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View Full Version : Vows Bridal in Newton, Mass. ?



lgflores
09-06-2002, 04:14 PM
Hello all,

I am a bride to be and am trying my very best to research and find a way to get a good deal on my gown. I came across www.vowsbridaloutlet.com which is also a store (by the same name) based in Newton, Mass. Their website has many top designer's dresses (sample sizes) for a ridiculous fraction of their retail cost. Does anyone have any info on them, whether it be their website or store? Is this too good to be true?

mariana
09-12-2002, 12:47 PM
I just replied to this over on the dot coms thread, but I'm putting my post here, too, so you don't have to go over there to see it :-)

As you can read in more detail below, my experience with VOWS has been really great so far. The dresses on the website were in the store when they said they were in stock (some of the dresses listed on the site aren't in stock, so pay attention to that). I probably would not have ordered from them online (I like to touch clothes and try them on before I buy them) but I say if you live in the Boston area and can get to the store, THEN GO FOR SURE!! It can't hurt to try, right?? My dress was there and it is beautiful :-) Another little bonus was that after I bought the dress, I went to their site and found it and I saved the pictures off the website onto my computer, so I had front, back, closeup front, closeup back pictures of the dress to send to my friends who wanted to know what it looks like and I didn't have to bother to take them myself!!

One word of caution, it can be a little tricky to find parking on Washington St (there are only street meters, there is no lot) so if you have an appointment, leave a few extra minutes to make sure you get a spot!!

-Mariana
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I live in Boston, so I actually went to the brick-and-mortar store behind bridepower.com. The store is called Vows Bridal Outlet, it is in Newton, MA, and every year it is consistently rated in Boston Magazine as "Best of Boston" in the bridal bargains section. They have no appointments necessary on Saturdays, but I've heard it's a madhouse, so I made an appointment for a Tuesday night last winter and dragged my mom along with me. When I first got there, the sales lady (sorry, can't remember her name, it was 10 months ago) told me which dresses were where (they have them organized by sillouette, except the Vera Wangs that are separate) and my mom and I pawed through them (they are in plastic hanger bags on racks) until we found about 8-10 dresses that fit what I thought I was looking for. I started trying them on and as I rejected or approved the dresses, the sales lady went back and got other dresses that were similar to the ones I had liked. In the end I got the first one I tried on (which was my favorite even on the rack), but it was really fun to look at all the choices. There was one other bride there at the same time as me, so there was plenty of room to spread out the goods.
My dress (a Jim Hjelm supposedly retailing for $1200, label was still in there) was $440 (including the sales tax). They had a huge selection of dresses and most of them were in really good shape, but they are mostly size 8-12 (keep in mind I am a size 4 in real life and my size 8 dress fit me almost perfectly, go figure). They had some really nice Vera Wangs for around $1000...that is their "signature" brand, they always have a bunch of them. My dress had a button missing off the back and a little stain on it. They dry cleaned it before they gave it to me and I took it home a week later. Since I was getting the alterations done by their seamstress, all they did back then was clean it, the button was still missing. The dress came completely clean, though, even though it looked a little dirty in the store.

I had to keep it at home in the closet (this was a major drawback, I will admit) until this week. I had my first fitting this morning. Their seamstress is really nice, she had a lot of suggestions and helped me to figure out what I wanted to do (for example the dress had a high neckline and I wanted to drop it). The dress is going to need a little taking in on the sides, a hem, the neckline thing, and a couple of other nips and tucks. I am also getting my veil from the store. The missing button is going to be replaced at no charge. They make these kinds of repairs for free. If I hadn't been planning to use their seamstress, they would have made this fix back in the winter before they dry cleaned the dress, but since she was going to have to work on my dress this fall anyway, they suggested I do it all at once.

In total, I spent $440 for the dress, $40 for the veil, and $220 for alterations: that is a grand total of $700. So far, I have been very happy with the service, the price and the quality of the merchandise. I will come back and update once I have the final product.

lgflores
09-12-2002, 01:18 PM
Mariana! Thank you so much for your great response! I actually live in New York, but the trip to Boston is well worth it if the savings are that amazing. Besides your positive feedback, I also heard from Alan and Denise, who said the store is reputable and they have not heard any bad things about them thus far. Thanks again for the reply and good luck on your big day! :7

mariana
09-13-2002, 12:15 PM
lgflores - one more thing I just thought of - you should call or email the store before you make the trip to find out when their next shipment is coming in. Right before the shipment comes in, a lot of their current stock gets discounted even more to make room for the new stuff. Of course if you want the newest stuff (still really good deals!!) then you'd want to make sure you got there after the shipment arrived.

Thanks for the luck (I'm starting to get nervous - only 2 1/2 months till the big day!!) and good luck right back at you ;)

-Mariana

bostonbridetobe
01-10-2003, 05:33 PM
I can vouch for this store. I visited the store after having spent time in numerous bridal boutiques in both NYC and Boston, and can say that the woman who runs this store (Leslie) was the most professional and pleasant person I had met. They do clean and repair all dresses before shipment. I've referred a couple of people to this place and they have been quite happy with the selection and price, and I have heard that the seamstress does amazing things for brides. I got my dress at Vows, a dress that I am in love with and could not have afforded at full price. I highly recommend this site to anyone who is looking for a great dress at a great price!

ars11
06-03-2003, 08:31 PM
I just bought my dress there... I never thought I'd be able to afford a Vera Wang, but there I could--it's absolutely perfect. Beyond that, I found the salespeople to be kind, accomodating, and down-to-earth. I went with my mother, sister, and future mother-in-law, and everyone was wonderful to us (with very little pressure). As of this afternoon my dress is hanging in my bedroom--I'm absolutely thrilled with VOWS, their employees, and their dresses. I'm assuming that their business ethic carries through their online business as well.