Bridal & Formal

I’m only giving this place 3 stars because of the sweet bridal consultant I had. First thing as a bride this place is overwhelming, they just let everyone loose to dig through gowns that are in bags and hard to see, they give you nothing to use under the gown (spanx). I’m not a big person at all, typically a size 6 – 8 fits me but some of the dresses I literally couldn’t even get on, I don’t know how anyone bigger than me and not plus size is supposed to get into them. When you put on your dress you come out into a big room full of other brides and their families so if you’re not exactly comfortable then everyone sees. I also came here with a group of bridesmaids for a wedding we’re going to be in and when we got here we looked through dresses, a lot of which were kinda dirty from being tried on so much and then led to a room and kind of left by ourselves, to get to our room you had to walk through another room of changing girls so we kind of felt stuck. Once we finally picked a dress you then have to stand there in your under garments in front of everyone and get measured, I wasn’t too bothered by that because I’m not self conscious but one of the ladies in our group had just had a baby and wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. Over all everyone who works here is very nice, there are just little things that could be addressed and changed to make the bridal appointment feel more special!

Bridal and Formal was the second shop that I had visited. The first one went terrible. I thought I was never going to find a dress that I like or looked good one me. When I walked to into Bridal and Formal, they were extremely welcoming and made me feel a lot better. They showed me around and picked dresses that they thought would look good on me. Kate was such a sweetheart and helped me make a decision on the perfect dress! I appreciate everything Bridal and Formal did for me and how the made me feel like a million bucks!

I was so excited during the weeks leading up to my appointment, but within the first 10 minutes of arriving that feeling diminished. When I arrived I was immediately told that the consultant that I scheduled my appt. with was with another bride and someone else would assist me until my Consultant was available. The person that they turned me over to proceeded to shout out prices «these are $ 5000-​$ 8000, these are $ 3000-​$ 5000, etc.» as if she was attempting to embarrass me into saying that I couldn’t afford their gowns. Once I reminded her that had she looked at the information on my appt. and registration card she would not have taken me to the gowns at all because I was not interested in a gown b/​c I consider myself a non-​traditional bride, due to my age. At that point she took me to the other side of the store and proceeded to show me the most horrible looking «grandmother of the bride» dresses in sizes 18, 20, 22, etc. (I am a size 10). When I apologized and told her that I didn’t care for a particular dress that she pulled out she proceeded to say «oh, you can tell me if you don’t like it, it doesn’t matter to me, I didn’t design any of these dresses». My spirit was crushed and I thought my entire day was ruined. My sisters hurried me out of the place and I would never recommend that anyone planning their special day shop there. They have a large selection of «samples» but they expect you to order something without being able to try on a size that’s even close to what you wear, and in the most God awful colors they could find. I still never saw or met the consultant i scheduled my appt. with. I am thankful that my appt. was early enough in the day that I was able to visit another store and find my perfect dress for my special day. Please young brides, stay away from this place, don’t fall for the okie doke. They are wonderful and accommodating on the phone, until they get you inside their walls.

That was terrible. Everyone working seemed more interested in gossiping with each other rather than helping you find a dress that worked for your girls. Very scattered and unprofessional.

Absolute worst experience at this shop. I actually had been here previously one year ago and my friend had the same consultant. Let’s just say both appointments were terrible. The consultant was completely disinterested in me and told me that despite my next half hour of the appointment that she was done with the appointment (as they were closing soon). She did not recognize my style and had no interest in pulling dresses that would flatter me. The dress selection was overwhelming but none were of good quality. I am so thankful I did not come here for my first shopping experience. Would never recommend this bridal shop.

