What do you want from a Bridal Shop?

kittycatsam

Morning!
I'm currently looking in to buying a Bridal shop and doing lot's of market research. I think that this shop could do with some revitalisation and should offer something a bit different to other shops in the area. I am particularly looking at supporting local craftspeople who make tiaras, wedding shoes, cakes etc.

What does everyone dislike about bridal shops and what could be done better?

Thank you!

Skintski

No one likes feeling forced into a sale. My bridal shop told me to go away and sleep on it before I decided which dress I wanted. I'd recommend them to anyone and that's the kind of feedback you want.

Maybe you could build a network of recommend suppliers and have details/samples in store.

kittycatsam

Thank you. The staff that are at the shop are lovely and not pushy at all. I personally despise pushy sales people!

I'm looking at supporting local traders who made beautiful wedding accessories by selling their items for a commission instead of buying mass market items like many other bridal shops.

faithless

Good service is the thing most people want from a bridal shop - a lot of bridal shops are very snooty if you call in and you've not made an appointment - even when they're nearly empty. Personally I'd like to see what kinds of dresses the shop has before booking an appt to try on and dragging my mum or BM with me only to find they don't have any dresses I like enough to try on anyway.
A good seamstress if you're offering alterations. My mum sews and knows some people who do alterations for wedding dress shops that in her opinion she 'wouldn't trust to sew curtains straight, let alone a wedding dress!' There are loads of sad tales about people whose dresses got ruined by bad alterations.

It needs to be a nice environment, not cramped or scruffy like some I've seen.
Accessories are nice, but very much second to the dress. If they're mass produced your customers might buy them online cheaper anyway, so your idea makes sense, and people like having a unique item.

Lady_strange

For me, it would be a place that doesn't care if you are plus sized, and has a good selection of plus size gowns, not like one place I went too, who said they would order me a dress three sizes smaller, as if I couldn't slim down for my wedding day, when would I? Needless to say they didn't make a sale (saying that, I didn't go ahead with marrying him anyway, lol)

kittycatsam

I'm on the right track still then, couldn't agree more with your comments. I want to make a warm and welcoming shop and not some snooty place where you go to be belittled.

The staff are really warm and lovely, I know two of them very well. One of them is a seamstress and she also makes beautiful bespoke gowns which I'd like to make better use of. I bought my own dress from there and being a size 16 was not an issue whatsoever. I never felt uncomfortable and would be mortified if the staff ever did that to anyone.

I was thinking of putting lots of pics on a blog/ pinterest and Facebook so people be tempted by the offerings.

tattycath

The first wedding dress shop I went into...the lady in the shop was on the phone and didn't even acknowledge me until I'd been in the shop between 5 and 10 minutes. I did try a beautiful gown on and it was perfect and I loved it... but her heart wasn't in it so I left.
I went into a more quaint shop that my sister bought her dress from over 20 years earlier. The staff were very attentive and made me feel really special. i bought my gown from there and paid by interest free installments. They were perfect in every way and not pushy. The dress I chose was in a salel and too big (about £400 cheaper.) they took it in for me for £60 (+ the sale price). they did a fantastic job.

Scotsbride

not be rushed.
spacous changing rooms
good mirrors and lighting
offering alterations.
being the only one asides from the people i with in the fitting area
friendly staff
might be an idea also to be able to get plus sizes in dreses as many brides on here have had trouble with shop only going up to certain sizes and being rude about their size.
also recommending any underwear needed or things for fittings.
being open at the weekend as often brides can't afford time off work.
being dilopmatic especially if parents/friends are trying to bully the bride into a dress she clearly doesn't feel comfortable in.

moonbabe58

Having a couple of large changing rooms and enough staff to give each bride the attention and help they need!
Allowing customers to take photos of them in the dresses, so much harder to remember that great dress without a photo!
Staff that are not too pushy!

trinity_enigma

Make sure you have samples in a size that people can actually get into. There's no point in all the samples being a size 8 because it makes everyone bigger feel rubbish.

Have staff that are attentive but not pushy.

Have a dresses that are a variety of prices and make it easy to find the price- there's nothing worse than browsing in a shop and not know whether something is in budget or twice your budget.

In fact make it a point for your shop assistants to discreetly ask about budget and only make recommendations within the budget. Also you will be surprised how quickly someone will recommend you if you let them know the dress will be going into a sale within a week (for example). Yes you might make less money on that one dress but it will almost definitely pay for itself in new customers. That sort of helpfulness will go a long way.

wendz86

I would definately say the staff is one of the most important elements. They need to be friendly but not pushy as others said. The shop i went to the lady was great she asked what i wanted, let me try on as many dresses as i liked and try on the ones i liked best a few times. She also didn't make any comment to try and push the more expensive dress i was trying on even though i didnt know the prices.

I also liked that i had to make an appointment and they spent all their time with me.