I'd like to talk with the below bride to see how HER dress came out...so, my story:

I was so excited when I found Songi Bridal while looking online for a designer who could make my dream wedding dress from scratch.

My main reason for wanting a custom gown is because I’m “top heavy”. I thought it would be best to go to a designer and have a gown fit my body like a glove, instead of buying a dress and having it altered.

I met Songi on 5/31/08 and immediately felt he could design and create my dream wedding dress. I gave him $1,500 up front (a little less than half the cost of the dress when complete) so he could get started. He told me the dress would be ready by mid Oct. for my Nov. 1st wedding.

Well, in the last several months, Songi has rescheduled my fittings and has been extremely unprofessional. He has talked about his personal problems and said the reason why he couldn’t meet with me on our scheduled fittings is because he was so busy with other weddings and he was so tired.

My first “fitting” was probably almost 2 months after our initial meeting. I was a little concerned as to why I was having to wait so long, but didn’t give it too much thought because my work was keeping me so busy, working at least 50 hours a week.

When I showed up for my first fitting, all Songi had me try on was a strapless top…my dress is v-neck…I’m still not sure why I had to try it on. The following fittings were with muslin…I guess designers use this to cut the pattern of the actual material of what they’ll use.

Up until Oct. 4th, I remained above and beyond understanding and didn’t pressure him. Until, he tried to reschedule another fitting, stating, his seamstress took off for Vegas for the weekend and he couldn’t get the dress. I left a message stating this was unprofessional and that we were 4 weeks from my wedding, that I was freaking out, and hadn’t seen any part of my dress…AND that he would need to bring the dress to me for fittings since I was so busy with work. (I had already missed some work before because of a rescheduled fitting) He called me back the next day and saw me a few hours after our scheduled fitting on Oct. 5th.

This is when I first saw the actual material for the dress. Instead of having the dress in pieces to try on and pinned to contour to my body, (just found out THAT’S how you’re supposed to have fittings) he had the actual dress sewed up (minus the scallop lace). So, needless to say, he was unable to alter my dress to fit my body correctly.

He also put this horrendous horizontal seam in the middle of the organza silk / Chantilly lace dress, cutting my 5’2” body in half! I know, I know nothing about fashion design, but this did not look right. I showed Songi pictures from the very beginning, he drew a sketch on our first meeting and then I sent Songi more pictures, and in all those examples, there wasn’t a single dress that had a horizontal seam in the middle.

He offered to patch the dress with lace to cover the seam, which didn’t really work, or to put a sash. I didn’t want a sash, or the patch work lace. But, I was trying to stay open minded and asked him to create some examples of sashes to pin on and make some other alterations. He didn’t follow through. Instead, he insisted that he could cover it up with lace, or make the dress strapless. I personally believe he was being lazy and waited too long to start working on my dress…and I’m sure his personal life has played a role as well.

Long story short, I saw him on Sun. 10/12, and the dress didn’t look any different, he only added boning. This made the dress look even worse on me.

So, we scheduled to meet tonight, 10/14, and he called to reschedule!

Now, it’s 2 ½ weeks from my wedding and I don’t have my dress. I have asked for my money back and he refuses. So, now, I have contacted my attorney and will try to get it through the legal system.

My huge mistake was not asking other brides about their experience with Songi. I’ve learned so much for this experience. But, please, BEWARE if you are going to work with Songi.

Perhaps, I should have been a bridezilla and screamed and cried…but, that’s just not me. Instead, I’m internally an emotional wreck, my work is suffering, and I’m having really bad headaches and have had nightmares.