House of Brides

I had wonderful service here and had a wonderful personal assistant the entire day I went shopping. They were not pushy with me and gave me time and space to try on different dresses. My assistant was honest with me when I asked her opinion and really helped me find the perfect dress. I never had an issue here, none with the appointment desk to the tailor.

I had already been to several stores before House of Brides. I had a picture of a dress I really liked and this was the only store that had it so we ended up here. I tried it on and really liked it, but I had tried on another dress at a previous store that I couldn't stop thinking about. Luckily, this store had the same one so I was able to try it on again. Of course, I couldn't make up my mind between the two. The saleswoman who helped us was so kind and patient with me. She even suggested that my sister try on the other dress so I could see them side by side to help with my decision. Eventually I decided on the dress I had originally found at another store. However, the price was higher here than at the other place. When I told the saleswoman this, she was able to talk to a manager and match the price! I wish I could remember her name because she was one of the most helpful people I met during my wedding planning. The seamstress was a different story. I used the seamstress at House of Brides because I was worried about taking my dress to an outside place. If something were to happen to it somewhere else, House of Brides would not be responsible. First, the woman was just unfriendly. She was not very flexible with scheduling the fittings. When I scheduled my final fitting to try on the dress and actually take it home, I had the last appointment of the day, which was almost at closing time. I explained to the woman that I would be taking the train and would try and get there as close to my appointment time as possible, but that I would probably be late since I had little control over the train times. When I showed up it was just a few minutes before they closed and she was very upset and told me I was late. She even acted like she didn't want to give me the dress. In the end she let me try it on and it fit fine and I took my dress home that night.

The House of Brides in Orland Park, IL, was absolutely amazing!!! Everyone is very friendly and cheerful and extremely helpful to meet your needs. My dress was awesome and they made it all possible. My Bridesmaids' dresses were gorgeous and there was such a variety to pick from. I love how the they just let you try on as many as you like without constantly standing over you. My dress did need some alterations and my seamstress was the World's Best!!!! Order and arrival time was just as they quoted. They have lots of dresses, veils, head pieces and accessories to choose from. The jewelry was great too. All of the girls that I worked with were all true professionals. The pricing is also great and all the styles were so up to date in style.

I had been warned about working with House of Brides...they were WRONG!!!!!
Their Customer Service is AMAZING!!!!!

The ladies at House of Brides in Orland Square know what they are doing and they are all about Customer Service. When I walked out of the store with my dress, they knew me by name and even my wedding date. Lara was very amazing, she asked what I was looking for in a dress and took that and found some gorgeous dresses to try on. She has a really good eye for reading brides, she looked at my style of dress and my physique and made a suggestion for a dress, which I fell in love with. Debbie is the manager, once the dress had been chosen, Lara and Debbie walked me through the entire way.
There was an incident with one of their vendors. They sent me the wrong veil... Debbie was on the phone immediately she kept in contact with me and took out her entire collection for me to choose just in case the veil didn't make it on time. She gave me many options and we actually found a veil that was more beautiful than the first one I had chosen. I was very happy with my experience at House of Brides in Orland Square...I recommend it to any Bride especially if you live in the South side of Chicago

I called to ask if HOB had a particular bridesmaids dress and if I needed an appointment to try it on. Without answering my question, the woman said they had the dress and made me an appointment to come right away. After driving for an hour to get to the store, the women at the desk could not find my appointment and acted like they never heard of me, even though no one else was in the store. Then they asked if I was buying the dress. I said I wanted to try it on since I'd never seen it, as I said when I called. They secretly whispered to each other and made me feel as if I'd asked for a kidney. Finally, one woman said right this way, took me back and found the dress, then said "we don't allow people not registered here to see or try on a dress" as she held the dress. She wouldn’t even let me look at it. Why couldn't they have told me this over the phone? Or at the front desk? Or not been incredibly rude and insulting? As that happened, a woman came in and said she just wanted to look at wedding dresses. They took her back and helped her right away, but basically threw me out. Not only will I not buy anything from them, I'll be sure no one I know ever does either!

We had a terrible experience with this store, they lost my order and didn't get my dress in until a week and a half before the wedding so I had to take it somewhere else to rush alterations. When we got it it was the wrong size and it barely fit on my wedding day. Also they were extremely rude on the phone and accused me of not ordering my dress soon enough when I had the receipt saying I had ordered the dress a full 6.5 months before the wedding!

