House of Brides

I stopped by the salon on a whim a couple weeks ago when I didnt find a dress at another store. I was a bit nervous to walk in without an appointment but was greeted warmly and told I could start browsing. I found a few dresses I wanted to try on. My salesperson Micaela helped me find dresses based on what styles I liked. She was wonderful. She voiced her honest opinions about something that would look nice on me. We picked out 8 in total. I was so appriciative that Micaela helped me into and out of each dress. Sometimes those dresses are very large and hard to get into. The first dress I tried on ended up being THE DRESS! It was one of Micaela’s pick. It was gorgeous!
I came back today to show my mom and sister and again Micaela was great! She was just as warm as last time and I felt like we were friends talking instead of doing business. The ordering process was very simple and I was out of there pretty quickly!
The dresses are gorgeous and range in price to fit a small to large budget. Thank you Micaela!

I thought the service was excellent and the women that helped me were very sweet. I appreciated the candid feedback on what looked good on me too –check out the pictures to see my dress and veil! I thought what I paid for my dress was fair given then amount of detail and the quality. I would recommend this store to any bride!

I went in this store yesterday to look at bridesmaids dresses. I was told they take 4 – 5 to arrive (wedding is 2 months away).The lady at the front was rude! No wonder there was NO ONE at the store. We went next door to Davids Bridal and not only was everyone nice, we found the perfect dress. Oh I should mention Davids was packed.

If I could give 0 stars I would. I have been to this location twice and both times were a terrible experience. Their customer service is the WORST and employees were downright rude! Save yourself the time and go next-​door to David’s Bridal!

We saw the negative reviews and decided to brave this place anyway. WRONG MOVE. This was by far the worst experience I have had at a bridal store.
We arrived to the store on a Sunday at noon for our noon appointment. A huddle of us were outside the door, as it seemed to be locked — meanwhile, an employee sat at the reception desk inside. Finally another employee arrived and pushed the door instead of pulled, revealing that it was open all along and those of us waiting outside were trying to open it incorrectly. Stupid of us? Absolutely. But there was an employee sitting DIRECTLY INSIDE who SAW US. She couldn’t get off her ass to let us in? Wow.
Lucky us (eyeroll), said employee was the consultant for our appointment. She sent us looking on our own, and we found nothing for the low-​key bride whose wedding we were shopping for. Everything there is poofy and extravagant; if you’re looking for any of the simpler gowns reflected on the website, they are not in this store. In fact, I was shocked at how limited the selection here was.
The rep finally joined us (about 10 minutes after the start of our appointment) and pulled about 5 short dresses that looked like communion dresses, or dresses for an 8^th grade dance. She did not listen to the bride’s taste preferences — «elegant, sophisticated, graceful» — at all.
She was then awkwardly summonsed away by another employee — she promised us she’d be back in «30 seconds.» Out of sheer boredom at being abandoned, the bride proceeded to try on all five of the dresses (despite liking none of them), and when she was done trying them on our consultant still (!!!) was not back. We waited and waited and waited — she didn’t even stop by to let us know whatever issue she was having was taking longer than expected. She just disappeared without a word. Finally we just walked out the door. Wow.
We went across the street to David’s Bridal and were assigned a highly-​attentive consultant, despite not even having an appointment. We had a fantastic experience there, where the bride tried multiple dresses that she adored.
Avoid this place. AVOID!

This place is THE WORST, my sister just had her wedding in naperville and the bridesmaids got their dresses from HOB. My sister told them the wedding was 1 week before the actual date on advice from another person with a unfavorable experience at HOB. The dresses ARRIVED 5 DAYS AFTER the wedding date she told them and 2 days before the actual wedding. Then they offered to do the alterations for free to «accomodate us». Funny thing is they didn’t actually do them.
They measured my girlfriend and returned the dress to her the following day, but the fit was the same and the dress was still too long. We took the dress in to get it re-​altered and they said they would not be re-​altering it after they already «accomodated us». Since they only got the dresses 2 days before the wedding this refusal happened the day of the wedding. We went across the street to Stitch It in the Fox Valley Mall and the seamstress not only altered it for us in 2 hours but showed us visually that HOB didn’t even alter the dress at all, THEY JUST LIED TO US!!!
Please learn from my sister and my girlfriend’s experience and avoid HOB at all costs!!!

