Ventura's Formal Wear

My experience on 10/19/10.\r \r I walked into Ventura's freaking out because I'd left my cell phone at home and was expecting a call from my soon to be mother-in-law who was meeting me at the store. My consultant, Maria, gave me a few minutes to gather myself and get things straightened out before greeting me with a big smile and enthusiasm. She listened to me as I told her all about the dresses I'd seen online and flipped through at least 15 different pictures. I could tell she was very interested in finding out specifically what I wanted. She then led me, my mom and MOH to a room where she told us about the different racks and where we could find certain styles and designers. While she went off to pull my specific picks, we had time to look at other options and pull whatever else we were interested in trying. I had heard there was a 6 dress max you could try on, however I did not notice that to be the case! I felt like I could have and try whatever my heart desired. Once we finally had about 10 dresses picked out, we were led to a fitting area that was open with lots of mirrors that were spaced and positioned just so that you could see every angle of the dress you were trying on. There were very spacious dressing rooms that Maria, me and my 10 dresses fit into. The entire store was clean and nicely organized. When trying on the dresses, Maria helped me put on every single dress....some even 2 or 3 times! She was patient and never once made me feel like I was taking too long or being a bother. She even put various veils and head pieces on me so I could get the full effect! I really felt special and most of all, I had a blast! Needless to say, I bought my dress, veil and head piece from them and we're even planning to buy the bridesmaids and mothers' dresses there as well. Overall, I am incredibly impressed with the professionalism, quality and care that they give you. Oh, and the price wasn't bad either! more

Misrepresentations\r Told that if we pay UPFRONT $140.00 for alteration it will take care of the dress when it comes in but when the dress arrived they refuse to do the alteration without another $140.00 and then he said, she said, bs... and bs..... more

I plan alot of weddings throughout the year for Houston and Texas Brides. I always insist on taking my brides to multiple dress shops, but 9 out of 10 the brides always seem to find their dream dress at Ventura's. Their selection is so amazing and the staff their is just so warm and accomodating! They make each Bride feel like they are thier for them and only them! They Shop has seen some really big transformations over the years and every single one has been for the better! They feel that impeccable customer service and amazing gowns at THE BEST PRICES IN TOWN are what is important to a Brides bottom line! ( As a planner I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have your bride find the dream dress but not have to pay an arm & a Leg for it. This allows me to have more wiggle room for making that big day spectacular!) And one mroe thing....They have their alterations and Drycleaning and Dress preservation in house for teh very reason that you don't have to run all over town getting those last minute details before your big day! I love Ventura's... No Place like it in Houston! more

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I went on a Saturday afternoon. The parking is limited. The store was crowded, chaotic. There is, also, a dry-cleaning store inside the bridal store, so there was a lot of in and out traffic for the dry cleaners, people with arms of dirty clothes needing to be cleaned. Not exactly t he atmosphere for wedding dress shopping. In terms of mother-of-the-bride or groom dresses, there is nothing. more

Ventura’s Bridal quoted me and CHARGED me an agreed upon cost to price match that of another dress store, then held my dress hostage until I paid a new increased amount. Overcharges Told $110 total cost for each bridesmaids dress but the girls were instead charged $127: 17*5 = $85 Additional money from amenity package offered: Would have just been $28 too little because they promised a $128 amenity package then were only taking care of $100 of the headband… instead, I was not given my headband during the course of ths and was told that I would be given a refund check at the time of all of these problems. They said a refund of $37would be mailed to me and it never was. $37+$28 = $65 Needed to have my own alterations done as expected, but had to have a full hem done because the hollow to hem did not come in as promised: $100 Overcharged: $250 total Additional Misrepresentations Told that if I came in with the shoes I was wearing on wedding day I could get a hollow to hem to avoid additional length alterations and paid $140 to do so because if I had not purchased a hollow to hem the dress price would have been $70 less: amounts to a $140 deduction since the hollow to hem did not avoid length alterations and I would be in the same position if I had not purchased the hollow to hem (plus I would have been hesitant in choosing the dress because the alteration does not look like a simple one): 140 refund given Told that would order fabric immediately when I expressed urgency: 2 weeks later the order wasn't submitted Told that my headband was ordered: 1 month later I have learned that it was not ordered but was instead ""rung up as a sale"" meaning if all of this hadn't happened to open my file I would still be waiting for a headband Had a balance of zero on 1/25, but then received a call saying that I could not pick up my extra items unless I paid $112 when there were no additional items. Cons: Price, customer service, given the run-around constantly more

