Darling Brides Showcase and Tuxedos

Just got back from a bridesmaids appointment at Darling Brides, and it was so successful! My sisters traveled a long way from out of town for this appointment, and Kim was organized and helpful. She had the picture books ready for the designer I chose, and she quickly brought out several dresses for the girls to try.
All of my bridesmaids are wearing different styles and have different needs in terms of body-​type and preferences – I was impressed at the way Kim found appropriate dresses for everyone. She gave clear instructions, and she was always ready to help with clips or a zip-​up or advice. Everyone found a great dress, and Kim was completely transparent about measurements and sizing options. She was upfront about the timing of the dress ordering/​shipment, as well as costs for the alterations the girls may have to make.
I was satisfied and impressed with the quality of service. It can be such a sensitive experience to try on dresses, and Kim made everyone feel comfortable and pretty. We all left feeling good! Looking forward to working with Darling Brides again when the dresses arrive!

Incredibly rude service. Spoke with Kim, would recommend customer service training. Would pay NOT to do business here. Best of luck and «have a nice day»

Good salon for wedding gowns if you can find one in your style. The owner is nice and sent me a handwritten card with a discount for the holiday season. The prices are very reasonable and the tailor, Zora, is so sweet and does a good job.

I had to come here to get a bridesmaid dress and the sales people were not friendly. There were three of us that went in there and we weren’t treated very well.
When they sized me up for the dress, they told me I was a 4, and I should’ve been suspicious then because I have never been that small, but I trusted them because they’ve been doing this for a long time and dresses are all different anyways. I should’ve listened to my not-​size-​4-​gut!
The dress came in and it was way too small. ALWAYS order a size bigger so you can take a dress in, it is almost impossible to have a dress let out and alterations ended up costing me over $ 400! Unbelievable. I would stay away from this store at all costs because they are just looking to make extra money. If the next closest store is an hour away, please make that drive – it’ll be worth it in the end.

These people are nice at first and once you buy their dress they become just horrible and ignorant and they try to charge you for even breathing in their store!
I ordered my bridal gown here over a year ago. At that time, they told me that the alteration would be another $ 160 and I was fine with it. At the time of alteration, they finally charged me more than $ 260 because the dress needed more bustle than they originally thought it would need! and the alteration was not done properly so they wanted to charge me another $ 110 for fixing the dress! and they also charged me $ 20 for a cheap travel bag for the dress. Avoid this place if you can… It was a terrible experience.

My experience at Darling Brides Showcase was a NIGHTMARE. I have stood in four weddings and have gotten married myself, and I have never gone through a dress experience as upsetting as this one. I am a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding on April 13, 2013. I ordered my dress on January 22, 2013 and paid a $ 60 rush fee (the dress was only made in China and was getting shipped from there) so that it would be here on time for alterations. I was told that my dress would come in the week of March 18^th. When I was trying on dresses back in January, the woman helping me (who wasn’t the owner) brought me several dresses I could try on, as the bride requested that we get any Alfred Sung dress we wanted, as long as it was black. I finally fell in love with one of the dress options she brought me and only when I went to check out did I realize that she had brought me a dress that *wasn’t* by Alfred Sung (and therefore, wouldn’t work for my needs). Annoying, but not the end of the world. After that, I tried on an Alfred Sung dress that I really liked and was happy with. I was at the store for 2 hours that day. Moving on… the week of March 18 comes and goes and I don’t hear anything about my dress arriving. I finally get a hold of someone at the store on Wednesday, April 3^rd and they tell me that my dress is *still* not in and they have to hunt it down. They found out it had been sitting somewhere in NYC, and that the dress would be in ASAP. I was pretty concerned at this point because I was leaving town just 8 days later and still needed to get alterations. I called Friday, April 10^th to check… still no dress. AND the owner tells me she won’t refund the $ 60 shipping fee even though the dress was nearly 4 WEEKS LATE. Why the dress wasn’t overnighted from NYC on Wednesday after already being so late, I don’t know. Bad service. Next, the owner swears to me that the dress will be in on Monday, April 13. I call at the end of the day to check and due to an emergency, the owner wasn’t in the shop so UPS didn’t make a delivery. I understand that emergencies happen, but no one called *me* to tell me this information, I had to hunt it down myself. At this point, I’m quite upset and starting to look at alternative dresses online in case mine doesn’t come in on time (and I had already spent $ 290 on this mess). Finally, on Tuesday, April 14^th, TWO DAYS BEFORE I AM DUE TO LEAVE TOWN for the wedding, my dress comes in. The alterations lady there was great, and she turned my dress around the next day. However, at no point did the owner apologize for any of the headache, or offer me any concessions whatsoever. I have never written a bad review before, but this one couldn’t be let go. Buy your dress elsewhere if you can… plenty other local businesses wouldn’t treat their clients this way.

