Priscilla of Boston

Well in case you haven’t realized it yet, they’re going out of business at the end of the year.
This was the first place I went in my epic quest to find a wedding dress. As of two days ago, there was a varied selection of about 75ish dresses left, most of them in pretty bad condition, but marked down to a price that some people might be okay with paying for something that was originally much more expensive. They started at $ 99 and the most expensive went up to I think $ 499.
Unfortunately the dresses that I like are lacey, so those ones were pretty much ripped up beyond repair from countless people trying them on. The rest of the dresses were damaged and dirty also, but if you’re up for a challenge it might be worth your time to check out.
As a side note, it looks like they’re trying to sell pretty much every single thing in the store — including the fixtures, so if you’re looking for some old bridal shop furniture you might want to stop in also.

alas, the west district manager of priscilla of boston got in contact with me and is going to give me a 100% refund on my down payment. i couldn’t be happier about this news, even though i still have to take more time to find another gown…
(still only getting one star because it is going out of business)

Horrible service. I went into the shop to potentially buy a wedding dress with Michelle and my experience was fine. I did not buy my dress there but we ordered melissa sweet bridesmaids dresses. All of my size 4 bridesmaids were horrified within the entire process due to the lack of service by the girls in this shop. The final straw was the week of the wedding when my maid of honor was told that her butt grew 3 inches since the last fitting 3 weeks prior and there was no possible way they could fix it because she was just too big for the dress. She wasn’t. Traumatizing.

Let’s get this straight right now: for reasons I will list below, I did not purchase a dress here. I still wanted to give my experience, though.
First of all, I really should note that I did not have the nightmarish initial customer service experiences that everyone else on Unilocal seems to have had. The desk always answered my phone calls, and I had a sales consultant named Marie who was very sweet.
The dresses are gorgeous, modern, chic, and reasonably priced, and I had a good time in general while trying on dresses at this salon.
Here’s where the rest of the review comes in to play. I fell completely head-​over-​heels in love with a Melissa Sweet short and flirty dress, which was coincidentally one of the cheapest dresses in the salon. I was completely set to sign papers and make the dress my own. That’s when reality kicked in. I’m eloping in two months, and was quoted a flat rush fee of $ 400. I understand a rush fee, I really do. But $ 400 was ¼ the price of the dress, which is short and nowhere near as detailed as other dresses (no beading, nothing!). Shouldn’t the rush fee be proportionate to the price of the dress, or realistically priced with the intricacy of the dress in mind? Also, I was additionally quoted a flat alterations fee of $ 500, which was almost ¹⁄₃ the price of the dress. This dress is knee-​length, so the alterations would have been MINIMAL. A little bit at the waist and bust, and that’s pretty much it. And you have the audacity to charge $ 500 for that? These flat fees are absurd, and they are ultimately why I did not purchase the dress of my dreams. My principles won in the end.
To make the situation worse, I called the salon and explained that the $ 400 rush fee is what put me over budget, and they did not even try to work with me. AT ALL. I just wanted to pay less of a rush fee or less of a dress price – not necessarily $ 400 less, I was really just looking for any kind of help. They just told me to call back if I changed my mind and still wanted to take advantage of the 10% discount they offered me (which they seem to offer to everyone, so give me a break). So I said «goodbye» to the dress of my dreams and looked instead for used Melissa Sweet dresses online (and let me tell you, there are many at great prices!). Better for the environment and for your pocketbook.
Bottom line: Beautiful gowns. Outrageous hidden fees. Mediocre management.