This was our second time here as a family, first time I would give a 5 star. This time was horrible. Completely because of the two post teen-​boppers who decided to make the entire back room fitting area as uncomfortable as possible.
First, the room is covered in mirrors. So you are EXPECTED to change with your entire party watching every angle of it. Dumb setup.
Second, NO RESPECT for those of us with conscious about our bodies (ESPECIALLY pregnant, nursing or post baby mothers). I was completely appalled at requesting measurements with shirts off, again, WITH the entire room staring at you. We even grabbed the dividers to fake a changing area and they STOOD in front of it, blocking the decency. When my sister did force her way in, they YELLED her numbers, along with the rest of ours, and the subsequent sizes. Horrible experience can’t even describe it.
After all this, I WAS READY TO RUN. I was so inclined to take the designer and dress style and find ANYONE else on the street who would order 12 dresses for us. But, I’m not the bride and she was lead to believe pricing that ended up being higher than told. It was so bad. Really, so bad.

Went here to help a friend find a wedding gown last night. They have lots of dresses by well known designers, but the staff was less than impressive. Our consultant & her comments (not even those about the dresses, just in general) were simply weird and made us feel awkward. We stopped by the bridesmaid area to get some color samples to compare them next to wedding dresses & the staff was rude and had far too many opinions about what the bride should & shouldn’t do. Additionally, the number of negative comments made about feeling gross/​ashamed of their body was incredibly disheartening (the bride I was with is far from plus size, but the consultant didn’t hold back on pointing out that she didn’t need those disgusting big dresses). Consultants need to realize the complaining about their own body size (or others) doesn’t help brides & those with the bride feel better about their own bodies. Also — they put all the plus size gowns in the basement. This seemed like a very strategic move so other customers wouldn’t be turned off by fat women in their space.
As a plus size gal, I highly doubt I will go to Bridal & Formal when it comes time for me to find a gown. It was an experience full of body shaming that made me feel incredibly uncomfortable & unwelcome.

YES YES YES — this is what it is supposed to be like. I was incredibly impressed and happy with the entire experience for bridal dress shopping (note, I have not shopped here for bridesmaid dresses — yet).
First, some important background. I tried on OVER 70 dresses in my quest to say YES. I visited one store in Bloomington, Indiana, three in Louisville, and six in the bridal district in Cinci. Out of ALL of those, I had two experiences that I think would be worth recommending and Bridal & Formal is by far the top of my list. Here is why:
*It was easy to make an appointment
*Everyone was friendly and helpful before, during and after the appointment
*When we arrived, we were seen right away
*My consultant, Karen, was AMAZING. She told me what I needed to know, she was respectful and fun to those I brought along, but I felt like she protected me and my opinion/​desires about the entire experience.
*We had a private dressing room — you might need to call and make your reservation a couple days in advance, they are busy on Saturdays. We went on a Saturday and had NO issues.
*I am a plus sized bride and never felt bad about the experience (THIS WAS NOT TRUE AT SEVERAL STORES)
*There was plenty of beautiful lighting and mirrors to really see things
*Karen knew what she was doing. She allowed us to pick whatever dresses we wanted to start, helped narrow down and then made some very appropriate suggestions.
*EVERYONE was respectful of my budget
*They carry hundreds of dresses and styles
*They will BEAT the prices of competition (and did for me, dropping their price $ 400)
*They measure twice and actually talk to you about it
*Everything is checked and double checked and you read it out loud and confirm your entire order
*They TAKE YOU TO PARIS! This was a blast and something you didn’t see at the other salons. Yes, other places added a vail and made things look a little fancier/​real, but this place really goes for it. Once I had a dress I made #1, we went «to Paris» and had my hair fixed a little, jewels added, vail added, etc. and really got a full effect
*They didn’t pressure me. We left and I looked at five other stores that day. We ended the day with a return to B&F to purchase a gown.
*When I returned, I wanted to try on two more dresses, no one batted an eye, they found my original consultant and made it happen.
*It was clean, everyone was friendly and they treated my friends and family like FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
We visited after one of my bridesmaids recommended B&F, she and another friend both purchased here and had wonderful experiences.

I am the maid of honor for a wedding in New York and I stopped in to see and try on the dress the bride had picked. Despite the fact they knew I wasn’t purchasing a dress with them they were extremely friendly, found the dress for me and even took my measurements free of charge!

