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| - Our trip was an not pleasant. We walked in, and met our consultant, Rose, who was far and above the best part of our visit. She was patient, calm, friendly, helpful, not at all pushy, and very informative. This was shocking, considering what was going on all around us:
We arrived to the dressing rooms to find sheer chaos. There were women EVERYWHERE, practically tripping over each other. We DID trip over the 2- and 3-year-old children someone had brought. We found that our set of dressing rooms had been taken- someone had taken Bride A's, so they took our rooms, which meant we had to squeeze in elsewhere. There was no room to move, I couldn't even take pictures of the dresses of my bridesmaids, not to mention that there was no seating. What should have been a fun, quiet experience meaningful to me and my best friends instead became an anxiety-ridden nightmare. We couldn't open the dressing room doors without knocking into women or children.
I can only be thankful I purchased my wedding gown elsewhere, because I will certainly never enter a David's Bridal ever again if I can help it. The SOLE reason we will purchase our bridesmaid dresses here is because Men's Wearhouse will match colors, and my bridesmaids are spread out across the country.
What I suggest is as follows:
-Limit the number of parties in the store. Brides should know to make an appointment, and that lacking one may result in waiting for availability.
-Exclude children in adult areas. It would be one thing to have an area set aside for flower girl dresses/try-ons. It is another entirely to be in danger of trampling wandering toddlers.
-Create enclaves for bridal parties. The store is set up like a standard department store changing room, with some 15 dressing rooms all in rows facing each other. Of COURSE it will get chaotic with such a design! My recommendation is to put quads together, with a gap with maybe a bench or two in between. In this way, you can solve several issues: seating for brides/children (if they must be brought), making the experience feel individual and meaningful, and avoiding traffic jams and chaos.
I hope that you consider these actions. I had a truly unpleasant experience (except for Rose, she was great!) and will not be recommending David's Bridal to anyone I know.
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