RKBridal, House of Brides, Pearl''s Place...anyone??

[Kit]

Hey all,

Just wondering if anyone has any specific information, stories or reviews to share regarding ordering wedding gowns from these large, mail-order discounters? Either personal, friend of friend, whatever. I am trying to decide if ordering from them is a complete "no brainer" or a big mistake.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mandarine]

Hi Kit, I was about to turn off the computer but wanted to reply quickly!

I just bought my dress from RKBridal and had the best experience ever!!!!. I saved over 50%, my dress was supposed to arrive in October or so and I received it this last Monday!!! (see my other thread "The Dress...").

Anyway, I am so happy, the dress arrived in perfect condition!. I called for a quote, they pointed out where to find the size guide, I measured myself, faxed the form with a deposit down. I then called them to confirm about 2 weeks later and they sent me a confirmation e-mail. ...now I have my dress and I love it!. It came with a garment bag and with copy of the receipts.

That being said, I have heard their in-store customer service is horrible. I didn''t really care about that since I was ordering by mail!.

A girl on the knot ordered before me and she is supposed to get it in September, she still hasn''t gotten it, but they still have until September.

I''ve read mixed reviews but most of the reviews I found were positive and most girls got their gowns well before their "deadline"!.

Anyhow, I hope this helps!!!

M~

 

[jcrow]

i didn''t order from any of the places in question. however, i did GO to pearl''s place. and it was an AWEFUL experience. i would NEVER buy from the physical store. i hear lots of brides happy with their online purchase from pp, but i just think of how terrible the store is. the service. the crowded, no appt, super long wait. yucko.

no thank you.

 

[dtnyc]

Ordered BM dresses for a friend''s wedding from Pearl''s place- saved a fair amount on "top designer" dress- would have been 290 and we got them for 224?
They came on time and everything was fine with them.

I went to RK Bridal when I lived in NY, but ended up buying my dress @ a sample sale- it''s a no frills place (sounds like Pearl''s Place is too) if you are getting such a good deal you need to be prepared for no/low ambiance, crowds, etc. however personally I don''t have an issue w/ that as I would rather save the $$ than pay for nice lighting.

 

[chicagogirl]

Have you considered netbride.com? I ordered the BM dresses from the and saved about $100 a dress. I haven''t received the dresses yet, but they come VERY highly recommended, so I am not anticipating any problems. Good luck!

 

[NYCsparkle]

hey...i got my dress from RK and had a very positive experience. my dress came in 3 months early and they did a great job altering the dress for me...it was also $500 cheaper than any other place

 

[MustangGal]

I just helped a friend order from discountbridal.org. They were really nice, and had the best price on the Mori Lee she wanted, $600 instead of $850 at the bridal store or $750 at all the other online retailers we checked. It won''t come in for a few months, but so far so good. She''s also going to get the BM dresses for $140 each, the bridal store was $200 or so. They have online ordering, or you can call and talk to a real person.

 

[nessvan12]

I was a BM in a wedding in May and the bride ordered our dresses from House of Brides. We saved $ overall, ($75 i think per dress), and we got them in earlier than expected so when I get engaged I will definetly be looking to order dresses online...I''ve only ever heard good things.

 

[Kit]

Thank you everyone for all your input!!!

 

[Elmorton]

I didn''t order from House of Brides but I went to their store in person (I think the largest one, in Shaumburg IL) - now when I picture hell, an image of House of Brides is etched in my mind.

...I suppose if you''re ordering online, most of my complaints wouldn''t be an issue (for example, the sample dresses were just disgustingly dirty, they didn''t pull the dresses I wanted to see, there were whole 20-30 min spans where no one was helping us, and when the place is the size of Home Depot full of dresses, that''s not cool...). I don''t know, I just wouldn''t go there - I wasn''t happy with their in-store service, so I''m not sure I''d trust going online when you''re at an even further distance - but someone who has actually ordered from them might have a 100% different experience than I did.

 

[Sabine]

I called both RK bridal and Pearl''s Place when I was looking for my dress. Pearl''s Place was by far cheaper. I was going to order from there, so my mom checked them out, and they are definitely in good standing with the better business bureau --if by chance something is wrong when you get your dress, they will fix it. I didn''t end up order from there though because I found a store to match their price, and no waiting on my dress.

 

[ladyciel]

I totally plan to shop online to find the best price I can on the dress I choose, but I will also give the local shops a chance to price match if I think I'd like to work with them. I know a lot of stores don't like to do alterations or anything else if you don't buy the dress there. Having an online price to wave at them is a definite strength if you're looking to negotiate. That way you have a physical place that will a) point you towards a seamstress for fittings, b) avoid the hassle of shipping, and c) perhaps the biggest perk for me, possibly a place to store the dress till wedding time. Since FH will not be allowed to see it before I hit the aisle, I'd have a hard time storing it in our small apartment!

 

[labbielove]

We purchased our bridesmaid dresses from Pearls Place with no problem.
They are not warm and fuzzy over the phone and you have to have your size already,
but it was fast delivery and no troubles at all.
we saved about $80 per dress

 

[Kit]

Thanks again, all. This is great info.

The upshot is, I had to order from a store because I had them change the hemline and order custom to my measurements...but the store waived a few fees so I felt they were being accommodating price-wise. But good to know that those online mail order places really do check out!