We walked out. I had an apt and waited 15 mins to be even acknowledged. it was just chaos. I went to the bathroom while my mom waited in front. disgusting. it smelled bad and the whole place had peeling paint and was dirty. we left. Houston is a huge city and there are other bridal salons to get those designers. Dont waste your time!!!!! VERY DISSAPOINTING. brickhouse bridal and even parvani vida were much better. Cons: no help, ignored, peeling paint, gross building more

I went in with my coord. a couple of days ago to get some ideas for dresses. At first I was a little worried because of the selection at the front. But then when we were led to the back I was suprised. Geni was very helpful and great. She picked out some dresses and it did not irritate her that I said no to most dresses. We did wait about 10 minutes but that was because we were almost an hour early which did not bother her. I really enjoyed my experience with her and can't wait to go back. She did not seem bothered when my coord. mentioned I could go elsewhere to try on dresses. The only thing that concerns me is if children under 12 are not allowed in how am I going to get my daughter's flower girl dress. Pros: Great Selection more

So let me start with my sister's experience 5 years ago!!! She ordered a dress from the owner, Mrs.Ventura, unfortunately. The dress was 3 months late and came in the wrong color!!! Mrs. Ventura somehow made it my sister's fault....and in the end my sister was too upset to continue to deal with this rude woman!!!! She ended up picking up her dress and doing her alterations elsewhere and swore off Ventura's bridal for good! Well now it has become my turn to find the perfect dress. The moment I saw it online I knew it was it! So I immediately started doing my research calling all the stores that carried this designer and getting pricing. No one in Texas had the dress to try on though. I ended up calling Ventura's on a whim just for pricing and thankfully a cheerful voice answered the phone! Her name was Britney and she was sooo delightful and helpful! She really went out of her way and gave me the best price possible!! She beat ALL the stores in Texas even though it was a very pricey gown. I was going to have my aunt make the dress but decided because of BRITNEY it would be worth buying my own dress to decrease stress levels and a chance that something could go wrong. She found me a store to try it on at in a state close by...which most consultants would NEVER do, but she truely wanted me to be happy in the end. Thanks to her I did purchase my dress there and have the upmost confidence everything will turn out ok because of her! THANK YOU BRITNEY!!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!! Pros: BRITNEY Cons: Awful owner, rude staff members, not very organized either more

I have been in Ventura's a hand full of times now to help friends find their gowns for their wedding day as well as several other shops here in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. Due to the potential prices that are offered when the Owner Taska Ventura happens to be on one of her Up Swings, the time spent there can be worth saving a substantial amount of $$. HOWEVER the truth is.....the time spent there is AGONY! Taska and her Manager Genie are very abrasive, pushy, harsh, amongst several other descriptive words. Most of the staff seems frightened by them which causes a very cold and uninviting experience when finding your gown should be a fun, exciting, glowing experience. I have worked with a few consultants who were wonderful but seems they never last long. It almost feels as if you are on a convey belt. You are allowed 6 dresses that they claim you are free to chose....Not the case. The owner and manager do the picking and pressure the other girls to do the same to their brides. Once the 6 dresses are taken to the fitting room, the employee usually helps the bride into a gown and the pressure is on!! The forcefulness to purchase within that hour you have scheduled to be there is amazing! Oh and God forbid you need to think or ask to try on another dress or two...?!??? Out you go......If you purchased you will get a TINY bit of their full attention while ringing the sale as quickly as possible. if did not purchase, you may get a quick proper good bye yet more often than not they are on to the next bride as you are still putting on your shoes. For those who do purchase at Ventura's, I know I did say the potential to get an amazing price can be worth it......it may just not be for more than half of the brides. The customer service given regarding ordering, alterations, any type of follow ups......IS NOT GIVEN! if any problem arises and let's face it_ It is most bride's first wedding and yes problems, changes arise....NOT in Taska or Genie's world!!!! No flexibility, concern, compassion, returns, help, suggestions, of any kind will be provided, Everything will be your problem and only your problem, If not for her low prices........I would think she and most of her employees would be UNemployeed!!!! Good Luck NEW Brides, DO NOT let Ventura's BULLY YOUR DAY!!!!!!!!! Pros: prices r good, if owner on upswing-prices can be best?! Cons: owner and other staff members rude,harsh,pushy,etc... more