Where do I begin… my first experience was wonderful. My consultant was Rebecka (she is no longer there, understandably) and she was the best thing about POB. She was knowledgable and warm. She offered me tea because I had a scratchy throat. We ordered my dress and I was over the moon!
Well…that was the end of it. Rebecca was no longer working there and I don’t believe I ever talked to the same person when I called. Speaking of calls, they never answer the phone. No joke. To speak with a person is a miracle. You can leave a message if your adventurous, you may/​may not get a return call in a few days. Best thing to do is walk in even though it will take three people and ten minutes to figure out who you are.
When purchasing dresses for my unofficial bridal party… we were dismissed… we actually pulled all of our our dresses. They did not have half of the samples shown online. My girls stood half dressed freezing while waiting for our consultant, she reeked of smoke which lead me to believe she took a smoke break during our appointment.
The salon is dirty and the dresses are destroyed. The accessories and veils are way over priced.
I could not wait to retrieve my beautiful gown, only sold at POB, because I feared for it’s life!!! I have heard the alterations department is deadly and costs BEGIN at $ 600! You will never get an honest quote until you see your bill!
Customer service is very important when purchasing a wedding gown. It is a special time. My suggestion… Bella Bianca… where everybody knows your name!

For a «high end» bridal salon, the service here sure does SUCK! We had an appointment to look at bridal and bridesmaids gowns one weekend. Upon coming in, the salon had very limited selections. However, the web site had tons of pictures of dresses to choose from. The lady that we were assigned to didn’t help my cousin get into her dress, give her any information about the dresses WE selected, suggest additional dresses for my cousin o try on and ultimately wasn’t friendly. For the price that we would have paid for the dresses, I would expect some decent customer service. When we were done, I thought the sales person would write up a list of dresses my cousin tried on to help her remember the styles, but alas — we left empty handed.
I have never been so appalled by the lack of friendliness or service before. Ladies, take your money elsewhere and don’t even bother with this place.

I tried to get an appointment but they never responded to my request. Meanwhile, I bought my gown elsewhere. Truthfully, POB might carry some nice dresses, but my experience with the Denver store and now with this one were not good. A chain is a chain. I’m glad I went elsewhere.

As a kiddo growing up in the burbs of Chicago, I would frequent the Oak Brook mall area and dream of a day when I had a valid reason to go into POB. That day finally came (thank you fiancé for finally popping the question) and the first call I made was to POB.
The dress selection is really quite exceptional! The dressing rooms are very large and spacious. The staff… eh. The reception… eh. The cleanliness… eh. I did experience an attitude that made me feel like I was doing THEM a favor by shopping there. My childlike wonderment with this ‘magical’ store went POOF! They really burst my bubble.
The dressing room I was escorted into (on 2 different appointments) had a cup of water sitting in the window not belonging to either myself of my mother. Gross!!!
Our consultant was scarce. I needed to shut the door, due to my natural humility and modesty, and after the door being closed our consultant thought it was time for a smoke break. She was no where to be found and with my back end hanging out my mother went to do something about it. She returned with CLAMPS!!! The receptionist actually gave my mother clamps to help me close the dress. As if my mother knew how to use clamps. It was absurd and I was pissed! At that point, I got back into my jeans and we were out the door.
If you wanna shop here, be warned.

I had to wait thirty minutes after my scheduled appointment time for a consultant, so I’ll admit that right off the bat I was not thrilled.
I thought, since this was a flagship store, they would have tons of dresses. Not really. Of the ten photos I brought in from the website, they carried two in-​store. Be sure to call ahead if you find one online you really love.
They do not carry any samples larger than a 14, which is surprising since even Belle Vie and Ultimate Bride on Oak street had a few larger samples.
But what ultimately turned me off of this place is that it’s run more like a used car lot than a bridal store. Before I even had a dress on, a consultant was telling me about their credit card and if I bought a dress that day I’d get ten percent off but only if I bought that day and wouldn’t it be crazy not to buy that day! I was waiting for my consultant to point at me and say, «Y’know, I wasn’t going to sell that dress to just anyone, but I like your style.»
They do get an extra star for having huge, private dressing rooms. That was a bonus.