Purchasing my dress was a pleasant experience, alterations were anything but. The first fitting went smooth, when I showed up for my 2nd fitting they didn't have my dress in the store and didn't feel it was good service to call and let me know before I drove the 45 minutes to the store. I came back the 3rd time (for my 2nd fitting) and they assured me that the next time I came in I would just have to pick my dress up. I did not trust them so I made sure to schedule my pick up the week before the wedding on a night when a seamstress was there just in case. When I showed up all the alterations were done but and iron hadn't touched my dress. The seamstress didn't seem to notice and said that when I put it in the bag to take it home it would just wrinkle anyways so I should just put an iron to it at home. I screamed at her that that is what I paid them for and demanded that they iron the dress. I started to tell the seamstress that I did not want it put in a bag until I came back and looked at it, I couldn't finish because she was walking away from me. I went to the front desk and I must have been speaking in a foreign tongue because I had to repeat myself several times to get them to understand not to put the dress in a bag until I saw it. When I came back 2 days later the dress still had wrinkles in it and the only thing anyone at HOB could tell me was that the dress would get wrinkled after I wore it anyways. I waited around for 45 minutes while they ironed it again and still the same thing - it looked as if it was sitting on the floor for a week then someone finally picked it up and thought they should put an iron to it but it was too late the wrinkles were set. VERY DISAPPOINTING!!! No one seemed to care and nothing was offered from the staff except confused looks as to why I was so upset.

My initial experience with picking out my dress was very promising. All subsequent experiences, unfortunately, were not as pleasant. They had re-arranged the entire store and the staff was not as professional looking. There were at least 5 people who were sitting at the front desk but no one knew what the hell was going on. After my dress came in and I went for alterations, there was one woman who does all the alterations and she also works at like 3 other bridal shops so there are a lot of people competing for her time. I went in for 2 fittings before my final fitting. On my second fitting she stuck herself with a pin and bled on my dress and then tried to blame it on my mother who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. She assured me she would get it out. When I went for my final fitting, the dress looked great and there was no blood stain. However, there was small panel that covered my cleavage that I asked her to move up since I am big-chested. Not only did moving this little lace panel up cost $100 but it was so lightly stitched that it started to come undone after 5 minutes in my dress. Luckily, my mom was able to re-stitch that dress and did a great job. So, although I loved my dress and received a lot of compliments on the style, I probably recommend the shop but definitely encourage everyone to get alterations done elsewhere.

I wouldn't recommend anyone to go to House of Brides! I agree with all the other brides who has a horrible experience.

STAY AWAY from House of Brides!

It started off going alright. I did manage to find my wedding dress here and my bridesmaids dresses, but that was a treat. They didn't explain much about the bridesmaids dresses and that there were different colors and material associated with each. Very vague on details. But that is nothing compared to the rest of the experience so far. They told me that my wedding dress was going to be in by the end of September beginning of October....well November rolls around and still nothing. I called for two weeks asking wear my dress was and they said that they would check on it and call me back. They NEVER called me back. I asked to speak with the manager and of course she wasn't in and they would have her call me back. Did it happen? No. After many more phone calls, the manager finally called back. After a long discussion I found out that my dress was in customs. She said that for all of the lies and trouble I had experienced that I could have free alterations. I thought that was polite of them, finally I thought that they had done something right. NOPE. I went in when my dress finally came in and tried it on. While I was there I asked if they had written down that I was supposed to receive free alterations and they replied that it wasn't written down. Go figure. So the person who was supposed to help me with my dress said that she would get a hold of the manager and call me back. Once again no call back. Also, while I was trying on my dress I was treated very poorly. The lady was rude, pushy, and bossy. Anyway, I called two more times and until I was mean on the phone, there was no call back from the manager. She finally called back and told me that she never told me that I was promised free alterations. Interesting considering those were her exact words. She told me that the alterations are done through a different company and that all she did was move me up on the list. So in short, don't bother going to house of brides. They lie, don't ever return phone calls, and are completely rude! I wish I would have known about all of this before I went there. This whole experience has been such a headache, so please save yourself and don't go to house of brides. It is not worth it. Worst customer service I have ever experienced in my life!

I was able to order my dress and it came back earlier then expected. House of Bride held my dress until I was ready to pick it up to have alterations completed.

worst experience ever. it took 10 months to get my dress in because was wedding date was a year out why does that matter. the lady there was rude to me and didn't even help me try on the dresses just there when i picked one. alternations were a set fee of 500 for my dress. my veil smelled very badly when i got it and they argued with me and told me to hang it outside..a 300 veil just hang it outside so i made them order me a new one and they never called me to tell me it came in i had to call them...very bad place may be cheaper but go to a salon that helps you try it on and works with you and doesn't rush you bad bad experience.

We went to the House of Brides in Orland and my daughter found her dream dress on the second try! The ladies took great care of us and even offered discounts when I had'nt even asked yet! We ordered the dress in Jan.09, the wedding is in Dec 09 and we got the dress 3 weeks after we ordered it! I think they have been great and we have always been treated nice when we have gone in. I would recommend to anyone who asked.

