- Extra charges - sometimes bridal dress shops play games to inflate your final bill by adding on extra charges.
It's a good thing to ask your shop, if there will be any extra charges, prior to trying on a dress and subsequently falling in love with it.
Some of these extra charges could involve "trying on" fees. Sure, they could reimburse the amount if you actually go on to purchase the dress but could you imagine if you went into a "normal" store and were charged "admission" just to look around or to try on a top or pants?! Ridiculous!
Watch out for extra charges for shipping and handling and for insurance. Some bridal dress shops will charge for shipping and handling even though you will still have to go to the store to pick it up.
It isn't like it will be delivered right to your home (and don't forget to watch out for exorbitant extra charges for the garment bag so you don't get your beautiful new wedding dress soiled on your way home!)
As for the insurance, all retailers are supposed to deliver the gown to you free from damage if it is brand new merchandise.
Some shops will charge an administration or accounting surcharge if you don't pay for the dress in full at the time of ordering, but the industry standard is almost always half down with the balance due when the goods are received.
Some bridal dress shops will will even charge an extra amount if the bride-to-be uses a credit card to pay for her purchase or deposit. This is truly ridiculous and is frowned upon by credit card companies.
As I stated earlier in my Wedding Dresses page, you should always protect yourself and your deposit by charging it to a credit card.
That way, should the bridal dress shop go out of business prior to delivering your dress, you would probably still be able to get your deposit back from your credit card company.
Should you purchase your dress from a discount or online retailer, you sure won't get a break from some bridal dress shops when it comes to alterations.
Some will boost their alterations rates by 15% to 50% over the regular fees and some will even add a flat extra charge to alter address that was not purchased in their store.
- Tag Ripping - you will find that many of the wedding dresses you look at in bridal dress shops are missing their tags.
This keeps you from knowing who designed and manufactured the gown and where. They will say it's to prevent customers from price shopping; if they know the designer and style of dress, then they can go to a competitor and get the dress at a discount.
So be careful if you fall in love with the dress from a bridal magazine, it might just be close to impossible to finding it.
It's also illegal in most countries to remove these tags. If you don't know who actually made the dress, you can't tell whether you're looking at the designer original or a cheap knockoff. You could end up paying $1400 for an $800 dress.
You also won't know if the dress that you are falling in love with is actually silk or some kind of polyester or blend that mimics the look and feel of silk.
You will find it will also very hard to find out the style number of the gown. Again, this prevents you, the customer, from shopping around for better prices.
- Commissioned Salespeople - most bridal dress shops employ salespeople who work on commission. What does this mean to you? You probably could try on a dress that makes you look like a sack of potatoes, and as long as the price is right, they will say it looks marvelous on you.
Please take this advice to heart; take someone with you when you try on the dress for an honest opinion. Don't get caught up in all the false flattery that will be heaped on you by the salespeople in the bridal shops.
Also, you should throw up a red flag as soon as you hear someone saying that your dream dress will be gone if you don't order or buy it today.
If they can create a sense of urgency and doubt, the salespeople can take advantage of brides-to-be by playing on their emotions.
You can be told that unless you order soon (today), your gown could be discontinued and gone forever. Some bridal dress shops might even ask for a small refundable deposit to hold the gown for you, then later try to change their mind about refunding the deposit if you have changed yours about purchasing the wedding dress. (Get it on a credit card!).
I wouldn't wait more than a few weeks, but you certainly don't have to make a snap decision in buying such an expensive "investment".
- Discounts - well now, discounts sound good, don't they? Not if they are on prices that have been jacked up in the first place.
Some bridal dress shops will markup wedding dresses above the suggested retail price and then offer discounts into fooling brides-to-be (but not you, right?) that they are getting some good deal.
- Accessories Extra - Most bridal dress shops will also carry a good number of accessories such as veils, hair combs, shoes, etc. to tempt you to purchase those as well (since you are in the buying mode and they will go just perfectly with that lovely dress that you just found).
But please, know your prices and that these accessories are probably so jacked up in price that even with a good discount (if you buy the dress) you are still paying way too much from what you could find online or in an outlet store.
- Exclusivity - some shops will say that they are the exclusive carrier of a certain bridal designer or dress. At least, that is what they would like you to believe, however, instead of losing the sale, a competing dress shop will sometimes be able to order in any gown you want even if they are not the authorized dealers for that particular designer.
They do this by ordering in from other bridal retailers. Again, also checked the Internet to see if an online retailer also carries your dress.
- Service (or lack thereof) - when you start thinking of the differences between buying online or at your local bridal dress shops, the idea of personal service comes to mind.
But in this day and age, when people are daily faced with computerized voices at the end of telephone answering services, you might also find that personal service shopping is lacking at your local bridal shops as well.
If you don't feel like you are getting the kind of service, you deserve, I would turn tail and run for another alternative. Either another bridal dress shop, or even look for wedding dresses online.
I'm not saying that all bridal dress shops will employ these strategies and games, however, just knowing they exist will put you in a better place for spotting them. And when you do...just say you don't want to play that game!
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