Bridal Chateau Inc — Local services in Town of Amherst

Let me start out by saying that I've been to Bridal Chateau in the past for a bridesmaid's dress and they were great. Super helpful and nice so, when. it came time to find my own wedding dress, I immediately thought of them as my number 1 spot to look for a dress. So I made my appointment, had a wonderful associate (Gabby) who was incredibly helpful and really made the experience less stressful than I thought it was going to be. I found a dress I loved; however, it was about 6 sizes too big. Gabby assured me they could order it in my size and it could be taken in up to two sizes smaller, which sounded great, so I ordered the dress, the veil and some lovely belts to jazz it up a little and then paid for it. Now here's where my story takes a turn for the worse.

Fast forward two months later when I went to show my future mother in law a picture of my dress online. When I looked up the style number, a completely different dress popped up on my screen. A dress I definitely would not a have chosen to wear. I immediately panicked and called/ emailed the store. They assured me they would contact the designer and have her make me one in my size according to the measurements they took in store. Additionally, they threw in alterations for free. I was informed the dress would be finished by mid May or early June, so that worked out perfectly considering my wedding is set for July. All of this sounds great, right? Wrong.

I received a message early March informing me that my dress had come in early. I was thrilled! I went in to pick it up, try it on, and begin alterations. However, while the dress style had been corrected to the style I ordered, the size was morbidly incorrect. Not only had it not been created by the designer to the measurements they took when I initially tried it on, but it was the exact same size as the dress I tried on. I'm 99% sure they simply switched out the size tag from the floor model to the dress they presented me with. So, naturally, I was upset. The seamstress assured me she could take it in and make it fit just like I wanted, but she took it in from the seams on the sides rather than the back of the dress (which is where it had been taken in when I tried it on) so it essentially created an entirely different waistline for my body and basically made me look like the ice berg the Titanic hit and, let's be honest, no bride says to herself, "man, that is the exact look I'm going for".

Completely unsatisfied, my sister forced me to go to a different bridal shop and find a dress off the rack which, thankfully, I love more than the one I had purchased at Bridal Chateau. I emailed Bridal Chateau and explained what happened. I argued that because they messed up in the first place and then tried to deceive me by switching out the tags (or, in the small chance they didn't do that, lie to me saying the designer could make it according to my measurements), I would like a full refund for the dress and veil as I had to purchase new ones. This didn't happen. They offered me a $100 refund for the dress but refused to refund my veil because it was "custom ordered". Ladies, it was not custom ordered. They do not offer veils in the store that aren't yellowed with time or have snags on them so you HAVE to order a veil. In my case, this veil which I am never going to use because it was ordered to specifically match the dress from them, was much more expensive than my actual dress. When I went to pick up the dress and veil, I again asked to be refunded as the veil was the expensive part and even asked if they could just simply "buy it back from me". Well, I'm not even sure the associate I spoke with heard my request because she never once looked at me and proceeded to loudly talk over me and then physically walked away from me as I was still standing at the cash register. The associate, who pretty much looked like Barbie's biggest fan, was probably the most rude person I have ever met in my life.

Moral: Ladies, check your style numbers before you buy and definitely shop around before purchasing from...

As a six foot tall bride-to-be, who usually has significant challenges finding clothes that aren't made for the average, 5'4'' woman, I was sure that wedding dress shopping would be a nightmare - ugh! To get an understanding of what the scope of my challenge would be, I booked an appointment at the Bridal Chateau during their July sale event with no expectation or hope of finding a dress that day.

Upon entering with my mother (who was just a few days post-op of an orthopedic surgery), we were greeted by Olivia's smiling face. She showed us to a large, private room that easily allowed for my mom to sit is a comfortable position, and would allow for others with physical temporary or permanent challenges to sit comfortably with ease.

Olivia then asked about my vision and budget. I told her squeamishly (expecting to have to pick based on what fit, not what I actually desired to look like), and noted the July sale. She asked a few clarifying questions, and then graciously offered to start with sale options and work our way up from there.

Ladies let me tell you that she listened to everything I wanted and absolutely nailed the selections! Every dress, even the wild cards, were tightly focused to what I asked for, and as we progressed, she continued to listen, adjust, and pull more as I started to discover what I truly loved.

She was patient, and kind, and offered genuine suggestions as if she was an old-friend...with no hard sell or over focus on the appointment duration time that I've experienced elsewhere with friends trying on dresses for their weddings.

Long story short, I found my dress, and Olivia found the most perfect veil to complete the look to boot! Upon measuring to order, she thoughtfully walked us through considerations when deciding whether to order up or down as my measurements fell right between two sizes. When telling her, I was leaning towards the smaller, she found a dress in that size, in the same silhouette made by the same designer and had me try it on to ensure I felt confident in the decision.

Checking out was a breeze, and she thoroughly went through what to expect re: ordering, delivery, alterations.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better experience! Thank you so much Olivia and Bridal Chateau team!

*Tall brides - every dress I tried had the perfect amount of length, even so much that I could wear a heel if I wanted! I was SHOCKED!

**If you have an appointment time that is the same time as the business opens, they do not open the doors 5-10 minutes early for patrons to check-in, etc (i.e. we waited outside the door, until they unlocked the door at 1pm - not a big deal but just...

I bought my daughters wedding dress here and when it came in the top part stuck out and needed to fit to her. They assured that it could be altered. We went to three different seamstresses that could not fix it. The first one said that she didn’t know how it could be fixed and didn’t want to take it apart so we went to John Paul tailor’s which is a recommendation of Bridal Chateau and they cut the straps to lift it and then it dug into under her arms and the back had to be forced zipped. They said nothing they could do and we said they have to because it didn’t fit. So they said they would take it out and marked up the dress in red and to come back in a week. We went back and had an appointment and they did nothing and seamstress wasn’t even there. As my daughter was crying we found another seamstress that would take her and now it’s like 2 weeks before the wedding. My daughter spoke with bridal chateau and they told her to keep that appointment. When we went to pick up my daughters dress the top was still not fixed and said she will take it in and to come back 4 days before the wedding. At this point we were nervous being so close to the wedding that it will not be able to get it fixed. My daughter went to David’s bridal shop and found a dress off the rack luckily. David’s was great and the place to go not Bridal Chateau. I called to see if there is something they could do like some sort of money back. The manager called me back and said there wasn’t, and my daughter should of went to them. They have no seamstress and they did not tell her to come to them. They also pulled the notes that they put down on what was needed in alterations and only said lift straps and minimal. Did not have anything down about the top. When my daughter tried it on we said needs hemming and the top. They said the top was no problem and can be fixed but they never put that part in the notes. They totally lied. So now we have this wedding dress that they should of never sold to my daughter and an expense that they would do nothing about. I definitely do not recommend this place for a...