Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Pauline Miller? And a B&F rant
My MOH dress for my sister's wedding came in last week. She let us pick our own dresses so I chose this one. I'm pretty busty so I thought this style would look good on me. I felt like the people at Bridal & Formal were rushing us the day we all picked our dresses. I remember asking the person who measured me if I should put on my strapless bra. She just told me to put the dress on over my regular bra & quickly measured me. Well, I've lost about 12 pounds since I was measured and I can barely zip the dress, plus I've got some nice back cleavage on display. Even worse, I cannot find a single bra that fits me yet doesn't show. I'm a 36DDD and I think the dress is designed for a C cup at the very most. I tried not wearing a bra but I explode out of the front, never mind that I'm revealing my stretch marks to the world. I'm probably going to wind up ordering a very expensive bra I'll only wear once from Nordies or Knickers and having my seamstress put some extra fabric in the cups after she hems the dress. UGH!!
My mom is going to Pauline Miller for her dress. I thought about going to Dee & Gwen in Dayton but I've heard so much more about Pauline. How are her prices? Her quality is good, right? Margaret Oldfield did my dress & I absolutely loved her. She's doing my sister's dress but she can't do the rest of us b/c of her health.
Re: Pauline Miller? And a B&F rant
I don't know anything about Pauline other than I've heard on here that she is good and reasonably priced.
However, I will tell you that adding a little modesty panel in the front will help a ton. I have rather busty as well and my reception dress was cut similar to that so I had my seamstress add a panel and it was great. I think every dress is designed for a C cup...it's rather annoying.
P.S. If the dress is that tight it seems that they measured you wrong. Check the measurements they wrote down on your paperwork. If they have those right, they may have ordered the wrong size and they have to fix it.
I went to Pauline for my wedding dress and she is super affordable...this was 2 1/2 years ago so she may have changed pricing. I didn't need a lot done to my dress so I can't speak to major alterations. I've never heard any bad recos about her, though.
I'd definitely do what pp said about checking measurements. I've heard so many people complain about B&F but all of the experiences I had there--my dress, my bridesmaids' dresses, veil and tiara--were wonderful. It seems I may have gotten lucky! Sorry for your troubles. I know that is super annoying and frustrating.
Margaret also did my wedding gown - she did a beautiful job but I didn't want to travel so far for BM alterations.
I used Dee & Gwen for a recent BM (upon your recommendation I believe) and they were excellent! $50 to take in the bust (a lot) and steam it.
Boo! Sorry to hear you're going through all this. B&F seems to be hit or miss. I had a good experience when I bought my bridal gown there but I felt like they weren't as great when dealing with my girls or mothers. Thankfully at least everyone was measured okay.
I personally used Margaret as well but have also heard good things about Pauline. From what I can tell, their prices are comparable.
By the way, is margaret not doing well again? The last time I saw her was for BM alterations about a year ago and she looked okay then. She's such a sweet and talented lady...
Latest Blog Update: Peanut Butter Cookie with Salted Peanut Caramel
I hate B&F. I tell everyone I know to not give them business. 6 weeks before my wedding I found out they ordered the wrong dress, and tried to get me to still pay for it. They didnt even care that I was in tears that they completely f*cked up my order (they refused to hold the veil I ordered, they said they would try and just sell it).
Thank god I found a dress in time, and Pauline Miller did an amazing job doing alterations to get it to fit!!! I highly recommend her
Her prices and quality is awesome imo - and shes super quick!
I know Margaret had cancer treatments-not sure if she's still going through treatments or just having lingering effects of the treatment. She told my sister her hands give her problems so she can only do a limited number of dresses per week. I hope this isn't a permanent problem for her. I swear, she can make anyone look like a super model!
The one place I used in Dayton was so-so. I've heard about some others including Dee & Gwen but never used any of them. I've never used Pauline either, but I've heard so much more about her work. In the end it probably doesn't matter but I feel like this dress is turning into such a cluster fluck that I should go to the person who has the most positive reviews.
And B&F-grr! I tried on a different dress in the same brand in the next size up and it was too big. Something got screwed up along the way-who knows what but I doubt I could prove that B&F is responsible. In the end it it's easier to suck it up & pay for some extra alterations than to prove my point with them.
I used Dee and Gwen for my alterations and they saved my dress. I was one of those "lucky" Sharnett brides last summer who got hosed when the store closed. I had had my first fitting 2 days before the store shut down and had paid for alterations in full. They did take my dress in, but they took it in 2 inches too much, so it no longer fit.
For significantly less than I paid Sharnett, Dee and Gwen took my dress back out, redid the entire bustle and pressed the dress. I don't know what I would have done without them. They were also speedy. I took my dress in 3 weeks before my wedding and got a call 3 days later that it was ready.
Congrats to both my TTC buddies, Amberley18 and sb2006 on their beautiful babies!