Dress selection (summer 2015)

My dress is from the Marchesa Fall/Winter 2015 collection. I was looking for something with more than cap sleeves, and was unaware of this dress until I stumbled upon it IRL at a London boutique. On the hanger, it didn't entice me but given that it was the only dress I had seen with this sleeve length, I tried it on and loved what I saw/felt! True craftsmanship results in not only an incredibly form-flattering, balanced dress, but also that its very easy to wear: not heavy, hot or constricting in any way.

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Supplier selection (Sept 2015)

The final wedding dress supplier (Bloomfeld Luxury Bridal in Amsterdam), was chosen due to their closer geographical location than London - these were the only two options who could stock this particular dress/designer. Unfortunately, this turned out to be - without a doubt - the most disappointing and disrespectful supplier of my wedding planning experience.  Of course, it is important to note that this recap is based on my own personal experience, and does not necessarily reflect or indicate how it was -  or could be - for other brides.

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Placing the order: alterations included (Sept 2015)

I had already chosen the dress: so the order process at Bloomfeld (with Patrick) was purely an administrative discussion of required adjustments and price agreements. The adjustments were clearly discussed and agreed upon up front, at time of ordering, and comprised the following two critical items*:

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1) Ensuring a functioning pin-up system whereby the length of the dress - in it's entirety, fully around - is guaranteed to clear the floor when pinned up. The reason for this requirement is that dancing is very important to us: if this would have been a problem, I would have abandoned this design and chosen a different dress.

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2) Fixed fastening of the underlayer to the top layer of the train. This is a personal preference, and of course tastes vary. However, I was assured that this wouldn't be a problem.

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* These two requirements were expressly discussed up front as I was fully aware that they could have been viewed as 'extras', in addition to 'standard' alterations such as tailoring and length adjustments at the front. Bloomfeld confirmed at the time - September 2015 - that this would be included in the agreed price and not treated as extra work.

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First fitting: alterations NOT included (Apr 2016)

You can imagine my despair when - upon trying on the dress at the first real fitting: they began to backtrack and state that given this was the first time they had seen the dress before, the pin up system would be additional price due to the unexpected amount of fabric and resulting extra weight, and that cutting it to the right length would require so much time thanks to the complex lace-band at the bottom of the dress that this too would result in extra cost. I left the boutique despondant and anxious about what extra cost they would calculate.

 

Er... Alterations included (Apr 2016)

After thinking about this I mailed back after a few days and reiterated that a) I was very clear upfront in what I wanted from this dress and their alterations service, and that b) they had agreed to carry out these alterations within the agreed price before I purchased the dress with them. It cannot therefore be my problem (or extra cost!) if they had underestimated the work involved in carrying out such alterations to this particular dress (they are the experts, no?)  After this, they agreed to carry out the alterations within the agreed price and all was well again - albeit not without anxiety and distress on my part (=customer!)

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Veil hard sell (May 2016)

For selecting a veil, I was given two options during the first fitting, one double the price of the other, but both matching the dress - in the words of the Bloomfeld sales lady. Despite its beauty, I struggled to justify the double cost for something I ended up wearing for just two hours. Either way - the decision to veil or not to veil was heavily dependent on whether Bloomfeld wanted to charge me extra for the pre-agreed alterations.

 

After the alterations cost 'misunderstanding' (=attempted screw over) was cleared up, I confirmed on that same day that I would move forward with the 'cheaper' veil (bear in mind: still absolutely not cheap at such an establishment).  

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It took two weeks (wedding countdown at T-4weeks at this point) for Bloomfeld to email back stating that this veil was no longer an option as it 'didn't match my dress' and that it would have to be the double price version. I couldn't believe what I was reading! I requested - again - that they order the veil at the agreed cost that was described by Bloomfeld themselves during my fitting as 'a perfect match and colour' to my own dress, and asked the question why - at such a late stadium - it had taken them 2 weeks to respond to my order. I was informed that this was because I was not their only customer - at which point I was regretting I was a customer at all... After living in the Netherlands for 13 years, I regard this example as the most extreme case of bad customer service that I have ever encountered. In the end, they agreed to order the original veil, so I can only imagine this was (yet another) attempt at money-milking. I had naively expected a higher quality of customer service and integrity at keeping to agreed terms given the exclusivity of their offerings and brands, so this came as a nasty and hugely unpleasant surprise at this late stage in the process and made me even more nervous for what was yet to come....