Pretty dresses at pretty prices
Friday, September 23, 2005
I used R. K. Bridal to order bridesmaid's dresses for my sister's wedding (she was out of the country), and I'll definitely go back to them for my own.
R.K. Bridal is a warehouse-type bridal store--you're not going to be fawned over and helped to pick out the dress of your dreams. Instead, you're given free reign to touch and try on hundreds of dresses by many designers. You have to figure out your size (decided upon by evil mathematicians) all by yourself, but if you have a seamstress or a picky friend do your measurements, this shouldn't be a problem. R.K. also takes care of shipping your dresses to out-of-state bridesmaids if need be.
Brides and bridesmaids alike are responsible for selecting and ordering the dresses, sizes, and colors desired without help from the staff. In return for this, the dresses are often several hundred dollars cheaper than in other bridal stores, even though they're brand-new/made-to-order. They do have a program where they'll help you every step of the way, but the prices go back up to normal for that. The little extra work on my end was definitely worth the money we saved (and it really wasn't all that difficult--the sizes were the hardest part, but if you use common sense, it's hard to go wrong. Two of the dresses didn't need to be altered at all, and the others required minor hemming and tightening. A coworker who went to a full-service salon was pressured into ordering a dress that turned out to be three sizes too big--they basically had to remake the dress rather than alter it to fit her).