Dress Help - Bay Area

[BriBee]

OK ladies, I am wondering if you can chime in and give me suggestions for places to go in the San Jose/Bay Area. I live on the Central Coast, about 45 min from San Jose/Santa Clara areas and an hour to an hour and a half from the San Francisco/Bay Area. I have only gone to 2 places so far: Amy Kuschel in San Francisco, and Trudy''s in Campbell. I found my dream dress at Amy, but it was MUCHO expensive! It''s very similar to the Charlotte dress from her 2006 collection, but it''s the 2008 collection. I found a close dress at Trudy''s that was about one fifth the cost, but not sure if it''s "the one." So now I''m on the hunt and want to find good places to go. I''ve been to David''s Bridal with my best friend, but they didn''t have what I was looking for: strapless, trumpet, lace (no beading or sparklies, I like clean, simple lines).
Your help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[goldenstar]

Try Rin''s Bridal in San Carlos. Its not very glamorous but they have a good selection and the price point is about the same as Trudy''s. One thing I really liked is that you can browse the racks of dresses yourself instead of having them bring things to you. The people that work there are nice.

 

[BriBee]

Thanks for the recommendation goldenstar.

I figured since I haven't gotten any other feedback I'd list some I found online and see if anyone has been to these places and can give any input.
Glamour Closet - SF
Bridal Galleria - SF
Gabrielle's Bridal Boutique - can't remember - either SF or San Jose/Santa Clara area
Haute Bride Couture Bridal - SF (I think)

ETA: goldenstar, went to Rin's website and it looks good, I liked their list of designers.

 

[snuggles1]

Date: 1/10/2008 2:23:56 PM
Author: goldenstar
Try Rin''s Bridal in San Carlos. Its not very glamorous but they have a good selection and the price point is about the same as Trudy''s. One thing I really liked is that you can browse the racks of dresses yourself instead of having them bring things to you. The people that work there are nice.

A caution about Rin''s...your experience depends greatly on your salesperson. Rin is wonderful. There are salespeople there who have made people cry. I don''t know who else works there now. I did a part time stint there once. They have a small selection.

Here are some others I''ve been to, but not really asked any questions or tried anything on:
Unique Bride in Burlingame, CA
Elegant Lace Bridal in San Jose, CA
Newthings West in Cupertino, CA

I''ve only been to Trudy''s and our experience was less than spectacular in the bridesmaid dress section because the salesgirl kept ordering dresses that were two years old and then tried to upsell us a dress that was almost $300 per dress. Otherwise, my friend''s bridal experience was great.

I haven''t started looking at dresses yet.

 

[goldenstar]

I''ve been to Glamour Closet. Its worth checking out but its hit or miss. They didn''t have a ton to look at when I went. It didn''t meet my expectations. I think it has potential depending on what you are looking for and if it happens to be there at the time you go. Its totally the luck of the draw.

 

[gtn]

My friend tells me that I need to go to marina morrison

 

[violet02]

Date: 1/11/2008 4:32:22 AM
Author: gtn
My friend tells me that I need to go to marina morrison

That's where I got my dress. I had the BEST experience there. Their shop is LOVELY. I felt pampered there which was a far cry from La Boutiques da Brides in the bottom of the jewlery mart. I just wanted to feel confident that the shop was selling me something quality (without breaking my budget... much) and that they'll probably do a good job alteration-wise. I'm guessing at this point since all I've done is buy the dress there. Other than that I'd been to a nice bridal shop on the east coast, the jewlery mart shop and Saks in Union Square which was blah. The only thing I can say on their behalf was that they were more than willing to ship in an Amsale dress I wanted to try on without charging me. I bought a dress before it got here so I feel a bit bad about that. Shops like the Unique Bride and others charge about $150 to do that.

 

[violet02]

I almost went here. Pricey though...
http://www.gabriellesbridal.com/

It's in Los Gatos. They carry brands like Melissa Sweet.

Yelp.com is a great resource to read reviews on bridal shops all over the bay area.

 

[BriBee]

Thanks for all the info ladies. Fortunately I have a lot of time to find my dress, but I''m really anxious to get it done since some dresses can take upwards of 8-9 months just to come in

 

[cara]

I had good experiences at Elegant Lace and Bay Area Bridal/New Things West in South Bay. Both previously mentioned. They are also big enough stores to be worth your while, with some nicer stuff as well as more budget-friendly dresses.

Ultimately bought from Bay Area Bridal and they were good to me, once getting past their cheezy tactics: they claim to have a 5 or 6 dress limit per visit when you first walk in, but they kept bringing me dresses when I asked for more. They also tried hard sell "if you buy today, I''ll give you this price" but upon some insisting, agreed to hold that lower price for the weekend. I would hold off bargaining on price until you are ready to buy, to avoid this trap. But they had a good selection, stuck to their word on free alterations, and had a useful salesperson (Nicole I think).

