L'Fay Bridal — Local services in New York

I found this place today, and after emailing to make sure there would be dresses in my (measly) budget Renata invited me to come in, and mentioned that they were having a President's day sale - and boy am I glad I did. I've been to all the big stores in the city, where I felt rushed, pressured, and underwhelmed by both service and selection in my style but today I found an amazing dress - that I got on an amazing sale.

The Money:

A lot of their stock is on the expensive side, but I told Renata my budget and she didn't let me pull dresses that were more than 2 or 3 hundred over it, and had suggestions of alternate, similar, dresses when I expressed interest in a more pricey gown. I believe that much of the stock is in the $2000 - $5000, making them more spendy than cheap - but you get your money's worth in gorgeous materials. If you can hit a sale here then you'll hit the jackpot.

The Gowns:

The dresses are all really really beautiful fabrics (real silk organza and chiffon, english net instead of scratchy tulle, italian silk taffeta and Alcenon lace) and even the ballgowns are light and airy instead of super heavy. No, You probably won't find a gown with a skirt reminiscent of the civil war, but the dresses are couture, bohemian, vintage, chic, and modern all at once.

The Experience:

Finding the store can be tricky: It's at 5 E 19th street, 2nd floor. 5 E 19th is on the East side of fifth avenue, and is the first building after the anchor store on the corner. The only sign on the building is the large number "5" on the window, and you have to use the intercom to buzz in. But, do not be afraid: once you've buzzed in and gone upstairs the shop itself is beautifully located and well laid out.

Renata pulled like 10 gowns for me, which was fantastic. I was expecting to get two or three and then the pressure to purchase, but instead she pulled things within my budget and allowed me to try on many different styles just to see how they'd look on.

One gown she pulled was obviously a $4000 gown, but it was a new sample that had been marked down to $1000 because they had ordered too many samples. This ended up being the gown I chose, but I did struggle between it and a much simpler dress.

During the whole time I didn't feel pressured or rushed at all, Renata was encouraging and helpful, and got their tailor to come discuss what would need to be done to the dress to make it fit.

The only thing that could have made the experience better would have been if they'd offered water - I didn't realize how thirsty I'd gotten until she was running my credit card for the deposit, and at that point it seemed moot.

The entire time I was their the staff treated me with respect, and Renata focused on me and my needs continuously and really listened when I told her what was working and what wasn't.

The gown I chose needs alterations (its a sample, so of course) - which i expected, and the alterations fee is both more than reasonable, and cheaper than at some of the other bridal salons around town. (AHEM) The dresses are neatly laid out with a lot of room for browsing, and they clearly take good care of their stock.

The Verdict:

This was a great experience and I recommend it to any bride in NYC or travelling to NYC. You'll need a real budget, unless you get lucky with a sample, like me, but these are gowns...

My experience at L’Fay was exactly what I had always envisioned while shopping for my wedding dress. Compared to my experience at Kleinfeld, L’Fay was 100x better.

Juliana D. was my consultant and she was the best! I would definitely try to get an appointment with her. From the moment I met her, she was so helpful. I wanted to try on different styles because I wanted to make sure I would pick the best look for my body. She was so patient and willing to help me in and out of each dress. I am a very decisive person, so trying on so many different styles wasn’t an issue. After putting on the dress, I would know immediately which ones were a no or yes. I tried on so many dresses, but not matter how many I kept saying no to, Juliana would continue to happily work with me and try to make other dress suggestions, which I really appreciated. Also, if I asked for her opinion, it was always very respectful. She would be honest if something did not look right, but it would be tactful.

It came down to 2 different styles and she kept offering for me to try them on again for comparison. She would say “would you like to try on the other one again so you can compare?” I loved that she encouraged me to try them on as much as possible. Instead of rushing me and getting impatient, she understood that I was serious about the decision and that a wedding dress should be a well thought out decision, not something made on the fly, only to regret the decision later.

I ended up purchasing a beautiful Berta dress and had zero regrets, no amount of buyer’s remorse after. I walked out of the store extremely happy and excited. L’Fay is so lucky to have Juliana as a consultant. She knows that this is such an important and special experience for a bride.

Also, after getting your measurements taken, I would listen to Juliana’s suggestion for which size you should order. I did tell her I intended to lose some weight and I was considering ordering a whole size lower than her suggestion. She advised me that the size she picked would probably be better. I would still have to lose a little bit of weight, but not as much if I order the smaller size. I took her advice, and I am so glad I did! I think she knew that the size she selected was more of a realistic weight loss goal than the one that was a whole size down. My dress arrived today and I tried it on, and it fit like a glove! I was so happy. I did lose some weight, but had I picked one size down, I think I would have been devastated today. That dress definitely would not...

TLDR - beware! I had a nightmare experience at this store. They play bait and switch games, disappear once they make a sale, and the regional manager is either condescending or an outright racist. A full accounting of my nightmare experience would take a novel, so the abridged experience is below.

I was so excited for my wedding dress - apart from size, the dress I found in the store was exactly what I was looking for. However, when I received the dress half a year later, I noticed several details were different. Only after, did I find out the dress they sell may not be the dress they ship you!

The dress details (scalloping and cups) were completely different on the dress I received. You'd think these would be easy fixes to address, especially when sales associate and the manager agree that the details on the dress don't match the one in the store.

I'm not sure if anyone else has had this experience, but it was difficult getting a hold of my sales associate, Valerie, after the sale. She'll wait until near business close to give you a call and disappear minutes later when you try to call her back. I guess the customer doesn't matter after they have your money. When I finally was able to get a hold of Valerie, she said that to make the dress they sent look like the sample in the store, they would charge an additional $800. Even if I let them take advantage of me, I had no confidence in their ability to deliver on their promises.

Bridal store? More like circus. I was sent personal information for a different bride and experienced delays because of wrong shipping labels due to mis-spelled addresses. No one was willing to be accountable to correct these errors.

The final straw was the regional manager sending a nasty, threatening, off-color email.

"As of 12Pm today UPS will be canceled and we no longer can offer our help . You had your chance to have Designer herself correct little lace difference on the neckline ( as you know all dresses are handmade not copy on machine in China ) and you still didn’t take it ..."

Thanks Renata, you'll be happy to know my Chinese fiance wants nothing to do with any dress you sell.

I'm scrambling now to find a dress alternative, I won't be wearing this one because of all the trauma associated with dealing with Valerie and Renata at L'Fay. I hope your experience will be better than mine, but why take the risk? BRIDES- wedding planning is stressful enough so do yourselves a favor and buy your dress at a...