Special Event Bridal Shoppe

Came here to look at prom dresses, we are open to any color except blue or red. Dress selections were okay, lots of old styles. Hence the cheap prices. But my problem is the lady that works there.
The old lady that helped us was extremely pushy, suggested alot of old styles, even though we did not ask for her suggestions, and also talked shit about my cousin’s selections. She gave dirty looks and said «oh no honey that is an ugly choice, don’t listen to them» whenever my cousins made suggestions.
That lady will force you into what she wants. Very rude

Horrible customer service. 1 woman, older with an accent. I went in with my best friend and her mom and since my mother wasn’t there, this woman kept ignoring me because she assumed I wasn’t buying anything today. I’m 17 years old and I spent $ 400 on my own last year for prom. Besides the point, she let my friend try on dresses before me which was fine. But after hanging my dresses, she kept letting other people go in the dressing room while I was standing there waiting. My friend ended up finding more dresses and the woman was about to let her try them on before I even tried 1! Later on, I tried on a dress that fit but I didn’t really like it so I grabbed another dress that was the same size and she said I could not try it on because my hips were too wide and I’ll rip the dress. And on multiple occasions she was saying I’m to big for the dresses even though they did fit me. Even 2 piece dresses that were actually to big on me, she would say I’m to big to wear. I walked in ready to spend $ 500 but I will never go back there. Unrelated, I’m a size 4 for prom dresses which is pretty average.

Horrible selection of dresses and the owner and her daughter were very rude, loud, and pushy. They had a dress on their website and when I got there they refused to look for that dress then tried to get me to try things on that we’re not my style at all then tried to get me to buy it even though I said I didn’t like it. Very disappointed… I don’t know how they are still in business.

The ladies that work there were extremely nice and extremely helpful I would highly recommend this place. There were plenty of dresses to pick from and I found a dress that I am absolutely in love with. The store is great don’t miss out

If I could, I would give this dress shop ZERO stars. I was a bridesmaid in a wedding a week ago and the bride and all 5 of the bridesmaids purchased their dresses here. I went in to have my measurements taken and was not told what dress size was going to be ordered. Side note: I was in another wedding and had my measurements taken at a different bridal shop in the same week. The other bridal shop pulled out a binder will all dress makers and went through each of my measurements and what size they recommended. This place took my measurements and just said «we’ll let you know when it’s ready». I went to pick the dress up only to find out they ordered FOUR full dress sizes bigger than the other bridesmaid dress l was measured for (same measurements!) and they were beyond rude when I didn’t want to try it on because I wasn’t having alterations done there. The other girls paid around $ 150 in alterations which is almost what the dress cost! It’s obvious they intentionally order the wrong size to ensure they’re making $$$ on alterations. Terrible experience overall, wouldn’t recommend them and would never consider dealing with them again.

Wonderful shop! People were amazing. Helpful but not pushy. Very accommodating. Will go back for sure. Very reasonable alterations as well and very well done.

Although special event’s appearance isn’t outstanding and the most comforting. There effort is great. Last year I ordered my prom dress from them that Elegance in Worcester refused to order for me because they said it could look bad on their business… I got the tony bowls dress in right on time and tailored to perfection before I even tried it on. This year I called multiple prom shops to try and order another dress I desired and finally went back and called special event. They were the ONLY ones willing to even look up the dress from the retailer and call the retailer, let alone order it. Very pleased

This place is Awesome, I came in to look for bridesmaid dresses, and I found the most stunning dress, it was inexpensive, and it fitted me like a glove. The service was great, they attended me fast, gave me there honest opinion, they were very happy and had a positive attitude, they were also very patient with me, since I’m a very picky person. I was very satisfied and I recommend this place to everyone.

Interesting atmosphere for a bridal shop– not very reverent or doting on the bride– but offered discount, good selections, honest opinions, good advice. Remember us each time– My friend bought her dress & our bmaid dresses here. I appreciate them MORE for alterations– Quick, inexpensive, excellent workmanship.

I have to say, I am bit surprised by the reviews here.
I bought my bridal dress, my bridesmaid dresses and my mother and mother in law got their dresses here.
I had looked and tried on about 50+ gowns and I knew what I wanted. I went in for my appointment and told Chris (who is awesome) what I was looking for and she pulled out a sample they had just make available for sale. I had looked ALL over and no one could get what I wanted and she had found it. I tried on the dress and LOVED it. I got a $ 1500 for $ 600, which is exciting of course :) She had plenty of more expensive dresses like it but didn’t push them, she let me pick what I liked. She also gave a discount on the other dresses we bought. Additionally, my mother’s dress came in all wrong, seems like the manufacturer cut it wrong or something. Within a week they had a new dress waiting for her, no questions asked. Excellent customer service.
Yes, the store is small and crowded but the selection cannot be beat and I enjoyed my experience.

