You Won't Necessarily Love David's Bridal

Previously, on Miss Potion's blog:

-We picked colors, although getting there was a little weird
-We decided our wedding will not be a black-tie affair
-I bought a very vintage dress (MR. POTION- IF YOU CLICK THAT LINK, YOU WILL BRING DISHONOR!  DISHONOR ON YOUR WHOOOOOLE FAMILY!  DISHONOR ON YOU, DISHONOR ON YOUR COW...)

So, I've been a bridesmaid in a grand total of 2 weddings thus far (and both of those lovely brides are now in my bridal party!) and I actually find it really fun.  I've learned a lot from both of these experiences, and I hope that what I've learned has helped me make the experience of being in my bridal party a pleasant one for my ladies.  (Of course, the weddings I was in were for two really low maintenance brides who are far less controlling than I am in their everyday lives...)  What's the most important thing I've learned?

There is no such thing as a truly re-wearable bridesmaid dress.  They just do not exist.  The only place you could ever re-wear a bridesmaid dress is a formal dance (if you're still in school) or maybe, if you're lucky, as a guest at another wedding of equal fancy-ness.  If your goal, as the bride, is to dress your ladies in dresses that are guaranteed to become a part of their regular wardrobe, you have to let each girl pick her own dress from whichever store she likes best. 

Enter: the mis-matched bridesmaid trend.

I actually think this is can look really lovely, and definitely makes for beautiful photos:

Photo by Erin Hearts Court // image via flutterfly events

Photo by Jamie Bott Wedding Photography // via Fifties Wedding

 However, I just...don't want to do it.  I don't know if it's because I'm old-fashioned or what, but I like the look of matching bridesmaids, and it just feels...right for our wedding, even if we're not going fancy-schmancy.

So we made the decision to have my attendants all in the same dress, with my MOH in a different color.

Remember our color palette?

 I decided to put 6 of my ladies in purple, and my MOH in red.

Next decision: where to buy the dresses from?

Both of the weddings I've been a bridesmaid in had us in dresses by David's Bridal.  I completely understand why the brides went this route: they're all over the country, they have a decent selection of styles and colors, and as far as bridesmaids' dresses go, they're pretty affordable.

However.

Let me first state that the following is my OPINION, based on my own experiences, and is in no way meant as a critique of those brides' decisions.  My two wonderful friends had lovely weddings and the bridal parties looked gorgeous.  I am not trying to complain about the experience of being in either of their weddings.

But...

DAVID'S BRIDAL IS THE DEVIL.

Sorry, that's a little harsh.

SHOPPING AT DAVID'S BRIDAL IS A REALLY TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.

Well, it was for me, at least.

In the first of the two weddings, all the bridesmaids got together to go shopping with the bride at one time.  I don't remember if we actually had an appointment, but it certainly didn't feel like it.  It was a very busy afternoon and the sales associate was distracted; she seemed to think it more important to get us all out of the store quickly than to help us make a decision about which dress to choose.

In the second of the two weddings, the bride had already chosen her favorite style and we went to our respective stores to try them on and place orders.  Every dress style is sized slightly different- this is true of pretty much any garment, which is why I find it difficult to shop online without the ability to try things on.  I honestly would not have been surprised if my size in this style had been different than the size of the previous style.  In wedding #1, I wore a size 4- which is, admittedly, not my normal dress size.  In most stores, I'm a size 6.  The day I went to try on dresses, I was feeling particularly bloated, so when the associate asked what size to pull for me, I said "A 6- hopefully!" in a sort of joking tone.  I tried on the 6 and it was much too big- I'm not exactly a chesty girl anyway, but I would've needed to stuff this thing with pillows to fill it out.  It hung on me like a pillowcase, clearly not my size.  When I voiced these concerns to the sales associate, she told me that since it's the sample, it's been tried on by hundreds of girls and therefore stretched out- a "real" size 6 would be smaller.  I told her that I understood, but it would make me feel better if I could try on a 4- and she said no.  The woman would not allow me to try on a size 4- probably because another girl walked in and she didn't want to deal with me anymore.  She drew up the paperwork to order a 6 and, low and behold, when it came in, the dress was way too big for me and needed to be altered, as there wasn't enough time to exchange it.  The seamstress looked at me like I was crazy when I tried it on for her to pin- she literally needed to take the dress in at every seam in an attempt to take the dress down an entire size.  After all her hard work, the top still didn't fit properly, and I felt like you could see down my shirt all day!

See?  It's all bunched-up and gap-y!  And Mr. Potion is making a funny face! (Though that has nothing to do with the size of my dress) // {personal photo}

 In short- I was NOT going to subject my ladies to the horrors of David's, affordable or not.

So where would they be buying their dresses from?  And what dresses would they be wearing?

You'll have to tune in next time to find out!

Has anyone else ever had a horrible experience with David's Bridal?