My wedding is in 5 days. My bridesmaids have no dresses. Most of them need alterations. The sales associate who worked with us lied and changed plans without telling anyone. I should have checked Unilocal.They are also rude, unhelpful, and not so smart. Makes for a very frustrating part of planning the whole wedding. Want 0 stars.

My dealing with the House of Brides was the single worst experience I have ever had with a retail store. You should carefully read every review that exists on House of Brides on Unilocal and other review sites. I wish I had. The people at House of Brides are completely dishonest and most likely they seem to operate as cheats and thieves. Do not believe anything they tell you. My fiancé ordered a dress in early April 2014. She was told that the dress would be here at the latest the first week in August and there would plenty of time to do the appropriate alterations before the wedding which was August 30. Beginning in mid July she started calling for status. She was told the dress was in shipment but it never came. She checked back twice a week and was told the dress was on the way. She visited the store in person twice and was told the same thing. Two days prior to the wedding she was left with no other alternative other than buying a dress elsewhere. They refused to return the $ 800 deposit that was originally made when the dress was ordered. As of two weeks after the wedding date there was still no proof that they had the dress. We are currently working with the State Attorney General and all we know for certain is that according to their representative there are many many complaints on House of Brides filed with their office. We will follow up with more information. Do yourself and your loved ones a favor by never doing business with House of Brides.

Ladies, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME! I would NOT recommend buying from here.
I had a TERRIBLE experience at the Naperville/​Aurora HOB when I was a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding in May. they charge a ridiculous amount for larger sizes, everyone’s measurements were wrong and they ordered the dress in the wrong color and then tried blaming my friend.
Anyway, I knew going into it that I was not going to purchase my bridal gown here, but I wanted to try some dresses on and get some ideas. When I called, I specifically asked if they had a certain Mori Lee dress. They said yes. I also asked if they had a large collection of plus sizes. They said yes. Wrong on both counts.
First, you aren’t allowed to take pictures, which is super annoying. We were the only people in the store and how else are you supposed to know if you like the way something looks on you? Whatever.
Second, the consultant asked me what styles I liked. Then she proceeded to bring me dresses that were the complete opposite of what I said. Turns out they don’t have the dress I asked about, but I am sure they lied to get me into the store. Also, only ONE of the dresses fit me. I am plus size, but had no problem fitting in gowns in any of the other stores I went to. It was ridiculous and made me feel terrible. The consultant half-​assed everything, and was trying to force me and shove me into dresses that we both knew weren’t going to fit.
I was so irritated by the whole thing. I am not surprised this place has such low ratings.

This place is bad. The woman up front was snotty and not at all helpful. I told her what I was looking for and she said she doesn’t have anything close and even if she did, it would take 4 – 6 months to get it delivered. She must have not felt like working because she didn’t even attempt to stand up and help me. I’m getting married and this place will get none of my business.

The ladies here are snobs. Are we allowed to swear on Unilocal?Because I would use a different word if we are! I stopped in here with my friend (the bride) to see if they had bridesmaid dresses that were sold off the rack as there wouldn’t be enough time to order. We waited at the front desk for almost ten minutes while someone was vacuuming in back and two other ladies who worked there were talking with their backs to us. When the vacuuming stopped I spoke up to the ladies with their backs towards us to let them know we were in there. They barely reacted and just asked if we had an appointment. When I said no, they looked annoyed. I asked if they had dresses sold from the store without ordering and she simply said no and looked like she was waiting for us to leave. We left and went to David’s Bridal right next door where they were much nicer. I’ve heard from numerous friends stories depicting the same thing: rude employees. You’re working in sales ladies! Be nicer :)

