I found out the wedding dress I ordered was too small 30 days from my wedding. So I had to hunt down an off the rack dress. During the process I found this hidden gem: Pattis Bridal. I was amazed at the craftsmanship and the details the designer gave to the dress. I eventually bought a sample dress of this label, the only dress at the shop under $1K that had organza silk. That dress has subtle beads, silver twisted embroidery, french tulle flowers, ruffles, yet it's not too overpowering for girls like me who prefer simple dresses. It reminds me of a Melissa Sweet gown that I tried on before, which was about $3,500. I was baffled that I was able to purchase this dress for $999. It's a brand new sample dress, so the original can't be to much more expensive than $999. The sales lady told me that most of Pattis dresses are of whimsical nature, which I really like.

Since I've never heard of this label, I was intrigued and did some more research on it. It turns out she's a new designer, so new that her company profile shows "coming soon" on her website. Her dresses are already featured in Brides, Modernbrides and Bridal Guide magazines.

*This review is on off the rack dresses*

Trudy's saved my wedding, I have to say.

I purchased my gown at La Belle Elaine's in Seattle. The dress took 4-5 months to ship, and they told me that even though I lived in San Jose, CA, it wouldn't be any problem. Well when the dress arrived and I tried it on, it didn't zip up and there's about 3-4 inches of gap! After days of talking to that shop I realized they won't do much for me since they're not local, so I started looking for another dress while the wedding is less than 30 days away.

Trudy's has an amazing selection of off the rack dresses! Sheryl was the girl that helped me find THE dress I'd like. She is easy going, has great knowledge about dresses and could give me her honest opinion when I asked for it. She and other people at the shop heard me complaining about my original gown and they offered to measure my gown to see if the dress was cut incorrectly. The store owner and Sheryl even helped me decide if I should pursue the Seattle boutique for recourse. It made me feel so much better knowing that someone in the bridal industry actually CARES about their bride, unlike the salon in Seattle.

Sheryl is simply outstanding. Not only was she warm and professional, she was very sympathetic about my situation and was as angry about my original dress as I was! And I trusted her taste on dresses 100%, without a doubt.

We did an engagement session with her. Our wedding and the hired photographer is in LA, so we needed to find a local photographer for e-pics.

She's very professional and responsive. I found her via Craigslist when she was having a promotion for engagement sessions. She normally charges 500 before the discount. I browsed her work and thought it's a steal for her artistic ability.

Dawn is very easy going and pleasant to be with. She directed us when we didn't know what to do, and she also let us be when we were "in the moment".

Here are some pics from the session on her blog:
http://dawnstoloff.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/rebecca-kelvin-engagement-session-san-francisco-april-18th-2009/