Brides By Demetrios

Two Stars because the dresses did arrive on time but just like all of the other reviews they did not do a good job on informing me of the delay of my 7 bridesmaids dresses. I had to call every time and would not get a firm response. I understand that their third party may be delayed but we need to know that. I suggest if you do get your dress here do not give them your true wedding date tell them that is at least a month earlier. While I was in the store this was an issue with other brides and obviously reading through Unilocal it was not just my wedding party that was affected by this. Communication is key when dealing with a bride and her dresses, one of the most important pieces to the wedding.

HORRIBLE! DO NOT BUY YOUR DRESS FROM HERE!
This wedding dress store is AWFUL and I deeply regret buying my dress from this store. It has been an absolute NIGHTMARE trying to receive this expensive dress. It has been the biggest headache of my wedding thus far and I will warn every bride from San Diego that I meet to not buy their dress at this location.
The in-​store experience trying on the dress is somewhat middle of the road. The dresses are pretty, albeit expensive. The salesperson I had, Laura, was somewhat pushy with selling the dress to me that day; however, I used to work in sales so wasn’t put off by this. Upon putting the deposit down for the dress, I was promised that the dress would «most likely» arrive by April 1, which would give me plenty of time for alterations prior to my August wedding. I intentionally purchased my dress in November to give myself ample time to get my dress altered. Laura’s promise that I would receive my dress by early April could have been an honest mistake; however, her actions (and the other sales people’s actions) after the fact indicate to me that it was either deception to entice me to purchase the dress, or their production process is just so poor that they have no control over when dresses are received. Regardless, the customer service (or lack thereof) that I received after purchasing my dress was absolutely unacceptable. I had to chase down the dress myself and make endless phone calls to follow up on its status. It was very stressful and added a lot of stress to the already stressful process of planning a wedding.
Because they indicated the dress would arrive early April, I gave the store a call about a week into April to inquire where the dress was. I talked to Laura and she was apologetic and promised that it would arrive at the end of April at the absolute latest due to «longer production than expected.» Totally fine, although it was strange to me that I didn’t receive a call with an update about the longer production. The end of April came and went, and about a week into the month of May I again called Laura and asked about the status of the dress. I had heard absolutely nothing from her about my dress. Again, she said that it was «delayed in production» but she was not sure when it would arrive. She assured me that she would look into the status of the dress and would give me a call back as soon as she heard.
Well, Laura never EVER called me back. I would call the store and would either leave a voicemail, or would talk to her briefly and she would again assure me that it was at the top of her to do list and she was «working on it» with the promise she would call me ASAP with an update. But she never called me! I was really surprised at this level of customer service, considering I’d just paid a lot of amount of money for a dress.
After a few weeks of not hearing back from Laura, I called the store asking for the manager and was transferred to Flavia, another sales person, to help me out. Flavia assured me that she was doing everything that she could to get me my dress. At this point it was the beginning of June, my wedding two months away (typically you get your dress altered two months prior) with no dress. I was extremely anxious and concerned. Flavia promised me that my dress had finally been finished on Friday and that she had received special authorization to overnight ship the dress to the store close to me by Tuesday, arriving to the store by Thursday or Friday at the latest. Well, guess what? The dress never shipped. I called the store over the weekend and, not only did they not have the dress, but they had no idea that my dress was even coming to them. I still do not have my dress!
I have no idea how this business can operate with such expensive dresses yet such poor customer service. It is amazing that they think that they can sell people such expensive dresses yet completely drop the ball after they get the money for them. I still have not received my dress and am very concerned that I will not have sufficient time to alter it, despite having ordered it well in advance of when I should have had to.
Stay far, far away from this place!

I came here to get a bridesmaids dress for my brothers wedding. If I didn’t HAVE to come here I wouldnt have come back after the first visit. Everyone seemed confused and completely disorganized. I felt pushed in and out each time. I kept calling and asking if my dress was ready and each time they said no, and they would call the bride when it was ready. So I stopped calling. Well one week before the wedding still no dress. So the bride calls and they tell her they told me last week it was ready and told them I was comming in. This is a blatant lie. They must have thought I was someone else because I called AFTER they said it was there and I was told no it was not there. I was forced to pay to get my alterations done there instead of somewhere cheaper and close to home for time restraints. I got my dress the day before the wedding. The bride did not need this extra stress before the big day. I give them two stars instead of one because they DID manage to get it fitted in time for the wedding. But the journey there was filled with frustration and irritation. I never once left a phone call or a visit there feeling like they had a handle on the situation.

