Blanc de Blanc Bridal Boutique, Pittsburgh — Local services in Pittsburgh

I want to preface this review by saying this is my first ever google review. I have never felt the need to take any unfortunate situation from a business to the internet. Please know I am writing this only to educate you, the bride reading this review, because you are finally booking the appointments to purchase the gown of your dreams.

Blanc de Blanc is BEAUTIFUL. It is clean and elegant. Baby pink couches for your guests to sit while you model, an option to bring champagne to celebrate, and the dresses in the showroom are out of their ugly plastic bags. It is what every girl DREAMS of. I truthfully had a great experience with Miranda. She helped me find "the one" only 5 dresses into my appointment.

Our BIGGEST mistake, which I own up to, is that I ordered a size down from what they recommended (40 to 38, yes bridal sizes are weird, don't freak out about them). Based on the designers size chart, I was going to fit into a 38, my measurements were only 1 cm larger. I ordered the 38 against the recommendation because, really it was closer to my ACTUAL measurements and I thought I could save a few bucks in alterations.

Long story short (or just read my mom's review because she explains this part with actual numbers), my dress came in September, approximately 4 months later, and wouldn’t even zip. I was assured that this was not because I sized down, that they have had issues with this designer and sizes before, and all would be taken care of. Pictures were taken of me in the gown that did not fit by the owner and I left feeling confident this was going to be taken care of.

Monthly I would check-in via email or phone call for the status of my gown. It was communicated to me that they were still working with the designer on a solution and they expect my new fixed gown to arrive January/February (about 4/5 months after I learned my original gown was clearly made wrong). I was reassured this would still leave me plenty of time for alterations if needed. Again, I had no reason to believe this wasn't going to be fixed.

Last week (4 months later), I received a phone call from Blanc de Blanc stating the designer believes the dress was made correctly, size 38. Blanc de Blanc gave me the option to come and get remeasured and they would order me a new one, which wouldn’t arrive until April. I'm getting married in 5 months! That would leave only 2 months for alterations. Oh, and I have to pay $550 because I signed the contract to size down. This entire time I was led to believe this issue was not because I sized down. I got off the phone and panic mode set in. I made appointments at other salons that same week. What would you have done? I don’t trust this designer, I don’t trust the timeline, and I am starting to lose my trust in Blanc de Blanc.

We (my mom and I) certainly pushed back and they offered to waive the $550. We even pushed for the deposit back because this was obviously not our fault. I purchased a new dress from another salon. They stated they feel "abandoned" because I did so. Again, what would you have done? They are now saying the designer is willing to make me a brand new gown at no extra cost AFTER learning I purchased a different dress. The misleading information throughout this whole process from Blanc de Blanc is what led me to post this review. The past week I have been made to feel as if this entire thing is my fault.

All in all, I acknowledge the money spent on a deposit is gone. I acknowledge that I ordered a size different than what they recommended. I do not accept the way this whole situation has panned out. I don’t know how they will respond to this review. Maybe they will explain their side of the story and you will agree with them over me? Just know I did not take putting this review out there lightly. I put a lot of thought into my words.

So to you, the beautiful bride searching for THE dress reading this review, do not make the same mistakes I did. Take into consideration the facts above. And last but not least, READ the sales agreement thoroughly...

I will not be purchasing my dress from this bridal shop. Before I came into the shop, the consultant, Miranda, had called me, left me a voicemail, and texted me asking if I could come earlier. Once I arrived, she showed my party and me where we should sit and then left the room to take a phone call. My maid of honor and bridesmaid started to suggest some dresses for me. When Miranda returned, she had an attitude and, with a condescending tone, said to my party, “Okay, let’s sit back down so I can talk and go over something.” She then told my party not to pick too many dresses because she had something in mind for me.

My party gave her six dresses for our 1-hour and 30-minute appointment. She then said in a condescending tone that six dresses were enough for me to try on because she also wanted to suggest some dresses. Miranda and I went into the fitting room, and she told me to try on the dresses while she made a call to a new employee in Ohio. I was left in the fitting room with no one to zip me up. I looked out, and my party was looking for something to drink because she hadn’t even offered us water.

I then tried on the dress Miranda suggested. I hated it. I told her I didn’t like it, and she said, “Not if you stand like that,” and tried to force the dress on me. The dresses she suggested were the opposite of what I wanted and over my budget. She suggested another dress, which I also hated. She said, “Well, you should still try it on.” I said no, this is not what I’m looking for. She asked, “Did you already find a dress you like at another place?” I told her that I had my top picks but was still open.

I walked out with another dress that had a detachable strap and was trying to attach the strap. I asked for help. She was standing near the fitting room and said, “If you can’t figure out how to attach it, then I’ll come help you.” My party came and helped me fluff my dress and attach my strap. She asked my party if we had any plans after that, and when we said we did, she told us we needed to leave to make it on time, even though our restaurant was 15 minutes away and our reservation wasn’t for another hour. At that point, I was done shopping with her. The experience was not enjoyable, and it seemed like she just wanted to go home instead of helping us find a dress. I am truly unsure how she has the position that she does in this store because her professionalism and attitude are...

I would like to first say, that the bridal shop is absolutely beautiful and clean. However, I was extremely disappointed with my appointment to try to find my wedding dress. Wedding dress shopping is supposed to be a fun experience with the family and friends I am closest with, unfortunately my experience was anything but. I worked with Rachael and everything started out fine at first. I had gone to another bridal shop earlier that day, so I knew what kinds of dresses I like. She asked for my style preferences and I told her I am really looking for something modern and a fit to flare style, but I was open to trying different a different style or designs. However, I want to try more on in the styles I was leaning towards.

Rachael seemed like she was very new to the job, which is okay because everyone needs to start somewhere! But because of this, there was no efficiency. It was about an hour into the appointment (an appointment that is only 1 1/2 hrs) and I had only tried on THREE dresses. She also does not appear to be much of a “stylist” and you need to be a stylist to work in a bridal shop so you can find what the bride is looking for and accessorize it well! She picked multiple dresses that were not even close to what I was looking for. It’s okay to have a couple like that, but it was more than I would expect from someone who works at a bridal shop. She also was visibly angry when my friend had picked out a dress for me to try that was beautiful, but not my style. It was getting to the end of my appointment and my friend had found a couple dresses that were my style, but Rachael would not allow me to try them on because there was no time left. However, because of her lack of efficiency, that is why there was not enough time.

I did end up finding a dress I absolutely loved at Blanc de Blanc, but because I had such an awful experience, I did not want to purchase the dress from there. When Rachael put me in the accessories for my favorite dress, she was very pushy in trying to get me to say yes to the dress. She had me pull up another dress I loved from another bridal shop and had me look at myself in the mirror and the other dress and kept saying “well do you want to at least try saying yes to the dress” . Overall, she was very pushy and I could visibly tell that she did not enjoy working with us. I believe Rachael needs more training so no other bride needs to experience what I...