Does anyone work at a bridal salon?

[starchild]

I finally found the dress I love! I am definitely splurging on it, but I have seen it at a couple different stores...

Here''s the background: One store offered me the dress (new) at a substantial discount off the original price after I told them it was way out of my budget. I mentioned this to the other store and they said that the first store could get in trouble for that if the designer found out. However, the second store was selling that dress for more than the original price of the dress, so I feel like they are price gouging a little and I don''t know who to trust. Obviously I would prefer to get the dress at the place offering me a discount, but is it a little sketchy? Would I maybe be stuck without a dress somehow in the end?

So if anyone works at a bridal salon, can you tell me if this is true? Will the designer get mad if the store offers their dress for below retail? Or above? Maybe they''re offering me an employee discount?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Amandine]

Starchild,

I do not currently work at a bridal store, but I did for a couple years. Is the dress they are offering to sell you the sample? Most stores will take a discount on the dress for sample sales. You may want to also check with the Better Business Bureau in your area...it is a good way to avoid the shops that open and close randomly, for no reason, leaving girls stranded without their dress or deposits back (could anything be more horrible?

). If its a dress you have to order...make certain you are not putting down more then a 50% deposit, because then you have some sort of recourse if there is trouble (you may want to pay with a credit card, too, for the same reason).

I highly doubt that they are offering you an employee discount, at my shop, the discount was pretty small. As for will this irritate the designer...I think that depends on the designer, and the style of shop that it is: boutique, carrying small designer lines, or large store, and the discount store.

I know I didn''t really answer your question, but I hope that this helps!

 

[starchild]

Amandine,

Thanks so much, your reply does help actually! I did check them on the BBB site, they''ve been open for several years and have an A rating, so I feel confident that they''re a legitimate business. It''s a new dress offered at about a 25% discount, which I agree seems a little too good to be true, not to mention rare, but I''m glad you didn''t respond right away that it would make the designer mad; it sounds like it''s not a cardinal sin or anything...

The more I thought about it, the more sure I am that they wouldn''t have offered me anything that would have jeopardized their good standing with the designer-- there''s no reason for them to put themselves out like that just for me!

However, they said I had to pay in full up front; should that be a red flag, or is this kind of standard for amazing deals like this?

Out of curiosity, what kind of store did you use to work at? Big? Small? High or low end? What was the biggest discount on a new dress that your store would offer? I guess I''m trying to compare your experience to the store I''m talking about without giving away too many details about them just in case it WILL get them in trouble!

 

[Amandine]

Starchild,

I am glad that my reply has helped you!

The payment in full...to me, it depends on if you are ordering the dress. If you have to order it (like me, I am too tall for a standard length), payment in full makes me nervous. If you do, please put it on a credit card, because then you have some legal recourse if they do not provide you with what you paid for (and I don''t mean just the dress itself, check the size, color, etc., too). Again, if its off the rack, obviously payment in full is fine. It is very common to sell sample dresses at a discount. If you are especially lucky, you will find one the just arrived, and has barely been tried on.

The store I worked at was a moderate sized, family owned business (for about 30 years or so). I am sad to say that they are no longer in business, but only because everyone had approached retirement age and the next generation was not interested in running the store. Let me tell you, give your bridal ladies some slack, it is a LOT of work to run/manage a nice store. Price? I guess you could say we were a normal, "middle-class" store. None of the high-end $10,000 dresses, but not $99, either. As for discounts, we never gave them on new dresses. Samples, discontinued, and damaged (but repairable

) items, but new stuff, never.

Again, hope this helps, and thinking on what I know...I am going to start a thread sharing some of it.

 

[starchild]

Amandine,

I will say that every salesgirl at every bridal store I went to (seven altogether!) was super helpful and nice... just like you! However, because the first store I went to offered me such a good discount on a new dress without really any negotiating from me, I made sure to ask at every subsequent store I went to (a wide range of prices and designers), and pretty much all of them agreed to a 10% discount on a new dress and several said they would throw in a free veil. I guess it doesn''t hurt to ask! I just hope this deal turns out well, my gut is telling me it will, but wish me luck!

 

[Amandine]

Absolutely! PS fairy dust for your dress! I can''t wait to see pictures of it...who is the designer?

I really did like working at the shop...it is fun helping happy people.

 

[starchild]

Hmm, well I can''t figure out how to download the picture from the site as it is flash, but it is the first dress you see when you go to the Reem Acra site and skip the intro...

A GORGEOUS empire waist beaded dress.... I can''t believe I get to wear it!

Honestly, everyone says you just KNOW which dress is right for you, but it did take me a little bit to realize I was in love... even with the fiancé, haha! I''m probably the most indecisive person around. But then once I really make up my mind, I don''t change it. Are you shopping for a dress too? Working at a dress store, you probably had plenty of time to think about your own dress! Was it as agonizing for you as it was for me?

 

[Amandine]

Ha-ha! Now you can laugh at me...in all the time I worked there, I liked a lot of dresses. But only really fell in love with one, which I don''t think is even made anymore. It''s the only one that ever really struck me...even when I helped my sister find her dress. I am really picky. But, I never tried one on, either. And they look a lot different on then they do on hangers. My manager used to even joke with me that she wouldn''t want to help me find a dress, that I would be too difficult! I actually start looking next weekend, with my Mom and Grandma. I live a long ways away from them (which is unfortunate, as we are really close), and wanted them to have the experience of seeing me in the first dresses. But honestly? After that, I am kinda dreading looking. I have told my SO that it makes me nervous...on account of how particular

I am. He told me he is glad he isn''t involved in that process...So I guess, I have had too much time to look and think. I also studied to be a costume designer...so I just know too much! Wish me luck!

 

[Maisie]

I don''t know if this will help as I live in the UK but here goes....

I saw a gorgeous Maggie Sottero dress on her website. I called my nearest authorised stockist and asked if they can find out if its still available. I forgot to ask her to find out the price too so I called the next nearest stockist who went to check. She called me back and said its £1250.
When the first store got back to me she said the dress is £1450.

I said I had asked another authorised stockist and got a cheaper price. She told me that they aren''t allowed to cut money off the price of the dress. The designer sets the recommended retail price and they have to stick with it. They called the designer back and were told to sell me the dress at the lower price but they weren''t happy that one of their stockists was undercutting other stores.

 

[starchild]

Amandine- That is too funny that even with all your experience you are dreading the process! I know that if I had worked in a dress shop I would have been sorely tempted to try on at least one dress after store hours, haha! Well, best of luck to you! I actually only went dress shopping with my mom, but it was great that way. What you said in your other post about bringing as few people to the shop as possible was right on for me. I can barely make up my own mind as it is, and I didn''t need the noise of other people''s opinions drowning out my own thoughts. To me, the wedding dress is a really personal thing...

Maisie- Thanks for sharing your experience, even if you are in the UK. There''s really nowhere else I can think of but in these kinds of forums that I feel I would get other brides'' honest experiences with dress shopping (I''m one of the first of my friends to get married), so your post is much appreciated. I am starting to think that some places are just not willing to bargain, maybe because of the high volume of sales they do (i.e., if you offer a deal to someone, you might have to offer to everyone else who asks?), and that the designer being upset is really just their excuse for not budging on price.

I seem to remember a post about jewelry deals somewhere on here a few months ago where someone was in a similar situation as me, and because the customer was trying to pit one store against another, the first store that offered the deal ultimately retracted their offer because they had a relationship with the second store. I guess if there''s a lesson to be learned here, it''s that if someone offers you a great deal, you should just take it and not try to get the same deal somewhere else...