L'elite Bridal

*If I could rate them separately- I would give the BRIDAL Boutique 4-5 STARS and the Bridesmaid experience 1 STAR**** It is important to note that this review applies to my experience in the BRIDAL store with Ysabel (the most lovely, pleasant and fantastic bridal sales woman I met throughout my long and tiring dress shopping experience). I knew I chose the right place when it felt comfortable to give Ysabel a hug every time I saw her!!! I have not had any fittings yet, but I hope that this positive experience continues! However, having read other reviews, I unfortunately do think I may have hit the jackpot with Ysabel as my experiences with the bridesmaid boutique was quite different....and I definitely can understand why there are many negative reviews. After having such a great experience upstairs and getting a promotional discount at an event at Emerge Spa (which I paid to attend), I decided to trust L'elite with my bridal party. They carried the Monique Lhullier dresses that I fell in love with also....I was set up with Jill (who continued my obsession with Lelite - she is AMAZING! and so helpful) but it was not until my 3rd visit when DUN DUN DUN......I met the owner, this little old woman who seems like she may be nice until she opens her loud, unfriendly, demeaning, and confrontational mouth. This review is already long but I do think it is important to give the whole story because I feel it is unfair that overall Lelite has some great saleswomen but TERRIBLE OWNERSHIP. I had already started my account, picked the dresses, worked out the payment (I wanted to pay towards each dress), worked out EVERY DETAIL with Jill......when I went back with a friend and met this little old passive aggressive woman.....she questioned every move I made, questioned the promotional discount and confronted me on every detail- she was so rude and was making everything 100 times more difficult than it needed to be and you could tell that the other saleswoman was trying to do damage control and knew that I was right and not to mention I was the CUSTOMER- the customer that had already spent $4.000 in the bridal department and was about to give her another $2,000 of business...After all of this, I let it go and was going to give her the benefit of the doubt., until today when I was informed by a bridesmaid that when she went back to get fitted, they tried to overcharge her by almost $100. My friend questioned the price (because I had already told the bridal party exactly how much the dresses were) this little old woman had the audacity to pipe up and say "DO YOU STILL WANT TO BE IN YOUR FRIEND'S WEDDING OR NOT??" My outrage led me to write this review today and I will use as many outlets as possible to make this situation known. The most ironic part is that the owner was very quick to demean her employees competence, telling me that they did not know what they were talking about.....when in reality they are probably the ONLY reason that she is still in business. I intend to request to never have to see or deal with her again in any way or fashion. Consumers- don't avoid Lelite, avoid the owner and don't back down if you do have to deal with her...consumers do not deserve to be treated as expendable objects and it is despicable that she gets away with it. It is time for her to retire and let someone who understands the importance of customer service to step in and recover Lelite. more

This place offered the worst customer service I have ever experienced. The sales staff was so ice cold I felt so uncomfortable from the second I walked in. From the second I checked in for my apointment you would have thought I had snakes crawling out of my head. The girl that was assigned to us offered no help and not a hint of a smile. We were stuck back in a room which I think was a makeshift dressing room which seperated us from the employee break room and bathroom by only a curtain. I had no interest in spending any more time in this cold and unwelcoming shop than was absolutely necessary. We could not have gotten out of there fast enough. I opted to give my buisness to another bridal shop right down the street based soley on their EXCEPTIONAL customer service. I would never step foot in this place again. Finding bridesmaid dresses is supposed to be a fun and happy experience, we left this place with a complete bad taste in our mouth, I would never recommened a friend to this place. more

I bought an evening dress, and had it shipped to my house. The dress that arrived was the wrong size, but L'Elite refused to accept responsibility and give credit.\r I would never shop agaIn in this boutique nor would I recommend it.\r In today's day and age, service and customer satisfaction are the most important things. l'Elite does not provide either. more

As a future Bride-to-be, I could not have been happier with L'elite. The minute i walked in, I was warmly welcomed and treated professionally and with care. I found the perfect dress that was just what i had in mind. I worked with Lena who is not only sweet but is a gifted seamstress and has made this dress fit perfectly to my body. I also brought with me my grandmothers lace dress, which dates back to1920 to see if i could wear a piece of the lace in anyway. The owner/manager and Lena were able to salvage the lace, dye it to the color of my dress and ultimately make a stunning floor length veil out of my grandmothers lace dress, which I will cherish forever. It is truly a magnificent piece of art. the seamstresses are incredibly talented, helpful and an absolute pleasure to work with. I would recommend L'elite to any future bride. It is a special, one of a kind boutique. more

Truly a classic store for brides with exceptional taste! I loved every minute of my experience working with L'elite and their experienced seamstress staff. Lena could not have done a more incredible job making my dress fit like a glove. The bustle she created was perfect and she made it all seem so easy and effortless. If you want to see the caliber of her talent, you just have to stop in on the second floor and check out her original bridal gowns. Her designs are stunning and vibrant. I glanced over the other reviews and found it odd to see a few complaints over price and personal style of the staff. If you are concerned about price, I suggest you stick with David's Bridal. At L'elite you are consulting with the highest level of professional seamstresses and designers, you pay for that level of expertise. Finally, if you are looking for someone to fawn all over you when you walk in, refreshingly, you will not find that here. For me, L' elite was a perfect 10! Thank you for your excellent care. more

