How horrible!

[ammayernyc]

Dozens of brides feeling jilted after store from where they ordered dresses has closed

BY KAI MA
STAFF WRITER

August 11, 2005

A crowd of nervous brides-to-be shouted, whistled and clapped as Tynesha Hamilton, 27, walked out of a dark Patchogue bridal store yesterday wearing a smile and carrying a white satin dress in her arms.
Hamilton, of Patchogue, was one of about 30 women who waited up to five hours yesterday outside Bridal Suite, a wedding-attire company that shut down earlier this week. The customers, some who said they were getting married within a week, had ordered their dresses months earlier. All said they''d paid a deposit of half the cost. Only a handful got their dresses.

Hamilton, who placed her order last August and paid a $374 deposit, said her dress was scheduled to arrive in June. She still hadn''t received her dress when she heard a news report Tuesday night that the bridal store had closed.

"I couldn''t sleep all night," said Hamilton, whose wedding is Sept. 10. "I was absolutely shocked."

Kathy Drew, 32, wasn''t as fortunate. The Holtsville bride, who took time off work to wait four hours with her fiance, Denis Karcic, and two bridesmaids, met with two former store employees who voluntarily helped out yesterday, only to leave without knowing if her dress had even been ordered.

"I imagined a limo breaking down but I never expected problems with the dresses," said Drew, who ordered 10 dresses in April for her Oct. 8 wedding.

Karcic, 33, of West Hempstead, said an employee who had been laid off called him and other customers earlier this week to warn them the store would soon close due to financial problems. He told them the water and electricity had already been shut off, Karcic said.

The two former employees used flashlights to talk with customers two at a time and kept the doors locked. They declined to comment.

Beatrice Piccola, the owner, posted an unsigned letter on the front door, saying she had retired early due to "unforeseen circumstances beyond my control." Piccola opened Bridal Suite in 1985.

Bridal Suite is working with Wedding Center in Commack to complete the pending orders. Bob, the owner of Wedding Center who did not want his last name identified, said roughly 200 customers are waiting on the status of their gowns.

 

[sjz]

That is too bad! Anything that goes wrong with the wedding plans is pretty awful, but I think problems with the dress is probably one of the WORST for most brides. When I got married to my first husband, I went to pick up my dress at the bridal shop the day before the wedding. They had it in storage (I think they kept it refridgerated or something?) and were supposed to have it all ready to go and steamed and pressed and all that good stuff for me. I couldn''t make it there until late in the afternoon, and they pulled my dress out of the garment bag for one last look before I took it to the church to await the wedding and there was a HUGE scorch mark right in the center of the front of the dress from an iron! I instantly dissolved into tears right there in the middle of their showroom. Every assistant in the shop was trying to mop up my tears and they all stood there wringing their hands, nobody could understand how that could have happened. I was about to have a nervous breakdown, when the head seamstress came out to see what was going on. I don''t know what that lady did, but she worked into the late evening, and somehow ''fixed" my dress! I think she made some kind of alterations, and moved some pearls and lace around. I absolutely could not see where the scorch mark had been! I was soooo relieved! But I tell you, I had several hours of the worst stress that you can imagine! I just knew the wedding was ruined, there was no time to get another dress, most of the guests were already on their way, since they were coming from a considerable distance, no time to cancel or reschedule. But it all worked out in the end.