Trudy''s was a different story. Their prices were quite high, they wouldn''t negotiate, they stuck to their 5 or 6 dress limit per visit with me, and on my second visit, showed me 3 of the same dresses as the first time and kept insisting that a dress found on my first visit was "The One!!!" Um, no, if I''m not ready to say its the one, it is not The One, even if your saleslady only wants to show me 8 dresses out of your 2000 dress store.

Elegant Lace was great as well. My second choice dress was there, they were polite and helpful and it would have been 30-40% less than where I first tried the dress on (Panache Bridal in Los Altos).

 

[BriBee]

Thanks for sharing cara. I went to look up Panache Bridal and the website says that they are closed due to the owner''s continued serious health problems

And that there are no plans to re-open. Too bad, I guess that one''s out

 

[scm1012]

Sorry to hijack BriBee --

To anyone who is familiar with Marina Morrison -- Are they exclusively designer name carriers? I see on the website just 10 designers. Are they limited to this?

 

[violet02]

Date: 1/16/2008 1:06:13 PM
Author: scm1012
Sorry to hijack BriBee --

To anyone who is familiar with Marina Morrison -- Are they exclusively designer name carriers? I see on the website just 10 designers. Are they limited to this?

I think they only carry what they have listed. I would call them if I were you though to double check. I recall only seeing those designers when I was there though. Which one were you looking for?

 

[scm1012]

Nothing in particular yet -- although I am loving everything Jenny Packham.

I just know if I go there I''m going to be completely inclined to overspend. But that is the story of my life

 

[happy in love]

Hi BriBee,
I don''t know how close you are to Sacramento, but I have had such a great experience with Bella Donna Bridal. Ashley (the owner) is soooo helpful and carries beautiful dresses!

 

[violet02]

Date: 1/16/2008 2:45:17 PM
Author: scm1012
Nothing in particular yet -- although I am loving everything Jenny Packham.

I just know if I go there I''m going to be completely inclined to overspend. But that is the story of my life

What do you consider overspending? I thought the same and I actually fell within budget. I was suprised, I figured I''d be in and out of there pretty fast! There''s another bridal salon in I think it''s San Mateo that also carries Jenny Packham. I can dig up the name for you if you want to check it out. I love Marina Morrison though, it was a GREAT experience for me to buy my dress there.

 

[scm1012]

Marina Morrison just seems like the epitome of bridal gown shopping! I''ve dreamt about it since I was a pre-teen.

I don''t really have a budget for a gown. I want what looks great on me and makes me feel special -- I don''t want to get stupid though. Honestly, I would say 5k would be my cut-off before I''d need my head examined. I am not opposed to expensive dresses, I just don''t want to lose my head, if that makes sense.

 

[scm1012]

Hi there -- which designers does Bella Donna carry?

 

[BriBee]

Date: 1/16/2008 2:49:23 PM
Author: happy in love
Hi BriBee,
I don''t know how close you are to Sacramento, but I have had such a great experience with Bella Donna Bridal. Ashley (the owner) is soooo helpful and carries beautiful dresses!

My mom is actually in Lake Tahoe right now and was talking to a girl who recommended Bella Donna Bridal. We''re about 2.5 to 3 hours from there, but I think I''d really like to check it out. I figure I''ll only have to make the drive a handful of times if I get my dress there and if we plan right and make a day of it, then it could be fun! They seem to carry everyone I''m interested in: Melissa Sweet, Pronovias, La Sposa, Maggie Sottero... I''m looking for a strapless trumpet style, preferably with lace but no beading or sequins or glittery stuff.

 

[BriBee]

Date: 1/16/2008 3:15:42 PM
Author: scm1012
Marina Morrison just seems like the epitome of bridal gown shopping! I''ve dreamt about it since I was a pre-teen.

I don''t really have a budget for a gown. I want what looks great on me and makes me feel special -- I don''t want to get stupid though. Honestly, I would say 5k would be my cut-off before I''d need my head examined. I am not opposed to expensive dresses, I just don''t want to lose my head, if that makes sense.

This is how I originally felt, and I found my dream dress at Amy Kuschel for 4 something. I had come to terms with the price but I decided I had to go to a few more places since Amy was the first salon I went to. Now, even though I haven''t found any others that compare to this dress, I''m having a hard time justifying the price since I''ve tried on dresses that were really close, but just missed the mark, for 800-1500. This is going to be so hard! I thought I found "The One" but the price is killing me!

 

[BriBee]

I just thought I'd add that if anyone is interested in Amy Kuschel in SF, then I would check it out because it was a really great experience. The neat thing about the SF store is that Amy actually works there, and she'll customize the dress to fit you perfectly, starting with the muslin. If you order from any of her other stores in the country, they order the closest size and then do alterations like most other gowns. There's just something so cool about working with the actual designer and having the dress done precisely for you from top to bottom, that's another reason why I'm having a hard time forgetting about the first dress I found.

ETA: So in the SF store there are no extra charges for alterations. And she does have dresses for a wide range of budgets, it just so happens that I have to pick a super expensive one!