La Belle Elaine's Bridal — Local services in Seattle

I have a mixed review for La Belle Elaine. My experience varied greatly depending on who my sales rep was. I bought my wedding dress here last November. My first visit was amazing. I was able to have the store to myself and try on multiple dresses without any pressure to buy. The sales woman, Diana gave me her honest opinion and gave me dress suggestions that I didn't think I'd like but ended up in my top 3 dresses. I had only been to one other dress shop beforehand so I got quotes for my top 3 dresses then visited other dress stores. After visiting other stores, I came back to La Belle Elaine because I liked the dresses I found here the best. My second visit was not so great. I tried on my top 3 dresses again to make sure I still liked them best. It took me a few try ons before I picked my final dress. I tried to get some feedback from the sales woman who was not Diana but she just seemed uninterested and annoyed. The sales woman was very unfriendly and made my trip very disappointing. I ended up face timing my mom to get her feedback along with my friend who came with me. I ended up buying a dress but it turned out they quoted the wrong dress and the dress I wanted ended up being $500 more than I anticipated.. they gave me a $150 discount because of their mistake which I appreciated. After paying for my dress, the sales woman didn't even smile or congratulate me. I didn't expect much but I thought they'd at least be happy for me. It was so disappointing that I felt like an annoyance at such an exciting time. Before leaving, I saw a sign by the runway that said "I said yes to the dress" so I asked if I could take a picture of me holding the sign. The sales woman glanced over at us and didn't even offer to take the picture. Idk maybe I expected too much but I thought buying my dress would be more exciting and special. All of my follow up fittings were fine. I enjoyed my interactions with the blonde manager and the seamstress. The only other negative experience I had was that everything was kind of expensive but given that it's a wedding boutique in Seattle that's expected. Alterations were on the average/high side. They also charge quite a bit for dry clean and press. I was surprised it was not complimentary or discounted with the purchase of a dress and alterations. I gave four stars because overall, I had a good experience. They have a great selection of dresses and most of the employees were great. But, they definitely have room for...

UPDATE: The pricing below was mistakingly misrepresented to me. Staci, the manager after a few conversations, including when she was on vacation made sure my dress came in early and was there when I picked up the dress and helped me try it on and also broke down the pricing with me. I only paid a little under $200 with the discount already added from the trunk show that was provided to all customers. The mistake was before discount and with taxes total extra on top of dress was roughly $600 but that is not the extra I paid in the end. Staci apologizes for any miscommunication and made sure she was the one to help me when picking my dress up. I WOULD recommend this salon with the hopes that they truly consider the few tips I gave them on interacting with customers from a business person to another.

The lady I worked with was very sweet and made me comfortable however they were doing a trunk show and had absolutely no knowledge of pricing and disregarded my budget. I was put into a dress that was already out of my budget without even being warned and then had to to pay even more in fees. When I had called to schedule the appointment I was told I had plenty of time to order a dress even if for the trunk show but when I got there I had to pay $600+ in fees to get it here on time which was not mentioned at all as a possibility. They have you fill out paperwork for details for you appt and I told them when my wedding date was and all of the good details and I had called to check on the status of my dress and was informed that the date my dress was coming in was after the date I was assured it would be there putting it not even 30 business days away from my wedding date and it still had to get altered. I was offered no discount for the hassle or for them disregarding my requests and the fact the the designer had a rep there and she also assured me of the day my dress would come in and they put the wrong date on all the paperwork is upsetting. I called and spoke to the manager Staci and she did not seem to care except say "I apologize that was your experience" I paid over $600 for rush order and overnight expedited shipping and the shipping was $150 and they couldn't even offer to cover that after all of this. I am highly disappointed and will not recommend this salon because they seem to care more about the money instead of making things right and keeping their word along with providing a stress free time with such an...

I really wanted to purchase a dress here in part because it’s very close to my work and I love that it’s a local shop. I came in with my mom and sister, knowing the style, fabric, and silhouette I wanted (and an idea of the brand, which I knew they carried) with some open questions like neckline, accessories, etc. The appointment went fairly quickly and smoothly, and I found a dress that I absolutely loved!

When we went to make note of the final decision and pick a size, I noticed that the measurements the consultant took were not accurate, way smaller (-1.5”) than what I knew from making my own clothing. This is not really a big deal - I’ve worked in a job measuring people and measuring tapes get stretched out all the time, meaning you could be doing everything right when measuring but the end result is just off. I don’t know if this was the case here but it’s really common. On top of it, she was suggesting sizing down and letting seams out in one section (again, normal if the biggest measurement is really close, but it would've magnified this problem).

When I mentioned that the measurements seemed a little small, her attitude completely flipped. She insisted that it was right, asked if I thought she did it wrong, and asked if she wanted me to re-measure. I tried to explain that it wasn’t her skill but that maybe the tape was stretched out so re-measuring with the same tape wouldn’t necessarily change it, and she cut me off saying that she’d been “working in the bridal industry for 5 years, soooo…”

At that point it was super awkward and uncomfortable. I made sure we had the dress # on file and we just left. To be clear, I never mentioned my own professional experience or accused her of anything. This could’ve been a totally neutral, easily fixable issue.

Ultimately I chose not to buy from here. At the end of the day, it’s not about the measurements but about how it was handled. Yes, I could’ve chosen the size I thought was best anyways, but it made me wonder what would happen if something...