Would not recommend. Was measured at a ²⁄₄ but «because of my bust» was told to get a 6. I said that I wanted a 4 but was talked into a 6… They are the ‘bridal experts’ after all… The dress has to be taken in 5+ inches and the top is way too big. Now, because of how the dress is made, the top can not be altered and the only way to make it look like it fits is to sew bra cups into the dress and make my boobs bigger (last thing I need). The manager (Tina) is not helpful AT ALL. She is not willing to do anything to help and isn’t taking responsibility for the consultant telling me the wrong size. 50 days away from my wedding day and I don’t have a dress that does /​can be altered to fit.

I had the absolute WORST experience here. It is like a factory to get in as many people as you can in one day. From the lack of customer service, to making errors on my measurements I could not have been more disappointed in Bridal and Formal. They truly ruined my wedding dress process. They never took any responsibility for their errors, and were absolutely awful to work with. Since they were the only store in Cincinnati to carry Matthew Christopher’s dresses at the time I had to order from them and I can’t tell you how much I regret giving them any of my money. Please, please look elsewhere when it comes to purchasing your wedding dress — I can promise you there are much better places!

I originally gave this place a pretty decent review but have chosen to redact it. THIS PLACE HAS BEEN AWFUL! I would not recommend anyone to go here and would actually advise against it. While they have a wide selection of designers and dresses, the staff is awful. Our consultant was awful on our first visit. She didn’t really help us with dresses, barely check on us and didn’t take our measurements. When we sent in our dress orders, they ordered me several sizes too large and when we called to get it fixed, they didn’t respond to emails or SEVERAL calls.
This place is HORRIBLE!!! Do yourself a favor and don’t go here. I’m glad we purchased early because I am already looking for another boutique to rush order a dress that will actually fit me. (Literally I cannot even get this dress altered and have it look right since they messed up so bad)

I came here with family looking for a bridal gown. It did not go well.
1. I made an appointment. When we arrived there was no one available to help us for about 25 minutes into our appointment time. We were told to simply help ourselves to the dresses until someone was available. Im Sorry, was that not what my appointment was for?
2. I don’t think the girl helping us could have had less interest in helping me find a dress. I get it, you’re tired, and it’s Sunday, but just pretend. She kept disappearing, and my own mother had to go find accessories for me to try on. I only tried on about 5 dresses, and each time she seemed quite impatient and I felt extremely pressured.
3. The dressing room situation… I know they have several smaller fitting rooms, which is not what I was put in. There were only 1 or 2 other brides in the store, but for some reason I was put in the giant room in the back. That means I had to get undressed in front of my future mother in law, my mother, and future sister in law. They now know what I look like almost completely naked. Joy. :-/​
I’m not a high maintenance bride by any means, but by the end of this whole ordeal I was almost in tears. This was not the dress experience I had hoped for, and after this I didn’t even want to go dress shopping again. I feel as if I didn’t matter, because we didn’t have a high budget, which is a sad way to make someone feel.
I ended up down the street where I found a lovely dress with an amazing staff. I would not recommend Bridal and Formal to anyone unless you’re going to spend an insane amount of money and don’t mind changing in front of large groups or strangers. In that case, knock yourself out!

I did not order my bridal gown here, but I did shop for one here. Also one of my bridesmaids purchased her dress here. So I can only speak to the bridal shopping experience and the bridesmaid experience but:
I had fantastic service at Bridal and Formal. I came on a weekday evening and I was one of two people in the store. The salesperson gave me as much time as I wanted to pick out gowns to try on, and then helped me try them all on, and then suggested some more based on my preferences. Through the entire process she was incredibly kind and helpful and brought belts and veils to help me envision the dresses properly.
Similarly, when we went shopping for my sisters bridesmaids dresses, our salesperson was incredibly helpful and kind. She knew our timing was tight, so she told us off the bat which designers we could rush for a lower cost. She was super helpful in her reminders about colors and shapes and did multiple go-​backs to find a dress when the ones we had picked out was «good but not perfect». Overall, very good experience.

