Christine Anne Couture

EXTREMELY POOR customer service skills… It was a Saturday at 4pm There was an older/​middle aged women behind the counter the entire time and she was incredibly rude to my fiancé and I. She never smiled at us and barely looked up at us. I asked about wedding dresses and she said «everything is custom made here» and I said «ok», she said «do you have questions?», I said «well I’ve never been through this so I wouldn’t know what to ask, I’m newly engaged». She answered «ok «. My fiancé was shocked and asked «where and how do we start here? Do we bring our own sketch, cut pictures, or show pictures of something we’ve worn», the middle aged/​older lady said «yes you can do either.» We asked if we could see some pictures or a book of dresses that have been made, she said «there over there in the corner on the rack».She pointed to the area from behind the counter again. When we grabbed the wrong book, she said «no not that one that is the communion book, grab the other one», again she pointing at us from behind the counter. WHY? Is she scared of us or wanted us gone why couldn’t she just look up, smile, come from behind the counter and help us. WHY couldn’t she do that? Everything my fiancé asked she had a closed ended response, she proved to us that she did not want us there, she didn’t want our business, and we we’re basically annoying her.
Honesty this truly does hurt my feelings, because this is one of the most exciting time of our lives and the journey we take together to get there should be fun, love filled, and filled with laughs. I don’t know what I did to her to receive this kind of treatment, I truly made me sad and made me tear up. I guess I had set my expectations on having a pleasant experience that when it did not go that way at all, I was crushed… MAYBE it was the fact that we are a interracial couple and the color of our skin deterred her from being kind and making a sale.

Made an appt to meet with Christine as I was overwhelmed with the options for the perfect wedding dress. When my MOH and I arrived, we were greeted but not so much with a warm welcome. I felt like I was intruding even though no one else was in the shop.
I anticipated a very different experience where she and I would collaborate on building a wedding dress or at the very least, have her help me work through the overwhelming process. Instead, we were not asked to sit down or even had a chance to remove our winter coats. The meeting/​consultation lasted about 15 minutes. It was odd because it was simply me going up to a counter, talking to her like I was at a fast food resto and giving her an order. There was no effort to really get to know me, my event, etc as noted in her website. So odd and somewhat off putting.
I went over specifics of the type of dress I’m looking for (3 main points) — A line, illusion neckline, knee length/​just below the knee. After telling her what I was in the market for, I got a blank stare in which I said, ‘so, what’s the next step?’ It was at this point I felt like I probably made a mistake scheduling time to meet with her.
Christine asked if I had pictures and I showed her a dress I had in mind, explaining that if I go with this dress, it would need to be altered to be shortened and also the possibility of adjusting the sleeves. That’s when she looked at the price of the dress and stated that I would be better going with the dress than for her to make a custom one, as she would not be able to beat the price. I appreciated her honesty and then our discussion turned into possibly using her alteration services instead of starting from scratch with a custom dress.
From this experience, I would suggest the business/​Christine provide a warmer welcome to customers, especially if they took the time to schedule an appointment for your time. And also, if a customer explains they are overwhelmed (as most brides may feel when it comes to finding their perfect wedding dress), perhaps a bit of reassurance, encouragement and a genuine desire to help so there is a win-​win in the end — that being more business for Christine Anne Couture and a happy bride.

I can not say enough great things about Christine. She worked WONDERS…(wonders, people!) on my wedding dress! This was not a small task because I had bought my dress off the rack at a sample size store, so it was about 10 – 12 sizes too big on me. When I bought it, I didn’t realize what a task it would be to make alterations (and how expensive it could be as well!)
After doing some research and hearing some positive recommendations, my mom and I ended up at Christine’s cute little shop in Libertyville. I tried my dress on, and Christine literally had to rebuild the dress… take off the lace, re-​sew each piece, etc. This was, I’m sure, a very big job that took a lot of time, but I could not have been more happy with the results!
Christine took the time to meet with me 3 – 4 times to ensure that my dress fit and that it ended up looking how I wanted it to. To top things off, my final fitting was about a month before the wedding… when I tried my dress on again a week before, it was much too big! I took it to Christine in a panic, and she fit me in the next morning– took in 2 inches on each side and didn’t even charge me a thing!
Seriously, she’s the best of the best. Take anything you need altered here– not only does she do quality work, she is kind, patient, understanding, and very talented. :)