Bridal Boutique Of Raleigh

I overlooked my first bad experience in the Bridal Boutique of Raleigh (on Hillsborough St) because I tried to give the owner the benefit of the doubt. After another visit to the shop, and after hearing friends speak of their experiences, I realized that Manu?s customer service is always bad. I have waited a while to write this review so that I am not ?venting,? but just sharing. When I have been in the store, I have never seen Manu smile. I have also not seen her volunteer to help anyone ? it?s almost as if customers irritate her. When I arrived for a scheduled alterations appointment, she simply told me my dress was hanging in the back. I had to rummage through lots of dresses hanging in the back area to find mine. The alterations were okay, but a little make-shift looking. The girls who work part-time in the shop (who seem to be nice and helpful) told me Manu would be right back to check my alterations. After at least 20 minutes, I wandered toward the front of the store, and she was just sitting at the counter. Once the alterations were approved, Manu asked if she could just press it later and let the bride pick it up for me. I didn?t want to bother the bride with something else to deal with, so I had to wait at least half an hour for her to press it. Since I spent a lot of time sitting and waiting, I observed another customer experiencing similar problems ? walking out to the front in a wedding dress, confused about whether or not someone was supposed to be coming back to help her once she had the dress on. I would encourage anyone who is shopping for wedding or bridesmaids? dresses to shop elsewhere. If you have to go to the Bridal Boutique of Raleigh, go with friends or family because you may need their help. more

I have friends who have worked and have shopped here. The owners treat their employees just like their customers. HORRENDOUS! The owner is rude, unethical, lacks customer service and basically should not be in business. The other reviews stated on this website about the owner of The Bridal Boutique and The Bridal Gallery at MacGregor are all true! Save your time and money and go somewhere else. It is well worth it!! Pros: Great Selection of Dresses Cons: The owners, unethical, lack of customer service, dishonest more

Terrible owner, lies, deceit, accusations, DO NOT SHOP HERE.\r The shipping of a dress was over charged by 300% with money taken with no receipt given.\r We will be pursuing official means of recovering the money save yourself the trouble and shop elsewhere. The owner is as rude as the reviews here state, please save yourselves time, effort, money and stress go somewhere else to buy your dress and have a wonderful wedding! Cons: THE OWNER, THE LIES, THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE more

I am maid of honor in my friends wedding and 3 of us stopped in there to look at bridal gowns and bridesmaids dresses. They basically encouraged us to leave. They said we wouldn?t have time to try on any gowns. We did come in 30 minutes prior to closing but with most businesses if you're in before close you get to try at least ONE on. Manu is the owner and she does own the Bridal Gallery in MacGregor Village. STAY AWAY FROM BOTH! See my review on Bridal Gallery for my experience looking at a dress. Cons: Rude and in it for the money more

This is the first time I've felt compelled to post a negative review for any place of business, however my experience at the Bridal Boutique of Raleigh was utterly disappointing. I visited the store to order a veil and several bridesmaids dresses. \r \r Veil... the item received was a poor imitation of the veil that I had ordered and paid for less than two weeks earlier. Luckily I had taken a picture while trying it on (since the floor sample was now missing). Nonetheless, Manu requested I pay more for the changes since it would require more tulle. I politely pointed out that this was the store's mistake. After discussion, Manu conceded. Two weeks later, I picked up the final product and it still was not what I had originally ordered. When I pointed this out, the staff had no interest in rectifying the situation, thus I opted to simply write it off ($200) and purchased another veil elsewhere.\r \r Bridesmaids Dresses? I was told that bridesmaids' info needed to be in by a certain date (approx 16wks b4 wed date) to ensure on time arrival without rush shipping. I called in the last bridesmaid's info 2 days before the cited date and the salesperson even stated how glad she was I got it in time. Three days later, Manu called stating that all dresses needed rush shipping. I questioned why since all information was provided 'in time', she stated that she doesn't place orders every day and when she called (3 days later), rush shipping was needed. I pointed out store error in waiting 3 days, but to no avail. I then called the manufacturer who reluctantly informed me dresses could still be ordered w/o rush. Fed up, I called Manu, stated what I discovered and requested no order be placed as I?d be taking my business elsewhere. She told me this was not possible as she'd already charged the cards and wouldn't provide refunds. Much discussion ensued and we ended up placing the order with the ?hope? they?d come in time. They arrived 6 weeks before my wedding. Nuff said.\r more

