A Bride to Remember

All together I had a really great experience!!!
Renee was outstanding, her service and being extremely knowledgeable in dresses and styles. I loved her selection. I do recommend for everyone to see her!!!

If I could give 0 stars I would. Renee put me though hell when I was trying to get my bridesmaids dress for my best friend’s wedding. I’ve waited to write a review because she’s not worth any more of my time, but for the sake of future brides and maids, I’m writing this.
I ordered my dress from her back in February. After having not received confirmation about the order being processed (my card was not yet charged), I contacted her to see if there was any problem. She said they ordered the wrong address I needed to order it again. She also said she would let me know when that was done. She did not. She finally told me the dress would be ready in the May. May starts rolling around in the dress is not here. And she’s avoiding all communication as much as possible, for some reason she only likes to communicate by text. My only way to get in contact with her has been to physically go into the shop just to find her with her feet on the front desk playing phone games.
I finally just told her to tell me the truth about whether she actually ordered the dress or not so that I could have time to order another dress by the time the wedding came. She urged me that she had ordered the dress in that the distributor was still sending it. July rolls around and the dress is still not here. The week before the wedding my bride had to order a new dress which did not match with the other dresses.
If for some reason she did not want to order the dress, I understand, but to not communicate that and to continue to lie for several months is absolutely not acceptable. I have no idea how she is still in business. Her organization is nonexistent and communication is the most terrible I’ve ever seen in any business owner. I wish I had checked her Unilocal reviews before ordering from her.
For the sake of your piece of mind and sanity, DO NOT order your dress from her.

Not Impressed with the way Renae does business. Very disorganized and charged me over $ 600 for alterations for unfinished alterations my grandma had to finish. I would never recommend this place to anyone. Nothing was ever done on time.

Renee of A Bride to Remember knows her dresses! As others wrote, she puts a LOT of time and effort into getting to know her brides when they’re picking out their dresses. Based on the questions she asked, I said I was not looking for a strapless dress or one with «bling.» So, what did I pick out after trying on one of Renee’s suggestions? A strapless dress with bling. It’s gorgeous, and people have been commenting on how beautiful my dress was since our wedding on Friday. I have Renee to thank for that!!!
As a few others have said, there were some communication issues around the time that the fittings were planned to start. The dress had been discontinued, and there was a period of time between when I discovered that online and when Renee got back to me that I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t have a dress back in time. However, Renee came back to say she had special-​ordered the dress at her own expense so I would have it on time. She apologized for the communication issues, and then proceeded to go above and beyond (over the course of 5 fittings) to make sure my dress was absolutely perfect and done well in time for the wedding. She even created cap sleeves from a second veil that couldn’t have been more beautiful!
As my MOH lives out of state, Renee was kind enough to go through a tutorial of how to lace up the back of the dress while my Mom shot a video on my phone, which I then emailed to my MOH. That was a key to the wedding day going so smoothly!
My only regret is that I only get to wear this beautiful dress once!

I love my dress but getting it was a huge headache.
My credit card was double charged — 2 days apart back in November 2014. I tried contacting the store owner and she was not helpful at all. It took over 1 month to get it sorted. I called, texted, and emailed Renee. Her voicemail box would often be full. She was extremely unprofessional. I ultimately had to go through visa to have the charge reversed.
When I went to try dress on the light in the main room was broken. I was also suspicious of whether my dress was the original sample dress — since the sample was no longer on the rack. She claimed she sold it to someone.
Long story short the place may have nice dresses at a reasonable price but the store looks like a dive and the owner isn’t someone you can trust.

