Michelle’s Bridal & Black Tie Tuxedo — Local services in Urbana

Many of my family members got their dresses at Michelle's over the years, so when I got engaged in May 2018, I knew I wanted to go to Michelle’s. My consultant, Jordan, was my fairy godmother! She and I instantly clicked through our love of Disney! She made my dreams come true by finding my dream dress and veil! I didn't want to take them off! We ordered both that day and they said they would be delivered and ready to pick up by the end of November 2018 at the latest. However, we had a quite a few major bumps in the road before actually taking my dress and veil home.

I didn’t hear from Michelle’s around the time they said my dress would be in, so I called them on the 30th of November (a Friday) to get an update. The lady said she would look into it and call me back. When she did, she said it was still at the designer and should be shipped the next Monday or Tuesday and would be delivered next Monday or Tuesday following. So, having not heard from them for a week and a half, I called them on the new delivery date to, again, see if it was delivered. They told me it was stuck in customs (never telling us that it was ever coming from overseas) and they had no idea when it would be delivered, causing my stress levels to skyrocket. A week after that call, Michelle’s finally called me and said they just received a shipping notification and that it would be delivered the week of December 17. So, I set up an appointment to try on and pick up my dress and veil for that Saturday, December 22.

When we arrived at Michelle’s, my dress was there (finally) and perfect! I also wanted to try on the veil that I bought there, but we were told that it had a “small hole” in it and they were going to “repair it”. We thought to ourselves how to you repair a small hole in netting/tulle? We asked to see the veil, but they declined and reassured us that they were going to repair it and that we didn’t need to see it. My mom very firmly asked the lady at the front counter (I believe her name was Judy) again to see the veil. After about 20 minutes of us waiting and asking to see my veil (it was a very slow day and there was only one other group in the entire shop), they finally brought it out and we saw that this “small hole” was a 12-inch long hole down the edge and up into the middle of the veil! My mom (who has been sewing for over 50 years) and grandma (sewing for over 70 years) said there is no way to repair that without noticing. So, one of the other ladies (Kayla, I believe) suggested cutting the last few feet off (making it lopsided, part of it have no edging, and losing several feet of length)! We said no way! We asked them if they could order a new one and Judy said that it was discontinued and couldn’t be reordered. Then, she had the nerve to say that the veil was like that when I originally tried it on months ago! I think an entire group of 8 people would’ve noticed a large gaping rip in it. They finally offered to show us a similar veil that was available. The new veil was pretty, but it had a blusher that couldn’t be removed (that we did not want), it was a different kind of tulle (very wrinkly), and it was $100 more than the original one we bought. We had to ask for them to lower the price to match the original veil, which they did, very unwillingly. After many, many tears and a very aggravated mother and grandmother, we finally walked out of Michelle’s with my dress and a different veil.

I would like to say that I recommend Michelle’s because I found my dress and my consultant, Jordan, was absolutely wonderful, caring, and the only shining light at Michelle’s; however, because of the lack of communication with shipping and tracking of my dress, as well as the carelessness, lying, lack of ownership of damage of the veil, and not doing everything in their power to make things right, I will NOT be recommending Michelle’s to any bride. I do not want another bride to have a similar experience. The heartache and unneeded stress that the employees at Michelle’s caused was extremely disappointing and...

PRECIOUS, MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE! I’m a little older and have been through some things, so this is a time of my life that I’m getting to experience some things I’ve missed out on. Long story short, I have been to some different places, and literally none of them came close at all to my experience at Michelle’s Bridal and Tuxedo!

From the very first contact on line, I appreciated the process of getting to know me through the questionnaire, contacting me to talk things through, and knowing there would be a closet prepared for me with dresses waiting to try on. Once there, Melinda gave me the absolute best experience in so many ways!

First of all, I have to say that I know I did not make it easy for her with the examples I sent to her of what I was interested in. I did not know what I was doing and only knew dresses I think are pretty, but may not be realistic on me, so I sent her a crazy variety of examples. Melinda had the most beautiful variety of dresses waiting for me! Every dress was stunning and unique with so many completely different styles to try, making it super fun and very difficult to choose. Even the way she got me in and out of the dresses was done in a way that was gentle and modest, because honestly, at another place I went to, the lady was sweet but she pinched, clawed, and poked me, and at one point while trying to force me into a small dress, I thought I might crack a rib! But Melinda was smooth in getting me in and out of those dresses and clipping/fitting them.

I loved that she hit it off with my best friend/maid of honor so they were a wonderful team for me! And her years of experience and expertise, combined with how quickly and well she tuned into me, was so incredibly helpful to me! She was always ready with a variety of accessories to experiment with and enhance a look. I especially appreciate that she never once tried to hard-sell me, because nothing makes me head for the hills faster! I truly believe that she had my best interest at heart, and she always respected my price point and kept me under budget. Not to mention, she’s just a lovely person and just cool.

The establishment itself is nice and I was very comfortable with my dressing area that even came with water and snacks. No other place even offered me a drink of water.

So thanks to my perfect experience at Michelle’s Bridal and Tuxedo, I was able to say YES TO THE DRESS and Melinda is sticking close to me for questions as they pop up, and the process of finding reliable people to assist with alterations.

So THANK YOU MELINDA and MICHELLE’S BRIDAL for making this part of my journey so incredibly special, leaving me with a warm heart, great memories, and gigantic smile on my...

My sister got married back in 2012 and I was her MOH. We had a pretty terrible experience here. First, we waited longer than nearly anyone else to see someone. When they finally got to us, they weren't the least bit apologetic. In fact, they were quite the opposite. They were flat-out rude. The woman "helping" my sister with her dress selection was criticizing her for wanting to choose a dress a year before her wedding, telling her that the dress my sister loved would be "out of style" by then. Let me go further - it was her tone of voice and expression on her face that was so off-putting. A little helpful advice coming from anyone else might not have seemed so...snobby, I guess would be a word to describe it. When my sister finally decided to try a dress on and asked for my help, the woman literally stepped in front of me (within like 2 or 3 inches) and walked into my sister's dressing room, closing the door in my face. Needless to say I was appalled.

The madness doesn't end there. My sister decided to go with Michelle's, anyway, because they had the dress she wanted. All of the bridesmaids and groomsmen were fitted. EVERY SINGLE ONE was measured incorrectly (that's a total of 9 different people). My dress had to be taken in TWICE after receiving it (losing over $100 on top of what I already paid for the nearly $200 bridesmaid dress!). All the other bridesmaids had similar problems. Did I mention that all except for one of our dresses BROKE during the wedding?! The groomsmen's pants were all either too short or long, and their jackets were all wrong, as well. I should add that the bridal party picked up their attire approximately a month or less before the wedding (leaving little to NO time to lose or gain weight, as they suggested when we reported all the measuring mistakes). Are you freaking kidding me?!

I will 100% be using someone else when I...