Georgina Clatworthy

When it comes to buying the wedding dress of your dreams the last thing you want are problems dealing with the wedding dress store. No-one wants to think they will receive bad service but it can happen no matter how well recommended a particular store may be. So if you find yourself facing a litany of problems with regards to your order it can be wise to learn how to take a deep breath and deal with them.

Here is a story about a friend of mine who ordered her maid of honor dress from a local bridal store for her sisters wedding. Her sister wanted her to wear a particular dress from a particular designer and in a particular color, so it had to be ordered in especially. When she went for the initial appointment to be measured the store owner looked her up and down and immediately quoted a dress size four times bigger than she actually was!

After taking her measurements the owner decided she would need a dress just two sizes bigger. Now it is worth noting here that when it comes to wedding dresses and other bridal wear, vanity sizing does not exist. Dresses are cut as small as possible to cut down on cost and wastage of expensive fabrics, therefore if a dress needs to be altered it is often better to order a size larger so there is sufficient fabric to take it in. However in this case, two sizes larger would seem excessive.

Nevertheless the dress arrived and my friend returned to the wedding dress store for her first fitting. The dress was huge! So the store owner produced a similar dress she already had in stock but a size smaller. This was too big also. In the end my friend actually went down a size on her normal dress size and a new dress in the right color (and size) was ordered.

It seemed to take months for the new dress to arrive, but when it eventually did my friend had lost weight and the dress did not fit as it should. The store owner said this was no problem and she would see to it that the necessary alterations were made. It took three more appointments before the dress fitted correctly.

Finally, she was able to bring the dress home and on doing so she proudly unpacked it to show her mother. It was then she discovered a huge water stain to the back of the skirt and what looked like a make-up mark on the sash. She immediately took it back to the store and demanded the dress be cleaned. Turns out the store owner had liked this range so much she was thinking of stocking it and had actually been allowing customers to try on my friends dress before making a order!

Now this is an extreme case of very poor service and I am in no doubt that my friend will not be recommending this particular store to anyone. But if you do suffer bad service there are a number of things you can do:

• If your order is lost or delayed: make an official complaint to the store owner and make sure you get any monies paid back, particularly if your dress is lost.
• If your order is damaged you can ask for your money back and/or the damage be repaired at their expense. Much will depend upon the nature of the damage of course, but things like loose stitching, loose buttons, broken zippers and marks to the dress can all be fixed. Where the damage is irrevocable then demand a replacement dress be ordered through an express service and that they pay all additional costs.
• Pay with a credit card so you can recover your money through the card issuer should there be a problem.
• Always have a back up plan should something go wrong with the dress you ordered. If you can, source the same gown from another store so you know you can get it elsewhere if the worst comes to the worst.
• Finally, if going to another store is not an option then demand another dress from the store stock, with a refund of the price difference if the dress costs less than the original or that they cover any additional cost in the dress price. Cleaning, alterations and any other expenses should also be covered by them.