I am so sad to see this bridal boutique location go! It was the best service and thoughtfull ladies we had on our search for "the gown". I hope they bring it back so others can enjoy what we were able to. Cheers ladies!

Our flowers were *Amazing* and the hilight of our day! Allie worked very hard for us and with us in order to give us the feel we were going for on our budget. She went above and beyond on our day, delivering some of the most amazing pieces I've ever seen - including a special touch on my brides bouquet. Note for brides: she is very busy! She is worth the persistance to get in touch with - trust me!

We are having our reception here and are SO excited! Becky and Jennifer are absolutely wonderful and, to be honest, while the venue sells itself we chose it largely to work with Jennifer and the rest of the staff at Dove. We even met the lady who will be serving us dinner that night! They worked with our budget, and their first instinct is "Yes" then "how can we make that happen?" We'll keep you posted, but I HIGHLY suggest this venue!

I phoned to make my first appointment, I went in alone and was there for 2 hours trying on gowns. I made a follow-up appointment for Thursday and had my bridesmaids and mother meet me there. Unfortunately, due to traffic we were an hour late! I phoned at 4:15 to let them know I was sitting on the 101 and they hapilly stayed. They had another bride caught in the holiday rush and would be waiting for me. They kept the store open until 7 for me, and later for the other bride.

As for the gowns being behind the mirrored closets - there are many, as well as more dresses in the back of the store. The reason they are there is due to the heavy street traffic they experience and wanting to keep the samples as prestine as possible. Additionally, the gowns behind the doors generally start at just around $3000 so, and rightfully so, unless they are in your budget they likely won't show them to you and have your heart set on an expensive gown you can't afford. The racks of pronovias dresses in the front can withstand the prodding and tend to be affordable and as such are shown more often.

This happened to me, originally my gown was going to be purchased by a family member who has since lost their job. After I fell in love with a Kenneth Pool on that second visit. Their price range and my price range for buying the dress myself are quite different! I felt so awful, that I went in person to explain the situation to R-Mine and they said absolutely no problem, and even though I did not have an appointment, searched through their store and offered samples in my size and directing me to other dresses in my price range. They discussed many payment options, payment plans, and any/everything they could do to fit the dresses into my price range. The owner was very sympathetic, and said its important to find a dress you can sleep having spent the money on.
They never asked if there was somewhere else I could get the money, or pressured me to place a deposit. In fact, even after trying on the dresses in my price range - she suggested I take some time to think about the decision and tried to stop the UPS guy from returning the expensive dress when I asked to try it one more time. I am truly sorry for those who had a bad experience since my was so great! I know people have off days and I understand this is a very special purchase.

I went to Lili's with one of my bridesmaids on a Friday. I have been driving over an hour to the bridal salons in O.C. and figured I'd give Lili's and Pebbles a try since they are closer to me in L.A. I phoned ahead to be sure they could take a walk in between 2 and 5pm. They said sure thing, and we were one of 3 brides in the store. I was able to use the large dressing room, and my bridesmaid sat very hapilly on the uber-comfortable couch.
While it did take some time to get started, I didn't mind because it was maybe about 25 min. during which time I was able to look around the store and found a couple additional gowns. Lisa even pulled a new gown from the back for me to try on since it was similar to one I was looking at previously.
The secret 'back room' I agree does not have the most flattering dresses, but for the price they had good designers and even with my unlimited budget [thank you mom] one of the $800 dresses back there was quite beautiful and I gave it a whirl. The samples they offer were well cared for, however some were a bit damaged and they agreed they'd be fixed prior to sale with no problem. While I agree, the selection is limited to a wall of new dresses [about 3 racks], the back room with 2 racks, and about 4 or 5 small racks of sample dresses, Lisa did offer to order in any dress I found that I might like. Also, since she brought a gown out for me, there may be more gowns kept in her back room - as is done at Sacks to keep some new dresses or expensive gowns safe in the back.
Lisa spent a good couple hours with me trying on about 9 dresses and offering good opinions on all of them. She even kept a vendor appointment waiting patiently while I tried these gowns on. To be fair, I could have been in and out in 30 min. and I offered to come back another time as well, but she made me feel comfortable and so we took the time to go over each dress.
As for the dresses, in the spirit of full disclosure I tried on a dress at a trunk show earlier this year that I quite liked and quite liked it and tried it on again at Lili's unintentionally - listed for $4200. I had forgotten about the dress, until I returned home and saw that it was in my dress list for $3800 another shop which held the trunk show, before the trunk show discount. That being said, the sample dresses were discounted and most other dresses were below $2000.
The second dress I ended up liking surprised her, and was one I chose myself from the sample rack. I did call the next day and asked for the name of the designer so I could e-mail my mom before having her drive up to look at the gown from San Diego. Unfortunately, the gown was not on the named designer's website [he listed collections to 2005] so I phoned back the next day. The tag with the dress number was gone so they were unable to help me. Lili's was also not listed as a vendor for the designer on their website, but it was explained to me that vendors have to pay for that honor or purchase a particular amount of gowns to be named on the site.
The woman who performs the alterations at Lili's was quite nice, as was Lisa. Unfortunately, I am a bit worried that the tag from the dress went missing and the reviews from this website so if I do purchase my dress from Lisa at Lili's I will def. bring all these issues up to them before ordering.