this shop is owned by the same woman who owns bridal gallery in mcgregor village. i acutally think bridal boutique is worse than bridal gallery, but i would avoid both if possible. the woman is horrible with customer relations, and will never take the blame no matter what the circumstance. she lied to me multiple times and avoided my calls. when asked for a partial refund for a service gone wrong, i was told no. in addition, this place is chaotic, dirty and understaffed. bad, bad experience. Pros: location Cons: horrendous service and customer care, dirty and chaotic store more

I ordered my bridesmaids' dresses and shoes from here because the price was better than other shops. What a mistake. I placed the order SEVEN months before my wedding. They blamed the manufacturer for being behind on shipping them out, but it turned out they weren't ordered when I was told they were. They arrived just a month before my wedding. The shoes sat in a back room when they told me ""they're not in yet."" Finally someone noticed them. Only the red-haired girl was nice to me (I actually think she no longer works there) and the older woman was incredibly rude. I would never recommend going there. It is cluttered, parking is difficult, and their service is awful. Pros: Good prices Cons: Bad service more

This was the first place my sister and I went to look for my wedding dress. I was so excited when I arrived at the Bridal Boutique of Raleigh...but that soon changed! No one offered to help us, so we were looking at dresses and I picked out two I wanted to try on. My sister and I each grabbed one and went to the dressing rooms. There were two people working in the store that day, a young girl and the owner. The young girl had another customer in the fitting room and the owner was working with no one. No one acknowledged me or offered to help me. I find it kind of odd that the owner stood up front, watched me walk in, watched me carry dresses to the fitting room, try them on, and walk out without ever saying one word to me! The store was pretty dirty and the dresses were really dingy. I understand that dresses get dirty after a lot of women try them on, but these were really gross. I left and took my business elsewhere. Pros: location Cons: rude service (or no service!), dirty more

the service was horrible..i dont know why the owner or sales people treated a few of you differently but from what ive heard, the owner, manu, treats people like MANUER. i was very disappointed in how rude she was. unprofessional..rude..couldnt understand questions i was asking. they need some serious help. with 7 of my close friends getting married, NONE are going there. i have shared my experience. manu owns the macgregor store as well. BEWARE-the group discounts are different at each store..so ASK! better yet, avoid both stores! Cons: limited parking, poor customer service more

Bridal Boutique of Raleigh was very disappointing. Not only are their dresses very overpriced (our bridesmaids dresses there would have been $185 vs $120 at another boutique), but their service was horrible. They were incompetent and you got the impression that they were more concerned with protecting themselves with their policies than enhancing your day and practicing good business. The owner was hard to understand and easily irritated. I would not recommend them to anyone- if you are forced to go there, keep in mind how much you could save by going elsewhere- their service definitely does not demand the extreme markup.\r Pros: None. Cons: Snooty, unhelpful clerks, very high prices- I wouldn't shop there again... more

Don't take your wedding dress here to be altered. As previous posters have said, the customer service here is awful. I got my wedding dress alterations done here. After three months and three frustrating fittings, they managed to put the bustle in wrong, take in the dress by 3 inches too much, and hem the bottom unevenly. Alterations cost WAY more than they should and they make you pay upfront so dissatisfied customers have little chance of getting a refund. All 3 times we went in, the owner was rude and just stood there and stared at us while my mom helped me try on the dress. We had to ask her to show us how to bustle the dress, as she was making no offers to help us with anything. When I pointed out my concerns about the alterations, she would alternate between standing in silence and saying ""that's the way it's supposed to look"". Disgusted, we left with the dress and found a better seamstress who is fixing all of their mistakes for half the price in a quarter of the time. Don't trust them with the most important dress of your life! more