My wife and I both found our gowns here on the first stop. I told my consultant what I was looking for after trying on one dress and she came back with exactly what I wanted. It fit perfectly and came in in plenty of time even though we ordered in November and our wedding was in May. Gown was pricey but worth it for the quality. Once I got with my consultant I had a pleasant experience, however it did take quite some time to get back there. I had missed my name being called because I was over in the bridesmaids area. Don’t listen to them when they say you can wait over in that area because once your name is skipped it takes forever to get back on the list.

Imagine being so thrilled to pick up your wedding dress at the UPS store (I’m from out of town so couldn’t get it in store) you could hardly wait to get home to open it only to open it and realize that they ordered your dress in a brown color rather than the shade of ivory you ordered (and the bottom of it is covered in black hair, dust, and lint– gross!). Your gorgeous (and expensive!) headpiece is also missing from the box. … Yeah… that happened to me and they have refused to reimburse me.
The in-​store experience also left much to be desired. I was asked to change in front of a room full of strangers. I arrived early to my appointment and a sales associate was not available to assist me for nearly an hour after my scheduled time. They undoubtedly have a great selection but I very much regret purchasing my dress from Bridal & Formal.
¹⁄₃₁ update: my mom went back to Bridal and Formal again and they offered to have a seamstress replace the bronze layer with ivory or to refund us for the dress. I’m glad they offered to correct the mistake but out of concern the delicate lace would be damaged in the process we elected to have a refund.

I would NEVER recommend this bridal shop to anyone.
The experience I had here last weekend with my friend (the bride) and her maid of honor was absolutely horrible and unexpected.
To start off, her appointment was near the end of the day and even though we arrived at the store and checked in 40 minutes early, no one called her until 4:00pm and the store closes at 5:00pm. The first man we saw was friendly and showed us how the pricing works and which dresses we could find where. And then he proceeded to call my friend’s maid of honor «Mom». First of all, the maid of honor and the bride are only 8 years apart. She certainly does not look like Mom. And secondly it is never appropriate to assume someone is Mom or Grandma and call them such.
So we started out on a bad note (although we found it a hilarious way to show unprofessionalism) and the experience only continued to get worse!
When the bridal consultant finally showed up, she set up the bride in the dressing area and brought in the dresses she had picked out. She had 8 or 9 dresses to try. After helping her try on a few, the woman asked us bridesmaids if we would like a job to do. Um, no? She said she would have to go help another costumer. So we helped the bride into one dress before a young girl came over and introduced herself as a «helper». She did not know anything about the dresses and to every question the bride asked her she replied «um, I don’t know, I think so.»
I am not sure this girl actually works at the store. At one point I heard her call another older employee «Mom».
Either she was helping mom at work, or this place has a really unprofessional habit of calling everyone Mom.
Back to the dresses, twice during the process the assistant put a dress on the bride that she had already tried on. It was very unorganized. This place has too many dresses for them to keep track of, and it SHOWS. They failed to bring out at least one dress that we were told they had. They couldn’t find it in the store.
We were also astounded at the employees’ attire. I can’t even find words to explain the way everyone was dressed except for inappropriately. Some girls had dresses that were way too short for a work setting. Others looked like they’d pieced together their outfits from both different decades and different styles. There’s nothing wrong with that for going out on the town with your friends, but I was very surprised at the outfits these women wore to work in a professional setting.

When we walked in we were shocked by the amount of people everywhere. I got in line to check-​in at the desk and when the young man finished with the guest in front of me he just left the counter. Another young woman just stood there staring at me until I asked her if she might be able to check us in at which point she said, «uh he can» and grabbed a larger older man to assist who I assume might have been an owner or manager. He approached the counter with food in his mouth actively chewing. He then asked me like three times for my name and spit food out on the counter when doing so. I was pretty appalled.
Then the young man who walked away from me originally came over to show us where the dresses were to pick out before our consultant came down. He spoke so fast when he was explaining things I had no idea what he really said. Looking through the floor and moving around was like hearding cattle.
Finally, we were paged to meet our consultant, Norma. She tried to make us feel more comfortable but it was mixed in with a complete lack of understanding of what to look for and drive to prove that she «is on my side» and can «get the manager to work with us on price.»
The dressing area is really uncomfortable at best and does not feel bridal at all. IF you don’t want to change in the open in front of like 5 other brides you will basically be in a closet in a stairwell that you can’t even fit some of the dresses in.
No one there has a sense of the bridal experience and it doesn’t matter if you have a million dresses if they are all God awful, horribly marked up and impossible to find.
I crossed the street and found a gorgeous gown and great experience at European Bridal.

