Mary’s Designer Bridal Boutique

Said yes to the dress! Love the owner– Mary. She really looked for me in every way possible. So in love with the dress options available!

I have had TWO friends who had had horrible experiences at this place. Both of them have been brought to tears after dealing with Mary! She makes brides feel so stressed out and only lets you try on 4 dresses and doesn’t listen to what you tell her you actually want. Do not go here!

AVOID THIS BRIDAL SHOP AT ALL COSTS. The reviews saying ladies had positive experiences with other sales consultants are way too few and far between, and you don’t want to play Russian roulette with finding the most important gown of your life.
I am a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding, and she came wedding shopping here. Where do I start.
First of all, Mary is an rude, insensitive, egotistical miserable nightmare of a woman. She boasts that she has «custom couture design» gowns, which I highly doubt they’re custom, but she thinks gives her the right to «Pretty Woman» you and treat you differently if your maximum price isn’t outrageously high. She will also try to bait and switch you, make you fall in love with a dress out of your budget then not budge on the price.
When my bride came here, she specifically told the staff and Mary that her best friend who was recently married also bought her dress from Mary’s Bridal. After being assured that she wouldn’t show her anything similar, I’m sure you can guess what happened next. My bride didn’t only walk out with a gown that resembled her friend’s, she walked out with the SAME. DANG. DRESS!!! The only difference is one added straps and one didn’t! That’s so wild and ridiculously careless!!! These people don’t care about the most important day of your life, they care about milking you for all that you’re worth.
Also, as if it couldn’t get any worse, my bride was told that alterations to her gown would be a flat rate… Of $ 500!!! That’s five hundred, people! No matter what she needed done! She took the gown elsewhere because she was sick of being financially and emotionally abused.
It’s amazing to me how unprofessional and rude people can be, so do NOT even bother stepping through the door of Mary’s Designer Bridal Boutique. If I took the time to write out this lengthy review, it means our experiences were beyond awful enough to make me want to make sure no one else’s big day experience is ruined.
STAY AWAY! Honestly, you could probably sew a bridal gown for less aggravation and to save yourself emotional distress. You have other things to worry about, like flowers and pictures and which guests will get blackout drunk.

The owner (I’m assuming that’s who she was) was SUPER rude and bitchy. Almost walked out if there crying! If that’s how you treat all your brides to be you are in the wrong business lady!!! Be warned brides!

I recently bought a dress from Mary’s that I loved and the price was decent — that is the plus.
The minus is that Mary herself wasn’t very pleasant — border line rude. She was kinda pushy when she was asking questions and when i would ask her direct questions she couldn’t really answer them. Example being — my dress has a pre-​made sash that I’m not to crazy about so i asked her if i could see some photos of other sashes she has «made» and she said she had to many and no pictures.
When i saw a sash on a dress in the store, i told her i liked that one but would like a few changes to it — being, i didn’t want any «bling» and just two flowers on it with some lace. My price quote for a sash with two roses and some lace was $ 900! No joke. The dress i bought was $ 1,200. How you can justify a sash being $ 900 when an entire dress is only a few hundred more is beyond me.
Mary told me she hand makes all her sashes — after talking with my wedding planner, who does tons and tons of wedding in the Maryland area and having brides who have bought dresses from Mary — I was told that in fact Mary does not make her own sashes.
Once we told Mary we wanted to buy the dress and after taking my measurements she disappeared with my credit card and license for 20 minutes and just left me sitting there waiting till she came back.
Back to the plus side — the other women in the store were very nice and helpful. i was not uncomfortable in the dressing room with them trying on dress — they were very professional.
All in all I love my dress and am very happy with it. I am however, having a sash made else where and having my alterations done else where.
P. s. My fiancé wanted me to specify that I used his account in writing this and he himself did not buy a dress from Mary. Haha

Chelsea was wonderful, and helped guide me to a very pretty red gown with jacket that looked even better as I walked it down the «store runway» — I truly felt like a princess in it, and it’s hard to get out of my mind right now.
Other employees were also complementary and sweet, so a big recommendation from me. They seemed quite helpful with other customers too, so boutique seems a little underrated on Unilocal right now. I’ll definitely be going back.