I loved this store! I went to 5 different stores before coming to this one and was very discouraged afterwards b/c of the limited selections and the high prices offered by the other stores. I walked inside and the lady was very nice and was asking me questions....I was kinda not paying attention and later felt embarrassed for being kinda rude...Im not like that usually I promise! I was just sooo tired and thought that my trip would be fruitless.....Anyway, I waited until my consultant was ready to help me (I was about 30 min early for my appt) My consultant's name was Natalie and she was sooo sweet and very helpful. My experience with this store is not at all like how the other reviewers on here had. I actually read some other reviews on this place on other sites and some of them were bad but everyone who had Natalie as their salesperson had a great experience! I highly recommend her. She was friendly, helpful, and was joking around with me and my awesome, loud and pseudo obnoxious bms who were with me. The selection here is better than houston formal bridal gallery, david's bridal, and other boutiques that I visited both in houston and in DC (I live out of the area.) I ended up purchasing a beautiful maggie sottero dress on the spot. I tried on every single dress imaginable in the past two months and this one was it! I did not need to look any further! The prices were soooo reasonable since I am on a tight budget....most of the dresses ranged from 500 dollars to about 1500! woohoo! The only problem I had was getting the dress back to DC with me....which I'll just get someone from my family to ship it to me when the order comes in. Oh and one more thing, you get a huge discount if you order it on your first fitting (visit)...which I was able to do b/c I already went to everywhere else first! I think my discount was about 80 dollars off a 800 dollar dress which is a huge cut for me ! My wedding is in Hawaii and I can use any cut backs I can get! whew! thanks ventura's bridal! After this, we went to go look for bm dresses and indulged in the excellent selection of dresses from watters, mori lee, davinci, etc... I dont know why people complain about picking out their own bm dresses..... I preferred to look for my own with my bms since my taste was very specific and I just like looking through the whole selection and seeing all my options instead of someone picking it out or helping me to pick it out. Anyway, the reason why I would not give it five stars is the appearance of the store outside and yes, the building is a lil old but its what is inside which is important! Pros: Great service Cons: Outside appearance more

This place has good prices, but you truly get what you pay for. My salesperson barely paid any attention to me once the deal was made. Everytime I came into the store, I had to service myself. I never got any phone calls back either. When I wanted alterations, they treated me like a customer trying to get some groceries.. in and out. I would not recommend coming here unless you are on a low budget and are willing to deal with inconsidrate people! Pros: cheap prices, good deals Cons: bad customer service all around! more

After a long disappointing day of trying on dresses, I went to my appointment at Ventura's. I called because I was 45 minutes late, and my consultant, Estella, was still so nice and welcoming, regardless. The ""bridal area"" in the back is very nice and professional-looking. Estella dressed me and stayed with me the whole time, which I so appreciated. She was extremely attentive and very sweet. She made the experience wonderful for me. I was there at about 4pm and had the whole place to myself, it felt like. The best part was that I got the dress that I loved for half the price of what I was planning on spending!! I was very happy with my experience there. Pros: Great Parking, Nice and Helpful Staff, Nice Dressing Rooms, and Mirrors in Bridal Area. Cons: Bathrooms were a little dirty, Front Entrance of Store could use a little sprucing. more

