Marie Cordella Design

There are truly not enough great things to say about Marie! After an awful process with my dress purchase, and it being ordered in the wrong size, I was so encouraged and fortunate to find Marie. She did an amazing job altering my gown. Along with altering my gown she turned my mothers wedding dress into the perfect cocktail dress for my rehearsal dinner. Marie was thoughtful and took great care of my moms dress to make sure it stayed true to it’s character. I am beyond thankful for Marie and her work on making me fall in love with my dress all over again. Thank you Marie for being so precise and thoughtful it was such a pleasure to work with you!

I loved working with Marie from beginning to end! I contacted her initially to see if «she could make anything cool out of my moms wedding dress» and immediately she was up for the challenge! I looked forward to each session and she always respected my ideas while providing her own expertise! I ended up wearing the dress to my rehearsal dinner and got compliments all night long. Not to mention how special I felt, knowing my mom wore it over 30 years ago! Thanks Marie!

I feel like I’m being generous with two stars, earned only because I liked Marie and Cali earlier on in the process of altering my wedding dress. They’re both fun to work with and made my guests feel welcome. I would never, however, recommend them to others because of the unprofessionalism and lack of communication.
1. I had what I thought would be my final fitting scheduled for the Wednesday before the wedding at 6:30. I scheduled my hair/​makeup trial around it, made sure I had my final jewelry choices ready, and had my sister with me so she could learn the bustle. I got a call at 5:45 and was asked to reschedule for the following morning because Marie wasn’t back in town yet and she wanted to have the final ok before I left with my dress. I understood and appreciated the pride Marie took in her work, but I asked if I could still come in and try on the dress, since I had planned my day around it (and my sister/​MOH was with me for the bustle). I was put on hold, only to be told that there would be no point in coming in because there hadn’t been many changes to my dress since my last visit and the bustle was not done. I was totally shocked that they waited until 45 minutes before my appointment to let me know (on the Wed before the wedding), especially since the dress was not at all ready.
2. I came in for the fitting the following morning and to be completely fair, Marie had a family emergency and had to leave town for 2 days or so. They also offered a discount on the services, which I thought was completely appropriate. I was incredibly disappointed to see that the dress appeared to be in the same state as my last fitting, except maybe one or two things; the hem was still nowhere near finished (and they had definitely measured it at each fitting) and of course the bustle wasn’t done. I was promised that it was very easy and «anyone can do it.» I was SO disappointed that the dress was still so unfinished on the Thurs before my wedding, but I tried to be understanding of the situation. They promised it would be ready ANYTIME the next morning, so we agreed on a 10am pick-​up time.
3. My fiancé goes in on Friday morning, the morning before our wedding with tons of family/​friends in town, only to find that the dress is still not finished. How in the world did no one think to pick up the phone to prevent this huge inconvenience?! He apparently agreed to come back later in the afternoon (despite the day’s activities) but my bridesmaids were so angry that they called during my bridesmaids luncheon and asked the dress to be delivered to the venue during the rehearsal (which again, to be fair, they did)… so I did not have my wedding dress until Friday late afternoon before my wedding.
4. The bustle was not easy. I don’t know if my dress was more complicated or what, but none of my VERY intelligent bridesmaids could figure out how to do it. It required a panicked /​last minute phone call to their office to ask for guidance… this could’ve been avoided if it were actually done before one of my final fittings. I actually felt constantly disappointed at each fitting to see how little had been done on my dress since my last fitting.
The lack of easy communication when it mattered most (at least twice in the final days leading up to the wedding) and lack of professionalism (dress not being anywhere near ready each time) were incredibly disappointing to me. My parents own a small business and I’ve learned the commitment it takes to «get the job done” — I did not see it here. I really try to give people and businesses the benefit of the doubt, but my experience with them was so stressful, I would never recommend them to other brides.

marie’s super easy to work with and so open to my ideas when updating a wwll era trench coat. totally delivered. the fit is exceptional!

Apparently I am the exception, because I had an indescribably terrible experience with my wedding dress alterations. At first, everything was great. The dress looked good, and it looked good for my wedding ceremony despite the issues we had.
During my alteration process, I found a hole in my dress, after I had already paid. Luckily, it was underneath and couldn’t be seen. Marie said she was going to partially refund my payment, and fired the person who cut the lining out of my dress, assuming they were at fault. She even told me the girl had been reprimanded for chatting too much and that she had not been properly focusing on her work. I never saw a refund.
My dress was also a wrinkled mess in my portrait. She claimed to have been pressing my dress for hours when I arrived to pick it up, but it looked horrible. I’ve posted a photo of the dress when she pressed it, and when Traditions by Anna pressed it because I was so displeased, and there is a huge difference.
Then, at the wedding my bustle broke (one loop she sewed completely fell out, and one hook is hanging by a thread) after less than 30 minutes being bustled. I had a very heavy fabric, and the workmanship was just inferior. It shouldn’t have fallen apart– I didn’t sit down and was never stepped on. It was not busted long enough to have a chance for anyone to step on it!
I spent all night with safety pins in my 5,000 dollar wedding dress, and missed so many special moments because I was being repinned constantly. The loop was a thin thread, no wonder it didn’t hold the thick satin fabric.
After the honeymoon I called her to express my displeasure. After being promised a phone call back multiple times, and not hearing from her, we finally spoke. She set up a time to call, 4:00, and called. At 4:08 she started telling me she had an appointment. She didn’t event set aside a time to speak with me, and rushed me off the phone.
While on the phone, she offered me the cost of 1 bustle point as a refund, 30 dollars, and refused to take any responsibly or show any remorse. She was extremely defensive and said once the dress leaves she is not responsible for it. Although she isn’t responsible for mishaps, she is responsible to do the job, and do it right. She should have the decency to be invested in her customers happiness, and if she isn’t, and isn’t willing to stand by her work, she does NOT need to be near anyone’s wedding gown.
She was outright rude and sarcastic, and began lying about events leading up to this. She said she gave me a refund, and that she had discounted my alterations, however I paid well before she promised me a refund, so she did nothing after the hole incident and claimed that her already discounted price was my refund. Then, she blamed the hole on the manufacturer. I inspected the dress before my portrait the first week in April, and it was fine, then the hole was found on Easter. She claimed it was sent to us that way, but she fired a girl over it? That doesn’t make sense. She also claimed my alterations should have been 750, and she charged me 400. She quoted 500, and discounted to 400. I NEVER heard 750, until today when we spoke.
Everything about this process was an ordeal. I am very displeased with Marie. She doesn’t stand beind her work, so I highly advise NOT using her services.