Calvary Bridal House

I ordered my dress July 2005 for my Sept 2006 wedding. They were wonderful to work with and I had absolutely no problems with them. I can't believe they filed bankruptcy and all these bad reviews! I can only say that back when I got my dress they were wonderful!

They had a VERY large selection, although a majority of the selection was over $150 and I was looking to spend a maximum of $100. I ended up finding the shoes of my dreams for $50. They were very helpful and although I have heard negative things about their wedding gowns, I was very happy with my shoe experience.

Calvary Bridal House is the worst bridal store around. I went there and found the perfect gown. After they offered a SMALL discount, we paid IN FULL the day I picked it out with the promise my dress would be in at least 6 weeks before my wedding day. The call never came telling me my dress was in yet. I had to call them to ask where my dress was. Olga LIED to me and told me it would be there in 2 weeks. We set up fitting appts. In 2 weeks, I still got NO call about my dress. I called again to find out it was STILL not in. I ended up calling the manufacturer and found out Olga NEVER gave a deposit for my dress and it wasn't even made yet. They hadn't even started it. After confronting her, she still DID not apologize. She told me she would send the deposit and gave me a FAKE tracking number. After calling my lawyers, she finally sent the deposit and I picked up my dress ONE WEEK before my wedding day. The dress still needed to be altered, but I was NOT going to trust my dress with her. So I had to take it to NYC and ended up paying 3x the amount I was going to pay her for alterations. She refunded the alteration price to the credit card and then the day before my wedding, she RECHARGED the credit card for the alteration amount, telling the credit card company that she DESERVED the money. We had to fight the charge again and finally got our money back. However, we had to cancel the credit card account so she wouldn't try to charge us again. She will be going out of business soon because she has NO money to pay for dresses. She floats the money in her company and uses the payments from June to pay for dresses ordered in January. Don't EVER go here!!!

BEWARE!!! Calvary Bridal House has claimed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on 8/4/2008!!! A brides dream is to have the perfect wedding dress on her wedding day. A dress that when my new husband sees me walking down the aisle, he is absolutely mezmorized! I have been dreaming about my wedding day since I was a little girl. Well, ONE YEAR before my wedding day, I decided to purchase a wedding gown from Calvary Bridal House, and 6 weeks before my wedding, I hadn't heard a word from the store, so in a panic mode, I called. It took 2 days of constant phone calls to finally get the owner, Ms. Elga Koehler, on the phone and guess what she told me? Your order was never followed through and it is impossible to get your dress because it takes 3 months to make!! I basically had a nervous breakdown and no matter what we did, no matter how sick I got from this nightmare, a deposit of almost $3,000.00 was never refunded to me. She has now filed for Chapter XI Bankruptcy and STILL HAS THE STORE OPEN AND CONDUCTING BUSINESS AS USUAL! I am writing this to warn any future brides out there!!! It was a miracle that I ended up getting that same exact dress at the actual designer store, BUT, I had to pay the full amount for the dress including taxes and over $1,000.00 in alterations fees! Nevermind, throwing up every morning from the moment I found out, my fiance and family full of stress, shock and constant anxiety because of what happened. We ended up calling the designer to find out my dress was sitting in the factory the whole time, only because the designer terminated their relationship with the store because of past tragic events, but unfortunately, Ms. Elga Koehler, didn't tell me this and didn't even try to get my dress! We had to do all the work, BUT who gave that deposit and lost it??? We did!!! Never in my life, have I come across an individual who lied as much as she did to our faces and who conducts a so called business as she does! To all those future brides out there, stay away from Calvary or you will be SO SORRY!!!

I went to this store for a dress for my Sept 08 wedding in Aug 07. Had a great experience and all of the sales staff was very nice. My receipt (I paid in full) said to expect my dress on June 1. When I called I was told it would be in by July 1. After July 1 they avoided my calls and finally in late July they scheduled for me to come in. When I got to the store my dress did not exist and they made up some excuse about missing a UPS shipment. The next week Elga finally called to admit they had a "computer glitch" and that they had ordered the dress, but it would be some time before it came in. A few weeks later and with much persistance on my part, it did arrive and I now have the dress - fitting was two weeks before my wedding. Elga has never said a word - sorry - or anything else about this situation - I think she is just an unintelligent business person. I've heard they have now filed for bankruptcy. Bottom line, just be warned - they have a great selection and you might get lucky and have a good experience - or you might have unneeded stress like me.