I ordered my dress there in Jan. 2008 after feeling forced into it. They run out of patience quickly with trying on dresses. Typical order should take 4-6 months. It's been 8 and still no dress. I was told 2 weeks ago it's coming then today was told there is a stain on it and they're ordering a new one. Was told they didn't want to tell me out of fear of getting me worried (so they lied to me instead). I asked to speak to my consultant, who is the manager. Was told she isn't there today and would call Monday. I called back and was told she is there and will call me back later today. I cannot trust these people after being lied to by 3 different people including the manager and my consultant herself. I will never use this company ever again. I don't know if my dress will arrive and if it does what will the quality be now that ""a new dress will be made in 4 weeks versus 8 months"". I am sick to my stomach to know I owe these crooks $1000. Please do not fall into the same trap I did. Hey, at least at David's Bridal you see what you are getting and take it home immediately. Pros: Pretty Dresses Cons: Rude Sale People, Liars, You get rushed/pushed into buying more

I decided to use Ventura's services to order bridesmaid dresses. I was instrcted by store personnel to have my bridesmaids get measure and call Ventura's with those measurements so that a store employee could choose the size needed. Upon calling, each woman was given the size needed. Each woman noted that the size indicated was dramatically larger than her street size, but was assured that the store knew its business. Upon receipt of the dresses, each woman observed they were way too big. One bridesmaid consulted a tailor who assessed that alteration of the bust, waist, shoulders, hips and length would cost $120. The second one had the same issues, but worse. Her alteration were far greater and would cost $180. My third bridesmaid was pregnant at the time but asked to order the equivalent to a street size 4. Ventura's responded by ordering her a size 12, which was ridiculously oversized. The fourth received a dress which was 2 sizes too big for her. In summary, 2 of the dresses are so large they are unalterable. The other 2 would cost hundreds to fix. New dresses must be bought. When I called to let Ventura's know of the problems and to seek a resolution, the manager was very rude and tried to blame me for the problems. She refused to listen to me and just talked over me, lied to me on several issues and refused to give me her name. After requesting that she listen to me, she got very belligerent and hung up on me. When I finally spoke to the ower, Mr. Ventura, he wouldn't listen, told me I should speak to his wife and then hung up. Mrs. Ventura refused and continue to refuse to take my calls. I have reimbursed by bridesmaids out-of-pocket for the dresses so they can buy new ones that fit. Since Ventura's is unwilling to speak with me, I am considering legal action.\r \r Since I posted this in August, my dispute with the Venturas has been resolved to my satisfaction. more

I had an aweful experience at Ventura's. First of all, the sample bridal gowns they have to try on are dirty and smelly. A good Bridal stores will keep their gowns clean for cutomers to try on and i did shop at other stores around Houston where the gowns were kept clean and not smelly. It was a huge turnoff for me to have this first experience so i got my gown at Weddings By Debbie. Now, with that said, i decided to give Ventura's one more chance so I ordered a flower girl dress from their catalog. This dress was ordered the first week of April and being that my wedding is in June I had them rush deliver it. Ventura's told me that the dress would be in by the first week of May. I called the second week of May because I never got a call back from them. I left several messages and it took forever to get a clear response from someone. They were finally able to admit that they had never ordered the dress to begin with and they would return my money back. i was beyond upset. May was almost over and i had no flower girl dress. I had so many other things to worry about and now i had to look for another dress. As many brides are aware, most of these catalog dresses have to be ordered months in advance so i really had no options left after Ventura's screwed up. Luckily i went to a store off of Kirby called Children's Etc. I was able to find a dress there and they made it for me that same week I ordered it. The dress cost me only 26 dollars as opposed to the 150 I was going to spend at Ventura's. I have to add that the dress i got at Children's Etc. was more beautiful than the 150 dollar dress i was going to buy at Ventura's. So thank God it all worked out at the end. But still, that was horrible service i got at Ventura's. Needless to say, I will never recommend this place to my family or friends or even a stranger. You can definatley get better service elsewhere. Pros: wide selection of dresses Cons: dirty dresses, not organized at all, bad service more

