The Wedding Dress LLC — Local services in Portland

Where do I begin. I started my shopping for my wedding dress at a consignment shop that was highly recommended to myself and other brides on a Facebook group that I am part of. Because my then fiance and I were on a strict budget for our wedding, I figured I could find something "good enough" at a second hand store, or a consignment shop and stay well below my budget. Well that was a disaster! That shop made me feel underappreciated and less than beautiful! Two things that I thought a bride was supposed to experience with dress shopping. I left that shop and knew I had another appointment to go to at The Wedding Dress in Portland. I went to lunch with my neice, had a cocktail in hopes that it would ease my mind - it didn't. I felt disgusting. We arrived at The Wedding Dress and sat in the parking lot for an hour before the appointment. I almost drove away a few times just because I was so disheartened. Boy am I glad I didn't!!! I walked into the shop at my appointment time and the first few thing I remember were the smell, it was so clean and fresh and relaxing (not moth balls and misty!), the brightness of the dresses (and there was A LOT of dresses), and the sound of three voices greeting me with excitement and happiness! Those three voices turned out to be Shelley, Abbie and Lisa. I almost wanted to cry. I explained to the three ladies how my past experience was and they told me "That is not how it is supposed to be! We got this! You pick out some dresses you want to try on and we'll take it from there!" They made me feel appreciated. They made me feel beautiful. They made me feel so important. It was an amazing experience! The dress I chose was a Justin Alexander dress, which was ironic because the original dress I wanted was his design as well but totally different (lace actually). The dress was strapless and I needed straps to be designed and put on and the seamstress that works with The Wedding Dress, Dora, was AMAZING! After ordering the dress and when the dress came in, my experience just blossomed more with the ladies! I really can't sing their praises enough! I am not a skinny size 4 kind of bride. So I was discouraged to start with but not once when I tried on dresses did I ever feel that I was overweight or not beautiful! Abbie, Shelley and Lisa know how to make you feel absolutely stunning and help you every step of the way! I couldn't be happier with my experience and will stop in to visit the ladies from time to time! Highly recommend this little shop in Portland that makes you feel like a million bucks from the moment you step in it till the moment you leave...

I could not speak more highly of Abbie and my entire dress experience at The Wedding Dress! In January 2020 right before the pandemic Abbie helped me coordinate a beautiful Champagne Sunday with all my sisters, my mom, my aunts, my sister in laws, my mother in law, and finally one of my best friends! We had the shop all to ourselves and had light snacks and obviously champagne! Not only did she help me find a perfect dress but she made picking it a beautiful part of my wedding experience! Well worth the extra money I spent to reserve a Champagne Sunday!

As a plus size bride, I didn't have much hope finding a dress at a boutique rather than the big box store (I'm not sure why I thought that they were for model sized ladies) ... But Abbie had plenty of options to show me that would come in my size and even if the samples didn't quite fit she made it work so I could figure out if I liked the dress. It was so relaxing and comfortable.

The pandemic slowed down the dress delivery but Abbie kept me up to date through the whole process. It was out of her control but she made she I was well informed and comfortable that she was doing everything she could.

For alterations, she recommended Dora who is a seamstress they worked with and that was a gem of an experience as well. She was professional and skilled and riot to chat with!

My many sisters have gone to David's bridal for their dresses and none of this was sure how'd this would go but I could not be more thankful that some one recommended The Wedding...

I had such an amazing time picking out my wedding dress, and I would highly recommend The Wedding Dress to anyone!

Dress Selection: The Wedding Dress was the second place I went to look for dresses, and it was such a great experience. I had a general idea of what I wanted, but nothing locked in within my budget. So we got to pull dresses, no matter the price, to narrow down the style. The team pulled a dress from the back that was the exact style and right in budget for me. I definitely had that “bridal moment”!

Tailoring: We worked with their tailor in Downtown Middletown to have the dress tailored, and the process was incredibly quick and easy. Her pricing was very fair for the level of work she put into the dress, and she was very transparent with her charges. She also offers steaming of the dress and veil, which was a nice touch!

Wedding Day: Our wedding was held up a mountain during a record-breaking snowstorm - over a foot of snow and blizzard conditions on the day of our wedding. While I wanted some snow on the ground, I think this was more than anyone planned for. I felt like a snow princess in a fairy tale. My dress was so beautiful and I couldn’t have asked for...