Salwa and the staff at L'Elite are wonderful. They listened to me and what I said I wanted and did everything they could to make that a reality. They see beyond the sale of the dress and truly care about the thing that brought you to them in the first place - you're getting married and it's YOUR special day. I always felt like they wanted to do anything and everything they could to make me happy and it was very much appreciated. I recommend them for their sincerity and excellent customer service... and their beautiful dresses! more

I loved L'Elite! I am also shocked to read some of the horrible reviews below. I had a great experience there! My dress was the first one I tried on, and I just fell in love instantly! Our consultant was Lena, and she was wonderful! We all knew the first dress was it, but we kept wanting to try on other dresses just in case, and she knew exactly what to pull! She was very accomodating, and lovely to work with! The shop is small, but the collection is extremely well edited. I highly reccommend going to this boutique! Yes, they are expensive dresses, but if you look at the desginers they carry on their website, of course theyre going to be expensive! After deciding that my dress was THE dress, we were able to come back an hour later with my dad so he could see it. Lena was so helpful, and made me love the dress even more with the veils she pulled! I cant write about the allterations experience yet, but I hope it was just as enjoyable as the bridal shop experience! more

I just bought my wedding dress from L'elite. First of all my dress is beautiful, and elegant. I had a rather low budget reserved for my wedding dress, and Mona (I think she may be the owner of the store) after asking me how much I was planning on spending on the dress, led me to the wedding dress that she thought would be perfect for me. She knew exactly what would flatter my figure, and did not make me try on something that'd make me look 4 sizes bigger than I am. She was very nice and understanding, and did not even a bit look down on me, even though I was just looking at store display models. Nina, the salesperson who helped me throughout (while putting on the dress and etc. ) was also great, and extremely professional. I was very intimidated about the idea of going to my bridal shopping just with my maid of honor, (no mother, aunt, grandmother, etc.), and with an extremely limited budget. But everyone in L'elite made it very pleasant and easy for me. I don't think it gets better than this. more

I was initially reluctant to go into L'Elite because of the bad reviews I had read on here, but I really wanted to check out some Vera Wang bridesmaid dresses. My mom and I showed up in the evening without an appointment, and asked if we could just look around - no trying on necessary. They sales people were wonderful. They took the time to talk us through a bunch of different options, and even encouraged me to try bridesmaid dresses on so I could get a sense of what they would look like on my bridesmaids. We made a follow up appointment with one of my bridesmaids and tried on about 50 dresses - it took much longer than the 1 hour allotted to us. They never rushed us or gave us a hard time about anything. We decided to put down a deposit to lock in the sale pricing and are going back this weekend all together to do the final decision. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of service and help provided by the staff of L'Elite. They were nothing but helpful, providing exceptional customer service and honest opinions. I would recommend this to anyone looking for bridesmaid dresses. more

A good high-end wedding gown store that is so-so, not much variety, but not bad - but not really the experience I was expecting/hoping for. Tried on some very expensive dresses, one Monique Lhuillier that was almost $10,000 worth, and yet did not find the dress actually prettier than some dresses I've tried that are a 1/4 of that price. Good to experience, see what the expensive designers are putting out, but didnt find any really flattering gowns here, honestly. Maybe you'll have a different experience though. I have to say, I did have the girl really try to push me into a sale, giving me veils, sashes, the works... It was mildly entertaining because she was so into it. She was very sweet though. more

CRAZY STORY -- I bought a wedding dress here even though I was not getting married. Long story but a friend in the UK found a dress she liked for WAY cheaper here in the US than it was in the UK -- she looked up all the stores in the US that carry it and turns out this place was one of just a few that carry some of the higher end pretty cool, but still classic looking dresses. They did not have her dress in the store but they were able to order is and since I just ordered it without bothering them about size or needing my friend to try it on (since she already had in the shop in the UK) they have us a pretty good deal! MUCH less than the UK price and less than the original price she quoted me for! Turns out they can order/carry lots of cool designers not many other New England shops do! The service was very friendly, especially from the cute girl upstairs who was going to Fashion College here in Boston. They were a little weary of my coming in, in shlepy clothing to tell them a was buying a dress then and there, but when I explained the situation a bit more they warmed up. The whole upstairs is wedding dresses and fancy stuff you might see someone wear to something SUPER formal or a really intense prom. The downstairs had a large selection of dress for brides maids, the kinda stuff where you can get 15 of the same dresses and they give you all the colors to choose from. more