If I could give 0 stars I would. Renee runs this business horribly. She refuses to take calls or texts from «her brides» on the weekend and says she only focuses on clients on the weekend. Isn’t someone who purchases a dress from your business a client?
At one point I tried to get an appointment, I called and texted with no return call or text. This is how things work with her. So, if you like to be up to date with aspects of your dress, or just like to have a return phone call or text, this is not the women you should work with.
I also went with my friend who purchased her dress there and not only did she miss the appointment for her fitting 2 weeks before her wedding she didn’t even bother to call her to let her know she received all of her calls. When we returned to the store two hours after the missed scheduled appointment she was rude and inconsiderate. My friend asked to take the dress and not return. Renee didn’t even have the dress there, said it was still at the seamstress. Renee then offered to deliver the dress by 1pm. One o’clock came and went without a call or text to the bride. 6 hours later she finally texted without an apology and said she couldn’t get the dress from the seamstress.
Today the dress was picked up without an apology and without the alterations done that should have been done by this past Sunday!
Renee is shady and runs her business in that fashion. She comes to work in shambles and not prepared.

I agree with another reviewer that if it was an option I would give this shop zero stars! I made an appointment and when I arrived the person working acted like she had no clue I was coming in. Her greeting was «oh, well hold on». Also if you are larger than a size 12 they will have nothing for you to try on. Their suggestion is «just hold it up in front of you» — what the heck??? how would anyone ever be able to buy a dress that way? Buying a wedding dress is supposed to be a fun experience and made the bride feel special. This was NOT my experience and the friends and family I was with all were disgusted with the shop and the service.

I called ahead and made an appointment to have my bridesmaid’s dress altered on Sunday evening at 6pm; I was relieved to find a shop open late on the weekends. I arrived Sunday; the lights were on in the shop but the door was locked and no answered my knock. I called and left a message for the owner to call and reschedule. I never received a call. Disappointed all around!

UPDATE: DO NOT GO HERE. I have been trying to reach this woman for weeks. I ordered my dress and paid in full for a dress and veil in OCTOBER!!! I’ve been able to get in touch with her 3 times since then. My wedding is in two months and the corporate hq for my dress designer says they have no record of my order! Don’t waste your time or money. She will not answer your phone calls, her voicemail is full and she will not respond to your texts. I found my dream dress but this whole process has become a nightmare.

If it was an option to give this shop zero stars, I would.
I went here with my bridesmaids to pick out their dresses, I had decided on a certain style and found they were sold through this bridal shop. Since it was local for all of us it seemed like a win win.
We were so wrong.
our first experience (in January) was great, the woman was very helpful. We tried on several styles and eventually settled on the perfect one! I was one happy and excited bride.
One of my maids ordered her dress at the January appointment, the second one ordered in March and my final 2 maids ordered in April. Each time the order was placed their card information was taken to charge (I’ll get to that later)
Since I was never aware of the estimated delivery date for the dresses, I contacted the store owner a couple months later to check the status of the orders, I emailed on May 6^th, and sent a text on June 6^th, I recieved no response from the shop owner, I then called on June 23^rd and she finally answered. She knew who I was and what I was calling about, seemed to brush it off like nothing and said she was not at the shop at that moment but would be going in and would email me an update once she was at her computer (I received NO email). Also told me «not to worry» well I wouldn’t worry if I actually ever heard backfrom you, I don’t find this to be an unreasonable request. Beyond this contact with her I have still never received any sort of email or phone message, one of my maids offered to take over attempting to get in touch with her another month later because of how frustrated I was with the complete lack of customer service.
The dresses finally arrived yesterday, and I am fairly certain were not ordered until my first contact to her for an update in May or June. They we’re picked up by one of my bridesmaids. When she picked them up the store owner informed her she «thinks she may have forgotten to run some of the cards for the purchase and will call the people she needs to still process the payment for» seriously?! My ladies gave you their cards when they placed their orders, why was the card not processed then when they placed their orders? It’s not as if everyone just has $ 200 sitting in their accounts now when they had budgeted for this purchase 7 freaking months ago!!! We gave her the benefit of the doubt and was at least glad she would call first so my ladies had an option to give her a different card to run now… but at 10:50pm last night I was watching a movie with one of my ladies and she received this email.
Just a note to let you know we will be charging the 196.01 (finally) :) Have a great time at the wedding!
Thank you,
Renee
@
A Bride To Remember
Along with a confirmation for the charge.
As I said earlier, what kind of business thinks it’s OK to process that amount of a payment nearly 7 months AFTER authorization was given without some sort of contact to apologize and offer to take a different card if needed. My friend sent her a response indicating how upset she was her card was just being debited without any sort of contact, she’s a mom, who’s good with her money, but for anyone a sudden 200 coming out of your account when it was planned on several months ago is not ideal. Renee responded to her shocked that she was upset, and basically put the blame on her. (I think she will be sharing more in her own review)
The selection here, great. The intial service we received, great.
The follow up and following service we received, awful.
You may read this and think. watch out, bridezilla alert. But I actually hate confrontation and never once was unreasonable over these last 7 months of trying to get these dresses here so my ladies could have them altered. I guess finally getting them 6 weeks away from the wedding will have to do. –even though my gown came in a month after I ordered and paid for it– in February (shout out to I Do Bridal!!)

