Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Dress Fitting Fiasco

Sooo the comments have been a bit lacking lately, and it's seriously not helping my motivation to blog. Where is everyone? :( Today is the one month mark (eeeek!) and I've got lots of loose ends to tie up for you guys! Today is also BM M's 21st birthday! Happy Birthday, love bug!


I blogged awhile back about how I wanted to lose weight and, more importantly, become healthier before our wedding. I really worked at it for the next few months and lost about 10-15 pounds. I've since put a little back on (school and life in general has been a bit stressful lately), but I hope to lose about 10 more. While this has been really good for my self confidence and my health, it caused some problems with my dress. I hadn't tried on my dress since I bought it last August, and figured it was probably about time I did that the last time I was home. I put it on and was pleasantly surprised, but also a little nervous. 

David, if you're reading for some reason, stop now. You've only got a month to go - you wouldn't want to ruin it! Love you!


Here are pictures of the dress I'd bought:



Ok from the front, but the back?


Not so good. The dress was laced so tight that the panel underneath was bunching up and the zipper at the bottom was sticking out. It wasn't falling off or anything, but it would definitely need to be altered, especially since I plan to lose more weight.

So I decided to call David's Bridal and see if they had a size smaller in the store (since it was too late to try to order) and they did. I made an appointment for the next morning to try it on and to make sure it fit. My mom and I showed up the next morning and brought my dress (although we didn't bring it in) in order to exchange it. I'd heard about other brides having issues exchanging their dress for a different size, but my consultant told us when we bought it that we'd be able to. She also talked me into getting the bigger size even though I told everyone I would lose the weight to make the smaller size fit - I should've trusted myself, buttt I didn't. So I ended up with a dress that fit me when I was at (almost) my heaviest.

Well, I'm sure you saw where this was headed - The size smaller fit perfectly and of course the consultants and manager at David's Bridal told me I wasn't going to be able to exchange the dress. First the reason was they only do size exchanges if you're going down (or up) 2 sizes or more because the dress could 'easily' be altered one size. Except that 'easily' means almost $200 of alterations when the smaller size dress wouldn't require any alterations. My mom and I said there was no way we'd pay that much for alterations when we just tried on a smaller size that fit perfectly. The second reason was that my dress had been 'out of the store' for too long. It didn't matter that it was still on the rack, still on the website, and hadn't been out of the bag. Ridiculous.

Like my mom said, she is definitely her mother's daughter, and I am definitely her daughter. We're not easily pushed around. I was clearly very annoyed and the consultants tried to come up with other 'solutions.' One of them said, 'The dress really isn't THAT big. Just don't lose anymore weight and wear a long-line bra - That will add at least an inch or two!' Uhhh, what bride wants to add inches to fit in her dress? Finally I just said, 'I would much rather be at a weight that makes me feel good about myself instead of staying at this weight in order for my dress to fit. And I wouldn't even be in this situation if I hadn't been talked into buying a dress that I KNEW would be too big for me.' And then I started crying. Ha, what can I say - I cry a lot and I was insanely stressed. So the manager said, 'Ok, we'll make an exception. We'll do the exchange.' 

Aaaand here is my new dress:


(We figured out the 'armpit fat' was caused by a too small bra because they didn't have one anywhere near my size)

Muuuch better.

So, there's my story and while I'm still not thrilled with David's Bridal, I'm glad they solved the problem. And I'm excited to wear my dress again, which is what really matters!

Did you have issues with your dress fitting? How did it work out?

24 comments:

  1. I'm still reading, even though I haven't been commenting lately! I think everyone's just really busy...summer's coming up and we all know how that can be! :) I've noticed low commenting on my blog too, so you're not alone.

    Re: your dress...it looks LOVELY on you! I am glad you were able to work it out, albeit the trouble they gave you at first. You're going to be a gorgeous bride! :)

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  2. Ugh what a pain. I'm glad you got the right size dress and they didn't make you go the route of paying $200+ to alter the first dress. I also got my dress from DB and so far I haven't had any issues with them. *crosses fingers*

    You look gorgeous in your new dress!!

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  3. They make some of the dumbest excuses! Like the consultant is going to lose any money from you exchanging a dress. Jeesh. Glad they let you though!

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  4. I'm glad you were able to get the dress exchanged. Not sure why they make things so difficult.

    I had a tough time altering my dress b/c I kept losing weight due to stress and my seamstress got to the point where she just couldn't take it in anymore. Fortunately she worked magic and I gained a few pounds and now it fits!

