Paradise Bridals & Tuxedos — Local services in Town of Brookhaven

If I could give this store a less than one rating I would strictly based on the customer service experience. I have waited over two months to write this review and been back and forth with myself thinking maybe it was a one off. After much consideration, I have decided it is best to make it known what I and my mother in law experienced. My wedding was 10/26/2023 and my mother in law picked her dress from this store. She had her dress ordered over a year in advance. Once the dress came in there was quite the ordeal to get the fittings squared away. This portion of my story is of course hearsay as I was not present, but being that it is from my mother-in-law and after how I was treated I fully believe her. She informed me that upon her scheduled fitting time there was a bride that showed up almost an hour late to her appt and my mother-in-law was in time for hers, she was unfortunately pushed so that the bride could be seen with no consideration of her time nor an apology. Then for her next fitting which was supposed to be after all alterations were COMPLETED, the dress was still not ready and did not fit her appropriately as a result. Two weeks before my wedding, the dress was still not done. I reached out and spoke with "Patty" who is the manager of the store and from the start of our conversation was defensive and rude. I purposefully called while I was at work so that my tone would be professional. I explained who I was, why I was calling and verbatim stated "I just want to make sure the dress will be ready for my wedding in two weeks." We were to the point of using a completely different dress. Patty told me that she couldn't give details regarding my mother-in-laws dress (couldn't even be bothered to calm my nerves and be understanding. I wasn't asking for the moon. I just wanted to know it would be ready. A simple "Yes, we fully intend on the dress being ready and I am so sorry this is causing you stress. Rest assured the dress will be ready" would have sufficed). I didn't realize that information like that was unable to be given out and still find that to be a bit odd, but it is what it is. The fact of the matter is I was spoken to like I was the problem not the stores lack of ability to perform in a timely manner or show an ounce of decorum. Patty proceeded to tell me I was being extremely rude and that she wouldn't tolerate being spoken to this way. I replied that I was sorry she felt my tone was rude and that wasn't my intention and I implored to her that I needed to know the dress would be ready. She refused to give me that small curtesy. I then promised that if the dress was not ready, I would want to speak with the owner. She told me at that time she was the manager. Fast forward to the wedding day. My mother-in-law did have her dress, however less than half way through the night... the sleeve detached and split. Her dress did not sit on her bust the way that it should of all because the alterations were not done in a timely manner and as such there was no time for adjustments prior to the wedding. She had her dress I believe a day or two prior to the wedding. My real complaint here is more the customer service aspect of things. I don't think what I was asking was unrealistic in the slightest. I also fully expect a response to this review that leaves much to be desired. Full transparency, I also gave this salon a review in the Brides of Long Island to deter any potential brides from sending their loved ones here. Wedding business is hard, but it doesn't have to be complicated by nastiness. Wishing you a happy holiday season and perhaps in the New Year there will be an adjustment of attitudes within your staff.

Edit: As you can see below, the response left much to be desired. I would like to clarify I have in fact been a customer of paradise bridal for my sister in laws wedding. I went through the store for my bridesmaid dress. At that time the experience wasn’t terrible. While their selection is limited for bridesmaids dresses, our associate was able to help us get what my sister...

The only positive point through the entire experience was when I said "Yes" to the dress. Everything from that point went completely downhill. I made the smart choice not to get my dress altered here, and after what my poor bridesmaids went through, I am glad I didn't. I deeply regret ever doing any business with this place. I unfortunately didn't read the reviews until after we ordered our dresses.

First off, it took 5 months for the dresses to arrive, and as others have said, it was the whole merry-go-round of phone calls, the "um and ahs", given arrival dates that would come and pass. My favourite was one associate who responded when I asked for a delivery status on the dress: "Well, if you haven't gotten a phone call that it's in, then it's not in." Wow, thanks Sherlock, I had no idea the dress wasn't in yet. All I wanted to know was WHERE it was. Was it in the Atlantic? Stateside? In a Distribution Center? Narnia? This is 2018, not 1918: If I can track the shipment of a 2mm screw from Shanghai, there is no reason that anyone in that joke of a boutique can't track a DRESS. Regardless, I finally got the dresses. I though as long as we didn't get alterations there, we'd be fine right? WRONG.

While Cherise was very nice during the sales process, she royally messed up ordering the proper sizes based on our measurements. All of the dresses were ordered a size below our measurements. While myself and another bridesmaid lucked out, two of my bridesmaids did not. One could zip up her dress, but it would buckle at the waist. The other could not zip it up at all, there was an 8 inch gap between the zipper. Just to be clear, one girl lost some weight, the other maintained. There is NO reason someone who is maintaining their weight can't even zip up a dress past the waist!

