Love Boat Bridal Boutique — Local services in Temple City

This is a bit of a long, overdue review for Irene and the seamstress, Esther. I first heard of Love Boat from my cousin's wife, who also purchased her wedding gown from Irene last year. Immediately, I texted Irene and we worked together to find an open appointment given my night shift schedule, lack of uniformity from week-to-week, and living out of state at the time! Needless to say, I was under self-pressure to "say yes to a dress". While I booked appointments for other bridal boutiques, I ended up coming back to Love Boat for several reasons.

Upon first entering Love Boat, you'll notice the bridal gown selection is limited but that's okay!! We still made it work; just keep reading :) You can't beat Irene's warm and relaxed personality. Although she is a businesswoman, never once did I feel pressured to purchase anything from her. I left with a dress in mind, but decided to browse other stores just to view options and be sure of what I wanted. One thing I appreciated (especially because I'm so indecisive & such a visual person) was her willingness in allowing me to come back and try on the dress again, maybe even two more times...you'll notice it's common for bridal boutiques to charge a fee after a second or third visit, but not Irene!

I ended up loving a dress elsewhere but because I gravitated towards Irene and wanting to do business with her, I texted Irene a picture and video of the dress I wanted. She did some research, found out info on the dress, & texted me back with a picture to confirm along with the cost she would charge me. Immediately, I was sold!!

We found a day for me to come in, take some measurements, and get the appropriate size dress ordered. Irene told me she'd text me when the dress arrived at the store so we could arrange another day for me to come in & have the seamstress (Esther) take additional measurements to have the dress fitted to my body. Because they were so amazing and accommodating, I asked about getting my cultural attire, which was designed & made in another country, tailored. Esther had me try it on there & suggested some modifications. I trusted her and I'm so glad I did. She knew what she was doing & was open to hearing my concerns! She even changed a few things, like the zipper, to make it more secure -- things I may have not even thought of myself.

I say this all to recommend that you visit Irene & Esther at Love Boat Bridal Boutique! You won't regret it! Tell me another bridal boutique with great customer service, that goes above & beyond to get you what you want, AND with affordable prices that are unbeatable because they include alterations in the cost....

I recently had a very disappointing experience at Love Boat Boutique. I rented a beautiful dress for $800 on June 1st, 2024. Did a final fitting on June 15th, picked up June 22nd for my July 7th wedding. I tried on the dress before leaving, and it was a good fit and well tailored. But their store is dim, so I didn’t see that the dress was filthy at the bottom hem and hadn’t been cleaned. There was plenty of time to have the dress deep cleaned. I was in a rush during my final week of wedding planning, and didn’t realize the dress was filthy at the bottom hem until just 2 days before my wedding when I was moving it to our hotel venue.

I communicated with Irene via WhatsApp about the stains immediately when I realized it, and she had a bizarre response, simply texting, "it’s fine, you don’t need to worry." I don’t know if it’s a language barrier, but she didn’t address the issue of delivering me a filthy dress at all. The night before my wedding, I had to spend an hour with Tide pens trying to get rid of the dirt stains on the embroidery lace, but it was still visibly dirty. This last-minute scramble was incredibly stressful and completely unacceptable given the amount of money I spent on the dress. And the fact that Irene had plenty of time to clean the dress. I mean, what kind of bridal shop delivers a dirty dress to a bride for a once-in-a-lifetime wedding?!?! My wedding still turned out fantastic, and thankfully the filthy bottom hem doesn’t show in the photos.

When I returned the dress and confronted Irene in person about the condition of the dress she delivered, she was not understanding at all. She claimed they didn't have enough time to properly clean the bottom hem, despite having had ample notice. To top it off, she offered me the most minimal refund possible ($50), which did not compensate for the hassle and disappointment I experienced.

I cannot recommend Love Boat Boutique based on this experience. The lack of attention to detail and poor customer service left a very bad impression. If you decide to shop there because you want to do to work with an Asian-owned business, just be very vigilant and double-check everything to make sure they’re not being lazy. Don’t assume they’re going out of their way to deliver you the best possible service and product. Confront them early and often to make sure they don’t screw you for your most...

I've had nothing but good experiences at this shop. I found it during my hunt for a dress in the middle of the pandemic. Even though there is a nice selection of beautiful dresses from the same Australian designers that I was shopping for online, I actually didn't end up finding my dream dress in the shop. However, I kept in touch with Irene because she was so kind and helpful, and when I asked her if they did alterations she said yes.

Love Boat ended up altering my BHLDN gown, which was pretty complicated with its multiple tulle tiers, in a very short amount of time. I had been too scared during most of the pandemic to physically go into the shop, so I stopped by only 2 weeks before the wedding, and they were able to shorten the dress, pick up the tulle layers while maintaining the style, tighten the bodice to be more form-fitting, and steam press it all before the date, including a fitting session! They did a fantastic job and I felt comfortable and confident all day long walking around in my dress without worrying about tripping over it.

I would recommend the shop for any bride on their wedding...