Wedding Shoppe, Inc. — Local services in Saint Paul

My first stop for wedding dress shopping was at the Wedding Shoppe, where I ended up purchasing my gown. I don’t write public reviews because I try to understand that people have different circumstances, and if something minor, I let it go. However, after everything I experienced, I feel it’s important to share my story so future brides know what to expect.

My initial experience was good — the staff were friendly, and I found a dress I truly loved. I even paid a $300 (20%) tip, not realizing that the tip was calculated based on the price of the dress. I didn’t complain because I was happy with my purchase at the time.

Unfortunately, everything started falling apart after that. My dress arrived late, and no one notified me of the delay — I only found out when I called to follow up myself. When I asked for an update, no one seemed to know what was going on and I was told someone would get back to me, but no one did. A week later, I called again and was told by a staff member that the dress had arrived damaged and was sent back. Later, when I followed up again, I was told the dress was actually never shipped and wasn’t finished yet. The lack of clear communication was very frustrating, especially with my wedding only three months away and no certainty whether there would be enough time for alterations, especially my wedding is overseas.

When the dress finally arrived, I scheduled a morning pickup. The dress fit nicely, but when I asked about the sleeves that were supposed to come with it, I was told the dress didn’t include them and that I’d have to purchase them separately. This confused me because during both of my fittings, the dress did include sleeves. After checking, the staff confirmed that the sleeves were supposed to come with the dress, but they had forgotten to send them. I was told they have a lot of extra sleeves and there were many in stock in store. To fix the issue, she gave me a pair of sleeves they had in store — not the original ones that matched my dress but have the same material.

I decided not to make a fuss, even though the replacement sleeves were size 12 (I’m a size 4). When I asked if they had smaller sizes, she checked the inventory on the computer and told me they have smaller sizes. However, after a quick search, she said only sizes 12 and 18 were available. Again, I stayed calm and accepted them.

However, when I brought the dress to my alteration specialist, right after I left the wedding shoppe. I found out the sleeves didn’t match, and the back of the dress had a small dirty mark. I hadn’t checked closely at pickup because I trusted the shop’s quality control — especially after the long delay and all the issues. This really ruined the excitement and trust I had.

Because the sleeves were too big, the tailor had to add four buttons on each sleeve just to make them fit, which cost me an additional $80. These sleeves should have been included and properly fitted in the first place.

That said, I want to acknowledge that the Wedding Shoppe does have a beautiful and wide selection of dresses, and I truly love my dress — it’s exactly what I had envisioned for my wedding. It’s just unfortunate that my experience after purchasing it didn’t reflect the same level of care and communication I expected.

For future brides, I strongly encourage reading the reviews — don’t ignore the negative ones. While I’m happy for those who had wonderful...

Working with The Wedding Shoppe was fun! I had 2 separate appointments, first to find a dress and the next to try on when it arrived!!

The consultation appointment I was led into a warm private space with good lighting with the lovely associate, Amy - where we discussed types of dresses and I showed her a picture of the dress I wanted- which they thankfully had. She brought me a variety of dresses (from traditional/plain to glam) because I didn’t have a type nor a specific budget. All in all, I bought the dress I came in for that day! But in retrospect, the 1.5 hour appt wasn’t long enough because you cannot browse what they have- they bring it to you and I just couldn’t get myself to think beyond the dress I liked although , again - that was more my fault for not scheduling more than just the one appointment. They did have me order a few sizes up – which was a 14!!! (I am usually a 8, sometimes a 6 in bottoms and a Medium or large in tops), so I was bewildered when they told me I needed to order a size 14, but she assured me that this particular designer and style of dress (mermaid), that I should do so and I trusted her!

On my second appointment, which was to try on my bridal gown, which arrived about 2.5 months later, I found the nearly double size, it was huge and drowning in me, but I was glad because I had probably lost like 10 lbs and definitely felt like I rather it be huge than the opposite. I appreciated that appointment as well because I was in another private space, this time in the basement, with more happy faces along the way. During this appointment, I was offered to try some veils and other accessories, which I did and she wrote them down for me since I did not know what I wanted. The consultant also shared several tailor recommendations and their locations, and I ended up using one of them- and they were phenomenal!

The store is welcoming and at some spaces glamorous, which made the experience fun and less stressful! Lots of smiling faces from staff and I appreciate the private space they had. I would recommend that if you are not 100% on the dress, make another appointment, because I wish I had done that instead of just getting what I initially came for - - that is not the Wedding Shoppe’s fault however.

Some things to note:

**They may tell you to order a couple sizes up -trust them, you’d rather it be too big than too small! **They do ask for a tip when you purchase (possibly even if you don’t) which I did - however, the only real critique I have is not to ask because I felt a but uncomfortable and tipped much more than planned because 3 folks were staring at me at the register. But I thought my associate assisting me was great so, thank you regardless! **They have fun “I said yes to the dress” signage with a cute backdrop. **They also have a wedding gown you can sign - also fills the mood! **You cannot browse dresses - your consultant / associate brings them all to you!

I do recommend and...

I loved my experience with the Wedding Shoppe! I scheduled two appointments, one in May and one in September, and got to work with Cassidy both times. My first appointment I came into the shop solo, to determine what sort of dresses I wanted without any influences from my family and because I wasn't sure it would be a positive experience, since I normally don't love how I look in clothes. Cassidy completely understood why I was there and how to make the most of the appointment without any pressure to purchase a dress at that point. When I returned in September with my family and friends, she remembered me and we picked up right were I left off. I immediately found a dress I loved and was fairly certain it would be "my dress" but the only problem was that they only had a sample size 8 which didn't fit, nor was it even close to fitting. After trying on the bodice I knew I liked it enough to come back later when they had the larger sample size in stock to hopefully solidify that that was indeed my dress. The shop manager heard this, and went into their warehouse, dug through boxes and pulled out the size 20 sample to bring into the store same day so my family and I could have our "say yes" moment together since they were here from out of town. I visited other salons in the Twin Cities Area and I don't think any of them would've done that for us. They went above and beyond during this appointment (and the subsequent impromptu appointment 2 hours later after digging through their warehouse and finding the properly sized dress).

I highly recommend the Wedding Shoppe. I loved working with them so much that I returned for a 2nd dress (a white bridesmaid dress) once we determined we were honeymooning in Italy and meeting the Pope, for which my first dress was inappropriate for. They've been in business for this long for a reason -- Go, you won't be disappointed!

Below you'll see the photos of the poorly fitting size 8 sample, then the size 20 sample...followed by the dress as worn during the wedding day after it was ordered in the correct size (somewhere in between sizes). Also the second dress I ordered from the Wedding Shoppe (white bridesmaid dress) for our visit to the Vatican since my shoulders and back needed...