Rosa was very helpful and worked with each of my bridesmaids to order their’s my mom also found her dress at Brides by Demetrios. When we first arrived Rosa asked me what style of wedding dress I was looking for took out a few and sure enough I fell in love with one and said «Yes to the dress». We drove about eight hours, but it was well worth it. I also found my veil and headpiece here which was very nice. The only reason I am giving four stars is because I wish Rosa would have mentioned that it would have been no cost to have tried it on with shoes to get the right length and I could have saved my husband some money on the alterations I had done.

Customer service was horrible. Girls at front desk are extremely rude. dress was ordered in early feb and supposed to be here 2^nd week of March. kept getting run around everytime I called about the dress. Finally last week of April & 1 week til wedding my dress arrived. Refused to use any other service demitrios offered. Dress was huge! 2 sizes too big and length was dragging. I would never recommend this place to anyone. I’m sticking with David’s Bridal.

Please see Flavia!
Flavia was all about making sure I was comfortable and took all my likes/​dislikes into consideration. Small things I would mention about a dress she stored straight to her memory! I went in with both my family and the family of my fiancée and she was immediately loved by all of us. For the few hours and few dresses we were there for she was already like a family member to us.
She has such incredible charisma and made me laugh the entire time. The amount of times she would tell me I looked beautiful made my self esteem and confidence soar so high.
I didn’t think I would leave with a dress but I ended up saying yes that day. The most memorable and intimate moment is something that will keep me tearing up for the rest of my life.
If you’re into someone who will keep you laughing and even do your hair into a quick up-​do (and a really cute one haha) please see her!
Thank you so much, Flavia. I couldn’t have done this without you!

I am very happy with my wedding dress purchased from Brides By Demetrios, even more so after having been to several bridal stores throughout San Diego. It was very easy to make an appointment and Rosie by consultant was a dream. Rosie made the whole process easy and was quick to get you in and out of dresses that weren’t too much to your liking and top off the icing on the cake when you found the one.
When I came in for my first fitting, the seamstress was a doll as well making my dress a one of a kind as I needed to make customized adjustments, but she was able to make it happen flawlessly. Only initial problem was my veil had a small hole in it with my initial fitting but they were able to make sure I had a brand new one before I picked up my final dress.
I really do wish that you could ring a bell still when you found the one (apparently you can’t do that much anymore, but they do have a cute little I said yes to the dress sign).
Thank you Rosie and everyone at Demetrios for making me look perfect on my big day!
Stevie

Love Love Love! Flavia found me the perfect dress, and the seamstress made it fit like a glove. I am new to San Diego. I have no family on this side of the country. These ladies made me feel like family. I can’t wait for my big day! Amazing shopping experience from back to front. 5 stars!

They say one thing always goes wrong at your wedding. For me, it was my dress. Both straps broke, at separate and very inappropriate times. The first strap broke seconds before I was to walk down the aisle which delayed me, freaked my husband out, and I walked down the aisle with SAFETY PINS keeping me together. Second strap was DURING my Father-​Daughter dance, my Father and I having to change the choreography of our dance we took lessons for, and the photos show my broken strap dangling.
My consultant Rosa was great, my dress shopping experience was so fun, picked 8 bridesmaid dresses, all was well. First problem occurred a month later when my bridesmaid dresses weren’t available in my selected color and I had to settle for a different color, no discount offered (still not 100% happy with the color).
My dress arrived and was every more sparkly than the sample I tried on. It was heavily beaded, I have a large bust, and because my dress had a low back everything was relying on two tiny straps for support. At my first fitting, the straps were so tight they were digging into my shoulders and armpit and turned me red and really hurt within a minute. With other alterations it was $ 450!!! Yikes!!! At Fitting #2: It was still kind of ill-​fitting in the top… but then since we were going to add cups to the bustline everything was supposedly going to fit perfectly. At the final fitting I was still constantly adjusting my breasts inside the dress, but it was 5 days to showtime and still needed to be pressed so I decided I’d strap them in with dress tape and hope for the best.
The dress fit well for the first half hour I had it on. But as the dress was getting warmer, things started loosening up and despite having a D cup I was no longer filling out the dress and the straps were getting pushed to the limit, and ultimately gave way. Perhaps the straps should have been reinforced, widened, or if it was explained to me that as the dress warms up things will loosen it could have prevented TWO terrible experiences during my wedding, and photos that clearly shows the dress didn’t fit me well at all.