When I first walked into Bridal Boutique I was very overwhelmed. It was my first experience looking for gowns with my mom and sister and I made the mistake of choosing a Saturday to shop. My mom was a little upset at first because it was so crowded. We had to wait for an associate but once they saw we were waiting, an associate came and gave us an overview of the store. Between my mom, my younger sister and me, we pulled out like 25 gowns and an associate took them back into a huge room with little dressing rooms. \r \r What really sold me on the place though was how much the owner knew about alterations and changes I could make to the dresses. I wanted to turn a plan A line skirt gown into a bustle skirt (I thought the ones that were pre-bustled had too many) and she actually pinned the dress to show me how it would look and how I could order extra length to get enough fabric to do it. I just ordered this week and I can't WAIT for it to come in!! Pros: knowledgable staff, TONS of dresses Cons: lighting and really busy on saturdays (if you want full attention, go during the week!!) more

I am not usually one to write recommendations but I cannot thank Bridal Boutique enough for their help in finding, measuring, selecting colors, (basically everything) for my bridesmaids. I had no idea that bridesmaids dresses took so long to come in. I was at exactly three months and everytime i went to a store they just gave me shocked look and left me alone because I was ""a hopeless case"". The staff at bridal boutique helped me find the type of dresses I was looking for (they directed me to Raylia which is my favorite designer now!) and called the company to see if I could get my dresses in on time. They even called me everyday to tell me which of my bridesmaids still had to call with their measurements and payments. Manu personally helped my bridesmaids get their alterations done quickly. They have a great selection! I plan to take all my engaged friends there and I would recommend you try them out. Pros: selection, staff, location (downtown raleigh-really easy to find) Cons: parking more

So I went to the Raleigh Bridal Boutique to get my bridesmaid dresses because it was close to my work. Some of my girls went into the store to get measured and the owner was rude to them. I ordered a swatch to make sure the tuxedos will match the dresses. They told me that the swatch would be in at the end of a week. I waited two weeks and when I did not receive a phone call, I went by the store. The OWNER told me that the swatch was not in and that she would call when it came in. I never heard from them again until I got a phone call that my dresses were in. When I addressed the owner about this, she was extremely rude and refused to refund my money for the swatch because they could not call me because I did not write my number on the order form. I informed her that 1) the sales associate filled out the form and 2) how in the world did they call me to let me know my dresses were in if they did not have my phone number. The whole conversation, she talked over me and was very rude. When my mother called because it was on her credit card, the owner hung up on her. In all of the planning I have done, this has been the worst experience I have ever had. I will never go into the store again and I hope that future brides stay clear of this store to eliminate some of the headaches that come with going in there. Cons: The staff, especially the owner. more

i am writing this so that maybe other gilrs will not wate their time here for something that is supposed to be memorable. My friend decided to get her BM dresses here and it was drama from the word go. Aside from having the WORST sales staff ever in raleigh, the owner wa very rude and very unprofessional. from the moment we arrived to try on the dresses, and if your not a 12, your not going to be able to try on any dress since thats the only sizes they carry, we were given the run around. According to the size chart, you were suppose to order like 5 sizes bigger than what you wear and the owner would tell you thats what you needed to order and that was a lie. You can order your original size and be fine with it. Theres not one single person in this store that knows anything about what brides want much less about the dresses. They will charge you for every lilttle thing there is. They told us it would be 3 months before the dresses came in and even then she could not give us a straight answer on when they would be shipped even though she had the shipping book in front of her. One fo the gilrs gave her a CC when we first went in there and she thought that this was the card she was going to use to pay for the rest of the dress dso she ran ti and it got declined. Guess who she called...not the cardholder but the bride..yes she called her to let her knwo one of the girls CC was denied....isn't this private information? So needless to say, this is by far the worst place to EVER get a dress from. I woud strongly reccommend going somehwere else and if you have to pay a little more, then i truely beleive it would be worth the professional service that this place lacks. If there were someone higher above this woman then I would go there but she si the owner which is worse. So Ijust wanted to let everyone know of the BS that this place is. Pros: not one Cons: just walking into the store more

