Michelle Rene' Designs and Wedding Gown & Prom Dress Alterations — Local services in North Hopewell Township

Hiring Michelle was the best decision I could have made for my October 2022 wedding! She is absolutely incredible and I highly recommend her! I initially met with Michelle because I needed a seamstress for my wedding dress. She was really helpful and patient when meeting with my mom and me and we felt all the wedding stress fade away because she was so reassuring about everything. She mentioned that she had an extra concierge service where she would be present throughout the wedding and assist with everything, including wardrobe, makeup, etc. We hired her for dress alterations and the concierge service right away but it was not until my wedding day that I realized just how critical Michelle’s concierge service was. I don’t know what I would have done without her. When we first met her, she mentioned she had just been working on the dresses of brides from New Jersey who had traveled to her for her services. I was surprised at the time that someone would travel from another state for a vendor, but now I see why!! It is worth it! The help Michelle provided before and during my wedding day was priceless. Throughout the fittings, Michelle was so sweet and helpful. Not only did she make my wedding dress look absolutely gorgeous and perfectly fitted, but she had advice for all of our questions, including recommending hair pieces, the best deodorant to use, undergarments, vendors for hair and makeup, printing signs and table markers/place cards, advice on timing/wedding schedule, jewelry, and lots of other things we hadn’t even thought of! It was so much fun for my mom and me to visit Michelle’s studio (which is located in a beautiful rural area in PA) and we felt really calm every time we met with her. She also hemmed and steamed my dress for the rehearsal dinner, my mom’s dress, and my husband’s suit—all looked stunning after Michelle’s alterations! Michelle designed the most gorgeous bustle for my wedding dress and I got a lot of compliments on it. She really took her time to meet with us and answer all our questions. The day of the wedding, Michelle went above and beyond. She texted me in the days leading up to my wedding to make sure I was doing okay and to alleviate any stress. The day of the wedding, she delivered my wedding dress and my husband's suit to the venue steamed and perfect, so I didn’t have to worry about transporting it myself. She helped my wedding party with their outfits and makeup, met my mom and me with an umbrella at the venue and transported us to the bridal suite (it rained throughout my wedding day and Michelle made sure it did not affect my hair or dress), made sure that we sat and ate some sandwiches, helped me organize my makeup, extra shoes, and all my other items and stored them in her bag, and help onto my phone while handing it to me if it rang. All of us–me, my wedding party, and my mom–were frazzled and Michelle was critical in helping us get organized and keeping track of everything we would need. My best friends in the wedding party absolutely loved Michelle and said they need to hire her for their weddings. Michelle reapplied my makeup throughout the night and it looked beautiful. She also kept track of and carried around my bridal bouquet, which I kept putting down and losing track of. My other vendors were great and we had a day of coordinator, but Michelle helped with everything and somehow did the job of at least 10 people. She was always there whenever we needed her, but didn’t interfere with anything and was never in the way. I don’t know how she found the time, but she also took a ton of gorgeous pictures of us and sent me a google drive afterward. She walked me to the ceremony with an umbrella and helped me stay calm. After the ceremony, I saw she was crying! She told me how beautiful and emotional it had been. She also moved the wedding party bouquets to the reception space and they looked perfect the way she arranged them. On top of that, she left us a really sweet message in our guest book. She is such a kind and wonderful person and we are so lucky...