Horrible experience from the minute we walked in the door. Staff was rude to us… not welcome at all. Very stuck up and all about the money. They love to say that this dress runs 3 or 5 thousand dollars but we have it for 1000 or 1500. Their alterations are outrageous too at $ 400. Every other shop is $ 150 to $ 250. Pushy sales wanted us to buy the second dress we tried on. They dont allow you to take photos so bring ypur photographic memory. Other shops were relaxed and allowed you to take a picture if you really liked it. Ugh. Felt like a used car lot. Go elsewhere.

EDIT: If you’re looking for more reviews, check out all the filtered ones (100+) — scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll see the link to click on for them. I’m not sure why so many obviously real and legit complaints are in there, but there are a lot.
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I had a pretty terrible experience wedding dress shopping here. I came in with some friends and my mom (who was only in town for the one day) ready to buy a dress. I had a couple styles in mind and brought pictures of dresses they carry as a guide.
My budget was apparently too low (around $ 1000) but when I made the appointment I was assured that they would have lots in stock in that range. Additionally, their website advertised a sale for that day including 70% off select gowns and sample gowns from $ 699, but I was given the option of looking through their sales racks on my own. I asked about the sale, as did a friend of mine, and all we were told was «the dresses are on that wall». No offer to help find dresses within that wall or anything — and keep in mind I had an appointment. I’d much rather the consultant have just pulled things for me. I don’t know these dresses as well as they do and it made me feel like I wasn’t valued at all due to my «low budget».
I was only put in 4 dresses (the majority of which I had to pull for myself not knowing what it would look like out of the bag) and the fourth one was the only one that was similar at all to the pictures I had brought with me. I was immediately pressured to buy it. When I asked if I could go to lunch with my friends and mother and think about it I was told that they were booked solid that day, could not hold it for me, and that it would likely be sold by the time I got back. I definitely felt like I was just wasting the consultant’s time and decided to get out of there.
I’m honestly really confused about what happened here. One of my friends who joined me for the day of dress shopping purchased her wedding dress here at Mary’s and had a wonderful experience. She worked directly with Mary, though, which I’m sure made a difference. When she first came here looking for a dress, she was allowed to take photos of her in the dresses (we were expressly forbidden from doing this) and her alterations were included with her dress (apparently this is standard with the Mary’s designed dresses). The dress I was pressured to buy WAS a Mary’s designed dress (and was really beautiful) but the consultant was confused and thought it was a Maggie Sottero (I checked the tag sewn into the dress) and insisted that alterations would be $ 499 since it was a lace dress. My friend was very disappointed in our service since she had highly recommended this store.
OH that’s right — alterations! How can a store get away with charging a flat rate for alterations? We were told that all alterations are $ 399 flat with the purchase of a dress, $ 499 if it’s a lace dress, no matter what you get done. My measurements match the sizes of Allure exactly, all I would need done would be getting the dress hemmed. WHY would I pay $ 499 for that alone?
I was so embarrassed and upset to leave the store so abruptly, but I was extremely uncomfortable with the amount of pressure and attitude surrounding my preferences.
Thankfully, the same friend who had recommended Mary’s pulled up the information for an Allure trunk show about an hour away and I purchased a dress there that same day. I ended up purchasing an Allure dress (Mary’s does carry Allure) that was a little over budget because of the stellar service we received there. It was actually one of the pictures I had printed and shown to the Mary’s consultant — she definitely missed one of the easiest sales ever. Oh and my alterations at the store I ended up purchasing from? They will be $ 40.