I was the bride who planned her wedding in 4 months and needed a dress fast. I found my dream dress online on their website and HAD to come in and try it on asap. Making an appointment was easy to do even though it was on 4^th of July weekend. I arrived for my appointment early with my mom and sister and we browsed through the wide selection of dresses they had. There was no real organization of the dresses by style so we kind of had to just look through each one. We were greeted by my consultant, Rosa, and she asked about my style and quickly pulled a few dresses for me. They came close to the one I wanted but weren’t the one. Finally, I showed her the picture of the dress I saw online and she pulled it. It was a winner! Tears galore! Rosa found a beautiful headpiece and detailed cathedral length veil to bring the whole look together and we were sold. To top it all off, they were having a sale for 50% off all headpieces and veils and 20% all gowns for 4^th of July! They told me my dress would take exactly 3 months to make so I was able to make the deadline for my October wedding. We also ordered a mother of the bride dress and they gave us the same deadline for that dress.
Fast forward to October.
The first week of October came and I didn’t received any notification about when the dresses were coming. My wedding gown ended up coming in on October 8^th along with the veil and MOB dress, no headpiece. My dress fitting was fine, the dress fit like a glove and just needed a few inches off the bottom. My mom’s dress, however, was the wrong color… 2 weeks before the wedding. My mom was in tears. It was supposed to be a sandy beige and it came out peach. They told her that there was no possible was they could make the same dress in a different color in 2 weeks so she needed to order a different style in the color swatch she actually wanted and they would rush ship it for next day delivery. She found one that she liked and it was a bit of a price difference but the manager took care of the difference due to the situation at hand. They messed up and weren’t able to get the dress overnighted so we had to wait a couple of days for the dress. When we came to get fitted for my mom’s dress, the dress wasn’t in the store and we had to wait 2 hrs for the FedEx truck to come even though our appointment was scheduled for 2pm. Why would you schedule a dress fitting for a customer when the dress isn’t in your store? Baffling. The dress finally made it’s way into the store and the dress fitting was put to rest.
They say things happen for a reason. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise because my mom’s dress was MUCH more flattering and beautiful than the one we originally chose. My dress was flawless on the wedding day and props to Karla for giving my tatas some extra loving with those inserts! My bustle ended up breaking during my grand entrance and I face planted on the dance floor, ripping part of my train. We told them the story and they fixed my dress and cleaned it to brand new! Despite the hiccups, the ladies at Demetrio’s really do take care of their customers. I would recommend them to all my friends!

I went to a BUNCH of bridal stores before going to Demetrios. I noticed the same thing at each location– fake sales associates looking to make a sale. My appointment was at 4pm, and I got there at 12. I wanted to take a look around so I wouldnt waste my time. I could tell right away that this was the place I would find my wedding gown. The dresses were gorgeous and the staff was genuinely happy. I asked if I could move up my appointment and they gave me a 1pm with Flavia. Flavia was patient, sweet, charismatic, and just made me feel like a princess. I changed my mind so many times and she was understanding throughout the entire process. I went back about 3 times before I found the one and each time she was just as pleasant as the time before. When I would walk in, it was as if we were friends for years. She was very honest and attentive.
If you are looking for a dress with the right experience– ask for Flavia! Shes amazing!

Went there to help a friend pick her wedding dress. We forgot that most bridal stores need an appointment, and after being turned down at David’s Bridal we called Brides By Demetrios and they were able to get us in right away without an appointment. The sales consultant Flavia was incredibly sweet, knowledgeable, attentive, and helpful. My friend found the dress of her dreams, and received a gigantic discount too! Overall we loved the experience!

I have to say my consultant was helpful during my initial appointment to try on the dress. However the dress was so much smaller than the sample, so definitely go bigger. I wasn’t given a phone call when my dress or accessories were ready and I had to call in to figure it out. A couple of the staff were really rude and I just felt dumb for asking questions. So I went to D’angelo Couture for my alterations and they were amazing!

Thank you so much for all the help in picking my dress. I highly recommend this place. Great with the altering of my dress. also the timing was good on ordering came in pretty quick 4 – 5 months. Drank champagne with my ladies while picking out the dress. WE took our time and had a lot of fun. DIdn’t feel rushed or pressured and i got a dress i really love. thank you

Rosa is so wonderful! I remember her 10 years ago helping my best friend (my MOH) get her dress, then she helped her sister, and now she helped me! I told her my style and stuff I didn’t like or did, and my MOH gave her some style selections to look for as well. I tried on a few that were pretty, but hadn’t felt «the feelings» yet for a dress. Then Rosa had one in my dressing room she said she picked out based on the first 5mins of meeting me… I put the dress on and my jaw dropped. This was THE ONE! I felt like an ice princess and all of us cried! Rosa made me feel so good and she truly cared about me – even she teared up! It was like a hand-​holding, hugging, picture-​taking group of love.
Then Rosa was amazing in helping with the price and finding me a veil to match. All that she offered was incredible, and she makes you feel like she will take care of you thru the whole process down the road, too! We even unexpectedly ended up getting the MOH dress that day! All quick and painless, this was my 3^rd place to try on dresses, and thanks to Rosa, I said «this is the dress I want» and am so thrilled about it!