Short story: Terrible customer service. Dirty, crowded shop. Frustrating experience.
The details: I went to look at bridesmaid dresses and the bride had given me specifications on fabric and limited it to 2 designers. She had looked online and I had looked online… I even had a list of style numbers. I called ahead and asked if they had the designers and they said yes and to come in. I asked about the style numbers and they told me yes and to come in. I came with a pair of dress shoes I would wear in the height I would want. I showed up 15 minutes later.
My first encounter in the store — dirty, crowded, younger woman on the phone doesn’t even look up (it’s obviously a personal call). Older woman scolds me «what is this? shoes? We have shoes. We have everything.» I told her again about the fabric and the designers and the list of style numbers and she disappears … forever. The shop is small but so crowded with dresses in no discernible order. The woman on the phone has ended her call and is asking me questions and says they only have 1 of the designers. She looks up some of the style numbers in the computer, says they have 2 (of the 6 I have written down), but doesn’t help find the dresses. I said I’d be willing to try on other styles in the same designer.
The older woman was gone forever… and so I was looking at the racks, but they didn’t seem to like that. When she came back, she shooed me a away as soon as she saw me. And showed me the dresses she had found. One from the designer I requested 2 weren’t. It’s not that they don’t carry that designer, it’s that she likes this other (more expensive) designer better than the designers the bride had chosen. I reminded her how the bride had already narrowed it down to the 2 designers and I asked if they had *anything* else in that designer (any style number, not just the ones on my sheet). She is gone again… forever. and comes back with a different designer. Again! Then she tells me to go talk the bride into these other designers. What?
Left wondering how they do any business. They had dresses in the one designer, they just wanted to upsell me.
I like it when people listen to me and show me what I want. If she didn’t have the dresses, she could have told me that’s all they had and if I wanted to try on some other designers she could make recommendations. I might have felt helped. Instead I felt scolded, bullied, and that I had wasted my time.

I can’t believe all the negative reviews about Special Event Bridal! I think it’s time for an update! Perhaps I’m only giving 4 stars because I found my dress there, but they at least deserve an unbiased 3 stars.
If you are looking for a cute, feminine, fancy boutique bridal experience, this shop is not for you. However, if you’ve already had that experience and are ready to just find a dress, Special Even Bridal is worth a shot! Many of their dresses were a bit outdated, but they also had a good selection of gorgeous, current gowns when I went in October 2012.
The shop is run by a family (sisters, mother/​daughter, unclear) and they are a hoot. They will tell you (quite honestly!!) what looks good and what doesn’t, so if you’re very sensitive and you don’t want to hear the truth — don’t go! I had a great time with them, they made me try on all different styles but listened when I told them what I did and did not like. They didn’t hesitate to give me their opinion which I really appreciated since they were unbiased (aka not my family or friends!).
In the end, they brought out a gorgeous dress that was EXACTLY what I was looking for. The price was GREAT, a few hundred cheaper than similar styles at other shops, and they gave me a further discount for buying that day. Overall, if you don’t care about appearance of the shop and you’re okay with some straight forward honesty, go visit Special Event Bridal!

Wish I had read all these reviews before I went to this store. I had the worst experience here over all. I am a very easy going person and even I couldn’t get past everything that was wrong with the place. First this store was over crowded with stuff, dirty and unorganized, but I over looked it when I arrived because I like to always keep an open mind. When I came in for my 1:00 o’clock I was not greeted. There were two people at the store one was a younger lady (Who was actually fairly nice) and another was an older lady (who was horrible). When I said I was here for an appointment the older lady didn’t even seem like she was happy I came in. I had talked to the older lady previously on the phone when I called to make the appointment. I was looking for a specific dress and she didn’t have it but she assured me she had one that was very similar and that she would give me a deal. When I started trying on two dresses the older lady grabbed of the racks for me to start were the complete opposite of what I had asked for, and then she had me try on the dress she though looked exactly like the dress I wanted. Well it was by the same designer and the same material but it looked nothing like the dress I wanted. I was pretty upset, but I wasn’t giving up. But she decided that she was, she had me try on two more dresses on that weren’t too bad but just not what I wanted, and then she said I had tried on all the dresses they had for me and that I was done.(While I was trying on dresses another girl came in with a 1:30 appointment. They must have just snuck me in thinking I was just going to get that dresses they picked out, even though I asked for a full bridal appointment). I couldn’t believe how rude the older lady was. I only got to try on 5 dresses, and I’m pretty sure the two I tried on before the one she wanted me to buy she intentionally gave me ones I didn’t like just to make sure I would be so impressed when I tried it on that one. I would never go there again and wouldn’t suggest anyone else to either. I don’t even know how they are still in business.

