Garnish Boutique

I had a daydream about going dress shopping in the perfect boutique. That daydream was quickly ruined after stopping by a few bridal stores in the Washington, DC area. Someone told me about Garnish and I decided to check it out. The daydream boutique is real… I found it at Garnish! Jessica was so helpful and fun to work with. I did not get my dress at Garnish, but I know I would have been in good hands here. They have beautiful dresses, jewelry and accessories. I would recommend Garnish to anyone.

Although I didn’t buy my wedding dress here, I had a great time shopping at Garnish. I had communicated with Mia prior to my appointment because I was interested in a few specific Tara Keely dresses, and she was very easy to work with via email. She let me know exactly which ones were in stock and gave me the option to have the others borrowed directly from the designer.
During my appointment, I was the only shopper in the boutique and Mia and her assistant were so sweet to me! They gave me their honest opinions about dresses and picked out a few things that I would never have thought to try on before. They also took pictures of me and never made me feel awkward because I came alone (unlike some places!). The store is super cute and the dressing rooms are large and there is a ton of natural light, which is great for picture taking.

I have two daughters that got their dresses from Garnish. Mia is absolutely the best!
We went to several other places and either the salespeople were snobs or crazy. They had great prices and carried beautiful dresses. Mia is never pushy and is one of the nicest people I have ever met! I wish the rest of the wedding process was as easy as this!

Garnish is gorgeous. There’s a huge pedestal and mirror, with a nice viewing areas for your friends and/​or family. The light is lovely. This is the place to go if you want the beautiful bridal boutique experience you see on TV and in the movies. It’s a small shop, but carefully curated. Interestingly enough, nothing is white. It’s all ivory, cream, ecru, eggshell, vanilla, what have you. but not white WHITE. I never found out why. You can order many of the dresses in white though.
You do not have to «pick through» dresses here and they are not hidden in those huge plastic bags. Everything is out for you to see and the options are really beautiful.
I was not here to try on a bridal gown, but rather bridesmaids dresses, so my experience will differ from most of the reviewers. Mia did not really work with us, but rather left us to our own devices and was not incredibly helpful, but when pressed, would weigh in.
In the end, it seemed as if Mia didn’t care very much about the sale. I can understand if she’s more focused on the brides and not bridesmaids, but she did not return calls or e-​mails when trying to make appointments. The bride decided to go elsewhere, even though she liked a few of the lines. Another boutique owner in town was much more excited and willing to work with her.

My experience with Mia and Garnish Boutique was nothing short of amazing. I actually already had a wedding gown and was shopping around for bridesmaid dresses when I came to Garnish. A couple of my bridesmaids, who live in the DC area, tried on a beautiful dress at another boutique in Bethesda, but I didn’t really appreciate the pressure from the saleswoman and the price was a bit steep for some of my bridesmaids. I came to Garnish so that my bridesmaids in the Baltimore area could try on the same dress. Not only was Mia way more relaxed and down-​to-​earth than the Bethesda lady, but she offered an amazing group discount!
As my bridesmaids were trying on different gowns, I started to browse through the sample wedding gowns in the store. There was a bag that was all zipped up and I got curious as to what was inside. BEHOLD! A beautiful wedding gown that I was DYING to try on! I tried it on and I fell in love with it as my bridesmaids were behind me ooooh-​ing and aaaaah-​ing. Mia did not pressure me to make any purchases that day, but she did tell me that there would be an even larger discount on the bridesmaid dresses AND the wedding gown if we did decide to purchase them all. I went home and slept on it for about a month before I decided to purchase ANOTHER wedding gown and Mia remembered me and was super cool about everything. In fact, there was a Jim Hjelm/​Tara Keely trunk show and I was able to add buttons down the back of my gown for an extremely discounted price.
The wedding gown and bridesmaid gowns all came in way earlier than expected and everyone loved them all. Now I have to sell the first wedding gown I purchased and never wore.

I went to Garnish with the intent of purchasing a dress I had ordered to try on that day. Mia asked me if there was anything else I would be interested in looking at and thank god she did! I picked a Tara Keely to try on just for kicks because it looked like the style I was going for. I am so grateful I did because the moment I was in this dress I felt like a real bride. Mia was so helpful and not acting pushy or rushed like some of the other places I have gone. The boutique is adorable and she is so helpful. I am so glad I checked out this lovely boutique!!!

Mia was wonderful– she helped a ton but wasn’t pushy (while still offering help/​suggestions) and listened to requests and my style. She was much more patient and laid back than any other store I went to. I really felt like it wasn’t a job for her but what she enjoys to do, and that came across in the way she treated us. I went twice, and both times were wonderful experiences.

I went to 4 boutiques in total and Garnish was by far my favorite, even more than some very upscale places I visited in San Francisco, where I live. Mia, one of the owners, has a very relaxed yet supportive attitude as soon as you walk in. I did not feel pressured at all. I visited the store because of the Jim Hjelm collection they carry and Mia was very familiar with all the dresses they had in the store. I did end up buying my dress there and it was perfect… including an extremely competitive price. I love when I can support local business without feeling like I’m spending a lot of extra money. I would highly recommend this boutique to anyone, especially if you have already visited some other stores and have felt overwhelmed/​pressured by the experience.

I spent a long day of dress shopping in the Baltimore area, and Garnish was by far my favorite. First, Mia is fantastic. She knew that whether or not I bought a dress from here she was going to be just fine and she acted accordingly. She was chill, helped me in and out of gowns, and was cool with my peeps. There was a good and diverse selection of gowns — not huge, but enough to keep you busy. The store was cute, small, clean and overall extremely welcoming.
I’m not sure if I’m going to buy the dress I really liked at Garnish, but I want to really badly just because, in my opinion, this is the perfect wedding dress shopping experience.

I fell in love with a Jim Hjelm dress at Kleinfeld’s in New York, but wanted to buy locally. My grandmother had found a review of Garnish in the Sun paper and sent it to me, and I just happened to notice on their website they were having a Jim Hjelm trunk show this weekend, so we went to check it out.
The owner, Mia, is super-​friendly, incredibly knowledgable about the dresses, low pressure, and was just great to work with. I’ve been to several boutiques where the harried salespeople just don’t really seem to care, so this place was a welcome change. The boutique is small (upstairs in the Ruxton shopping center) but elegant, and the service just makes it wonderful.
She had THE dress I wanted, but I ended up falling even more in love with a sample dress she had on display, and I got a fabulous deal on it because it’s being discontinued. I’d highly recommend this place to anyone looking for the perfect wedding gown!