TLDR: Don't get a dress from her if you have a deadline and don't want to be stressed out. I was married in November 2023. I had started talking to Michelle about possibly creating a dress for my themed wedding in December of 2022. She was pleasant to talk to and seemed excited for the idea. We met in June to make the deposit and sign the contract. She was to construct my wedding dress, my bridesmaids dresses and groomsmen shirts. She said my wedding dress would be easy since it was more garb than formal dress. I wasn't a fan of the bodice material she showed me because I didn't want white in my wedding dress. She said it was easily dyed, so I agreed to it. A deposit was paid and she would get to work on getting the fabrics and get back to me in about a week with the sketches. All of July I messaged her biweekly asking for the sketches or progress report with no response. August I got no response till my mother called her. Then she responded finally telling me she had family health issues and she is sorry. Mid August I asked about setting up times in September. She responded she was traveling and would get back to me. She didn't. When she did finally get back to me she assured me I have not been forgotten and my fabrics were arriving. She also mentioned she had a lot to juggle in life at the time. By this time my maid of honor had been messaging her asking her to be more professional and stop ghosting me. Michelle asked me to reassure my maid of honor that I was being taken care of. Early September she got the measurements, but I also found out she hadn't ordered the fabrics in a timely manner and was no longer able to get the fabric she was going to used for my dress and groomsmen shirts so she had to change that out. It wasn't that different than the original fabric so I just went with it. What happened to ordering fabric in June? Mid September, she asked to set up a fitting in mid October. Back and forth finding times that worked for everyone, including Maid of Honor flying from the west coast. Date and time is set. October 18 she messaged saying she had a death in the family and she needed to cancel the appointment. That she understands it's stressful but she will have my wedding attire completed on time. I asked if I can at least get pictures of what she has completed since I still don't know what anything looks like. She said she already left and can't do pictures but she has a game plan and will share it with me when she gets back. End of October, I asked for the game plan and updates. She doesn't respond for days. Then, one day she asks to meet. When I arrived she told me she doesn't want my MOH contacting her anymore because she feels pressured and stressed by her. I agree with her so she doesn't stop. It's far too late for a backup plan at this point. She also said she doesn't do sketches, despite promising them in contract and text. Everything ended up being "finished" November 9. My wedding date was November 12. No one had a final fitting. My bodice that I didn't want to be white was never dyed and she told me the vendor lied and it wasn't dyable. The bridesmaids dresses were not what we discussed. They were the right colors but not designed as we planned. The grommets in my bodice kept falling out and my husband spent a lot of time in the late hours before our wedding day replacing them. The lacing she provided for the bodice did not cover my chest and we had to go out and buy other options last minute to fit my dress. We kept the original shoestring she provided on the shoulders. They frayed and looked bad before the wedding was even over. As you can see in the pictures, the dresses and shirts do not look bad, but they are not what we discussed. My bouquets had to be changed last minute to add white to tie in the white I never wanted in my dress. She also didn't put any pockets in my dress even though I asked for them, waiting till the final stages to tell me it wouldn't look right...

If you don’t want a seamstress that is too busy for you, ignores your texts and or calls until days later, cancels important appointments, procrastinates until the last minute, and then rushes your end result, MOVE ALONG and GO ELSEWHERE.

Michelle takes on more than she can chew and slops together your dress just in the nick of time!!

Let me start by saying that I am extremely saddened to have to leave a poor review for the public to read. However, if I can save another bride from the same experience I had it would be worth it to me.

I had my first appointment with Michelle in April 2018. I took my dress to her early so that she could help me redesign neckline and straps in my dress, hem the bottom, and add some gold tulle to the inside of my dress.

Knowing it would be time consuming for her, I provided her more than enough time to master this project. My wedding is June 1, 2019. I have just received my “finished” dress this April 2, 2019.

THAT’S A YEAR LATER!

She held off on my dress for her other clients last April and I was understanding and ok with that considering it was prom season and approaching wedding season.

Because of her busy schedule with other clients we were unable to meet until September or so. From September - February she texted me every morning of our scheduled appointments and canceled on me with bizarre excuses. That’s what she would do when she “missed” your texts for week at a time leaving you blind and concerned!

Finally we met in March. So from APRIL 2018-March 2019 there was nothing worked on and my dress was exactly how I brought it. THATS 10 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS SHE HAD BUT DIDN’T WORK ON MY DRESS!!!!

I had to lie and tell her that I had a photoshoot on April 6th 2019 to make sure she got it complete in enough time for me to have a plan b if something went wrong.

Thank goodness I did that because on my pick up appointment she sewed my veil right in front of me, and applied beading to my bodice. Not to mention the entire top of my dress was raw, itchy and puckering everywhere. I could stick my fingers right through the lace in many places because it wasn’t sewn together. Final pick up date resulted in still an UNFINISHED DRESS!

Working with her was like pulling teeth. Because of this experience and her sloppy work I had to take my dress to a different seamstress to help me fall in love with it again.

This is not at all how I expected this to go and I feel strongly Michelle commits to more she can handle! She also obviously puts clients that come after you before you and your needs! If she didn’t do that to me for 10 months straight I would be more understanding! She absolutely accepts every dress, bride, or job instead of concentrating and committing to her current clients.

If she could pull things together in the end and make the wait worth it. IT ISN’T WORTH IT LADIES!

Save yourself the heartbreak and find...