Berni Bridal & Formal

My daughter had been to several glamorous bridal salons but found her gown at Bernie's Bridal in Skippack. It is located in a former home in downtown Skippack. When it became a bridal shop, they basically hung gowns in the living, dining and sunporch. it still has the original wallpaper and old, old dingy carpet that she has to put a sheet down on so as not to get the gowns dirty I assume. The MOB & Cocktail dresses look like they have been there for years. But she has some beautiful bridal dresses and it was 5 min. from both our homes.

Bernie has been in the business for at least 40 years and she absolutely loves everything bridal. It is in her blood and she even cried several times seeing my daughter in her gown. But unfortunately, it is time for her to retire. She has no employees and is only open by appt. It has become too much for her.

We waited the expected 4-6 months for the gown to arrive after she measured for the length. Sample was a 12 and we needed a 4. We were told because of the placement of the lace appliques the dress would made to length which was a plus!

Throughout the process, she told us that we were such pleasant and helpful customers, helping to hang dresses, handing her pins, fixing the sheet on the floor, helping unfold the underskirts....

The dress arrived and as soon as my daughter put it on we were in shock! The dress was 3 - 4" too short in the front showing feet up to her ankles. Bernie went to get her tape measure and concluded that the manufacturer did not make a mistake and made it according to the measurement. Trying to be kind, I said, ""well then it must have been measured incorrectly." She insisted that she did not measure it wrong and told us we were not going to lay blame on anyone.

She sent us home so she could decide what to do. I called her on the weekend to say that were very distraught and she should probably call the manufacturer to see where he may have sent a dress like this to a shop that see could purchase as a replacement or find out if they could possibly remake it quickly. She assured us that the problem would be solved and not to worry.

A week later we returned and she had no solution other than to wear flats. We had purchased a cathedral matching veil and flats were out of the question. Her grandmother and I both attended this time and with some sewing experience we suggested that she could add pieces to all the layers in the front and then add more lace appliques to hide the added pieces.

After many, many fittings (I believe I counted 11) , it was finally completed 2 1/2 wks. before the wedding.

We went to pay knowing we owed half the balance. I told her I would split the difference for the extra work and lace with her because I know she spent a lot of time fixing her mistake and I felt we had formed a very nice friendship with her after all of the visits. I thought I was being very kind with this offer. Well, she nearly blew a gasket! She was very flustered and had an awful time giving me a breakdown of the costs & hours spent on the alterations. She had them written on the back of an envelope. She has no files or anything to speak of regarding bookkeeping. My guess is she called in the wrong measurement because of her poor paperwork. She came up with $600 for the additional lace and the alterations. She started screaming at us that we were the worst customers she has ever dealt with and that we ruined her whole spring because of the work she had to put into this dress. We were the cause of all her other brides having to be delayed because of this dress! She said she charges $30/hr for alterations but gave us a break. Why did she do that if she wasn't at fault. We also purchased the sample veil which she knocked $50 off and threw that in our face as well. Saying she had to purchase another veil to replace the one we bought and it was $150 more. Well I would assume she will sell the veil for more than what she paid for it. So, not sure how that has anything to do with us. S