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  5. Glad you got it exchanged, but when you bought the dress, they should have told you there was a no return/exchange policy. You're lucky that they even exchanged it.

    It looks a lot better than the first dress though!

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  6. Awesome on losing the weight!! I'm actually scared I'll face the same thing as I've been loosing inches lately too :( And my dress is from an outlet type store so I don't have a return option!!!
    Love that you used the waterworks, they get them every time!

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  7. Aw, don't be discouraged people are still reading (like me!):) You look great. So sorry you had to go through all of that mess. I'm glad it worked out in the end!

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  8. You look great!!!

    And only one more month??? Eeekkk!!!!

    You must be so thrilled (in that nervous excited kind of way!).

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  9. I am so glad y'all worked on them until they gave in. I hated DB because their customer service was crap! You look so beautiful in that amazing dress! Congrats & how exciting...just 1 month!

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  10. @ Ashley - It actually depends on the store. All of the KC area David's Bridals do exchanges and my store does them, but with some stipulations (obviously). Not only was I not told there was a 'no exchange/return policy,' I was told that I COULD exchange it should I lose the weight.

    @ Everyone else - Thanks ladies! :)

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  11. Way to put your foot down! The new one fits you like a glove - great job on losing weight!

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  12. Good for you guys! the smaller size fits you so much better. Its like bridal stores get commission for alterations or something the way they carry on, pushing for us to get bigger sizes. Glad it was sorted.

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  13. Oh hunny, you look gorgeous! I can't imagine how stressed out you must be about everything, but I am so happy that you found the perfect solution to your dilemma!

    And good for you for getting healthy for you and for added self-confidence - you inspire me to get my fitness on!! Go girly go!

    PS- My little mommy showed me your gorgeous invites thi weekend! LOVE them! I only wish that I could be there (stupid work event), but mom, dad and kell will be there! HUGS!

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  14. @ Meg - Thanks girl! I was so sad when your name wasn't on the RSVP, but so proud of Kel for doing it himself! I'm sure you're getting so excited for Kels' wedding - I can't wait to see the pictures! You guys are all gonna look SO beautiful!

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  15. Glad it all worked out, dress looks great!

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  16. Aw you look so pretty!!! A few tears to get your way never hurt anything. Plus, it's such a HUGE thing (Hello? Wedding dress!) that I think tears were perfectly acceptable to her your point across in this situation. Aaaaahhh it's getting so close!!

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  17. You look awesome twin!!!
    I've noticed that since I started reading blogs in google reader I don't comment near as much as I used to! I kind of feel like going back to reading them through blogger.

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  18. Yay! You look so great, and I love your dress! I'm so glad they made the exchange, I would've cried too!

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  19. Ahh how frustrating that must have been! So glad you got one that fits! I ordered my dress in the smallest size it comes in, but unfortunately its still way too big for 5 foot 2 inch me, so I'm looking at a $400 alterations bill. I'll blog about it sometime. Haha.

    Oh, and yes...LOVE Fonts for Peas. I actually found that way before Digs my Hart. But then I used DmH as our unofficial sorority font this year on all our publicity stuff, and now I'm addicted.

    PS - I'm graduating Friday morning!! Eee!

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  20. I bought my dress too small at David's Bridal because it was the only one they had left in that discontinued size. I knew that if I didn't lose the weight, they could move the underneath piece of the corset an inch and it would be fine. I lost weight and it worked, but they (David's bridal) didn't think it was a good idea - probably because it was $350 instead of my other choice which was $1200.

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  21. @ Em and kmattso aka my twins: I can't believe you guys are 9 days away!! You BOTH are going to be absolutely gorgeous!!

    @completelyrandomsally: Yea, I think there are very few consultants there who will encourage you to get the dress you truly love if it's not the most expensive one. Just read through my finding the dress saga!

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  22. If anyone's still reading the comments, the consultant working with us on this visit said policies at David's change so often that she frequently comes to work to find changes from one day to the next. Also, Laura's original consultant was mysteriously not at the store (anymore?)

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  23. Oh man, the fact that they gave you a hard time totally angers me! I am glad that you were able to get things to work out in the end though! I would be so ornery...

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  24. F YEA. I hate when customer service people suck. I am ALL FOR the use of tears and threats so I support your actions :)

    ps you look AMAZING... can't wait for the wedddddding dayyyyy!

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