Now that all of my bridesmaids have their dresses for my wedding, I think it’s safe to write my review! I had this bad feeling that I would somehow jinx something if I reviewed PoB before then. That should give you an idea of what a stellar experience I’ve had with this place…
My bridesmaids and I went to check out dresses in January. I had done some shopping online and was happy that they had the dresses I wanted them to try on – and then some. Their customer services was so-​so. The girl helping us could have been more helpful and her personality left a lot to be desired. She also kept trying to squeeze one of my friends into dresses that didn’t fit her. We’d ask for a new size and she would tell us they didn’t have it in store (their sizes are extremely limited in-​store). She then proceeded to tell my friend that she could clip the dress on her. Well, if she can’t get into it in the first place, what is there to clip? It made no sense whatsoever…
Only two of my five bridesmaids are in Chicagoland, so we asked about having the others’ shipped to them. They wanted to charge a whopping $ 50 to ship to one of the girls who’s in Massachusetts. I found that to be a bit excessive… Needless to say I will be shipping it to her myself, and I can almost guarantee it will not cost that much.
Aside from my experience here for my own wedding, I’m in a friend’s wedding and she and I went there to look at dresses. That experience was even worse. We waited around forever for someone to help us, despite the fact that we were virtually the only people there and there were plenty of sales people doing menial tasks and tidying up the store. Shouldn’t customers who are in the store waiting take priority over anything else? Also frustrating was the fact that they had so few of the styles my friend was interested in in-​store. They’re really bad about that. I understand space may be an issue, but if you’re advertising all of these dresses in catalogs that you have available at your store, you have to anticipate people actually wanting to try them on.
The dresses are nice and very good quality, but I’m sure the same can be said for scores of other bridesmaids/​wedding gowns, too… This salon certainly could use some improvements, starting with their customer service.

Ms. Fancy didn’t like my review very much (shocker) and actually had the nerve to write a defensive and threatening email demanding that I remove her name from the review. I will grant her that request (sort of), but I truly hope that whoever visits this location puts two and two together and requests not to be paired with this individual. Some people just don’t belong in the service/​sales industry. I feel like the beautiful Melissa Sweet gowns are being held hostage!
Ladies — shopping for your wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses should be a fun experience that creates happy memories for you and your friends/​family. Please don’t let this woman take that away from you. She’s the original Debbie Downer (or Negative… Fancy).

I went here to try on wedding dresses last year. Their customer service was terrible.
My mom found a dress on the floor that was a little above the price range we told the woman. She huffed and told us it was over our budget, but my mom was paying, and she really wanted me to try on the dress– not just to see me in it. She was willing to pay that money if it was «the dress.» This must have really upset our consultant, because she left the dressing room in a huff, slamming (and I mean SLAMMING) the door behind her.
That was all we needed. I got out of the gown I was in, got dressed and got out of there. We weren’t about to give that lady a commission. Her loss. The dress we ended up buying from Saks on Michigan Ave was around the same price as the dress that gave the woman a hissyfit. Worst customer service I have ever encountered. Please don’t give them your money.

They pick up the phone less than half the time during business hours. That is just unacceptable. And sadly, the dress I fell in love with in the magazine was $ 5000, almost 3 times my budget. My saleslady grabbed apparently the only two dresses in the store I could afford. I was not a fan of either one, but she insisted they could be altered (at a hefty price) so that I would become a fan. She even insulted me by saying «the only problem [with you] is your height, but we can easily shorten the length.» She was by far the pushiest, most unpleasant salesperson I had to deal with in my search for the perfect wedding gown, which I eventually found at The Crystal Bride.
If your budget is over $ 3000 you might want to give this place a chance because there are so many beautiful dresses — but be warned, the service is not good. Otherwise don’t waste your time.

