Alexia Gavela Bridal

I got married this past March so I started my dress hunting last fall. I was pretty sure that my dream dress was a Sposa by St. Pucchi gown. I didn't think anyone in Austin carried that brand so I went to Dallas and tried a well known, big name bridal store. They had the St. Pucchi dress but the experience was beyond awful. Luckily, upon further investigation my sister discovered that Alexia Gavela Bridal in Austin carried Sposa!!! I was a bit worried given my last experience but the minute I met Jerry (the owner) my fears were immediately put to rest! He was so nice and ordered my dress right away. With the changes I wanted and without making me feel bad for wanting to make changes to the dress like the other salon did. He also loved that I wanted to get creative with my wedding attire and helped me come up with so many fantastic ideas. One idea was the wonderful veil the precious little seamstress made me, a custom ""Bubble Vail"" designed by Jerry with some of my mother's old lace in it from her wedding veil. Not only that but they did several custom adjustments on my dress as well as all of my 13 bridesmaid's dresses. All at an extremely affordable price and the work was amazing! The whole experience was an absolute dream! Alexia Gavela is exactly what a bridal Salon should be... a place that makes you, the bride, look like a princess! Thank you for making me a bride who not only looked like a princess but felt like one too:) Nancy Pros: Beatuiful Selection, Friendly, Accomodating to ideas more

Alexia Gavela Bridal, was recommended to me by a fellow co-worker, she said she had a great experience.at this boutique, I felt that could not go to a boutique like this , because my wedding is so soon (05/01/2010), I felt that I needed to go to Davids or somewhere I could buy off the rack. Geri, my consultant help find my dress, had it altered and paid a reasonable amount of alterations, Which I expected beacause I'm only 5'1., I felt very comfterble in this store, they made me feel like family. more

Eek! Methinks not. If I could add an extra eek to this review I would in a heartbeat. I wish I would have listened to a few Yelpers before I even stepped into this bridal salon. While reading Cassandra's review, I saw a pattern forming. I felt like I was reading a short clip of EXACTLY what happened to me. My first encounters with Geri were pleasant enough, after all I was with the bride-to-be. But essentially that's where his professionalism came to an abrupt halt. Upon picking the dress up, I found it was not one but two sizes to big! For those of you who know me, I think you'll agree my weight tends to stay the same. Even if you don't know me, well, I think I know my body well enough to know if I've dropped two dress sizes. According to Geri this is exactly what happened I had lost so much weight that my dress no longer fit me. He refused to admit the store was at fault and on top of that he was quite snarky and condescending about the entire situation. I find it strange that all five of the bridesmaids needed alterations on our dresses especially when our measurements were taken in house. I feel completely taken advantage of and ended up taking my dress elsewhere for alterations to avoid any further incompetence. Think long and hard before you step into this salon. I mean seriously $215 for a polyester dress, methinks not! Cons: Horrendous customer service more

I went to every bridal shop in town so I know I am making a fair assessment when I say ""Alexia Gavela is the best bridal shop in town!"" Pros: small staff, great selection, alterations in house Cons: small location more

Geri is great and I would recommend going in just for him alone. I didn't find my dress there but it was definitely worth the stop :Very cute store as well. Pros: great selection Cons: small store more

My daughter brought her dress there. This is becoming a family tradition. My daughter in law and her sister and my niece all have brought their dresses here. Geri is so awesome. I really loved the service there. I have been there 3 times and each time I have been impressed. the dresses are so beautiful. My daughter went back to decide on what dress she wanted and it was close to closing time when we called and Geri stayed open late just so she could go in and decide . We were not rushed. My daughter was home on leave briefly (as for a week) to get all of her wedding things taken care of. Her dress was mailed to Camp Pendelton on time and safety so that she could have it fitted there. There were not problems with getting it. It was such a relief. I would recommend them to anyone. Pros: Great customer service more

I like the people who work there, but the owner is snooty- I've been in there twice and neither time did she give me the time of day. more

i went here because this is where the bride chose her bridesmaid dress. i can understand the whole dresses run small thing, but i wear a size 6 jeans and they told me to get a size 12 dress. that is just wrong. i had gotten my wedding dress from a much better salon last year and it was a size 8 and I haven't gotten any bigger....When I told them I would NOT get a 12 they made me feel stupid and were talking down to me. I did not appreciate it. I insisted on a 8. When it came in it fit PERFECT!! If I had gotten a 12 I'm sure they would have recomended I see their tailor person for alterations and adjustments and would have to take the dress in 2 sizes and who knows how much that would have cost. Beware and go with your gut if they tell you a size and you don't thinks it's right. But don't fool yourself either into thinking you are smaller than you are....I only knew cause I had just bought wedding attire.... Cons: rude! more