So upset! I am in a pinch to get a bridesmaids dress. I know I don’t have enough time to order so I walked in on a Friday afternoon to see if they sell off the rack. I asked the sale lady just that, «I know it’s a stretch, but do you have any bridesmaids dresses or samples that I’d be able to by off the hanger, I’m in a pinch.» She looked at me, sized me up from head to toe and responded disgustedly, «No, not in your size.»
I was thoroughly upset that she guessed my size (incorrectly) under a baggy winter coat and looked at my so judgmentally. I am a size 10, which is a medium, average size of a girl in her mid twenties, and I find it to be in poor taste and professionalism for a sales representative to treat a customer the way she treated me and not want to help me because of what size she «thought» I was.

Horrible staff. They didn’t seem to care or have any style. I said I needed a dress under $ 1,000 and they gave me like 3 dresses. So bad staff, bad prices and bad selection. Davids bridal has way more dresses.

I was very upset that I found my dress at this store. I originally made my appointment here because according to their very hard to navigate website, there were a few dresses I was interested in at this store, including a shrug I wanted to look at. I live in Chicago but ventured to Aurora because the website led me to believe they would have what I was looking for. Turns out they had NONE of the 12 dresses the website said they had. The salesperson was less than helpful and they didn’t even have the shrug. She sent us to navigate the store by ourselves and offered only one dress suggestion that wasn’t even close to what I was asking for. My friend and I picked a few dresses for me to try on and unfortunately I fell in love with one of them. They won’t tell you the name of the designer or the dress. They have their own coding system so you can’t see if you can find the dress elsewhere. But I REALLY loved this dress… so I bought it. At the recommendation of the salesperson (which should probably be a sign), I said my wedding date was one month before my actual wedding date to ensure the dress arrived on time…
I went into the store in May because my parents were visiting from Florida and I wanted them to see the dress I chose and I had changed my mind about having a veil, so I wanted to try a few on with the dress. I chose a veil and ordered one and was assured that it would arrive by the time of the wedding…
Two weeks before my «fake» wedding date, I called to check on the dress and they told me they didn’t know where it was or when it would be in. I didn’t completely freak out because I knew I still had 6 weeks, not two, but I expressed a deep concern for why the dress wasn’t in yet. I received a rude, uninterested response. They acted like they were doing me a favor when I had spent $ 1000+ in their store and I didn’t deserve to know when the most expensive, most important dress I’d ever order in my life would arrive. On the day of my fake wedding I got a call that my dress had arrived. The person who called me said she was confused by the conflicting wedding dates listed in my account — to which I replied «well if today was my actual wedding date and you are telling me my dress just arrived today that would really suck wouldn’t it? I’m glad your staff told me to order it for a month ahead of time.» She then gave me a very hard time about arranging for an alteration date (it’s a 40 mile drive from my apartment). Oh, and they still didn’t have my veil and couldn’t tell me when it would arrive. Apparently, like wedding dresses, veils also come from some magical place that no one can tell you when they will arrive.
I tried on my dress and was terrified. But, it fit perfectly and the alterations people were super helpful. They did a wonderful job on my bustle — which is the only reason they are getting a 2-​star review from me.
The veil came in 5 days before the wedding.
I am glad to never have to ever do business with this place again. There are strange credit card rules that they don’t tell you about ahead of time. Wedding vendors in general can be very rude and in my experience, and the people at this shop were among the most rude. Highly unrecommended.

If you have not already heeded the warnings of so many brides before me, please hear ME and keep away from here! Now that I finally have my wedding dress in my possession, I feel safe saturating the internet with warnings about this place. *Yes I honestly felt like my dress was in danger while in the hands of these women, not only because they carried around massive mugs of coffee all over their salon, but because they do not care about their customers at all! You would think working in this industry they would have some sort of knowledge of wedding stress or at least a discernible amount of compassion for their only customers, stressed out brides and their posse!
I have my full story listed on their official Google Reviews page if you care to read a novel, and see what you could possibly have to deal with, I suggest you read it, read all of them.twice.