I’m giving 3 stars here. The pluses:
1. I walked in off the street, with no appointment, stating that I needed to have a wedding dress ASAP (as in two weeks).
2. My price bracket was relatively low, under a grand.
3. I wanted a non-​white dress, with specific features (drop waist, blah blah blah).
4. I found one! There was one non-​white dress on the sale rack and I loved it. First dress.
5. They were able to do the alterations in 2 – 3 days, which was great (it needed very little altering).
6. My woman, Natasha, was very sweet and helpful and I really enjoyed her company, specifically as I didn’t have anyone with me and wanted to at least have that «bridal experience» of trying on dresses.
The minuses:
1. Mary was very rude to Natasha through out my time there, which made me uncomfortable.
2. It was made pretty clear that I couldn’t try on more dresses, so I really didn’t get the experience I wanted (I only tried on two, and that was my one and only time of trying on dresses anywhere).
3. The veils and particularly the jewelry were outrageously priced. I mean, I get the veils, I guess. Handbeaded, etc. However, I went next door to Joanne’s and made my own veil for $ 16. And go to TJMaxx for your jewelry!
SO overall, I obviously lucked out being able to find a dress immediately and have it in my hands only days later. That was the important thing. But for overall experience, I give this a D+, as watching somebody demean their employee and exhibit a grouchy attitude (oh, and I think they messed up an appt time for me and then told me it was my mistake), as not how I want to spend my special experience. Check it out, but come armed with your own support of friends or family!

My experience with the sales consultant was very good. I can not remember her name but I do believe she had a Russian accent. Anyhow, she was great. She got my style and my body and put me into some great dressed. The reason I didn’t buy was 1. I didn’t fall «in love» with anything and 2. The prices are not bad — pricey but most dresses outside of David’s bridal are a couple thousand. But Mary’s wanted the dress paid in full before ordering. That’s usually not something bridal boutiques do and I just wasn’t ready to commit that amount of money at one time.
They have a great selection, large dressing rooms and a great runway… just bring your checkbook :)

I felt that Mary and her staff was very professionsional. I appreciated the time she took to ask probing questions about my personality and vision of my wedding day. The gowns are beautiful and diverse. There is something for everyone. I did try on a dressed that I love but (screech…the music in my head abruptly stopped) was hesitant to purchase it because I felt that I was being forced to buy it on the spot. My once enjoyable experience turned to one that could be compared to time share sales tactics. I hope you get the description. It is not every day that I spend several thousand plus dollars on dress. I should be able to take a moment to collect my thoughts before my big purchase. I don’t know. I let you be the judge!

The staff at Marys is friendly, however Mary is probably one of the most abrasive and rudest people I have ever consulted to purchase from. She would half listen to me, asking multiple times where I shopped before, then kept repeating how she did so much business for the Navy and the White House… while I think that she did have some pretty gowns, her attitude was horrendous! She was very friendly at first, til she realized that my taste wasn’t on par with hers… she went on to criticize both my mother and sister in the store. The experience was stressful, and I feel bad for her staff because I would’ve loved to give business to Dorothy, but I will NEVER spend any money in that store to support Mary’s business.

I have mixed feelings about this place and most of it is due to the reviews. I ended up giving 4 stars based on my own experience but after reading the reviews AFTER I’d purchased my wedding dress at Mary’s, I seriously starting doubting what I’d just done. There are claims of fraud, etc. I honestly don’t know what to think. I thought the store was nice and I liked how a lot of the dresses were on mannequins instead of the rack. There’s also a nice runway in the middle of the store with nice lighting. An older lady was my consultant but she didn’t really help me. They just let me browse the racks and let me pull stuff that I wanted to try on. Eventually, Mary took over the consultation. And yeah, she’s comes of kind of rude but then with a blink of an eye, she’s courteous. I don’t think she’s trying to be rude — it’s just part of her personality.
I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with the consultants trying to find the dress for you — it’s their job. There are so many dresses and I wasn’t interested in trying on hundreds of them only to get confused. I tried on about 5 dresses and Mary pulled the last dress — the one I bought — after asking me what I was looking for. And in all honesty, she got it right. Right when I put the dress on I loved it and after adding some crystal embellishment and seeing myself on the runway, I got the chills and even started to tear up. She told me it’s one of her custom designs which actually didn’t matter to me. Even if a dress is ordered in a certain size and then altered down to fit you, to me that still sounds custom. But after reading the reviews about how she rips off other designers, I felt stupid and like I’d gotten ripped off. I scoured the web for a dress that looked like mine — found one similar but not the exact one. And then I just got over it. A lot of wedding dresses look the same and I was stressing myself out over something stupid. I had to remind myself of how I felt in the dress and that I loved it.
She kept touting about how her dresses are at Kleinfeld’s and that she designs for them. I have no idea if there’s any truth. She had me do the survey too and asked I write details about my engagement, etc. She said it was being used for a reality show like Say Yes to the Dress for local MD bridal boutiques and that 11 of her brides had been selected. Who knows. I didn’t feel like writing all that out so didn’t bother. And I thought it was a little weird paying 100% upfront but I liked the idea of getting the cost out of the way. My mom even bargained for a free matching veil and got it. I go for my first fitting in December. We’ll see. Again the negative reviews have me nervous but when I looked at the reviews for other places, they had bad ones too. It’s always easier to rant about a negative experience. Hopefully I’ll have an updated post once I get the final product that’s positive. I’m definitely interested in reading more reviews.