I had a fairly good experience here. I went in with my sister who is also getting married. The only complaint I have is that we walked into the showroom and the lady at the front asked if i had a consultant, I said no and she took the dress from my hand, placed it back on the dressrack and walked away stating she would find someone to help me. I thought she was rude but I picked the dress back up and kept looking. Natalie was our consultant and she was awesome! She was very good about finding out what we liked and disliked about dresses. I wasnt so sure but all I had to say was I was having a military wedding and she guided me towards some beautiful gowns. She wasnt pushy or anything and she was very knowledgeable about the designers, fabrics, and knew just what veil to put with each dress. She helped us take pictures so my mom could see and with the mirror in the fitting area it is easy to get the front and back of the dress in one picture. I highly recommend getting an appointment with her! I think the price is good for the designers you find there. I went to ""weddings by debbie"" on the west side of Houston and I didnt see a dress there for under $1000. I got my dress and veil for half of what I expected to pay (only $750!) and they give you a discount on accessories if you purchase with your 1st fitting. You cant beat that. My fiancee was thrilled that I spent so little on my dress and it enabled me to buy my bridesmaid dresses because I saved so much (which is what I wanted to do but wasnt sure with our budget). They have a good selection of Bill Levkoff bridesmaid dresses and I had a list of style numbers I liked. Natalie actually took my list and copied it to put in my file so my girls could come in on their own time and know which dresses they could choose from. And she put Venturas stock numbers on the list so they could order them even faster when they went in! She was so helpful. I recommend this place over some chic boutique. I'm glad I went there. Pros: easy to find, parking is easy, good prices, good service, no appointment needed Cons: some rude staff, not in the best part of town more

Ventura's is basically a warehouse full of dresses which house a very ""bargain/discount"" feel to it. However, their prices are much higher than other stores. I found a dress at a very nice store that was very plush, lovely, and elegant, and the same dress at Ventura's was almost twice the price! If I'm digging through dresses in a warehouse, I expect to get a good deal! Also, the store did not feel clean. The bathrooms are DISGUSTING - worse than a gas station. The sales lady was very nice, but also very pushy and it was clear that they work on commission. She gave me a strapless bra to use when trying on dresses and it looked like it had NEVER BEEN WASHED. It was BLACK around the edges! Needless to say, I went bra-less while trying on dresses, which was even more interesting as the sales lady kept barging into my dressing room and leaving the curtain open for the world to see. Seriously - she didn't even knock. At the end of my session, I had 3 dresses on my ""maybe"" list and the sales lady started haggling with me about price. I didn't know you could negotiate for the price of your dress!! Especially since one of the dresses was 50% MORE than the same dress at a much nicer store! Makes no sense! And one small thing, the walls in the fitting room are white, so when trying to take pictures of the dresses, it is really hard to see the silhouette...it blends into the walls. This was frustrating as we couldn't get a good picture of what the dress looked like. Ventura's does have a big selection, so if you're okay with digging through things and you don't care about the ambience of the store, then you may be able to find something here. Some of the dresses may be reasonably priced, but I found the ones I tried on were over-priced. But if I'm in a warehouse environment, then I want warehouse prices!! Pros: Good Selection Cons: Ambience, Price, Parking, Sales Staff more

Thus far, I have enjoyed my experience with Ventura's. This was the first place I stopped at to find my dream wedding dress. I wanted to avoid the ""foo-foo"" couture shops that charge you more for atmosphere than the actual dress. I was so happy that I did not need to go anywhere else after seeing the dresses at Ventura's. The dress selection was excellent. They even had the Eve of Milady dress that I had fallen in love with from one of my plethora of magazines, but I decided against it in the end. I found my dress on the first visit, but waited for several weeks before deciding to purchase it. They were cool when I told them I wasn't ready to purchase on that first day and Natalie gave me her card in order to call her to set up the next appointment. After ordering my dress, it did come in a little later than expected, but it was okay because I had started way ahead of time. My sales associate, Natalie, has been great and I'm planning to send a bridesmaid and my M.O.H. to Ventura's to order their dresses. Pros: Great service, good prices, great selection Cons: Warehouse type atmosphere more

I had a pretty good experience at Ventura's. There are two sale racks in the front room and they had some lovely dresses there for amazing prices, very good deals. The customer service was good, they were busy but someone was almost always taking care of us. The bridal room in the back was very large with a great range in selection. The price ranged up to around $4,000 but they had plenty of dresses in the back below or at $1,000. There were plenty of dressing rooms, and ample space. They also offer store credit, the amount is dependent upon how much you spend for your dress. Pros: Good service, some excellent deals, nice selection, plenty of room Cons: The front room is a bit tight, seems to be a busy shop more