I want to start by saying the actual dress trying on experience was great. The staff was super helpful and nice. My consultant was friendly and helped us get a discount for the dress since it was over our budget.
However, my issue is that I now have to pay $ 750 to get the dress to actually fit me properly as I was told to order the wrong size. I was told if I lost ¼ inch around my hips it would fit. I lost more than that and even when I went in and tried the dress on after it came in they told me it fit perfectly. I thought the only reason it looked strange was because I needed to get the bust altered since I’m not especially gifted in that area. Unfortunately after bringing it to the tailor and seeing how the dress should truly fit, I discovered that it was too small around my hips (which had nothing to do with me losing any weight and everything to do with my actual hip bones). So I would have never fit in this dress. The entire dress needed to be pulled down to fit properly and the tailor had to open all the seams in order to find an extra inch and a half! (No where near the ¼ of an inch, even if that was truly the case).
So while I did have a fun time trying on dresses and my consultant was very nice and I believe had the best intentions, I am extremely disappointed that I have to pay a little less than half the dress price in alterations. That should not be the case for something so expensive and I would have expected more from people that seem so knowledgeable. My sister-​in-​law as well as my good friend both got their dresses here and I trusted them, but having to pay so much after the cost of the dress is very hard to be ok with.
I recommend always going bigger than smaller if you order a dress here. I tried to save money by fitting into the smaller dress to avoid alterations and that backfired… big time.

Angela was AMAZING! As soon as I walked in, the staff was extremely welcoming and friendly. I showed Angela a picture of what I was looking for and she immediately said «we have that» and started pulling dresses. She let me pull as many as I wanted! When I started trying them on she let me choose which ones I wanted to try based on what stood out most to me. The first dress I tried on, I loved! I had tried on dresses at 2 other places, and this was the first dress I loved. I tried on a few more and then found THE ONE. The longer I wore it the more I loved it!
What I really liked about this experience was when I was ready to try another dress there was no fuss about «what don’t you like? What can we alter to make it better» like I had found at the other places. Angela let me see how I felt, added a veil if I wanted to see the full picture, and when I was done with a dress she helped me out of it and into the next one. She also only brought be dresses like the one I had showed/​explained to her (and in my price range). She didn’t make me try other things or waste my time with things she knew I wouldn’t like. Angela was also excited for me when I found THE ONE — she screamed! I cried! My mom cried! and we popped a bottle of champagne [my maid of honor is great]
I also noticed a big difference in quality of the fabrics as well. These dresses are soft and made so beautifully.
Anyway, my experience here was amazing! I was in and out of 4 dresses in under 45 minutes and it felt great!!! I would absolutely suggest this to every bride out there — don’t waste your time at other places!
PS they have something for everyone’s price range, which is great! (I think one dress I tried on was $ 500!!) so don’t let the three $‘s fool you.

From a bride,
I actually purchased my wedding dress from here in 2011. As far as my experience went, it was top notch.
My consultant (whos name i wish i remembered) was so patient and understanding.
I had been to so many gown shops prior to my visit here with little luck, so when I came here I was beyond excited to find so many dresses in the style I was looking for.
I tried on over ten dresses here for sure. My consultant actually had me email her all the dresses I wanted to try on after my first visit to simplify things. She was so helpful. Even when I had second thoughts about the dress I ended up purchasing she was still willing to let me try more on while reassuring me that she loved the one I put money down on.
The prices are a bit high for dresses depending on what you want to spend (over a grand). My experience is what sets this at four stars.

Dress shop #5, Day 1.
Another day, another dress shop…
Most of these bridal shops are in the vicinity of my work which is really nice, but visiting each one of these dress shops is so exhausting!
Brides by Demetrios is located by the Taco Bell in Mission Valley. It’s slightly tricky to find the actual store. You want to park in the back facing the freeway. From there, you can take the elevator or find the stairway to the second floor.
The dress shop is large, brightly lit with isles of bridesmaids’ dresses and wedding gowns. They have a really nice set up, with very large fitting rooms. Dresses here are organized by designer and then color. The staff here is extremely friendly, and willing to help out in any way. I liked that they had a pair of shoes for me to try on with the dresses, but they don’t typically have shoes. I think these dress shops need to keep tester shoes on hand or remind the customer to bring the shoes they plan to wear. It helps with how to fit the dress and any length issues. No dresses off the rack here, so give yourself plenty of time to order.

Writing this review specifically for the staff. The consultant was helpful! Michelle was eager to aid me and the other girls with our bridesmaid dresses.
To their boss: they did not do a good job with being flexible! When the appointment time was needed to be rescheduled (just slightly) they said they could not, and that gave me a bad impression of being unhelpful before coming into the store as we were stressed rushing from Bridal Bazzar to the bridal store, however we did make it on time luckily.
Overall, this store has great dresses… on the pricier side though!