I was a little hesitant at first as our first consultant was somewhat standoffish, but Anna was really helpful and once we were working with her, everything seemed to move quickly and I was much more relaxed

My dress was cheaper on their website, and they honored that price. Got it sooner than I expected. No problems at all.

I ordered a pink pearled veil that was only shown in white but they guarenteed me that it was available in pink. So I ordered and paid for it in August. It still wasn't in by January when I called to check. From there, it took another month. When it finally came in, it had white pearls and no pink. When I complained, they finally checked with the company and told me it didn't come in Pink pearls. I requested my money back and bought from on online website instead.

Well, it's a chain store, so I'm not surprised to read of people's terrible experiences and sort of expected the same thing to happen to me (I started formulating back-up plans, but all ended well).

The prices aren't as cheap as I thought they'd be (the $99 dresses are seriously as thin as nightgowns and tend to look more prom than anything), but they have a surprisingly good selection of dresses that are a little more modern and contemporary looking. I'd definitely recommend them to the bride who wants something more unique than the standard wedding gown, but doesn't have a ton of money to spend. Look for the "destination" gown section!

Also, alteration pricing is through the roof!

We started at the House of Brides last June, 2008. My daughter is getting married this July, 2009. She bought her dress elsewhere but found the bridesmaid dresses here as did I, mother of the bride! Not only did I find one, I bought two. All of the bridesmaids were fitted by the end of June, 2008 and were told to pay in full so that the dresses could be ordered. I was told the same and all dresses were paid for as requested. We expected the dresses were ordered and waited the 4 mos. we were told it would take for the dresses to arrive. I re-ordered my dress in a different color on January 19, 2009 and told that I would not get any money back on the previous order since all orders are final. I did mention that the dresses had not arrived, so why couldn't I change the color...it obviously was not even cut yet? Lucy the manager made it clear that all sales are final, period. Like a fool, I re-ordered anyway and sucked it up. Lucy was of no help then and it just got worse. There were no dresses until April!!! No reason as to why it took so long for the order. Two dresses needed to be mailed out...one to CA and the other to Hawaii. No one told us it would cost us another $35.00 to mail them out, so that became an issue. Why couldn't they go right to the customer from the vendor? No answer as to why. My niece's dress went to CA and did not fit. The size is cut smaller than other dresses in a bridal salon in CA by the same vendor. The zipper was stitched into the fabric so it cannot be pulled down all of the way. When a call was placed the next day, Saturday before Easter, to Lucy, she began to yell at my daughter who was also upset about the situation. I could hear Lucy yelling through the cell phone as I sat next to my daughter...Lucy was very rude and unprofessional and of no assistance in making this right. She told my daughter that the dress could not be re-ordered as there was not enough time and she was out of luck. My daughter said the dress was defective and Lucy's answer was that how did she know that my niece didn't jam the zipper! After much discussion back and forth, my daughter asked several times when the dresses were actually ordered, but never got an answer. Lucy told her she would look into the order and call her back...it didn't happen so I called the store the next Monday at 11:00 when the store opens. Lucy is never there until the afternoon and no one has the rights in the store to get into computers, answer questions, etc., except Lucy. Talk about total control!!!! I explained the entire situation to the gal at the front desk, that it appears is only allowed to answer the phone, and she would let the assistant mgr. know what is going on when she comes in. There was no one there to help me when I called! Late in the afternoon, at almost 5:30, I received a call from the assistant mgr. reiterating all of the same empty talk that Lucy gave my daughter on Saturday. Lucy didn't have the nerve to even call me to discuss the matter. As fate would have it, we got disconnected when I again asked the asst. mgr. when the orders were placed...she would have to check and placed me on hold. I waited for about 10 minutes and I finally got a return call...from Lucy. She and I did battle on the state of the affairs and she offered no help whatsoever. The dress belonged to my niece now...basically, too bad so sad for me! I told her that she is acting irresponsibly, and that she is my advocate and should be defending me and helping me as her customer. I paid on time and deserve better treatment, plus she was hoarding my money, gaining interest on it and I had nothing to show for it. She washed her hands of the entire situation.
My niece went to a salon in CA and was treated like a queen, as it should be. My niece explained our situation and the salon owner looked at the defective dress and agreed that it was not the usual product that the vendor produces. The zipper was stitched into the fabric and the dress was on the small size. She called the vendor and while we got nothing back for the original dress, this CA salon is able to secure a new dress for my niece, will have it by the end of May and will alter it in one day for her. My niece said that the vendor there has letters all over the store from happy brides complementing the salon on the treatment they received, making their wedding day very special. You do not find any such letters at the House of Brides. Lucy, as it turns out, attempted to find out about my nieces order...we found this out through the CA vendor and the dress vendor lied to Lucy to get her off their back. When we later questioned Lucy about the order date of our dresses, and still got no answer, she told us that the dress my niece thinks she ordered will not be in on time as my niece thinks it will. She is just mean! Calling the CA salon owner again, my niece has confirmation on the dress and the reassurance from the salon owner that it will be here as promised. The CA salon does business with our dress vendor all the time and when they say the dress will be here in 4 mos., they deliver. She felt it was unusual that our dresses were not in as promised. There is no reason our dresses were not here in Oct. When I told Lucy that, I explained that we hear horror stories all the time regarding bridal dresses and wanted to allow plenty of time for correction of errors if that were to be the case...hence we wanted to order early so that we had time to re-order if need be. Did I also mention that the original sales consultant was fired shortly after our orders were to have been placed? You would think as a result, the store would have gone out of their way to help us out...they got rid of a bad employee and yet no one has offered to take care of us, the customer.
The dress I ordered in Jan. just came in...almost 4 mos to the day! Interesting...and it came from the same vendor! Plus the original dress I ordered in June of '08 had come in just about two weeks before. Lucy, in the end, asked to have my niece return the dress for her to see...but after the rude treatment, accusations and run around, my sister will not send the dress to her because she does not trust Lucy at all. Lucy also has told my sister that she would not get her money back, so my sister decided to wash her hands of the store completely. Why spend another $35 to send it back to have Lucy tell her that very thing and again not offer to help? I was in the store last Friday to retrieve my dress, and again asked for the order date on the original dresses. No one could give me that information but Lucy...surprise!!! The assistant manager was there, but even she could not answer me. Lucy called my daughter the following day and finally told her that the dresses were ordered last August 28, 2008!!!! That is a full month and then some since they had our money and why weren't the dresses here before April of '09...the answer...sometimes the vendor see's the wedding date and won't send the dresses until two months before the wedding. Does anyone tell you that? NO!!! And how do they correct a mistake if it takes 4 mos. to order? They don't...you are out of luck...at least at this store and with this management. And why couldn't I change the color of my dress in January when I went to re-order since it was not yet even cut? No answer.
STAY CLEAR OF THIS STORE!!!!
If you have a complaint, the only one to talk to is Lucy and she will not help you. You cannot find out who is above her and no one answers you if you call the Customer Service number. There is no Corporate Office to contact either except through email...my niece did that two weeks ago and still has had no response. The company is shady and I am telling you to stay away from them.
There are some lovely young gals at the front desk but they are powerless...Lucy has control of the entire place and she is not willing to work with you despite the fact she should be your advocate as the consumer. She will take your money and run.
Go to any store other than the House of Brides.

