Bridal Shops/Dress Shopping Advice, Where would you recommend

I'm new to St. Louis and recently got engaged. I want to start looking for my dress but I dont really know where to go other than to hit up every place in the phonebook. I'm living in University City and have seen one or two bridal shops around but I'd love to hear where you girls have been shopping. Where would you recommend looking here? Any places to avoid? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

I had the best luck at An Elegant Event in Chesterfield. Jill, the girl who helped me, is very nice. They have a wide variety of great dresses. If you buy your dress there then your BM's get 15% off, and you also get 15% off all accessories.

The Ultimate Bride was the exact opposite. The lady was not very friendly and every dress I tried on was over $3000!!

My sister bought her dress at Clarices, which is also very nice.

Best of Luck!

I would go to David's bridal where you can try on dresses in your size. You will here both positive and negative about buying your dress here. One of the things I liked about Davids was you were able to see all the dresses and pick the one you like. Their alterations seemed expensive and they don't hold your dress until your wedding day.
The Brides house downtown is nice, they bring the dresses to you and stayed w/in my budget, the alterations were reasonable, I thought there was a flat fee?
The Enchanted Bride on Olive was o.k. they also bring you dress, but did have some out where you could see them.
Robin's on Manchester has all the dresses out and they were very nice and helpful.
Madian Voyage was o.k. they bring the dresses to you but kept going over my budget, but their alterations were free.

I think that is about all that i visited.

Good Luck!

I went to several stores to try on dresses. Some were pleasant, others weren't.

I have extremely good service and was very pleased with Bridal Connections in Florissant, and The Wedding Shoppe in Troy, MO (thats where I got my dress from) and Wedding Creations in Washington, MO.

I had a negative experience with Bluestein's Brides House. David's was ok, but had to wait an hour even though I had an appointment.

Went to a couple of others and they were just ok. Not good, but not bad.

Hope this helps a bit.

You can come visit my mom's bridal store, Blushing Bride.

It is 5 minutes from downtown St. Louis. Her gowns are very reasonable.

Directions:
Take 40 across poplar street bridge
Take the first exit on the IL side (Cahokia). Head south on Route 3
Make a left at the 3rd stop light (Queeny avenue).
You will come to a fork in the road and you will veer to the right (Nickell Street).
You will come to a stop sign but continue straight.
You will pass a few houses on your left and a field on your right and the road turns into a private drive past a large house on the left.
Blushing Bride is on the left side of the street at the corner of Nickell and Upper Cahokia.

If you get lost you can call the bridal shop at 618-337-2531 or if you want to find out if we carry a dress or not or to talk about designers and what not.

She carries these designers
Bridal:
Ashley Jordan
Casablanca
Impressions
Mori Lee

I got mine at Blustein's Bride's House downtown. They were great for picking out the dress, and most reasonably priced (I called everywhere in St. Louis to check on my dress to see who had it cheapest... why pay more for the same dress). The lady I had was helpful... some are, but I've heard some aren't... Alterations though, I would recommend going elsewhere! It turned out fine and the work was fine... but I saw a bridesmaid dress dragged on the floor while I was there and the area isn't the cleanest area (plus the ladies have a bit of an attitude)... but I must say that my dress turned out wonderfully and was not dirty... I checked it very well based on what I saw.

I went to them all and ended up finding my dress at Robyn's Bridal Shop...off Manchester.

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I also went to Clarices Bridal on Hampton. It was great there. The prices are very reasonable and the girls who work there are very friendly and helpful.
Best of Luck on your Wedding.

I went to several places, but had the best experience at Amore Bridal-N-Fashions in Chesterfield on Long Rd. I bought my dress there and my bridesmaids are getting theirs there too. It has a very small with a "boutique" type feeling, and Karmen, who owns the shop is extremely nice, helpful and carries beautiful dresses. They also carry lines that aren't as common. The prices are VERY reasonable compared to some places in town.

Hello--I work at Clarice's Bridal. I am also a bride. I went to about 5 stores in the St. Louis area just to look around. I did not want to miss out on the opportunity to go dress shopping with my mother just because I work at a bridal store. I will tell you from a bride to a bride. Clarice's is your best bet. The prices are great and we have a huge selection of gowns. I had some very good service at the shops that I visited, but our prices are unbeatable. I suggest that you go to all of these places that have been mentioned and see what you think. Make sure you stop by Clarice's and ask for Lori. I will do my best to help you find the perfect dress and if you find it at another shop give Clarice's a call. If we carry the brand then we will have the lowest price in the city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Luck and Have Fun Shopping
Lori

I got my dress at Karen's Bridal Bouquet and hated it. My dress was late and the alteration prices were outrageous. I did however like CLarice's Bridal on hampton for my bridesmaids gowns. They were nice and reasonable as one girl said earlier. I will also agree with the girl on David Bridal just being ok. I had to wait for a long time too and I know a couple people whose dresses were altered wrong. Best of luck to you and no matter what everything works out. I know I just got married June 12.