I’m a local wedding photographer and LOVE working with Bridal and Formal. I used to model and would always do their fashion shows and fell in love with every dress. They probably ruined me forever because they set my standards really high!
TIP: You can purchase unbelievable high end gowns at amazing prices buying their floor samples off the rack-​they might have a few small flaws or need major alterations but you can end up with a $ 9,000 gown for around $ 1,000-great deal!
They have an amazing selection and friendly staff. Must check them out.

Overview:
Ugh. This place was WAY over the top and way too superficial for me. Scripted, consultants don’t listen very well, and the hard sell attempt is just blatant.
Detailed review:
We were greeted by a friendly man, which was nice enough, but the first thing we did was pick a construction paper heart out of a bowl to find out what discount Krystal would receive on accessories. «Welcome! Buy something here!»
The greeting was way too scripted and uncomfortable for me.
«Congratulations!» (dead fish handshake)
«Pick a rose — red or pink — to celebrate your engagement» (and carry it around with you amidst all the dresses and ruin your pretty new flower)
«And who do you have with you today?» (I really don’t give a crap because they’re not the one looking to buy a dress and probably couldn’t even repeat your name 2 seconds after you introduced yourself even if I had to)
«Here are all of our designers» (Let me read them to you, even though the designer labels are listed on top of the dress racks)
…and while you’re shopping through the dresses, you hear this same exact schpeil that is given to everyone that comes in after you. Would it kill any of them to at least get a little bit more personal and actually TALK to you?!
Your consultant comes to find you. Ours, Norma, was nice, but objected when we pulled dresses that was over our price range. You’re a sales person, are you really going to discourage us if we pull something that’s a little higher than we want to pay? We’re obviously not jerking you around… but you only get married once. Let us just try on different options. Who knows… we might like something outside of the price range and buy it, right?
We also did not appreciate the hard sell that she tried so hard to make. Every dress that Krystal tried on was «Oh my gosh, gorgeous!» even though they totally didn’t fit her right. We found a couple that we actually liked, and immediately were brought into a separate try on room where they keep the veils and accessories. They put you on a pedestal and turn down the lights so you can see what the dress would look like at the reception. Great idea, but it was just way too much for us. We could see how hard they were trying to sell her on the dress.
Norma also seemed to not be listening to what we were looking for. Krystal specifically said that she was not open to strapless dresses because of her build. She cannot wear strapless dresses. However, the only dresses that Norma brought in to suggest were all strapless! I don’t know if she just wasn’t listening to Krystal’s objections or what, but it was annoying to waste time trying things on that weren’t going to work. Eventually we just said no to any more strapless dresses that she brought in. When Krystal found one that she really liked, Norma made it sound like this was the ONLY dress she was ever going to be able to knock down the price for. «We don’t usually do this, but let me talk to my manager and see how low we can get it. Luckily they’re in today, but we’re going to have to be pretty positive that this is the dress that you want before we name a price…»
Once it seemed pretty clear that we weren’t going to go with that dress, I’m pretty sure that we became chopped liver. We were left to look for where they keep the bridesmaids dresses alone with not even a general instruction of where to find them. We had to walk through other appointments (that had private changing rooms, HUGE mirrors, and were located in a more showy part of the shop… why did those people get special treatment? Ridiculous.) to find the BM dresses. The racks were a mess, things were everywhere, and there was not one person to help you size them or even help you figure out how to order them if you wanted to pick one out.
We left with such a bad taste in our mouths about this place. We went right back across the street and gave Wendy’s our business, not just because we liked their dresses there, but because the service all around was so much better… more genuine, and a lot less of a show.