Don't be afraid to check out this place. Book an appointment in advance as they're a small shop, and keep an open mind. Also- I cannot stress this enough, do your homework and bring photos of dresses you like so they can get a grasp for what style you're into. They carry a nice selection of Peter Lagner dresses, if you're into clean, modern, and smart looking dresses. If you're that sort of bride, you'll have good luck here, since the designs are quite unique. They also carry lots of bling bling and big designer name dresses too, if that's your cup of tea. If you're feeling like Pronovias, I'd recommend purchasing the dress in the burbs, where the markup is less. I tried on a dress I tried on elsewhere, but it was marked up almost 50% more! But you can't blame them, Newbury rent must be insane. Last but not least, I thought the service was friendly enough. They weren't sugar sweet, but they remained professional and courteous... Plus, they really listened to what I like and what I don't like, but! I can see how this store would be intimidating store to the wedding-dress-virgin. They help you get into dresses, so prepare to be in your underwear in front of a stranger. more

I called around noon on a Friday to see if I could pop by to look at some bridesmaid dresses. There is a certain brand I was looking for that is sold at 3 different stores on Newbury. I called the other two stores first and they both said they were full all day. L'elite also said they were booked but said since I was just one person coming in, I could pop by around 3:30pm. When I came, they were ready to greet me and very helpful. They were able to find the exact dresses I wanted despite my lack of clarity in describing them (some brand with a D that sort of looks like Mad Men). Lauren was the person who took my appointment and helped me. She was great. Knowledgeable, helpful, not pushy, and actually listened to me. I'm looking forward to coming back with my bridesmaids to try them on again. more

So far, so good! Worked with Nelly (who's super cute, classy, and sweet), and a fantastic saleswoman. Whoever reviewed below and said Nelly ""snapped"" at her apparently hates humanity, because I can't imagine Nelly ever being nasty.. It is a super stressful experience, but they gave their honest opinions.... and these women know EXACTLY what they are doing. I would go so far as to say that they are the best in the business. The older lady that helped me (unfortunately her name escapes me) while purchasing my dress has SUCH an eye for bridal gowns and tailoring. She really pushed me (in a good way) into making the right decision. I had such a great experience, that they were my first choice for bridesmaids gowns, and they didn't even carry any brands of dresses that I had been considering! Lauren was fantastic (and I even found out after the fact that she doesn't normally work with bridesmaids, but with the formal wear) and all of my bridesmaids are happy. Or at least they are TELLING me they are happy :) I have to dock them a star because I feel like they don't communicate very well. Not sure if its the older ladies not being great with technology, but they lost an appointment of mine entirely (was able to come back 2 hours later... and Newbury is not a TERRIBLE spot to kill time!), and sometimes I get a blank stare when I walk in (Who are you and what do you want?). I should also mention that If you want someone gushing over you and being artificial and OMGing, then this is not the place for you. They are brutally honest (e.g. ""you need lose 5 lbs or I am letting the dress out""), and sometimes this comes off as rude, but its not. After having SEVERAL negative experiences at Priscilla's, I would highly recommend giving L'elite a chance. That is, of course, if you're budget allows for dresses $4K and up. My dress is being altered as we speak, and I will give an update after its back. My alterations, shoes, and other accessories are ~$800 (bustle, hem, neckline alterations) but I expected this in a dress of this caliber. I'm excited to see how it comes out! more

I made a last minute appointment for my sister (the bride) and they were extremely friendly in letting us pretty much have the run of the place. The woman asked us point-blank what our price range was, but instead of balking at a low price, she was able to help the salesgirl pick out dresses of appropriate style and price for the bride to try on. THe salesgirl herself was extremely nice, and L'elite was accomodating to us in being able to push the price of the brides "dream dress" down to an affordable level. We probably wont go there for the alterations as it is far away, and seemed pricey. Also the woman did seem condescending to her staff, but more in a business-like way than a snobby way. more

I have been reading about so many bad experiences while looking for wedding gowns. I thought I would write in about the amazing experience I had buying my own dress at L'elite. I had looked at a few stores and had not found anything. When my mother, sister and I went for my appointment at L'elite I was a bit tired and didn't think I would find anything that day. It was great that they let us walk around the store and pull dresses ourselves as opposed to having someone bring me dresses out of nowhere that I would never pick out! They had an outstanding selection and the staff was professional, courteous and fun. I did not feel overwhelmed at any point during my appointment. I bought my dress that day! Today I had my first fitting and had just as lovely an experience. Good luck, ladies, and I hope you all have the same experience! more

I like the service .My consultant didnot pressure me to buy.She help me find the perfect gown by listening to what I wanted.You will find the staff friendly, accomodating and extremely knowlegeable to help you find the perfect dress for your special day. more

I am pleased to say I wore to my wedding, one of Lena's original designs. It was such a wonderful experience working with her. She made a custom gown for me and words cannot explain how exciting it was to wear. I felt modern and chic and I looked like a true modern princess. Viva Glam! more

Pronovias has a beautiful wedding collection. It was a pleasure getting my dress here and choosing from their selection. This is a high end boutique, and the price was EXCELLENT for my dress was only a mere 15 hundred.. WOW!! The service was very helpful, and I recommend L'elite to any relative or friend with weddingbells ringing, I also recommend them to anyone looking for a formal gown for any formal occasion. more

Beautiful Dresses. But not the only place in town. They are rude. Are only concerned with getting paid. Not responsive to telephone calls or emails. more