Carrie Karibo Bridal — Local services in Reading

Personally, I wouldn't recommend anyone here based on the experience I had. Frankly, I found the staff member I worked with had no customer service skills whatsoever. Susan made it clear she was completely uninterested in hearing about important details of my wedding day or even the style of dress I was looking for and was actually a little patronizing in my opinion. I walked in the door about five minutes early for my scheduled appointment and was greeted by her saying "Can I help you with something?" (Admittedly, the wording of circumstances I will mention from this point forward did catch me off guard, however, many people interpret phrases and voice inflections differently so maybe I misread the context of the situations when these came off to me as somewhat rude/pretentious.) When I introduced myself and told her I was there for my appointment she led me back to a fitting room and told me should would "have to find someone to work with me" and returned again saying she "guesses" she would be the one helping me today. She made two different comments that were a little off-putting to me specifically. One about the "lack of bridal party" shopping with me (as I brought only my mother with me rather than the 7 girls in my bridal party) and another about my mentioning I would like to stay around the $2,000 mark for a dress (which wasn't regarded as "low budget" anywhere else I shopped). I worked as a bridal consultant for many years in the past, which I ended up feeling the need to mention a few times because I have a pretty vast knowledge of the industry and the way I was being spoken to felt very condescending (you would've thought we took a pair of scissors to one of the gowns by the way our sales associate reacted to my mother choosing a gown from the rack rather than pointing and asking Susan to add that one to our room. This is a big "no-no" because the dresses are "very expensive and fragile"). Positively, I loved the design of the store and all of the dresses are very well-made and beautiful. However another aspect of the appointment that was a little upsetting was that it was apparent that a sale was more important than my wants as a bride. From working in the industry I know it's imperative to be open to trying on styles you wouldn't think you'd like- I've seen many brides myself leave with a dream dress totally different than what they came in looking for. However, I was even almost forced into a few dresses that were pulled for me that weren't my taste and I politely tried to decline, after she used the justification "you don't know you don't like it until you try it on". After I said I didn't like a dress on, my sales associate even tried to sway me on it for another 5-10 minutes while she tried to pull belts for it (proceeding with this after I thanked her but told her that wasn't the look I was going for). I did end up cutting the appointment short, telling my sales associate Susan we had another event we needed to get to. At the conclusion of the appointment when I thanked her and I think she came to the realization that she wouldn't be getting a sale out of me today, she almost aggressively followed my mother and I out of the store, persistently asking me to stay so she could take my measurement, get further contact information, etc. While it may have just been an off-day at the store, I hate to say I was a little disappointed in the experience as a whole. My constructive criticism overall would be to truly listen to your clients wants and needs and consider those. Ask questions before making assumptions and really be aware of how you are speaking to your clientele. This is the only bridal shop that I ran into any of these problems at, so I think it would really help...

UPDATE 6/16/25 changing my review from 1 to 3 stars. Carrie herself called me and we discussed some of the issues below. I appreciate a business that follows up with their reviews personally. I am not here to ruin her business by any means. I think there was some miscommunication. Thank you for following up Carrie.

I rarely write negative reviews, especially for small businesses, but my experience yesterday was deeply disappointing and not at all what I expected from a shop I once held in such high regard.

About eight years ago, I visited this boutique with my mother to find her wedding dress. That day was magical — we ended up purchasing her wedding gown, my prom dress, and my bridesmaid dress all in one visit. I’ve held onto that memory ever since and always knew I wanted to return here when it was my turn to be a bride.

Fast forward to yesterday — I was finally shopping for my own wedding dress. I came to the appointment prepared with photos of a specific style I loved from another boutique in Chicago, hoping to find something similar. I expected the consultant to take a look at the photos and guide me through the options they had in store. Instead, I was told to go sift through what felt like thousands of dresses in the showroom myself and pull anything I liked. I was completely caught off guard.