I visited this store after a friend of mine, whose wedding I attended and wore a beautiful dress, purchased her dress there. The sales staff was very laid back and helpful. There was no pressure, just a sincere desire to help me find the best dress - at least at their store - for me. I have not chosen my dress yet, but there are 2 very affordable options at Pebbles on my list now.

I attended a bridal trunk show. Even with the trunk, I agree that the store can be restricting [5 racks I think?]. The sales woman was helpful, a very involved shop owner. She had great advice to offer, however I do agree with the pushy comments. The payment of 60% upfront with 10% then $75 for the alterations appointment were too much for me to take in the end, and I wasn't sure of the dress.
Also, I was offered the 10% trunk show discount AFTER the younger woman offered 12% off then apologized for overstatement. I attended the trunk show and both the stylist for the company and shop owner wouldn't let me try on others that I came to view after I found two that I liked. They just kept saying "You won't like it.." Unfortunately, I like a wide range of dresses and am the type of person that has to try it to get it out of my mind and like making that decision for myself.

I attended a wedding for about 120 people with a garden ceremony. As a future bride, I was paying attention to the details and I, as well as the couple, felt horrible about the experience. The on-site coordinator was in jeans. It was a 6:30pm wedding. She was 'let go' along with the bride's personal coordinator about 70% through the evening. But lets start at the begining.

The music from the nearby beach club drowned the ceremony in excessive bass while the traffic noise zoomed by making it hard to hear the vows. The coordinator sent the longest wedding precession ever - with only 3 brides/groomsman. Following the ceremony, they had uniformed staff block the entrance and directed us up two narrow stairways to a 4' wide patio where the cocktail hour was held. With one bartender and two standing appitizer trays pushed to one side, leaving very little room to stand and making us all feel we were in a long lunch line. Further, due to the crowding, the hand passed appitizers were delayed and many did not make it around until the doors to the reception opened. The bartender was quite nice, but stated they did not supply him with enough alcohol for the party.

Once the doors opened to the reception, the tables were beautifully decorated - however the coordinator had removed the gift table leading to some confusion among late-arriving guests. The salad was great - however the dressing came about 10 min. after they served the salad so many were done by the time the dressing waiter arrived. The next course was the main course and didn't come for another 25 min. [with no entertainment] after the salad. The meat was WAY overdone, and the fish meal was 2" wide, hardly filling for those who ordered it. In fact, it was at this point the father had to take the coordinator outside to discuss this. The wait staff also removed our plates and drinks before we were done, if we had left our seats. The finale was forgetting to serve the cake! They offered pear dessert which no one really touched [and by that point had left] but the ice cream with it was good! But that came out after the cake was cut instead of cake. We had thought the cake may have been the 'false' cake, but it wasn't - they just didn't serve the actual cake until 45 min. after they served the pear dessert. The cake also was not what the couple had ordered and with the wrong design.

The Ritz also did not set out the valet stamp where anyone knew of it until many had left - and paid the $27 for valet. There was no signage explaining the valet stamp, guest book, or gift table. All in all, we felt awful for the couple and phoned the vendors expressing that their over $75,000 wedding should be refunded significantly.