DD just got engaged and wedding is in Oct. Recs for bridal shops would be greatly appreciated. Price range up to 5 or $6K. |
Carine's or Ellie's |
Kleinfeld’s in NY make it special. That is the place on Say Yes to the Dress |
I happened to be out in Savage, MD a couple of months ago and there's a really cool kind of mall that had art galleries and shops--AND a huge store that sells used wedding dresses! I peeked inside and they literally have thousands of dresses. Since it's something you only where once, why not save some $$$?
Here's the link to the store: https://www.cheriesb.com/ |
Leesburg Bridal. Then go have lunch at Lightfoot. |
Does Kleinfeld's allow you to walk around and look at ALL the dresses (with an appointment, of course)? I hate how on the show, the salespeople only bring a few gowns for the customer to try on - and they pick them out themselves! If I'm shopping somewhere, I want to see everything and make the decision myself. |
Carine's in Georgetown. Make an appointment.
My DD also went to Kleinfeld's but didn't love the experience. |
You might check out this place in Union Market: https://graceloveslace.com/pages/washington-dc-showroom
I love the dresses they feature in the window |
At any salon, you should first find out what designers they carry, then look on the website and narrow it down to some designers/silhouettes/details you know you want to see and specific gowns you want to try. If you come expecting to look at all the dresses at Kleinfeld, that is beyond ridiculous. They don’t even have everything on the floor, they have huge stockrooms in the back! You really expect to look at 2,000+ gowns?! |
None of the more upscale boutiques allow you to walk around and look at all of them. They all pull dresses for you. |
With that healthy of a budget I’d go to Zoya’s Atelier in Falls Church. |
If you want to do that, go to something like BHDLN first so you can narrow down the types of gowns and silhouettes you like before going to a more upscale boutique. |
We started out looking at dresses that were really poor quality but still cost thousands.
DD and DIL their dresses from lulus and splurged on food and drinks |
Which is why a lot of people prefer going to a smaller boutique with less selection but you can see everything they have. Those small boutiques can still be very high end but a more personal experience, imo. |
Follow up: We looked at Grace loves lace and bhldn as well as another salon in the sf bay area |