four guests, champagne, free gifts, money off my purchase). I would HIGHLY recommend doing one of these VIP experiences -- the money I saved absolutely covered the cost of the appointment, plus I was not rushed, had plenty of time to try on a variety of different styles, and the personal attention made such a big life event all the more special. I had read online that if you're a walk-in or standard appointment, that you're only given 90 min and no dedicated stylist -- from what I could see, not having a private area seemed very hectic and I feel like I would have been stressed trying to find my dress in such a short window. I brought my mom, soon to be SIL, and 2 bridesmaids with me - we had a private space for them with champagne, and I had plenty of solo time with my stylist(s) to chat without everyone else's opinions. My stylist was Victoria, and she was ABSOLUTELY perfect -- 12/10. She had grown up with parents in the bridal industry, and her knowledge, great personality, and clear enjoyment of her job made my experience spectacular.

I was incredibly impressed with how well they stuck to my budget. If you are like me, you might be worried that in coming to the world's #1 bridal place, you'd be expected to spend a fortune. Not the case at all. I told my stylist up front that I wasn't willing to pay a cent over $4k as my all in budget. There were HUNDREDS of dresses within this range, and with alterations, veil, etc -- happy to tell you I spent ~$2200. I was never, ever pressured into making a purchase or increasing my budget, in fact it was quite the opposite - everyone seemed to be going out of their way to make sure that not only was I happy with my dress, but also getting the best deal possible. I had this incredible experience at an iconic (and personally meaningful!) store, and in the end, I spent less than many of my friends who went to small local boutiques. I've been lucky enough to attend many fittings with friends, and although I might be biased since it was my own dress appointment, I really feel that there's no comparison between Kleinfeld and anywhere else.

I was also impressed with the selection in my price range - my dress is incredibly intricate, despite not costing tens of thousands of dollars. It was from one of their trunk show collections, making it nearly one of a kind. This was my first and only dress appointment -- I felt strongly that if I couldn't find the perfect dress at a place like Kleinfeld, it simply didn't exist. I tried on SO many beautiful dresses, but I fell in love with the first dress I tried on. I still attribute this to my stylist Victoria being absolutely incredible - she listened to my preferences, and immediately found my dream dress. I've never felt more beautiful. So OF COURSE, I said yes to the dress!!!

On top of everything, Victoria even called a local restaurant she had connections at to get us a table on short notice at this lovely rooftop bar to celebrate. I still can't get over the level of service -- everything I dreamed of and more. If you're on the fence, I hope I can convince you -- it is so worth it. My first fitting is soon, and after my wedding, I'll upload pics of my experience and come back with updates on the rest of...

My experience at Kleinfeld’s was far from what I had expected. As an NYC girl, I always dreamed of visiting Kleinfeld’s for my wedding, but while planning a wedding at the height of the pandemic, I decided to purchase my wedding dress in October 2021 at a local boutique to avoid the city crowds. Fast forward to May 2022 with my wedding three weeks away, I still hadn’t found the right pair of earrings to compliment my look. That’s when I decided to book an accessory appointment at Kleinfeld’s. The reservation person was pleasant, helpful, and even wrote in the appointment notes that I wanted to try on the sample of my dress that Kleinfeld’s had to ensure that the earrings matched the dress.

On the day of my appointment, my mother and I excitedly arrived at Kleinfeld’s. We checked in and waited for the Accessories Consultant to arrive. Once our consultant, Jason, arrived, our visit went downhill from there. Jason was not very inviting and seemed very rushed. He said hello, took us downstairs to the accessory section, and proceeded to let us know which accessories would be available for me to take home that day. He then said for me to look at what they had, and he would be back. At no point did he ask me about what I was looking for, nor did he make any suggestions as to what he thought would go with the dress. Overall, he seemed very unprepared for our appointment and did not pay attention to any of the notes I explicitly asked to be added to my appointment information.

Before he walked away, I mentioned to him that I wanted to try the sample of my dress they had in stock to see how the accessories would fit, and he immediately got upset and flustered. He said it wasn’t possible because they don’t let people who didn’t purchase their dress at Kleinfeld’s try on their samples. I found this to be odd since plenty of people visit Kleinfeld’s to try on dresses and don’t always purchase their dresses there. I told him that when I made the appointment, the person I spoke with told me it wouldn’t be a problem and being able to try on my dress was one of the reasons why I booked my appointment. He seemed very irritated and even got a little loud, saying, “I am so sick of customer service giving people the wrong information. What they told you was incorrect.” He then asked me for the style no. of my dress. I gave him the number and mentioned that the style number should be on the reservation notes.

My mother and I were taken aback by his off-putting demeanor, complete lack of professionalism, and unwillingness to help. While we waited for Jason, my mother and I did find a lovely pair of earrings we thought might work. To our surprise, Jason came back with the sample of my dress and asked that we follow him to a dressing room. I am not sure why he made such a big deal about letting me try on the dress, but I was glad that I was able to.

I tried on the dress with the earrings and thought they matched well. Once I was dressed, Jason came in and said he liked the earrings and thought they fit my headpiece well. He was noticeably rushed and seemed like he just did not want to be there. When my mother asked if they had any other options for earrings, he said no and he thought those were the best. He asked me if I wanted to purchase them, and I said yes. He quickly took the earrings to get them ready. I got out of the dress, paid for the earrings, and went on my way.

Overall, the experience at Kleinfeld’s was disappointing and underwhelming. I did not appreciate how Jason treated us, and his lack of customer service. This was not the personally tailored experience I had hoped for. My earrings were beautiful, but I think I could have gotten much better service at a...