I found my dress (tried it on initially) at Clarice's... but bought it elsewhere because I was able to get it for less money (why pay more for the same dress?). I ended up getting mine at Blustein's

I would have to disagree about Clarice's. I was in a friend's wedding last May and we got our bridesmaid dresses there. When I was measured i was in between sizes and having not been in a wedding since i was 6, i had no idea which size i normally wore in formal gowns. They told me to go with the smaller size, which i questioned them on this, stating that if i was in between that means part of me needs the bigger size. they assured me that the smaller size would be fine. When the dress came in it wouldn't even zip. they tried to tell me that it was my fault b/c i demanded the smaller size, which was totally not true! i don't care about a number on the tag, i want the dress to fit. they kept insisting that if i would have listened to them my dress would have fit. then they tried to tell that i had gained wait, which in reality i had lost it! To top it off, they refused to help me fix it until after i had to complain several times. When they did fix it, they were very rude to me during the alterations and acted like they were doing me some big favor when in reality, they are the professionals so they should have known what size to order.
I got my Bridal gown and brides maid dresses at Wedding Creations in Washington. the people are sooo incredibley nice and their prices are great. they have a sale twice a year when you get 10% off your dress. when you buy your dress you get 50% off your veil and other discounts on jewelry, shoes etc. the best part is...Alterations are FREE! even for your brides maids. that saves tons of money. and they will let you borrow a slip if you don't have one. Washington is about 40minutes from st. louis but it is totally worth the drive!

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I am using Saks Fifth Avenue. Yes it is quite expensive, but they really know what they are doing. You don't have to look through tons of dresses on racks. Instead they ask you what you are looking for, what your wedding is going to be like, and then they bring out dresses that suite you and your wedding. Every dress they brought out looked great on me. I would definetly go there and try on some amazing dresses!

I got my dress at Margo's A Wedding Place in Union, MO. It is a little drive but the service is worth it. Margo and her staff are very helpful and will do anything to make you happy. I went there numerous times with different family members and friends to try on bridesmaids dresses and my dress and they were helpful each and every time.

I went to every bridal shop in St. Louis and decided on Robin's Bridal in Rock Hill off Manchester. I actually found the dress at The Bride's House downtown but because they do not stay open after 5:00 and parking was horrible I went to Robin's to order the dress. We had a great experience working with Dawn and JoAnn and they catered to my every need. The seamstress is amazing and everyone is very friendly. I also got the bridesmaid dresses there, my veil, and headpiece. They were amazing!!!!

I am also using Robins Bridal and have had a great experiences with them.

I went to Clarices on Hampton. I had a wonderful experience. I tried on around 35-40 dresses total, and I bought mine there. The only negative thing that I had heard was: When my soon-to-be sister-in-law was getting married, she got her dress there and it was great. She has such good service, that she decided to get her bm dresses there too. They gave her a date to order her dresses by, and when she went in to order them, they told her that she had waited too long. If you do decide to go there, just make sure that you give extra time on top of what they tell you. Good luck!!

unlike most people, i had a great experience at The Ultimate Bride. i went to quite a few places, and absolutely liked their dresses the best. i wasn't willing to spend a fortune either, so we just gave them a price range up front and told them not to bring anything out that was out of the range. this worked well.

we also got the bridesmaid dresses from clarice's and everything was great. good luck!

I went to Wedding Creations in Washington, MO and was so pleased by the service. My dress was cheaper there than anywhere else, they did free alterations, I got 50% off my veil and headpiece, bridesmaids got 15% off dresses and free alterations, and they give you a free garter to throw at your reception. The people there were very friendly and listened to what I want--and the alterations looked great. On my wedding day the train (it was a detachable train) wouldn't go on the dress right, so Wedding Creations sent someone to my parent's house to help us. Within 15 minutes help was there and she put the train on for me. I couldn't have asked for better service!

I had a wonderful experience at Ultimate Bride! All of the dresses I tried on were around $1000, which was in the range that I stated and Jeri was so nice and helpful! I will be going back when my Mom is in town because one of the dresses is in the top 3. I also had a good experience at Bluestien's. Deborah was AWESOME and knew EXACTLY what I wanted! I went to An Elegant Event the other day and it was so-so. I only liked 3 dresses there period and it was so crowded and the dressing rooms were WAY too small. Service was good, not great. I will be going back there though b/c I liked one dress and all of their dresses were very reasonably priced.

I bought my dress from Clarices and loved it. I had both good and bad service there. Everything went fine with purchasing my gown and getting it in. When it was time to have it pressed though, that was a DISASTER! First, when I went to pick it up, they said that it wasn't ready. I told the girl who now runs the shop that my wedding was on Saturday (Jan 1), and this was on that Thurs or Fri. She said that they had it written down that I was going to pick up my dress the next week, I told her again that my wedding was on Saturday. She had other clients there and insisted that I had to wait (which I felt was wrong because they were getting bm dresses and I was supposed to pick up my wedding dress), but the people that she was helping insisted that the could wait and she could help me. I then waited over 1 1/2 hours for my dress to be pressed, even though I was just supposed to hurry in and pick it up (the week before the wedding is VERY hectic). In the end, everything turned out beatiful. Other than that I had a nice experience, I would just recommend wherever you go telling them that the wedding is about 1 week or so sooner than it actually is, I've heard of similar things happening with BM and such. Hope this helps.