Catherine Simms Bridal

This store has an excellent selection of dresses and great customer service. I went to 3 bridal stores with my bridesmaids before coming to this store. The store prior to this one had poor selection of dresses and poor customer service. The David’s Bridal in Schaumburg made me feel bad for shooting down my ideas and was highly opinionated. Catherine Simms had many bridesmaid dresses with different colors. The store looks elegant and classy. They have big mirrors, platforms and changing rooms. The lady that helped me was very nice and conversational with me while I was waiting for my bridesmaids to try on dresses. She truly was interested in my wedding plans. My bridesmaids had a difficult time choosing a dress since there was many that they liked. We finally chose a dress and they came in just this week. They are absolutely gorgeous and even more beautiful than I had expected!

Our experience at Catherine Simm’s Bridal was awesome! Louise was outstanding, and SO caring! My daughter just loves her dress, and Louise made sure she was happy & there was no pressure at all! I’d rate this store & service 5 STARS!!! If you need a wedding dress, bridesmaid dress, or veil… make an appt here! Its small & VERY PERSONABLE!

If I could give 0 stars I would. Today myself (the bride) and 3 of my bridesmaids were literally kicked out of the shop when I told the sales lady for the 3^rd time that my girls wouldn’t be buying their dresses there.
I live in champaign, il and bought my bridal gown at Michelle’s Bridal. I have 4 bridesmaids who live in the Chicagoland area, all who have children under the age of 3. I called Catherine’s requesting an appointment for a day that I was going to be here visiting the, for them to try on the many different options of the Bill Levkoff line. When we got there I told the sales woman that I got mine and my maid of honors dress as Michelle’s and that I brought the others to try on to see which they wanted. As the appointment goes on, two other girls walked in with no appointments asking to look at dresses, which is fine. We didn’t need her undivided attention.
After the first bridesmaid decided on her style she returned all of the dresses to the sales lady who gave her a contract to fill out. My maid brought me the contract and asked if she should fill it out or not, so I returned it to the sales lady and told her again that we were just there to try on. To which she replied ‘oh. You’re not buying anything?’ I told her for the third time ‘no. I told you that we were just here to try on. I asked you if you were familiar with Michelle’s Bridal in champaign, when you asked where I got my dress. And I said that’s where the MOH ordered from’.
During the convo a second sales lady walked in and was filled in on the situation, so rudely by the first lady. After she was done she came over to our dressing room and said ‘I need those dresses back for our customers.’ I gave her the dresses we were done with and instead of a thank you she told us that since we weren’t buying that we needed to get out of the dressing room for the people who were.
Which is fine, I get that you have a business to run. But I told them on the phone when I made the appointment and as soon as we walked in the door that we were just trying on. AND. there were only 2 other patrons trying on bridesmaid dresses in the back of the salon. We weren’t taking space away from anyone.
When I asked if they could take the girls measurements before we left they so rudely refused, said I should have been more honest when I booked the appointment, told me how they had to refuse other brides when I called to make the appointment, and how they don’t do measurements for anyone not buying a dress.
I will be contacting the owner. Catherine’s Bridal will not be receiving mine, or anyone I knows business from here on out. If you’re looking for a variety of Bill Levkoff dresses in the Chicagoland area go to House of Brides.

Never made it to this store. Had an appointment and had to go in to work for an emergency. When I called hours before the appointment and asked to reschedule they said OK fine we’ll cancel and Hung Up On Me! I called back thinking she didn’t understand I wanted an appointment another day and they never answered. Tried twice and it rang forever. Decided not to bother going there since many bad reviews.

Beautiful bridal shop with huge dressing rooms. Very open and clean. We went there for bridesmaid dresses only as the bride had already purchased her dress elsewhere. Louise was our consultant. We requested to take our time & browse & she let us do just that. She gave us some recommendations but was not pushy at all or overbearing. We had a great experience there. Visited on a week night when it wasn’t crowded. Great selection of bridesmaid dresses. Highly recommend.

I’m a bridesmaid at my best friend’s wedding and the maid of honor scheduled a couple of places to go to the day we went shopping for dresses. A bit about my best friend — she’s incredibly nice, sweet and not at all overbearing. Definitely not the «bridezilla”/high maintenance types that would demand exactly what she wanted. So we were hoping to go to a place that accommodated her personality so she would feel supported and comfortable to express her opinions on the dresses.
We went to three other places including David’s Bridal and were so disappointed with the selection at each. Particularly, we were disappointed at how some of the sales associates were even more opinionated than the bride and wouldn’t let her get a word in on what she wanted!
Then we saw Catherine Simm’s Bridal. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we knew this would have a higher quality selection with much more variety. Very nice looking boutique and super classy. Since there were so many beautiful dresses to choose from, it was hard for all of us to decide but we felt that the sales associates guided us in the right direction. The selections weren’t too expensive either which surprised us since the dresses were of higher quality. We ended up paying ~$ 200 per dress.
Would definitely recommend this place to anyone who’s looking for a decently budgeted bridesmaid dress!

