Dreams Boutique

After reading about a bridal store in another state shutting it’s doors on it’s brides, some of which never even received their dresses, it made me think back to my own wedding and the hell that was Dreams Bridal Boutique, or apparently now just Dreams Boutique. Luckily for me, I only ordered my bridesmaids dresses from there, so it perhaps wasn’t as hellish as it could have been. First, the $ 25 try-​on fee. Seriously??? Luckily for me, the owner decided to let it slide since I had 3 of my 7 bridesmaids there.
I purposely picked a particular designer because they advertised they didn’t have a surcharge for plus size dresses, which I had 2 of in my bridal party. I had already picked the dress I wanted, so really I was just having the bridesmaids try on that one dress, plus 2 – 3 others just to be sure. The owner indicated that my other bridesmaids who were out of state could be measured elsewhere and call in their measurements. A few hours after we left the store, one of my bridesmaids called me to tell me the owner charged her extra for her dress because it was a plus size. So I called right away and after sitting on hold for quite awhile, I finally was allowed to speak to her. Let me just preface this by saying I have never experienced such a roller coaster of emotions from one person ever. When I asked about the extra charge, she said she had to charge it because it was a plus size. I told her I picked the designer because they indicated on their website that they did not require an additional charge. At first she tried to lie to me and said they did, so I told her I would do a print screen and show her where they said they did not, I would also call the designer personally, and I would come back to her shop and show her where it said they did not. She then explained it was her shop policy. How in the heck could it be a shop policy??? It’s not as if Dreams Bridal was supplying the factory with the fabric and seamstresses. She then began to verbally abuse me, yell at me, even curse at me. I told her I wanted her to cancel my order and I would be contacting the Better Business Bureau, which I had also looked up in the meantime and found several complaints against her. She hung up on me, only to call me back an hour later apologizing for her behavior. I was glad for the apology, but SERIOUSLY??? She refunded the money to my bridesmaid and against my better judgement I kept with the order, which came late, big surprise right? The dresses were as promised in terms of the colors and sizes being right. The owner had the gall to ask me to send her pictures of my bridesmaids in their dresses for her to put on her website. There was a better chance of hell freezing over before I would ever do anything to help that woman.
If you decide to throw caution to the wind and go to this store for your wedding needs, also pay attention to this. I was married in July 2010. Just before our wedding, the store in Springfield up and moved one night to the Lorton Station/​Lorton Market area. It was pretty much over night and there were never any signs posted about it and I would know because I passed that location frequently. It wasn’t until a few weeks later I saw it in Lorton Station. And now it is apparently in Dumfries. Three locations in 2 years… seem sketchy enough to you??? Find another bridal boutique, there are plenty in the Northern VA area, don’t waste your time, money, or sanity on this woman.

DO NOT PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM THIS BOUTIQUE!
Customer service is lacking and follow through is non existent! I was in an August wedding and the bride instructed us to purchase our bridesmaid dresses from Dreams Boutique. The issues with this boutique began from the start and continued to escalate!!!
VERY long story however… my bridesmaid dress arrived at my house 3 days before the wedding and I never received a phone call from the boutique about the DELAYED dress. I have now been speaking with them for over 5 weeks about a payment dispute and never once, have I been able to reach the owner.
The customer service and follow up at the boutique is AWFUL and I would strongly recommend using another bridal store.

If you find a dress you love and can buy it and take it home right away, go for it, however…
My daughter had spent weeks looking for a Prom Dress and was so happy to find the one she wanted here. It was a bit large so we paid extra to have it taken in. When we got home, my daughter looked up the shop online and traced it back to the owner, her earlier shops and pages of bad feedback on customer service. We were worried about obtaining her dress, but I said let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and wait and see.
When it came time to pick up the dress, we went, it was ready and fit perfectly! The only issue was that it was missing the clasp side for the hook on the back — not sure if it was like that earlier. The woman who helped us said not to worry, that it would be fixed when they steamed the dress. Since my daughter was worried about getting the dress in time for her Prom, I asked if they could do it as soon as possible. The woman said it would be ready the following Monday, any time.
I went on that Monday and it wasn’t ready. The owner said that it was at the dry cleaners and that she hadn’t had a chance to pick it up, but if I came after 3 pm, it would be ready.
I waited until the next day. When the dress was brought to me, I noticed a yellow post-​it on the dress bag that said «Steam Clean» prompting me to look closely at the dress. It did NOT look steamed at all and the hook clasp was still missing. The girl who helped me wouldn’t talk to me about it, she said she had to call the manager. When she did, she handed me the phone and the manager said something like «Sometimes when we steam clothes, it’s hard to tell.» and «If you wanted a hook on the dress, you should have told us.». When I tried to tell her that it was missing the clasp and that the clerk who helped us last said that it would be taken care of, she became indignant and said «Listen to me!». ‘
At that point, I said, «Forget it, I’ll take care of it.», hung up, grabbed the dress and left, happy to get the dress home.