Catherine's Bridal Boutique — Local services in Valparaiso

Some girls dream of what type of wedding dress they will get to wear on their wedding from a very young age. Growing up, watching Disney movies featuring the most beautiful princesses in the most beautiful dresses, I dreamed of one day being able to put one of those dresses on in a Bridal Boutique in front of my family and having that “special moment”. COVID-19 has disrupted and terrorized many people during this global pandemic. Many people have lost lives, watched those they love lose their lives, been separated from those they love, had to cancel or postpone their Wedding, the lists go on and on. My Wedding is in September. At this time we are hoping the pandemic is on the upswing and we will still be able to have the wedding of our dreams. I was sure I would be naked on my Wedding Day. Everything is closed and I had no idea how I would ever be able to find a dress in time. I gave up the dream of finding a beautiful fairytale princess dress, at this point I just hoped to find a dress. Cathy from Catherine’s Bridal Boutique became my Fairy Godmother overnight. She reached out and reassured me we would get through this together. She provided questions and pictures to get an idea of what I may like. She set up a Zoom appointment to show me several dresses that she believed would appeal to me. She was then willing to ship me the dresses I found I liked or drive to my house for me to try on at home. We have now set up a second Zoom appointment on a Saturday evening, definitely after normal business hours just so that my sister who is a Nurse on the frontlines of this pandemic can be a part of my appointment still. Cathy has gone above and beyond from the very beginning of this journey. I will not lie. I was devastated that I couldn’t have my ideal appointment like every other girl gets, but Cathy has made this journey, my journey something so special that I will always be grateful for. I cannot wait to see these dresses in person and have my virtual appointment with my sisters, mom, best friend, and with Cathy walking us through every step virtually, in three different states. How many girls get to say they were in three different states during their Wedding Dress shopping experience? Again, I couldn’t have this outlook without the unremitting support that...

I questioned the size ordered as too big(16) but was assured it would be perfect with alterations. Well, they kept just wanting to pull straps up and not do more detailed/difficult alterations. The first time it did away with a design feature slit between the breasts and came up too close to armpit also was uncomfortable at neckline. She agreed and did take in sides(an inch on both sides--total of 4 inches circumference. The back of dress had gap and the chiffon poofed out. Again tried the straps to fix but very uncomfortable at my collar bone area. So did a stitch that caused it to pucker and be uneven and put another hook which helped but lessened design feature. Then took up straps again but uncomfortable--I said if they took waist in more to get it snug then it would work ...she suggested wearing double sided tape on my abdomen so it would stay up! So let straps down. They wouldn't entertain the idea of doing more difficult alterations. Not at all pleased with the fit and their quick fix methodology. The bodice was too big and they wouldn't do any alterations. Also, no one informed me that the ruching would make it hard to zip up. I can't zip it up myself and it took several tries before my husband was able to with my help. So....don't recommend getting dress here if you need more than simple alterations and you may not want ruching...hopefully the day of wedding my husband will be able to zip it up. Everyone was pleasant but in the end not really listening or helping me. FYI ...I was so unhappy with fit that day before we left for the OOT wedding I stopped by Macy's and quess what.....I lucked out and found the same color dress(so could use same accessories) in a SIZE 8 that fit, I liked and it needed no alterations! It was meant as an ankle dress but with me being borderline petite it was a perfect floor length. So tell me how an off the shelf 8 fit and they ordered me a 16! Sizes can't be that different! I will try to speak with manager/owner soon to see if they will compensate or not and let you know. I spoke with them and she stated she would compensate me for the dress. Also, with the size issue and zipper issue they will probably not carry that dress anymore which I was glad to hear so no one else will have the...

Terrible experience and would never return. There were several disappointments when going to this shop to get bridesmaids dresses with my sisters party. First, the person showing us dresses was having difficulty knowing how to use the measuring tape. At one point, we had two different workers measuring each bridesmaid due to inconsistent measuring. Secondly when checking out, they provided the entire group with inconsistent and misleading information on when the dresses would arrive and when they would be ordered. Two workers at the front desk informed us that we could pay for half of the price today and the rest of the amount later. Due to one braidsmaid moving out of state we asked multiple times if the dress would arrive in advance of the wedding in July. They told us multiple times that the dresses were guaranteed to be here by May. As half of the party proceeding to leave the building after paying half, another coworker came to the front desk randomly and tells us that the dresses will not be ordered today and will not be ordered from the shop until each dress is paid in full. She goes on to say that if we only pay half today, we could come back to pay the rest in full but it would not arrive in May but would come in late June. Wedding is early July. She went on to say that it was their new policy. When asked about where this policy was so I could read it as it was not included in the policy I signed when paying for the dress, she could not find it. She went on to day that this new ordering policy is not written down and just became in effect. She couldn’t provide me with the date of when this new policy started. As half of the braidsmaids had already left at this point after paying half, we had to call them back to pay in full as the two front workers gave us wrong information. We also had to call two other braidsmaid to pay the rest over the phone as they had picked out dresses weeks prior and were told the dresses would be ordered the same day the paid half. That was not the case and their dresses were not ever ordered. What is even worse is that upon check out they didn’t have our sizes or dresses written down. They also forgot who the bride was and gave us looks when we asked questions about the new policy. Worst...