My wedding was planned in 3 months, I was worried because other bridal salons were pushing me to buy something soon, I knew I didn't have much time, but I did not want to buy the wrong dress. Pros: Great bridal selection more

I was part of a small group of girls had to order our bridesmaid dresses from this place. First off, the dress that was ordered for me was too big. My seamstress told me they could have ordered a smaller size for me and it would have been fine. Secondly, once the dresses came it, I was told that I could call back for seamstress/tailor recommendations. I called and left messages and never received a call back. The wedding was this weekend and all the bridesmaids compared notes on their dresses. Apparenly, one of the girls had to go back for multiple fittings because the seamstress there couldn't get the dress right (and she was still uncomfortable in the dress on wedding day). Another girl had trouble picking up her dress because they were closed one day for a bridal show, they were closed the next day for something else, and though they have business hours, they open and close whenever they want, go to lunch whenever they want, and apparently return phone calls whenever they want. The bride and the bridal party had nothing positive to say about this place, and I would NOT recommend this place to anyone who wants decent customer service. (PS - I'm still waiting for that seamstress recommendation) Pros: They were able to special order our bridesmaid dresses Cons: Horrible customer service more

This was my first stop on my bridal gown search. I showed up to my appointment with some pictures of dresses I liked and after flipping through them she began to pull some dresses but they were not really what I had shown her. She was helpful at first with fluffing the dresses and clipping them to fit but after about 20 minutes several other women came in and she had to help them leaving me without anyone to help with the dresses. I tried on my other dresses as best I could with my moms help. Once the other women left she just stopped helping us! I still had dresses to try and on she just went and sat at the front. I couldn?t pinch the dresses myself and my mom tried to help but we did not know how her clamps worked. It was really difficult without her help. She finally reappeared when we were all done and just gave me the prices on the dresses I had tried on. It was really disappointing, I was really excited about trying on dresses and getting help as I was a dress shopping virgin. She seemed totally uninterested and like we were taking way too long. While she sat up front the phone was not ringing and there was no one up there to help as far as we could tell she just did not feel like helping and just wanted to sit there. Hopefully the other salons I go to will be more helpful and actually seem like they want to help me. Pros: get to go through dress racks Cons: employee was too busy, and unhelpful after 30 minutes more

Geri and Alex are both knowledgable. They have a lot of good advice and recommendation. No snooty at all, regardless of what is your budget. They work with you to make you a happy client. Most of their clients are refered by another bride. Sometimes you get offered some wine which is nice. The tailor is reasonably priced, too. Beautiful selections as well. Can't say enough. Love you Geri, Amy. Pros: Beautiful boutique more

I had been shopping around for wedding dresses for roughly a week. Belle Saison, Ahead of the Curve, and Unbridaled had great selections but nothing that worked for me. At Serendipity the service was so horrendous that I opted on not giving them a $1400 dress sale--in particular the man who sits at the front store and his better than thou attitude. After a few days I mustered up the last bit of energy I had and went over to Alexia Gavela. I had completely overlooked on the site that it was by appointment only but was still welcomed by Geri without a problem. I had a particular idea about how I wanted my dress to look but after some suggestions from Geri he found the dress of my dreams. I fell in love with it immediately and shockingly it wouldn't break the bank. Geri gave his knowledgeable advice when it was warranted and never was pushy about the sale. I also must say of all the bridal stores they had the best lighting. Pros: they know what they're doing more

Shopping at Alexia Gavela Bridal was such a wonderful experience. It was the second bridal shop I had been in, and I was trying very hard to avoid the horrid David's Bridal and places like it. Alexia Gavela was exactly what I was looking for -- a charming shop with a large selection of really beautiful gowns. But all of that aside, this was the best customer service I have ever experienced at any type of store. Geri was fantastic, so friendly, sincere, and helpful. He knew when to add his two cents and when to withhold his opinion so that I could think through my decision. My only regret is that I can't shop there more often! I highly recommend visiting Alexia Gavela first when you start shopping for your bridal gown. You probably won't need to go anywhere else. more