Bell Amore

If you, like any bride, want to feel beautiful and elegant and fabulous on your wedding day, I would recommend you DON’T come here to find your dress.
In just under two hours, I had all my confidence stripped from me and was made to feel fat, pressured and the consultant who was supposed to be ‘helping’ me broke EVERY rule of wedding dress shopping.
For those who don’t know, those rules are:
1. Don’t show a bride a dress over her budget.
2. Listen to what she thinks about each dress.
3. Don’t show her a dress you can’t get.
First off, she pulled dresses with sleeves. I don’t want sleeves. Then she pulled lace dresses and puffy dresses. I don’t want that either and I told her.
She gets me in my first dress and it’s hideous. But she says I look lovely and pushes me to buy it. NO.
Eventually I manage to get through to her that I don’t like it and also that I don’t want a petticoat. We try another dress. With sleeves and netting in the bottom. And then another dress. With sleeves and netting. Etc etc. She’s not listening to a word I’m saying.
Then she decides to change tack and puts me in a plain dress. And it’s SO much better. But it’s still got netting in the bottom and that’s putting me off. I tell her all this, and so she tries another dress.
Next is a high-​necked lace dress with the biggest skirt I’ve ever seen. It’s so big, I have to scrunch it up to get through the door and it is SO stiff that I rustle as I walk. SERIOUSLY? What?! She is not listening to me AT ALL.
Another two lacey dresses later and repeated «I don’t like lace, it makes me feel old and it’s itchy» comments later, she finally drops it and goes back to the rails.
I wander over to the sale rack and found a beautiful dress. I like it. A lot. I ask her if I can try it on and she says they COULD get it, but then just flat out insults me. «It’s a 12. It’s too small for you. It won’t fit you. We could order it in the right size of course but the sample won’t fit at all. And it’s more suited to a beach wedding.»
EXCUSE ME? It’s MY wedding, MY dress and I will decide whether I want to wear a ‘beachy’ dress to it or not, thanks very much. And you’ve essentially just called me FAT. I’m FUMING.
After insisting, she grudgingly lets me try it on. And it’s tight, sure, because it’s the wrong size, but it does up. I swish around in it, show my mum and we both love it. It’s beautiful. In my own size I’m thinking it’ll be even better. She looks on but doesn’t say much. Probably because it’s on the sale rack.
I turn to her and ask if she can look into this one for me. She disappears and I spend a couple more minutes floating around before she comes back and drops a bombshell.
The dress has been discontinued and they can’t get it. Then she says: «A stone is the equivalent of a dress size, so you can’t buy this one.» Okay, that’s IT. I know I’m not a stick, but you think I’m so fat I can’t lose enough weight to fit into that dress, when it already does up now?! SERIOUSLY!!!
I’m feeling pretty rubbish now. She puts me in another 5 dresses, all puffy and lacy and thoroughly unflattering. She’s not listening at ALL.
Throughout all this, my mum and I are pointing out dresses I like. But she just says «That’s too small, it won’t fit you.» I know that. I thought the point of all this was that I try on dresses to see if there’s one I like and then you order one in my size and we alter it. No?
Anyway. You’ll let me try on dresses that are too big and ask me to imagine what it’ll look like smaller but you won’t do that for dresses that are smaller? There’s also a lot of «Here, this is a big one» every time she pulls a dress that she thinks will fit me. INSULTING.
After nearly two hours, the consultant announces that she’s tried all the dresses she can and that she can’t help me. Despite there being a whole downstairs filled with dresses and another four racks and wall upstairs we haven’t even looked at.
I ask her for the name of the dress I’d fallen in love with and she says there’s no point because I wouldn’t find it, I’d have to get it ordered in and it takes 6 months so there’s no time. I’m getting married in December… 11 months away. I give up and leave.
This bridal shop claims to make you feel special, but all they do is make you feel ugly, fat, like you’ll never find a dress and more than that, like you don’t DESERVE to wear a wedding dress. They make you feel disgusted with yourself, like you should go home and start taking laxatives by the handful.
They constantly make snide comments, they won’t let you try on half the dresses you want, they put dresses on you that they don’t even MAKE anymore without even checking.
I’m BEGGING you. If you’re reading this feeling like you want to try this shop, DON’T. Turn around. Leave. Try ANYWHERE else. I never want to wear a dress again because of this place and I don’t want anyone else to EVER feel like that. I’d give it NO stars if I could.

Brought my wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses here as well as all of the groomsmen suits! Brilliant service, with a fabulous selection of dresses and staff who really help you to find the perfect dress! Would highly recommend! Was really impressed with all the help and advice I received throughout