Bridal & Formal, Inc.

ence at Bridal & Formal with Faith was wonderful. She helped me find exactly what I had envisioned and made the entire appointment fun and exciting. Unfortunately, everything after that was a completely different experience, especially when it came to management. When it was time to take my measurements and order my dress, one of the managers decided to simply order the same size as the sample because “it fits you.” The problem is that sample dresses have been tried on countless times and can stretch. That decision resulted in my dress being ordered in a size that was far too small. When I came back to pick up my dress and try it on, it obviously did not fit. At one point, I had upwards of five different people in the dressing room trying to force me into the dress, which was incredibly uncomfortable and embarrassing. The GM, Tina, eventually came into the dressing room and retook my measurements to compare them to the original ones. When she returned, I asked, “So what are we looking at here? Did I go up a size?” Her response was, “You gained a whole 1.5 inches in your back.” Trying to make light of an already uncomfortable situation, I said something along the lines of, “Okay, I guess I’ll try to lose some weight.” Tina responded, “Yeah, but you won’t be able to maintain that.” I was honestly shocked. At that point, I was doing everything I could not to cry. What made the situation even worse was the lack of compassion afterward. Tina and the other consultants would barely answer my questions or explain what my options were. I ended up sobbing in the store, feeling completely humiliated and ashamed of my body because of the way the situation was handled. I consider myself a very body-confident person, and this experience still left me embarrassed and self-conscious for weeks. I had also been so excited to share the moment of picking up my wedding dress with my family, and instead it became one of the most upsetting parts of my wedding planning experience. Thankfully, I found an incredible seamstress who was able to make my dress fit within a very short timeframe and actually made the dress even better than when I received it. She deserves all the praise. Unfortunately, I’m even hesitant to publicly recommend her because after my mother shared her own experience, one of Bridal & Formal’s associates went onto my mother’s personal business page, which felt retaliatory and completely inappropriate. My seamstress has been working with wedding dresses longer than I’ve been alive and told me she has heard many similar stories involving Bridal & Formal. She also showed me other dresses from Bridal & Formal that she was currently altering, some of which required significant adjustments. She told me she has worked with multiple brides who were also sold or ordered dresses in the wrong size. Wedding dress shopping is supposed to be one of the exciting parts of getting married. No bride should leave a bridal store crying, humiliated, and questioning her body because of how she was spoken to. I am incredibly thankful I found someone who was able to fix the situation, but based on my experience, I cannot recommend Bridal & Formal. Save yourself the stress and humiliation and go somewhere that treats brides with kindness, professionalism, and respect.