Mary’s bridal is horrible. I went in last year to find a wedding gown, told Mary my price, and she told me to «go to Target». (!!!) I was very offended and upset, so instead of leaving, I decided to try on each and every gown in her store that I wanted, including her «custom designed» $ 8,000 gown. To put it lightly, she did not appreciate this. However at least her assistant was nice to me. In addition, her self proclaimed «custom couture designs» were exact replicas of other designers work, with the inside tags removed. Her gowns are definitely not «haute couture», as another reviewer stated.
In conclusion, please, please, do not make the same mistake as me. Skip this bridal shop.

I first went to Mary’s shopping for my prom dress in 1999– prom dress shopping is supposed to be fun. My experience was far from fun– I had already been all over Annapolis looking for something simple but elegant– no luck. I thought that going to a boutique where none of my friends had shopped for their dress was a great idea. I certainly found a lot of dresses that I liked– however I was not allowed to try them on. I was treated like a second class citizen to the brides– which i understand– however I did still end up paying over $ 500 for A PROM DRESS. I was assured that the dress would be altered to fit my body– since if fit me like a bag when i tried it on– I tried more than once to come in for another fitting, there was always some excuse as to why not– finally on the day of my prom they gave me my dress– guess what? NO ALTERNATIONS HAD BEEN DONE. I was told that they had been done and that was just the shape of my body– gee thanks, that’s all a teenager needs– to be MORE self conscience about her body! Awesome! Didn’t know that dress shopping came with a healthy helping of anorexia!
Fast forward to 2006– I was in a wedding and the bridesmaids dresses came from Mary’s– I braced myself for a terrible experience, warned my friend, the bride, about how bad Mary’s was but being a good bridesmaid went and bought my dress there anyway. Once again alternations were not well done nor timely, the staff could not have been more rude and Mary herself was the worst of them all– demeaning her staff in front of us and picking apart each bridesmaid for figure flaws.
Now I am beginning to shop for my wedding dress– guess where I am NOT going– Mary, you will never see a DIME of my money, ever again!

I feel the same way as Dana F. Her story is exactly like mine. I think I got overcharged especially for my custom jewelry. I too hadn’t seen any reviews about the place. It is not a great experience at all!

Mary and her staff designed and created my wedding dress (wedding was in January 2006). It was exactly what I wanted, and I had a blast contributing ideas and then seeing them come to life (very «Project Runway)! As an NYC resident who loves fashion, I was very pleased with the level of creative talent and client service.
The price we paid for a custom-​made haute couture gown was lower than what I know many pay for off-​the-​rack designer duds, but that’s what you get when you work with a local small business. With any custom gown, it’s also important to realize that more time is needed for the design, creation and fitting process. With Mary’s, they also demanded full payment upfront, but you do get a contract outlining what you expect and when the dress will be ready. In addition to custom, they also have off-​the-​rack dress available for sale and hand-​made accessories.
Note of caution: I’ve heard of many people who had different /​worse experiences with the staff and even rumors surrounding their trustworthiness, so I feel that’s important to add for your consideration, but I can’t substantiate anything beyond my own perspective.
For MD brides, I would recommend at least visiting this boutique and trying on a few gowns (they have a built in runway which is lots of fun) and then decide if it’s the right fit for your style /​budget.