Within a week of getting the dresses, they dealt with Patty and a seamstress. Now let me preface, I don't have any issues with Patty, she was very nice, professional, and amicable. Patty agreed it was their mistake and they would cover the alterations. She wrote on the bridesmaids' receipts "ALT NO CHRGE". Keep this in mind as I continue. Since the bridesmaids knew these fixes would be incredibly costly, since they would have to rebuild that one girl's dress, despite the horror stories of alterations, they left the dresses there. They returned weeks later for another appointment, where Patty and Donna were present. Upon scheduling the last fitting appointment on the phone, Donna was adamant that the dresses would be ready at that appointment, since one of our girls has to take two trains just to get here.

Shock surprise, the girls come to the appointment to find the dresses were not done: All that was done was the hem: they still needed to let out the dress, reattach the belt, and attach the shoulder sash material. Understandably, my girls were concerned. Donna and the seamstress reacted by being condescending towards them: "Why are you getting upset? Just enjoy life...no one understands what we [seamstresses] go through." I decided enough is enough and called. For sake of transparency, I did scream them out for their unprofessional behavior. I do apologize for my reaction, but not for a single thing I said.

Donna and the seamstress had no business talking to my girls that way, and she lied to me on numerous occasions throughout the affair. (she tried to weasel out of not charging for the alterations, even though my girls had to receipts. They made my girls wait TWO HOURS before asking them about the paperwork.) This place needs to be shut down and people like Donna need to leave and make room for people in this industry who understand what PROFESSIONALISM and RESPECT means. It is absolutely disgusting how they made my bridesmaid spend 100s of dollars in transportation to come twice, because apparently ordering off a size chart is hard, then proceed to be condescending and lie the whole way through. This place is anything but...

This business has caused my wife and I more stress than any other vendor combined. They failed to order the extra lace for my wifes dress and later was told it is no longer available. They lied numerous times stating my wife never requested the extra lace, but did finally admit they made a mistake after my wife showed them paperwork proving the lace was ordered. The communication with this place is terrible and they fail to talk amongst staff regarding issues. They acted like they were doing us favors when they were simply corrected their own previous errors. They failed to inform anyone that the dresses for the bridesmaids came in and they actually blamed my wife to all her friends and family, saying they called her to inform her(which is 100% not the case).

For the tux side: 6 out of the 8 groomsmen had such major issues after picking up the tux, they needed to send all of them back. They claimed it was normal for minor adjustments, but finally admitted they dont send tux's back for minor adjustments. All 6 groomsmen had to return 3 times for the tux, not including the original measurement. They FORCED everyone to pay in cash only, yet when people tried to pay in cash they were told they needed to go elsewhere to obtain accurate change first. (UNBELIEVABLE!)It was such a terrible experience that Paradise Bridal was actually joked about during both speeches at the wedding. PLEASE AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. The ONLY THING you may enjoy is their beautiful showroom...which is no indication of the services you will receive. Read the reviews and trust the unfortunate individuals who made the error of purchasing here.

update after owners response: Patty,To explain, the lace was not on pick up order due to the failure of your company to begin with. It's hard to charge when you personally admitted you forgot to order it originally and now had to scramble to make things right. You say we didnt like the lace sent by the designer but lets clarify...you admitted to us you forgot to order it originally and the designer told you it was too late so they sent you the one that was the closest they could find. Very funny you forget that important detail in your response. You did not call the bride or the bride would have been excited and called her bridesmaids. With all the money you made, you think youd make a 2nd call? Or maybe call the bridesmaids who are paying customers as well? Come on. You also blame the pandemic, however your original mistake of forgetting to order the lace was well before the pandemic began. Your responses to the errors you made are not favors to us, but rather your method of rectifying your own mistakes. My wife and I were happy with every other vendor, however your guys failed altogether. We can go back and forth until we are blue in the face, but the facts remain. LOOK AT ALL THE OTHER REVIEWS, it's amazing they are trying to make it out to be the customer....trust me they'll act the same way to you! These reviews are not isolated incidents, but rather how this company operates on a normal day. Please READ REVIEWS CAREFULLY and take notice to how long and drawn out their responses to complaints are. It would be amazing if they placed the energy they spend on trying to prove unsatisfied customers wrong and actually spent it on running a...