This is my first time posting a review. I usually don't do these things, but after reading the negative reviews others have left, I had to post my story!! After finding that The Bridal Boutique of Raleigh carried the designer lines I was searching for, my mom, aunt, sister and I made our first trip to the store. After having a bad experience at another boutique that morning, I was thrilled to pieces when we were greeted by smiling faces the second we walked in. We were told to just ""turn over"" the dresses we would like to try on and were asked if we had any questions, or if I was looking for anything in particular. I believe the girl's name was Alicia. I was even more thrilled to find that they seemed to have just what I was looking for in terms of fabric and style. I immediently began turning over dress after dress...there must have been 20 in all. And the sales staff just happily carried all of my gowns to the fitting room...or rooms, rather (!) and began preparing the dresses for me to try on. After several hours I was still greeted with smiles, still given attention and assistance. I never felt rushed, even though I kept the sales staff slightly past their closing time. The wrote down all of my favorite gowns for me in the event I returned. They had a huge selection of bridesmaid gowns and even recommended me to their sister store, The Bridal Gallery at MacGregor, for other dresses they did not carry in the Raleigh store. My mother, aunt & sister were all pleased with the service we received. I returned and ordered my gown about a month later. When I wasn't able to make a final decision, Manu, the owner, suggested specific custom alterations to my dress and then she demonstrated them to me; I was so excited--I finally found that ""AAAH, this is the perfect dress"" moment! The Bridal Gallery at MacGregor also has a great selection too and larger dressing area. I'm sure I'll have a positive review in a few months when my dress arrives! Pros: Good selection, helpful staff, knowledgable owner and seamstress Cons: Parking, interior space and lighting more

This was the best part of my wedding planning experience. I found the staff at Bridal Boutique to be helpful and courteous. They did not force me to try on anything until I was ready and had found gowns that suited my taste. They always asked if I needed help putting the gowns on and were ok when I asked if my mom could help me instead. They actually let you TOUCH the gowns unlike some of the other places I've visted. I ended up not only getting my gown from here, but my mom's dress as well as my bridesmaids dresses. My girls got 30% off their gowns because I had 3 girls in the same style. I just had my last fitting and the dress fit like a glove. I couldn't be happier. Two of my bridesmaids who are also planning weddings have narrowed thier gowns at Bridal Boutique also. Try them out! Pros: selection, price range, helpful (not pushy) staff Cons: busy on saturdays more

When I first started looking for gowns, it was hard to know where to start. I tried three other shops before going here and was disappointed with their service, selection or prices. Once I went here, however, I was very happy with what I found. I was greeted by an employee and she gave me an idea of how the store was layed out and said that once I found a dress I liked, I could pull it out and they would put them in the dressing room for me. What I really liked was that I was able to look through the dresses at my own pace and didn't have a pushy, clingy sales associate at my side every minute. I had my sister to help me put the dresses on but had she not been there, the women working there would have helped. After returning to the store a second time, I decided on a dress that I really liked. They helped me pick the correct size and color (white vs. ivory) and then ordered it for me. It came in earlier than they estimated and I went in for a fitting. After trying it on after the first set of alterations, it fit beautifully and they set me up with the rest of the accessories I needed. They were more than helpful with getting it pressed before my bridal shoot and Manu, the owner, was always helpful. They can get very busy at times but if Manu makes you wait, she always apologizes and tries to help you as soon as possible. Saturdays are VERY busy, as with most bridal shops so try to go during the week. Most of the time I went during the week and was one of only a few people there. I really liked their selection and would recommend them! Pros: Good customer service, great selection, reasonable prices, nice atmosphere Cons: Not much parking more

I started the search for my wedding gown at the Bridal Boutique of Raleigh (due to a recommendation from a friend who bought her dress there 5 years ago!). What a MISTAKE! The lady who was in the store (who I have since found out is the manager/owner) was so rude to me! She did not acknowledge me when I arrived, did not offer to assist me in selecting dresses, did not assist me in the dressing room, did not smile - NOTHING! I was shocked! I was very upset and my mom quickly said ""Let's get out of here - we will not purchase anything from such rude people"". The funny thing was, we were the only customers in the store at the time! We have since been to other boutiques in the area and had wonderful experiences! At OTHER stores, we received very friendly and helpful service and had a great time. Bottom line - I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE! There are lots of places in the area to buy your dress - go somewhere that will actually appreciate you and your business. Cons: Rude staff, Lack of Assistance more

I was looking for a special occaction dress I could wear at a friends wedding as well as wear on a up coming cruise. I had many designers to choose from and great colors. We order my dress and the alterations made it fit like a glove.\r Thank you Bridal Boutique I will tell all my friends. Pros: great staff Cons: parking more