Until I came to Calvary Bridal House I had an absolutely horrible time bridal gown shopping. I am a larger size and none of the samples at any store fit the way they were supposed to. When I came here, I was greeted warmly and my sales person, Carola, immediately put me at ease. She asked me tot ell her about what I really wanted my dress to look like, instead of saying that they only had a few things that would fit, like some other places. The emphasis became about finding the right dress, and she managed to get me into some dresses I never would of considered before. I absolutely found the dress of my dreams and at my wedding this past March, I felt like a Queen! Carola put all my accessories together and even went with me to the shoe store downstairs to find the perfect shoe. I can wholeheartedly recommend coming to this shop for the great service. My sister is getting married in 2009 and we arne't going anywhere else!

During my search for my dress, I must have tried on hundreds of gowns at dozens of varying bridal shops, from the locally owned New Jersey stores, large chains, to New York City and beyond. I finally ended my search at Calvary Bridal House. From the moment I walked into the store, which was so beautiful in itself with a feminine decor, I was greeted by the very friendly and attentive staff. I knew that i was in for a completely different experiance from what I had previously encountered.

My dress was exquisite and the alterations were fantastic. The ladies at the shop were so warm and friendly. I can't speak highly enough about my experience at Calvary Bridal House. Best of luck to all the Brides-to-be..

I had an awful experience and actullay never got my dress from Calvary. Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for your wedding dress. If you doubt any of these poor ratings, just check the BBB to confirm

NEEDS A CLASS IN SALES!! All I have to say is that the owner has her own vision of how to treat a customer. She had a professional demeanor when I was a potential customer BUT she turned completely rude when it was time for me to pick up my dress. I got the biggest run around. She gave snotty remarks to me left and right. She would practically hang up on me. I almost literally had to threaten to call Help Me Howard on her. I never met a woman with more nerve! She looked at me in the face and acted as if it was NOT HER PROBLEM that the dress was still not in ( 2 months after she said it was to arrive). I had to order another dress from another store just to make sure I had one b-c it was already two weeks to my wedding day and the OWNER DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER TO RETURN MY CALLS!!!! NEVER GO TO THIS PLACE!!

I eat my former words. Somehow the US Bankruptcy Court for NJ did not have this on file--maybe it was under a different name? But here it is in the Ledger.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/bridal_shop_goes_bankrupt_and.html#post

You can bet I got my dress out of there immediately.

They're also moving to a new location in Livingston next week. I'm glad I bought a sample and didn't order a gown, and I feel terrible for the brides who never got their gowns.

ANY POSITIVE REVIEW OF THIS PLACE IS FAKE!!!!!! The owner of Calvary Bridal House is the biggest thief and liar in the wedding business. In fact, I personally called each designer on their website that they advertise to carry and almost NO ONE will sell to them anymore! I found out 6 weeks before my wedding that my dress was never ordered! Elga Koehler is such a pathological liar! They filed for bankruptcy finally, but continue to take orders. THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR DRESS!!!! Call the designers yourself and see!!! The only reason I gave one star was because you have to in order to post, they should get none!

Calvary Bridal House came highly recommended to me from individuals who had gotten dresses there in the past. I had decided that I would only use vendors who were recommended by others and that had a good reputation in order to ensure that I would get the best service and avoid problems. Of the shops I had gone to in search of my gown, they provided the best service, and Corolla really did an amazing job of helping me to find the dress of my dreams... I was happy and confident that there was nothing to worry about.... I ordered my dress in March 2008 for my May 2009 wedding.

However, in August, CBH filed chapter 11 bankruptcy, and as per the law, were not required to contact its clients. Therefore, I was not made aware of this until this weekend when I read it in the paper. After doing some investigation, I found that my dress was never ordered, and the manufacturer, in fact, has not done business with them in some time. My wedding is 7 months away, and although I am faithful that things will work out somehow, I am annoyed that I have to be put under this additional stress. Planning a wedding is stressful enough without this type of unneccessary BS happening. It makes me feel stupid that I was a victim of CBH's scam... I would have liked to think that I was smarter than that... but you cannot forsee this. They have currently moved to Livingston effective tomorrow. Brides... PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS VENDOR. They have caused me, and other brides, great stress and pain.... unless you are a glutton for punishment, it may be a good idea to go elsewhere...