I bought my dress from ALfred Angelo, but Rene did the alterations which turned out GREAT!!! you only have to remind her a bout the appointments, other than that all was a great experience.

I will never go to this place again. I asked if they could size me so I could know what size I was and I was refused to be helped. I was told by someone who worked there that they wanted no part in helping me out because im ordering my dress online because its not carried in any store near me so since they’re not getting my money the woman I spoke to refused to help me. I will not recommend this place to anyone.

When I started shopping for a dress all I knew was what I did NOT want.
After several appointments in other shops I was completely overwhelmed and freaked out.
Ready to give up I made one last call to A Bride to Remember.
Renee instantly put my nerves at ease and welcomed me into her shop.
She sat and talked with me and got to know me and helped me to realize exactly what I envisioned.
She chose a few dresses that were exactly my style and by the second one I fell in love.
She has been a pleasure to work with from start to finish and makes her guests feel like they’re visiting a friend.
I’ve always felt very well taken care of from start to finish.
She never tried to pressure me into anything outside of my budget but still helped me to find my dream dress.
All the way down to fittings and alterations she’s made sure every little detail has been perfect for me.
I can’t thank you enough Renee! I wouldn’t recommend any other place!

The shop doesn’t look like much from the outside, but I had an absolutely fantastic experience shopping for and buying my dress from Renee, the owner. I came in on Sunday, after spending Saturday trying on wedding dresses at three different places in Portland. I had already found two dresses in my price range that I really liked — but neither was quite perfect, so Renee had the task of beating them.
We spent the first fifteen minutes talking about what types of dresses I liked and didn’t like at the other stores, and what types of characteristics they shared. We covered big things (I didn’t want a strapless dress, nor did I want a dress made out of a stiff fabric, like organza) and we covered little things (I tend to think all-​over lace is too busy, but I like lace appliqué; I like beading, as long as it’s not heavy or itchy). I really felt like Renee listened and was able to not only hear what I was saying, but to extrapolate information about things I liked and didn’t like that I wasn’t really aware of until she articulated it for me. Her background is in manufacturing and design, so she has extensive knowledge of the technical side of dress making, which is pretty awesome.
Next, she pulled four or five dresses for me to try, and let me pull a couple that I thought might be good to try as well. We tried on the dresses and quickly narrowed down the selections to one perfect gown. It needs some alterations to exactly fit the image in my head (for one thing, we’re adding straps) but I have complete confidence that Renee and her seamstress can pull it off. Her seamstress has been making and altering dresses since she was 18, and now focuses exclusively on wedding dresses, so I would hope that she knows her stuff!
Renee also offers 50% off of a veil if you purchase on the same day as you find the dress, and she gave me a good price on the alterations as well — $ 100 cheaper than the price quote I got from another seamstress specializing in bridal alterations.
Bottom line is that this shop is worth the drive outside of Seattle city limits if you are looking for a beautiful dress on a budget.