I was dead set against going to HOB. I have heard nothing but bad things and I was absolutely not wanting to try… but after a long day of bridesmaids dress shopping with my girls, it was our third stop and final hope.
I had a very specific color (sort of teal) that no where else seemed to carry and they had a great selection of both larger and smaller sizes for my ladies to try on, TONS of options and they didn’t really stalk me much at all… but they were busy and we came in without an appointment.
The dresses were a little bit more expensive, but still under $ 200. We were able to find an excellent dress that fit them all well – in my color!!!
As a side note – I did give them a fake phone number so I’m not getting tons of calls – because I’ve been warned. I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to look especially for bridesmaids dresses.
It worked out well, was stress-​free, and we had a lot of fun trying things on. The stylists were nice and seemed to know what they were talking about.

I came here for my best girlfriends dress shopping extravaganza. Our stylist was pretty ok, I feel she could have been a bit more attentive. Their prices are a bit high I feel and you can go right across the way to Davids Bridal and find the same dress for a lot cheaper.
They do have a HUGE selection, holy cow… which can be overwhelming.
Im sorry, but their bathroom is so gross. I know it has nothing to do with their dresses, but if Im spending two and a half hours there and dropping a couple hundred on a dress, I really would like a clean bathroom that I feel comfortable actually using!

Terrible. terrible… terrible. How are they still in business? How do they have any positive reviews? I bet any reviews they received more than ONE STAR were from their own employees making fake posts so they don’t have all NEGATIVE reviews.
EVERY BRIDE’S NIGHTMARE: Dresses were supposed to arrive mid October… the dresses arrived TWO MONTHS later… and a week after the wedding date!!!
Do not go to this bridal store… save yourself the stress and disappointment.

I would never recommend this location to anyone, for anything.
I went into HOB to browse (BROWSE!) bridesmaid dresses. Not bridal gowns. Not to try anything on. So I needed NO assistance. I was with my mom, so I didn’t have a posse with me.
The girl at the front desk greeted me and asked if I had an appointment. I didn’t. I told her what I had in mind for my visit, that I was looking for bridesmaid dresses. She snottily asked «what designer are you looking for?»
I didn’t know, I was more interested in checking to see if they had the color scheme I was looking for (doing a rainbow wedding, was investigating shops in the area.)
She flipped her hair and told me, «well, you need an appointment,» handed me a business card, and then asked if I’d like to make an appointment. She gestured as if to tell me I could NOT go look in the store at the dresses.
So I left. And threw the business card in the trash can outside. Then walked across the parking lot to David’s Bridal, and found EXACTLY what I was looking for there.

What. A. Joke!
Is this a used car lot or a bridal store?
Thankfully, I’m only a bridesmaid and not the bride. This place would most certainly turn any mild mannered bride into a bridezilla!
First, the set up is odd. When you walk in there’s a counter, which it seems like you’re supposed to stop and wait to be greeted or escorted in. Ummm, nope.
If you do actually get greeted, it’s more of a «What the F do you want?» than a pleasant, I can’t wait to assist you type of attitude.
Basically, if you’re a bridesmaid, they know they have you by the … well, you know. Got fitted for my dress, nothing special and no proactive advice offered. .. like «What kind of shoes are you wearing with that?»
I’m 5’8″ and barefoot the dress was perfect length. Any decent bridal consultant should immediately ask about shoes.. . nope. Well thankfully I stood on my tipy toes in the dressing room an realized I might have an issue with the length if I wore heels. Walked back out and asked the consultant, she was like… «oh, ya… if you’re wearing heels, you’ll need extra length.» Extra length means $ 30 for 5-​inches plus alteration fees to get it the correct length.
When the dress arrived, I tried it on and low and behold, they charged me for extra length and gave me a regular length dress. Since it was only 3-​weeks before the wedding, they offered to stretch the dress out with a steamer. Well, I can tell you that doesn’t look so nice. You can tell the dress hem is strangely wavy now like.. . guess what? It’s been stretched.
So happy I Googled the shoes the bride wanted us to buy from there and bought them online. No way I’d want to give this place another nickel.