House of Brides is awful. I would not recommend them to ANYONE. The staff is unprofessional, unflexible, and rude. When I was measured for my dress, they said that I was measuring for a size 18. I have never been over a size 12 in my life. They told me that wedding dresses run small and that since I was measuring for a plus size, my dress would be an extra $300. When I heard that, I refused to order the 18 and ordered a 16 instead. When it came in, it was HUGE. I had a corset style dress. It was so big, that I could take it on and off while it was completely laced up. Since I didn't trust them, I took my dress to an independant seamstress. I ended up getting my dress taken in 8 inches. That means I should have actually ordered a size 8 or 10. Thank God I didn't listen to them and order an 18. They are deceptive in their business practices and should be ashamed of themselves.

For my wedding I decided to use the House of Brides in Orland Park for the bridesmaids dresses, what a disaster. The staff was rude, in particular, the manager. One of the bridesmaids dresses was incorrect, the dress was two sizes bigger than the original order and the manager, at first, refused to accept the mistake and then stated she would only alter that exact dress to fit the bridesmaid, but the bridesmaid would then have to pay for it to be hemmed! When asked to speak to someone above her, she stated there is no one. She was terrible and rude and to be quite honest, House of Brides was the worst part of my whole wedding planning process. I would not recommend ANYONE to use them.

I purchased all three bridesmaids dresses, two girl ring bear dresses, and two flower girl dress there for our wedding. All the dresses were custom orders from BillLevkoff! I was very nervous. After I placed the order I found some bad reviews. I did start at oak lawn. Had horrible customer service so left. We went to Orland Park location, and they were GREAT! A very nice and helpful group of girls! All the dresses came in just when they said they would and in the right sizes and colors! We were very pleased! They were true to their word on all ordering and very patient with me! Now remember we have our three daughters and two other little girls in the wedding! I can't say enough about them!!!!!!!! Thanx Again!

I attempted to shop for my bridal gown at the House of Brides in Orland Park. I was in and out of the salon, however, within 10 minutes. The consultant reprimanded me for having too short of an engagement, and she said they would be unable to find me a gown in under 6 months. It appeared that they had a great selection, but they didn’t even let me look. They told me I was having a “crash wedding.” They were very rude. I wouldn't go back, or ever recommend them to anyone.