Marie was a great bridal consultant! I had a 4pm appointment and she helped me choose a dress through 6pm! She was very friendly and gave great suggestions. After trying on several styles, we narrowed it down to ballgowns and a-​line styles. Then based on my preferences, she pulled a dress from the back that I just loved. It combined everything I wanted.
I have a hard time making a decision and she was very patient with me. I came back a few days later to try it on again. She squeezed me into her schedule and was again kind and gave great advice. I tried on «my dress» and the runner-​up. I had a hard time committing to the dress, and she helped calm my nerves.
I totally recommend asking for Marie when visiting Priscilla in Oakbrook Terrrace.
Also, the place is just beautiful and everything is very organized for you to browse through. I liked this a lot more than bridal salons that don’t let you look at their stock.
All in all, I began dress-​shopping on Tuesday… and I purchased my dress six days later on Sunday! Amazing. Thanks Marie!
Oh, and they have a very convenient 12 months interest-​free credit card!

I had mixed feelings about this place. The receptionist was absolutely rude. We walked in a few minutes before my appointment, she was super nice to the group before us who all were carrying their Louie bags and sent them off. I suppose just because I wasn’t carrying a Louie bag, I’m not considered an important client. I stood there waiting to be acknowledged and so I decided to browse at the bridesmaid dresses that were there. The minute I touched the dress, she gave me an attitude and said,“Excuse do you have an appointment?” I said,“Of course I do” She then asked if I needed a wedding gown and told her I had already purchased mine. I told her I needed to look for bridesmaid dresses and a reception dress. She gave me a snooty attitude since I wasn’t looking for a wedding gown. What kind of impression is that when her job is to greet people when they come in?
The consultant assigned to me was ok. She was very sweet and nice but didn’t seem very knowledgeable. She asked me for price point and then went to pull dresses without knowing what kind of silhouette we were looking for. She pulled the most obnoxious dresses! I then gave her a list of what I found on their website and they only had one dress there to try on. I guess they must not keep the most up to date stock.
Needless to say, I will not be coming back here and wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone unless they walk in looking like the rich and famous.

Priscilla of Boston was the first place that I went to look for wedding dresses. When I called to make my appointment, they told me to look at their website and bring in pictures of what dresses I liked. When I walked in and showed them my picks, they went in the back to get them for me and let me look around the store to pick out any other dresses that I wanted to try on. Unfortunately there was one dress that I really wanted to see in person that they didn’t have in the store and they said it would take some time for them to get it in for me to try on.
The experience of trying on dresses there was fantastic. I had a large suite to myself and they brought in drinks for me and my mom. The consultant was extremely nice and sweet and was really helpful. She paid close attention to what I liked and periodically would ask me to rank the dresses that I had tried on and would remove those from the room so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed.
There was one dress there that I really liked and I brought my maid of honor back to see it as well as to look at bridesmaid dresses. While I put my friend in various dresses, they put me back in the wedding dress that I liked so I could see what they looked like together.
Ultimately I purchased my dream dress from another venue, but I did purchase my bridesmaid dresses there and each bridesmaid looked fantastic!

I recently purchased my wedding gown and veil from Priscilla of Boston. My first visit was by myself. Marie worked with me to find the dresses I asked to see (look at their website first! it gives the consultants an idea of what you like and helps you make the best use of your time). She also recommended several dresses based on the styles I requested. Most importantly, Marie made my visit fun even though I was by myself.
I brought more people back the next day. Kelly, the assistant manager, helped us for that visit. Kelly was pushier than Marie. I felt like she was more concerned with making a sale than finding me something I was crazy about but she was still very knowledgeable and helpful. Anyway, we found a dress I loved and I made an appointment to return the following weekend and get measured.
At that third appointment I purchased my dress, the Melissa Sweet «Fern», along with the matching veil. The price for both, discounted due to a trunk show, was around $ 5,000 so it is a bit pricey.
Overall, my experience was positive and I am very happy with my dress and veil (although they won’t officially arrive for a few months). I would have preferred a private dressing room so I didn’t have to get dressed and undressed in front of everyone I brought with me. I experienced the same situation at a large, downtown department store though so I guess it isn’t all that unusual. If it’s in your budget, definitely visit Marie at Priscilla of Boston.