This dress shop is terrible! Louise is the WORST bridal consultant that I have come across! She told my sister that a dress my mom picked out was ugly and to not bother trying it on. After 3 dresses she told my sister «sorry we can’t help you» in a rude voice walked away and started helping another client. I wouldn’t waste any time going to this place! Not to mention the small selection of dresses.

I had used Catherine Sims for my wedding for my bridesmaids and I was a maid of honor in my cousin’s wedding and she had ordered her bridesmaids dresses through them.
First, for my wedding, I loved the dress selection and not many places had the fuchsia color I was looking for so when I found that Catherine Simms had it, I was very happy. Their prices are a bit on the higher end. The customer service was pretty friendly and the dresses came in when expected. Sometimes when I would call to follow up on my order, I got the answering machine. On our first visit, my bridesmaids and I had a pretty pleasant experience. I picked out the dress and the manager measured the girls and wrote their sizes down along with their name in my file at the store. When my bridesmaids called in to give their credit card information at a later date, the lady they talked to on the phone said she couldn’t find the sheet with our sizes, that there was only one of the 4 bridesmaids sizes on the sheet. Then the lady asked me what size the girls are in regular dresses and it will be the same. Not true! Not sure where she got off thinking that. I don’t work in a wedding dress shop and know that the street size and label size is not always the same with designers. Turns out later on they called me back and realized it was on the back of the sheet. Wow. Thank God we found that out before all my bridesmaids had to go back in to get re measured.
Also, when my sister’s dress came in, her dress was tight. It didn’t look like she gained weight or anything so I asked her what size the manager ordered for her and she told me a 14(which is really a street size 10 in the dress). I was confused and wondered why she was measured wrong because I know my sister is a street size 12 and would needed a 16. She ended up having to get it taken out and pay extra.
Now onto my cousin’s wedding where I was a maid of honor. My bridesmaid dress arrived and I was coming in to get fitted. It was very big and long. O and I have never stood up in a wedding before until this and I didn’t know that I would need to bring the exact bra I would be wearing with the dress for the wedding. I was only told, by the lady reminding me of my appointment, to bring the shoes I would be wearing. I live 40 min away from the shop and was told I needed my strapless bra and I would need to come back in again. No sorry or apology stating that they forgot to tell me that. So I rescheduled to come in another time. I came in the next appointment and got the alterations done. Then I had to come back again for a 3^rd time to pick up the dress and make sure it was done right. It was just annoying.
Overall, their selection is great and there is a wide range of colors and a nice ambiance. My bridesmaid dresses turned out beautiful for my wedding. There was just a few hiccups with a few things. I just didn’t appreciate the miscommunication. They are sweet ladies, just need to get on top of their game more and do more training maybe.

Called because I really wanted a Callista dress and as a plus size bride, it’s hard enough to fine amazing wedding dresses. I called and left a voicemail and did not get a call back for a week and half when I was enquiring about the Callista dresses they had in stock.
When they finally did call me back, she kept putting me on hold to go look in the stock room to see what they had, which meant that she heard my voicemail and instead of getting the information before calling me back, she kept putting me on hold to go look. All I asked for was the style numbers of the dresses. By the way… she only had TWO Callista dresses from a couple of seasons ago.
Also, if you are a plus size bride, don’t even bother. They don’t really even cater to the size 16 and over crowd. She said that as a size 24, I had maybe 6 to 8 dresses to try on. I HIGHLY reccomend Shelly’s Couture in West Dundee (worth the drive!) because they had way over 20+ dresses just for plus size girls, not to mention an enormous selection for smaller women.
Overall, the people were unhelpful, aloof, and seem confused by the simplest question. Not worth it!

Compared to shops of similar size, Catherine Simms had a very good selection of dresses. The consultant was friendly, helpful and sincere with helping us choose dresses that fit my style and body type. If you are shopping in Naperville, you should book an appointment.

Called them 3 times because I wanted to schedule an appointment with them. They hung up on me each time. So unimpressed. All of my friends and family will know never to come here.

Absolutely terrible. Our consultant was rude and unhelpful. Crystals bridal in st Charles was so much better in terms of service and selection.

