Ferri Formals & Bridals

The whole bridal party had complaints about their alterations. Buttons that should have been added to the panel in the bride’s gown were left out, so it kept sliding around when she’d move. The corset back on my dress was too big and there was no clasp sewn at the top to hold it together once it was laced up and tucked in.
We were all told to lose weight by a member of the staff during a fitting; the bride was told to lose 20lbs. I was talked into $ 120 worth of alterations that I didn’t need because my dress didn’t fit quite right six weeks after giving birth to my son. Not to mention the fitting was an hour behind schedule so while we were kept waiting, my breasts became engorged because I missed my breast feeding/​pumping schedule. So naturally the top didn’t fit. It did fit four weeks later when I came for a second fitting and the corset back I was talked into getting made the dress too large instead. The dress was falling down all night long.
One of the bridesmaid’s dresses was so tight she couldn’t breathe in it after it was altered because it was too big initially. On top of all of this, the shop received $ 45 from each of us on top of the price of the dresses because that’s how much they charge to simply cut a hemline. And everyone knows those dresses are made super long, so like I said, guaranteed $ 45 from everyone right off the bat.
I didn’t leave feeling comfortable or satisfied with my the fit of my dress but also didn’t want to incur any additional expensive add-​ons to further alter my dress after the second fitting.
In general, the alterations were too pricy and not really satisfactory. It’s a shame too, because the wedding gowns were truly beautiful and high quality, just go elsewhere for your alterations if you buy from this shop.

The customer service was great here, I really appreciated how the girls remembered things I had said when I came in prior, it felt very personal. I found my dress here !! The selection here was a little less than others as its a smaller store but, they do have a wide variety. I’ve never even seen a dress like the one I chose, SO unique. The only negative thing I have to say, which is why I give it 4 stars is that the bridal changing area they had me go in both times (upstairs) was SO hot. I wanted to keep my dress on a little longer but honestly couldn’t stand the heat. Overall, nice experience! Was a little disappointed they charged me $ 10 for the dress cover.

Ok. I should start by saying I’m conflicted as to whether to give this store 3 stars or not. I finally went with 3, because really, I did have a good experience, at first…
I first went to Ferri Formals in the summer of 2010 for my very first wedding dress shopping experience. I must say, everything went perfectly! I had cut out my dream dress from a magazine the day after getting engaged, and low-​and-​behold, the same dress was in the middle of the front window! It was a done-​and-​done deal. Everyone in the store was as friendly as can be, allowing me to try on 7 other dresses to be sure that the dress I had cut out was in fact the dress I wanted (I did in fact purchase this dress).
I came back to the store that September with my maid of honor to pick out bridesmaid dresses. It was three months after purchasing my dress, but the woman at the store remembered it so well that after asking what type of bridesmaid dress we were looking for, she was able to find the perfect complement to my wedding gown in about 2 seconds.
I came back in December when my dress came in. This was the day I picked out my wedding veil. It, like every other shopping experience in this store, was an extremely easy purchase. After trying only two veils on, I had found the perfect complement to my gown. Everything was falling into place!
I had similar experiences with the fittings people. They were friendly and courteous, and made each fitting a great day!
Then came the day I was supposed to pick up my gown. I’m glad I asked where my veil was, because had I not I would have gotten to my wedding destination without one! Upon asking, the girl realized it was not in the bag. After an hour of searching, they still could not find it, but let me choose another veil to take (none of which were like my actual veil, but at that point, 3 days before my wedding, it was better than no veil). I asked them to please call if they found my veil before my wedding.
They did in fact call, emphasizing that they had found my veil. I was ecstatic! I called them back and let them know my aunt and uncle would be picking it up the next morning (we are now the day before the wedding). I’m glad I asked them to call me while they were at the store, because what the woman at the store had claimed was «my veil» was not even the same color as my dress! Another one they claimed was mine was twice as long as the one I had bought.
It ended up with my aunt being able to bring me 4 veils, of which I chose one, which did in fact work for the wedding, although was not the one I had chosen in December.
I wish they had handled this situation better, and had not lied to me about finding my veil.

I can’t say that I know a LOT about shopping for a wedding dress (except from watching Say Yes to the Dress, of course) so when I had to start looking, I just thought of places I knew. Since I’m from Schenectady originally (and am getting married there in the fall) I immediately thought of Ferri Formals since they’re right on Union Street and my bus stop used to be right across the street.
So I made an appointment at Ferri Formal based on finding a bunch of dresses I really liked from a designer who was having a trunk show at Ferri. Ended up getting there for my appointment and didn’t really get to look at any of that stuff. I don’t know if that’s an indication of what their trunk shows usually are like or what.
But I decided to look outside what I had first envisioned and went thru maybe 5 dresses, hating them all on me. Then we found The Dress. Which was pretty exciting. I imagine all bridal stores try to sell you stuff all the time so going in with that feeling, I didn’t think they were very pushy here at all. Just normal oh-but-don’t-you-want-this-veil?-oh-wait-it’s-almost-$ 1,000 stuff. I ultimately had a good time, bought a gown in 2 hours and am excited to see how the alterations process goes.
The store is a lot bigger than it appears on the outside, with many floors. It was pretty crowded when we were there but it wasn’t a problem and they seemed to work the timing of the appointments pretty well. I had a little space to myself to try on dresses (tho the actual fitting room was quite small especially considering you’re just removing your clothes with a stranger in, essentially, a closet). But it ended up being totally fine. They seemed to have a lot of Prom dresses and other formal dresses too. (Most not really my style but, still.) Everyone was pretty friendly and all in all I had a good shopping experience.