I would like to point out that I did not shop here for myself, and did not go to the actual store with my sister when she allegedly «bought» her dress. This happened about April of 2010.
It was 6 weeks til my sister’s wedding, and with her procrastination, I helped pick up the slack from there with the planning. I had asked her to bring her dress, and she said she had not picked it up, but had ordered it from this store.
She was adamant that the store did order the dress, even though after some prodding, she admitted that she did not put a deposit on the dress. She was told that they did not need a deposit on the dress for them to order it. She even showed me which dress she thought she ordered. After some more prodding, I had her call the store and ask when her dress was going to be in.
Their reply? «Oh, it’s not here yet, it’ll be another week or two.» This reply without taking a name, order number, designer or any relevant information.
They did not order her dress.

Let me start by saying I don’t usually feel compelled to write reviews for places.
I had a mixed bag with my experiance here, but the overall feeling left me very uneasy. I needed a dress for a Marine Corps Ball. I was in such a rush that I bought something my fiancé and I ended up both hating. I felt very pushed and it was my own fault for making the sale. I also tried to research the dress when I got home, and the designer actually stopped production of the line over a year ago. If I did my research right, then there are some old dresses there being sold for full price. The daughter of the owner here answered when I called asking if it was possible to come in and exchange it for something equal in price, which they did even though all sales are final. Can’t say enough how helpful this young woman was.
The older women on the other hand tried to take advantage of me. They knew I was in a bind to get a dress quickly, and kept pushing me to spend more money. I pulled a dress that was exactly what I spent ($ 250) on sale, and handed it to them to put in the dressing room. When I got in the dressing room, the price tag for it being on sale was suddenly gone. I asked how much it was, and they said $ 300. This is when I got that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach, knowing full well what was going on. They held the power because I had already spent money that could not be refunded, and I needed a dress asap. I came out and said I love it, which I did, but couldn’t spend more then what I already did. They ended up giving it to me for the $ 250, but insisted on charging me for alterations, which they were offering for free before. I ended up with a beautiful dress that I enjoyed (probably still overpaid for), but the overall experiance left a really bad taste in my mouth. I definitely will not go back there, even though they tried to push me to do my gown alterations with them.
Trust is a really important thing to establish with customers. I always try to buy products locally to support small businesses, and thats true for boutiques as well. There is a line though, between spending a little more to support local busness and having that business go out of their way to try to take advantage of you.

I went here twice, once to get a bridesmaid’s dress for my friend’s wedding and once to look for a wedding dress. Both times I went, I was NOT impressed.
For the bridesmaids dress, the woman in charge was overly pushy, rather rude, and made everything extremely rushed. She clearly wanted the bride to make a decision as fast as possible.
Second time I went to try on wedding dresses, a last minute thing because I couldn’t get an appointment anywhere else nearby. MISTAKE. I got the same rude woman helping me. I showed her some pictures of what I liked. She had me trying on a few in one style, again making me feel very rushed. When I showed her a picture of a different style she said «Oh no! That’s a nightgown! Your mom wants to see you in something more traditional!» Yeah my mother never said ANYTHING about what she wanted to see me in. By that point I was done with the appointment, but she tried to convince me that one dress I had tried on was perfect for me (I’m 4’11″ and this dress had all these ruffles and alot going on– it looked horrible!)
Needless to say I went somewhere else to buy my «nightgown»!

Very unorganized and cluttered. There was no where nice to try on dresses, just a small little dressing room with hardly a mirror! And they weren’t very helpful at all… I made an appointment yet they didn’t greet me, and didn’t assist me — I had to look around for them to get measured and order my dress! And the measurements were very rushed and not super accurate…
I think you can find better, and prices usually run around the same. Nothing «magical» or even really nice about this place.

I recently discovered that an Alfred Angelo dress that they tried to sell me for $ 230 ON SALE is actually a bridesmaid dress that retails for under $ 175. They told me that it was regularly $ 299, but was on sale for $ 230 for a limited time. They definitely tried to take advantage of my obvious lack of gown shopping knowledge. I’m glad I found my dress elsewhere. Definitely avoid this place!