The dresses here are beautiful and you should definitely make a stop here when shopping. However, the boutique is pretty small and the common area is so crammed with dresses that you cannot really walk around when trying on a dress.
In all of the places that I’ve been to, your changing room is simply for changing in and out of the gowns but then you come out into a public viewing area to show your family and friends. At this place you did everything in the fitting room so be prepared to strip down to your skivvies in front of the people you shop with. It wasn’t a dealbreaker for me but definitely different. That said, the fitting rooms are spacious (more so than the shop itself) with room for 4 – 5 girls to sit.
The associate that was helping me was not very personable and criticized my color choice for bridesmaid dresses. She kept trying to pressure me into a gown and rushed through our appointment. My bridesmaids were being pretty silly (as we are a silly crew) and she just wasn’t ready to let down her hair and even smile. Also, the bridesmaid dresses are pretty overpriced for not being anything unique.
The only plus side: If you are looking for bridal undergarments make sure you stop here to try on their Le Mystere strapless bustiers. Not only are they super comfy, but throughout the entire appointment of getting in and out of dresses my girls stayed perky without me having to tug on the bra once.

My $ 2,000 dress turned into over $ 4,000 at Priscilla…
I did have fun looking for my dress initially. I spent a bit over my budget because it was on the trunk sale.
After talking with the girl that was helping me try on the dresses I learned it would be around $ 300 in order to get all of the little tweaking alterations done (since the size they ordered me would fit almost perfectly) So I thought OK $ 300 I can work that out.
I also learn that even though I am shopping for my dress 6 months early I still need to put a rush fee on the dress. So I drop another $ 400 on top of the dress price.
After a couple months I get a call that my dress is in. WHAT?! Two months? Did I really need to put a «rush» I think that was my first sign of BS.
I get over it — I have my dress. I go in to have the fitting and the alterations. I put the dress on. Everything seems to fit very well. The straps are just a smidge too long and the dress itself needs to be taken up about an inch or two. Basic fixes right?
HAH! After all the S#!* she decides to pin up… the bill comes out to $ 900!
JUST FOR THE ALTERATIONS!
$ 300 of that was just to take the dress up about 2 inches.
I can’t even believe it. I couldn’t obviously return the dress because the already ordered it.
The thing that bothers me most about this is, the dress I was on the fence about at another place was a MADE FOR ME Carolina Herrera that would have required no alterations. Which would have come out CHEAPER! But I decided to try and save a buck as I thought the alterations and the dress here at Priscilla would be less expensive.
ASK THEM HOW MUCH THE ALTERATIONS WILL BE! DON NOT LET THEM LOW BALL YOU! PLEASE!!! I wish someone would have told me the actual price before I made a decision. These dresses are made in sizes… but if your boobs aren’t the same size as tour hips you have to order a different size and have the alterations cost out the wazoo! For this price they should make the dresses to your measurements.

I ended up getting my wedding dress from Priscilla of Boston and have had a pretty pleasant experience thus far. I only ended up going to two places total, and their customer service was excellent the day I tried on wedding gowns.
The gown I ended up getting was not actually one that I picked out myself, but one that my assistant that day (Maria I think) picked for me based on others I selected. When you find things you like, they will just add it to your «wish list» they have on file as well, which was nice because I could not remember everything that I liked.
The only negative experience I have had so far is when my gown had arrived and they called to request that I come in to try it on. I am from out of town, but told them that I would be coming in town in a few weeks… I asked if I should make an appointment and they told me it was not necessary, but to just call a few days before I would be coming… Unfortunately when I did that, the receptionist informed me that they were completely booked and had no appointments.
Well, I went anyways, and had no problem getting a room, or my dress so that was an unexpected surprise. My advice would be just to confirm confirm confirm and call a week or two early for your appointments.