I visited Darling Brides as my first bridal appointment anywhere. My fiancé and I are trying to stick to a fairly small budget, so I had been looking at bridesmaid’s dresses as an affordable option for a wedding dress. I called ahead and spoke with a very nice saleswoman on the phone, who said they would pull the dress I was looking for and would make a note that I was a bride. I said I would also like to try on more traditional wedding dresses, made an appointment, and went in.
When I got there, there were two salespeople helping a bride and her family look at dresses. I said I had an appointment, and they basically threw the one dress I was interested in into the fitting room and ignored me. When my mother arrived, I tried to explain what we were looking for and was told I could browse through a book. There was absolutely no offer to help us or guide us towards options that would work for me.
Since I believe they mistook me for a bridesmaid (either way, the customer service was awful), this is how your attendants will be treated if they order their dresses here. Bridesmaids often become brides themselves one day, and if this is how DB treats them, it’s appalling. This was a horrible way to start my dress shopping experience, and I was hurt, offended, and shocked. I would not recommend this business to anyone based on my experience.

Yeah, I’m pretty confused with all of the horrible reviews below. Your dress took 6 months to order? That’s standard, get over it. Also, to the person who had a broken engagement, I’m sorry, but they make you sign a contract and the contract SPECIFICALLY states that if the wedding is called off, you are still responsible for the FULL cost of the dress. Don’t expect them to make special sacrifices for you just because you had some bad luck. They’re a business, not a charity.
That said, this place is fantastic. It looks a little sketchy from the outside, but I felt welcome as soon as I walked in. The best part of this place is that there are only 3 dressing rooms, so you get a really private, personal experience.
This was my first time trying on wedding dresses and I was VERY nervous. I didn’t think I would ever find a dress that I felt happy in. After talking to my consultant for a few minutes and showing her pictures of what I liked, she started pulling gowns and even let my mom and I pull some.
Well, she told me she pulled the first gown based on my pictures, and she was SO excited for me to try on her choice. What do you know… I LOVED it! Not only was it the most gorgeous dress I have ever seen, it was BELOW BUDGET! How ’bout them apples? I ended up trying on several other gowns and while they were all amazing, none of them held a candle to «my» dress. I put it on again and the other family that was in there gasped when I walked out and said that this was «The One»!!! It was so fun! It was nice to have people in there give such a great reaction.
I decided to buy the dress, and since it was a sample, they are going to clean it for me and then I will go back for alterations. Our consultant even went over some Mother of the Bride dresses with my mom, but I think she is going to get her dress somewhere else — you have to just order the dress in a color and pray that it fits and you like the color — my mom likes to try stuff on and be 100% sure.
But really, this place is great. It’s small and intimate, and they really listen to what you like and don’t like. I highly suggest you go here for your wedding dress!

