Blu Rayne Bridal Boutique — Local services in Town of Smithtown

I want to preface this by saying, being a plus size bride is rough almost anywhere you go (accept Ivory and Main in sayville, which I highly recommend for plus size brides— ALL of their samples are plus size and they have HUNDREDS of dresses!), but this place was the first where I felt like I was treated as less than.I want to break this down so it’s easy to read because I know my plus size friends specifically come here to read reviews before putting themselves in the lions den:

This isn’t really a critique, but the dresses here are pretty cookie cutter looking. I’m not even just talking about the small selection of plus size samples that they do have, I mean every dress. For any bride that wants to look unique, I wouldn’t come here.

The sales woman I had didn’t help me into gowns. Now, as a plus size person, when I first started gown shopping I was dreading having some stranger in the room with me helping me into gowns, which may have been the stores reasoning for asking me to get into the samples alone. Ladies— I promise you, you’re going to want help, especially when getting into samples that are a size 10-14 bridal. Getting them on is work and it truly takes a team. There was one gown I barely could pull up and when I told her I needed help pulling it up, she told me no, it needed to be pulled down and kept tugging it down on me so I couldn’t even see how it would lay at my waist. My recommendation to the salon is to ask clients comfort level with helping them in the gown.

My sales woman (Helene) was very brash. She wasn’t really listening to what I wanted, and pretty much just pushed the gown she thought looked best on me, and the only gowns she selected were plus size samples. There was a point where I had tried on 3 gowns, the 3rd being her favorite and the complete opposite of what I was looking for, but it was the only sample I tried that actually zipped and fit my size 14 body, which I think is why she liked it. I was kind of indifferent about all 3, and when the assistant came to ask which gowns to put back she told her I only liked the one I had on and she could bring back the others.

My sales woman just seemed like she didn’t care about my vision or how I felt. She didn’t go above and beyond to suggest gowns. I am pretty sure I saw and overheard her talking about me in annoyance to another stylist.. perhaps my experience would have been different if I had someone else taking care of me, but I’m not sure. In the end she suggested a gown that they didn’t even have in store for me to try, which was kind of funny to me.

In all of the other places I’ve gone gown shopping, I stayed almost past my allotted time. When I was here, I honestly couldn’t wait to leave. We left with 30 mins to spare in the appointment. We got in the car, called the Bridal Salon of Dix Hills, and they told us to come there right away to have an appointment. I HIGHLY recommend Bridal Salon of Dix Hills. I had 2 stylists waiting on me, acting like they were styling me for a red carpet event. It was phenomenal. They listened to me, pulled amazing, couture looking dresses for me, squeezed me into the tiniest of samples without making me feel bad or like I was a burden.. truly truly amazing. Here are some places that I went to that were so great to me and made me feel so comfortable and listened:

Ivory and Main- Sayville Bridal Salon of Dix Hills- Dix Hills Lotus Bridal- Mineola Max Bridal- Syosset

But this place.. honestly just skip....

In the beginning of this experience both myself and my daughter thought there was no better place. However, when it came to fitting the dress it was a horrible experience!! I would not trust when you are told it is a hollow to hem dress and that it is measure exactly to your body. When my daughter put the dress on they did not do the proper measurements. The dress came in about 5 inches too long and did not fit properly. They tried to say it was because my daughter lost 15 pounds but it was actually their poor measurements. Originally my daughter tried the dress on and was measured with 2 inch heels on when we went for the fitting she wore 4 inch heels and the dress was way too long. So try one the seamstress takes the dress in and cuts about 3 inches of material from the underneath part of the dress and says she can make it shorter. try 2 Guess what it is still too long like way too long she would trip if she walked in it. The seamstress wanted to basically cut off all of the beautiful work on the bottom of the dress. Then, they decided move the dress up from the under part of the dress. Once again outcomes the scissors. The seamstress put a hole in the dress and then tried to blame my daughter quote she must have just done it walking around in it just now The hole was about halfway up the dress The owner tried to say that she told us when the dress was purchased that it might need to be hemmed. She alter her receipt to say may need to be hemmed, However, that did not appear on the original receipt. She called me a liar after she said I implied that she was the liar I will leave that up to you to decide She thought she was generous to take 150 dollars off the dress try 3 When we returned to see if the dress had been corrected it was still too long and had still needed to be haltered on the spot. since we are 7 days away from the wedding. I would guess if there are no problems or they measure you properly then everything would workout. However, the sign of a good business it the response when things are not perfect or difficult. The owners response in this situation was unacceptable! By the way when you think you are talking negatively about a client and they can't hear you maybe you should make sure they can not hear you. There are so many bridal shop I would suggest trying...

When I tell you I went into this appointment fully confident I wouldn’t find a dress that day, Im 100% honest. I’m not getting married until November 2024, so I still had plenty of time. I upgraded my appointment, had 5 friends and family with me, and it was worth every penny. My entire day at Blu Rayne was some of the most hilarious and fun moments of my engagement thus far. And it had so much to do with Blu Rayne. EVERY staff member was pleasant and greeted us all. Throughout my appointment other employees would come over to see their favorite dresses on me and gave their honest opinions, and helped to make the experience fun and make me feel beautiful. The boutique wasn’t packed, and it felt very personal and intimate. We were not fighting for anyone’s attention, and the staff were focused on everything we could need in that moment (and they got it FAST). May was helping me, and let me tell you, I couldn’t have asked for a more kind and patient woman to help me find my dress. Not only did she give me the freedom to try on whatever I wanted, but if I didn’t like a dress I didn’t like it. I didn’t feel pressured to give a reason unlike other salons that ask you why you don’t like something. We had a blast, she would joke around with us, and she answered all of our questions. But more importantly, when I found the dress, she gave me and my family the opportunity to dress it up with a veil and flowers, try different lighting, and made me feel so beautiful and confident. I walked in thinking I wouldn’t find anything, and I left knowing that I couldn’t have found a more beautiful dress. May and the rest of the team at Blu Rayne made my dress shopping experience so memorable and my mom, my sister and I still rave about them weeks...