It made me feel like I wasn’t being taken seriously — despite the fact that my family was ready and willing to spend upwards of $10,000 on a dress. At every other bridal boutique I’ve visited, the consultants were proactive and knowledgeable, pulling dresses that matched my vision and offering thoughtful suggestions. Here, it felt chaotic and impersonal. I was left wandering, unsure of which dresses were which — whether I was looking at a ballgown or an A-line, I had no idea. I’m not an expert, and I was hoping for guidance, not guesswork.

Another unsettling moment was when my mother-in-law and sister-in-law arrived and were asked to wash their hands — something that neither I, my mom, nor my maid of honor were asked to do. That inconsistency was noticeable and left my mother-in-law feeling singled out and uncomfortable. I’ve been to high-end bridal salons in Chicago, with gowns priced at $20,000+, and none of them had this kind of policy, let alone enforced it so selectively.

Throughout my appointment, the person assisting me was not attentive. Dresses were poorly clipped, and my maid of honor had to step in multiple times. The consultant often disappeared, leaving me waiting with no idea where she had gone or what we were supposed to be doing next. At one point, she even told my MOH that she “didn’t know how to help me,” which was shocking considering I was very clear about the style I wanted. It wasn’t a difficult ask.

While my mother did end up purchasing a mother-of-the-bride dress (which looked stunning on her), we were surprised at checkout to see that a tip — starting at $100 — was essentially required. There was no option to opt out, which felt inappropriate given the quality of service we received. We’re always happy to tip for great service, but in this case, it felt forced and unearned.

What saddens me the most is how far this shop has declined from what it once was. Reading some of the recent one-star reviews, I see similar experiences, and I was disappointed by the defensive or dismissive tone of the store’s responses. As a business, it’s important to take feedback with humility and use it as a chance to improve, not belittle your customers.

I truly wish this had been a different experience. I had high hopes based on wonderful memories, but sadly, this visit left me disheartened and...

I would not recommend shopping here. They have no customer service and if any issue comes up, according to them it is always the customers fault. This happened with both my dress and the bride's.

Bridesmaid dress: I ordered a bridesmaid dress that the bride picked out. I filled out the form asking me my normal dress size and my measurements. A few months later I receive the dress and it does not fit in the ribcage/chest area. I am normally a size 4 (sometimes even a 2) and I ordered a 6 to be safe. My mother tried on the dress, whom is a size 0 or 2. She also could not zip up in the chest area in the size 6 dress. We assumes this must be a mislabeled mistake, after physically measuring the dress it says it is 30" Bust. I am a 33" bust and the size chart said it was supposed to be a 33" bust. I live out of state so my mother went down to the store to show them and discuss the options. All they could do was blame me for ordering wrong and all they could do to help was to order a new dress for $200 more, in which I would also have to get rush alterations on. They also went as far as to say that the only reason the rip area does fit is bc the fat from the waist must be pushed up. Clearly just disregarding that is clearly 3" smaller than the dimensions the size chart says it was supposed to be. Why take our measurements if they don't matter and you just disregard them? why along the line somewhere did they not tell the customers the dress runs small? Now I am stuck with a dress that does fit and a wedding 1 month away. I am forced to figure it out and McGiver some solution all on my own bc they could have not cared less about helping me... they already got their money. On top of all that when I asked them to reimburse my shipping fee, since it was picked up in store and not shipped, they first ignored my emails and then refused to do so.

Bride's Gown: The Bride purchased her dress from the shop and after alterations and such she picked it up, everything looked great. The store put the dress in the bag and she took it home. The dress remained in the closet untouched for a month or so. Then one day she deiced to take a look, and good thing she did. There were yellow blobs or stains on the fabric of the dress. She immediately called the store and sent them photos. Again.. they did nothing to help. All they did was blame her, it was something she did. Even though she had not touched the dress or even unzipped the bag it was in since the fitting. She was forced to deal with it herself and pay tons more money on cleaning fees. Luckily the spots mostly all came out and the cleaner is going to patch up and fix the places it did not.

So some words of advice from a customer and a designer/maker/small business owner, whom also deals with customers, do not shop here. They will help you purchase, but anything more and they want nothing to do with you. If something goes wrong, they will blame you, instead of trying to help it...