Maybe things have changed since the first few reviews were written. I do know, though, that the person who complained about it taking almost 6 months for her wedding gown to get in apparently doesn’t understand how wedding gowns work. There’s a reason the general «rule» for wedding gown shopping is 9 – 12 months… It takes MONTHS to make a wedding gown, have it properly packaged, and ship it across states or continents, depending on where it was made. And considering my mother is a seamstress and has run her own embroidery shop for 30+ years, I know how difficult it can be to make a Halloween costume, let alone a wedding gown with multiple layers of fabric and hand-​sewn detailing.
Anyway, I digress…
My sister got married in July 2011, out in San Francisco, but since we live in Ann Arbor, we needed to start shopping around for her wedding gown out here. We live about a mile and a half from Darling Brides and decided to go check it out.
We stopped in about 9 months or so before the wedding, mostly to look at bridesmaids dresses, and I talked her into trying on gowns. My sister found a gown that very day that she loved, and she ended up paying the 50% deposit on it. The gown was on special because it was the sample and had been discontinued. The gown looked great on her. A few weeks later, my sister ended up finding a gown in a bridal mag that she liked even more, and called Darling Brides to see if they would be getting it in. They said they would be, but not for a few weeks. They promised to call my sister when it came in.
They called when it came in, and she headed back to the shop to try on the sample. It was gorgeous, even better than the dress she had already put a deposit down on. This is where things got surprising — the staff at DB let my sister transfer her deposit! The dresses were almost the exact same price, though that didn’t really matter. The deposit my sister paid was transferred over to the new dress, and an order was placed with Maggie Sottero for the new dress. No questions asks, no hassles, no argument. They were sweet as pie about it and didn’t bitch.
Fast forward a few months and the gown has come in. It looked great, but needed alterations. Their seamstress, Zohra, is AMAZING. She’s hilarious, friendly, and really great at what she does. She worked with my MOH dress and my sister’s wedding gown with accuracy, professionalism, and a quickness that can only be matched by a sweatshop. My sister looked beautiful on her wedding day, and it was all because of DB and Zohra. The alterations are really reasonably priced, and Zohra put up with my sister’s ridiculous amount of fittings and «does that look okay?» whinings (better than I did, at times). We really liked our experience with DB!

If it were possible to give negative stars, I would. I have never been to a more disorganized or unprofessional bridal store. I’d love to go on and on about exactly just what was so terrible, but just take my word (and the majority of other reviews’ correctly stating that Darling Brides is a terrible store to do business with.
Instead, here’s some advice if you’re hell-​bent on going to Darling Brides:
#1. Get EVERYTHING in writing. The owner is very pleasant at first, but only at first. She will promise the moon, the stars, anything at all to get you to sign on the dotted line. Discount of 20%? «Suuuure!» Dress ready for pickup in 6 weeks? «Of course!» Alterations done in 3 weeks? «Most definitely!»
If she offers anything different than what is written on your receipt, get it in writing, and have one of the other sales people sign it as witness. I wish I were kidding, but I’m not. The owner is a total snake. She is not interested in repeat business (which, with the divorce rate being what it is, she SHOULD) and is even less interested in what happens after you’ve committed to a dress.
#2 Bring a smart phone with you. Google the names of the dresses you like and see how overpriced the items in this hole-​in-​the-​wall store are. They carry the same items that any bridal store would have (like David’s Bridal) but with less options and costing a LOT more.
#3 Never, ever, ever, ever order dresses after September. Otherwise, your dress will be much more than the 12 weeks originally promised. The excuses for the dresses taking 23 weeks to appear (Yes, That’s almost 6 months) were many «Oh, there is a holiday in China,» «There is a problem with Customs,» «The color you wanted is made with flowers that aren’t in season right now,» and so forth. After the bridesmaid dresses finally came in TWO WEEKS before the wedding, and still needed alterations, the owner refused to do any alterations since there «wasn’t enough time to sew them all before the wedding.» I took the alterations into my own hands and altered 4 bridesmaid dresses in 9 days. Apparently it WAS possible.
#4 You know what? Please, please, for the sake of your wedding, for your sanity, and your stress levels, don’t go here. I’ve never heard, seen, or personally experienced any good customer service from this store, and the dresses are extremely run-​of-​the-​mill and pedestrian.

I am basing this review on my two recent visits with Darling-​Brides. I began dress shopping Sept 2009, and have visited 8 shops between Michigan and Arizona, with mixed experiences. I have tried on a number of dresses and the biggest problem I have it that I am a 20W and there aren’t many samples for gals my size to try. (If you are a plus size and find yourself shopping for a wedding dress in AZ, check out ‘Strut’. I missed their opening by a month on my last trip to AZ and they specialize in plus size bridal dresses)
I visited Darling-​Brides, by chance, with a friend who was picking up a bridesmaid dress she was having altered. I made an appt for the following morning to try on dresses. My wedding is October 2010.
I arrived for my appt and the ladies were expecting me. She explained the layout and was willing to let me go through the racks on my own, but seeing that I was getting frustrated, she jumped right in and helped by pulling dress based on what I described I wanted. She was very knowledgable and polite. I didn’t make a decision but left with one particular dress in mind.
After mulling it over for two weeks, I made another appt to come back in and order the dress. I got there and took another look at the dress on the hanger and got cold feet. I wasn’t sure if that was THEE Dress. So I asked if I could try on a couple more. This was a different saleswoman (Kim) then before but she too was very nice and accommodating. I told her what I was looking for but will keep an open mind. She pulled 8 more dresses and helped me try on all of them. They were all great, and looked nice but I finally resigned to try on the dress I originally came in to order, again, and it was the right dress for me. I just needed to see the other dresses to know that I wasn’t settling and was picking the one I really wanted.
The prices are very reasonable. You can choose a sample dress off the rack for a set price and even get 20% off those if you pay in full, which is a great option if you don’t have time to order one specially made. Or you can special order the one you want for a deposit, or get 15% off if pay in full at time of ordering. All dresses come with a veil of your choice.