I got my wedding dress here and it came in less than a month later! They were very helpful and took their time with myself and my bridal entourage.
I returned with my bridesmaids to search for a dress for them… the lady who helped us was very nice but they didn’t have the exact color I wanted in the dress we wanted… she sort of said «well good luck!» And we were on our way. She did end up giving some helpful hints and wishing us on our way.
We ended up finding the dresses we wanted shockingly at house of brides down the street… in the exact color I was lookin for!

Classy small boutique. Many of the same dresses you’ll find at House of Brides but they’ll match their price. They also gave me a gift (pearl earrings) for bringing my bridal party in.
Worth looking and has a nice viewing room for your bridal party and moms.

I have nothing but great things to say about my experience at this shop! I called last minute to try and come in to try on dresses and they were able to squeeze me in. They have a great variety of dresses! Jessica was extremely friendly and helpful with everything and always took the time to help! I ordered my dress, it came very fast and in plenty of time for my wedding (with months to spare)! I needed to have my dress altered very slightly and their seamstress Violet did an amazing job!
I also ordered my bridesmaid dresses from here as well! Like a previous review said, their prices are great. I went to another bridal shop with my bridesmaids and they tried on the same exact dress, but the other shop wanted at least $ 50 more and wouldn’t match the price even when I had told them I found it at Catherine Simms for less!
Bottom line, if you’re looking for your wedding dress, come to this shop.

Friendly service, prompt reservations. Spacious with a very nice large mirror viewing area with a platform. Decently sized selection of bridesmaids dresses.
Just not my style of dresses. All were very heavy, lots of satin, ballgown style. There is a lace rack but many were still very heavy. Lots of heavily beaded (busy) dresses.
Prices range from $ 900 to $ 1,500
Overall, nice service, great space, just not my style of dresses. Not a lot of variety between dresses.
[A previous Unilocaler said she thought the dresses would appeal to «a younger bride» which I didn’t know what she meant by before I visited Catherine Simms. I’m 26 and the dresses didn’t appeal to me. I think they’re just for brides (regardless of age) who just like satin, heavy beading, poofy, ballgown dresses. Nothing wrong with that.]

I was pleasantly surprised. I went into the store, took a glance around and didn’t think I would like anything. I picked out a few dresses to be polite and actually ended up falling in love with a dress.
Fitting rooms are nice and spacious. Lots of mirrors and pedestals in the store. Everyone is very helpful and completely let you do your own thing. I didn’t want someone next to me the whole time and they totally got that and respected it.

I visited four bridal stores and thought this place was incredible. I worked with Karen and she was wonderful. Very helpful, not pushy,
The store itself was beautiful and spacious. I loved the fitting rooms and overall vibe.
The selection was great and the prices were amazing!

I have nothing but GOOD things to say about Catherine Simms.
Before buying my wedding dress i went to several locations and ended up here. I was up in the air and very indecisive about what i wanted in a wedding gown. I had two sales girls helping me from beginning to end with both of them telling me they would help me until i found something even though there was another appointment coming in. About 2 hours later i decided on a dress that was perfect for our venue.
A few weeks later my fiancé and i decided to change our venue and it made me realize the dress i bought was too plain and didn’t have that «romantic» feel it should have. I called Karen (the owner) and explained our situation. They had already begun some alterations on the dress and was willing to work with me. So i set up another appointment and they ended up just putting teh cost of what i originally paid into the new dress i went with.
They were so professional and accomodating to my situation. We also had a very short engagement and planned our wedding in 4 months. Getting my bridesmaid dresses was a breeze.
I would HIGHLY recommend Catherine Simms to anyone if you’re looking for professional and accomodating services. This is your place!!!
(and just a side note: during my first initial visit both of the sales girls were very knowledgeable on the gowns and designers. they were actually giving me runway information on 2 of the gowns i was interested in without me even asking them for that information)

I ordered my wedding dress from here and had a great experience. It is a small shop so the selection is a bit limited, but if they carry a dress you love they are great to work with. I got into the dress shopping kinda late but I still got my dress in plenty of time. The alterations were done beautifully — and, unlike Renee, definitely didn’t have a problem with sizing when ordering.
The dress was reasonably priced — the rush fee was a little more than the price I was looking at online, but the dress itself cost less to my surprise, so it all kinda balanced out. Same price but much more personal attention. Everyone working there was incredibly friendly and helpful. I never felt pressured to buy anything, they were happy to give input but stayed very low key. It was definitely a more mellow, relaxed vibe compared to some of the other shops I visited.
I’d recommend making an appointment just to be sure they are able to give the time/​attention needed.