Dress Shopping

[zeejazz]

Hi there,

I am about to start looking for my dress and seem to be a little over whelmed. I was wondering if anyone can give me any suggestions of places to go in the Chicagoland area, I'm actually in the Northwest Suburbs. I made an appointment with House of Brides but have not gone yet. I did make an appointment with David's Bridal but cancelled it after reading the review on it in Bridal Bargains. Any help would really be appreciated. Thank you.

[kaytee20]

Hi,

I am also from Chicagoland (south subs) but am living in Minneapolis right now so I'm shopping for dresses up here. I have actually been to David's 2-3 times and thought the experience was fairly pleasant. One thing that I love about them is that you can actually try on gowns in your size. I can't stand going to the small bridal shops where the dresses are all too big and they have to clip them in the back - you can't even tell what it will look like when it fits.

Anyway, I have been to about 5 bridal shops and made a total of maybe 10 visits so far. Always call for an appt beforehand! I heard that Eva's Bridal in Oaklawn has a good selection. I narrowed it down to a designer that I like and a general style (A-line w/ corset back). Then I went on the designer's site and picked some styles that I think I will like - now I am calling bridal shops in my area that carry that designer & asking if they have the gowns I want to try on.

It's taking some time but it will all be worth it in the end! Good luck!

Katie

[salsa12345]

I loved my experience with HOB online, but keep hearing that the actual stores are bad. I heard HOB online is cheaper than their stores!

[zeejazz]

I actually have heard mixed things about HOB as well. But, I did start out with them and than went to a few other places and I can tell you that HOB had given me the best treatment all of the other places stuck me in the fitting room by myself expecting me to figure out how to get into the dress on my own. After all of the searching I finally figured out that a Mori Lee dress I tried on at HOB was the one I wanted but they were the highest priced. After haggeling with all of the places they told me they could only give me the deal if I bought it right then and their. I wanted to try it on again so when I went back to HOB to try it on I told her the prices I was getting and she matched it. I ended up buying my dress from her because she was the only one who helped me to try on my dresses and she did knock down the price by $312 and she knocked down the alteration charges as well by $35.

P.S. DO NOT GO TO DAVID'S BRIDAL!!!!! I made an appointment and cancelled and now everyone is calling and mailing me. It is so frustrating!!!!

[coaster]

There is a really big one in Ottawa Il just south of I80 on rt 23. It is called bridal elegance www.bridaleleganceofottawa.com
It is about 45 minutes from O'hare, appointments are not necessary but reccomended on weekends. 815-433-3050 They are great.