The shop seems to get a lot of business, but the attention I received was none less than expected. (which is total and undivided)
I could not have asked for a better experience, even after going in with a tentative attitude after reading these bad reviews before making my ordering appt. I will post another review after my dress comes in and I go in for fittings and alternations, at the end of July. Wish me luck!

Avoid if you want your dress buying to be stress-​free.
I bought my wedding dress here, but I would never recommend it to anyone, or buy anything else here.
They seemed nice before I purchased the dress. The woman was helpful in choosing my dress, aside from telling me that the colors I had already chosen for my bridesmaids wasn’t a good color for June.
After purchasing my dress, I went in for the bridesmaid dresses. I was promised a sale price of 20% off these dresses, so this is why I wanted to buy them there.
The catalog had priced them at $ 125, then the owner told me she was pricing them at $ 150. She was giving me the 20% off the $ 150, but since they should have only been $ 125 to begin with, it wasn’t much of a discount.
I accepted this while I was there, but then called later in the day to talk pricing again since it should have cost less. The owner proceeded to yell at me, and in the end, hung up on me.
So much for customer service at Darling Brides.

This place is horribly disorganized and have bad communication. They have a fair selection of gowns and could be a good place to go and try on dresses, but do not buy there. They have nothing there you couldn’t get else where, and probably at a better price.
My mother bough her dress here for my wedding in October. The staff was nice but not helpful at all. The staff was pleasant, but not helpful in the least. We sorted through the dresses on our own, got her into the fitting room, and I continued to look at more dresses. I had to ask to get her some shoes to try on with it and clips (which is standard in dress shops to show how the dress would better show in your size). They didn’t ever ask how we liked things or suggest a thing. We had to approach them when we found something we wanted to order. Again they were nice but not very helpful. She also ordered a pair of shoes and the store was to have them dyed to match the dress.
After waiting and waiting for the dress to come in, I finally gave them a call. They informed me that it would be an month longer than expected due the fact that she had ordered the dress with extra length. Something we were not informed of when we purchased the dress. Though late, the dress came in and was beautiful. We opted not to have them alter it because my mom had someone else in mind.
Apparently they had waited to dye the shoes until after the dress came in, something that is beyond me to this day. At this point we were already cutting it close due to the dress being late. We agreed on a date that she shoes had to be done (two days before the wedding). When I called on that day the woman informed me that they had just then put on a coat of the dye but she really thought it needed one more and asked if I could come pick them up tomorrow. The day before the wedding! At this point we had no real choice but to say yes and luckily the shop is close to my house and I was able to pick them up there the day before.
In the end both the shoes and dress were beautiful, but getting there was a hassle. So like I said before, go there to get an idea of what you want or like, and then but it somewhere else.

I give them no stars. None. I ordered a dress in August 2006. Heartbreakingly, the wedding was canceled a few weeks later. I called to see what could be done. I understood that they couldn’t cancel the order or give me the deposit back, but they tried to tell me I HAD to come pay the rest and take the dress no matter what. Which is, by the way, a violation of numerous consumer protection laws (I know, I had to get legal counsel against these people). They never called to tell me the dress was in. They claim they called me in October of 2007 (when the wedding would have been and a year after I told them I forfeit my deposit), but I never got a message. They called me two days ago (August 2008) telling me I have to come get the dress. I called my lawyer and asked if there were any grounds for this. They said no. I called the store and said, for the FIFTH TIME, that they could keep the deposit and resell the dress but I wasn’t going to come get it or give them anymore money (they already have $ 700 from me and the $ 1200 dress…). And the woman tried to pretend to be nice and was like, «oh, ok. Well, thank you.»
If they EVER try to call me again I’m suing THEM for emotional distress. Really, who needs to have a failed engagement haunt them for 2 years?