Boy did I have an interesting time on the forums today. On a brides forum I jumped into a thread started by a girl that was told she could only try on three gowns because she wasn’t getting married until 2008. What?? Then I went to a forum for bridal salon owners. They were discussing why brides don’t understand that they have to limit the number of gowns a bride can try on at one time (it ranged from five to ten gowns depending on the salon) What?
Ok here is the deal. First salon, bad attitude. There are some wonderful salons out there and a bride really does need the help of a well trained compassionate bridal consultant to find the right gown in the right budget. The bad, crappy salons are ruining the reputation of all the rest. One of the things I tell brides is to visit the salons to have a look see before they make an appointment. Get a feel for their customer service; watch them with the other brides in there. A good salon will have outstanding customer service. A bad salon will have a chip on its shoulder. Vote for good service with your checkbook. If a salon is treating you badly, walk out the door.
Some salons have a horrible problem with brides coming in to try on gowns just so they can order them on the internet. That is part of the reason for the attitude. It is expensive for the salon in terms of both labor cost and wear and tear on their samples. The brides that do that are ruining it for the rest of the brides. That $200 or so dollars they save just isn’t worth what is lost in good service and the little extras that go along with it.
Now, the other discussion. That is very simple to explain. It’s supply and demand. If you have five consultants and five dressing rooms and ten brides want to try on gowns you have to do something. It isn’t that they don’t want you to try on more gowns, they just want you to let other brides try some on too. The secret here is to make an appointment on a slow day. After the first four or five gowns, let the consultant bring you a few more that fit the criteria that the first few established. After four or five gowns a trained consultant will know all they need to know about your shape and your taste, let them do their job. That is why you are in a good salon in the first place. No?
I agree that you should in fact try to get an appointment. Observing first is a great idea to be sure that the salon offers what you are looking for both in product & customer service.
Places restricting the number of gowns you can try on based on your wedding date make no sense. A newly engaged bride-to-be’s money spends that same as one whose wedding is approaching more rapidly.
“Vote for good service with your checkbook.”
How true! We should all remember this in all aspects of spending!