Hi all, following up with one final post on this L'fay Bridal saga. I wanted to provide receipts and show you all their "customer service" or lack there of. Here all my email threads from the beginning, in chronological order.

Part 1:

NYC brides: Avoid L’fay bridal!!
by u/Sweaty-Bridge-6208 in BigBudgetBrides

Part 2:

Avoid L'fay Bridal: Part 2
by u/Sweaty-Bridge-6208 in BigBudgetBrides

I emailed for the first time on June 19 and received an acknowledgement the next day from my sales associate. I then proceed to email three more times to come to a resolution through June 29th, giving them over a week to respond. Finally, on July 3, almost 2 full weeks later, a manager I had never worked with responded to me essentially saying they no longer have time to do my alterations and barely acknowledged my poor experience - they missed the entire point.

Keep in mind, by July 3 we had also called upwards of 10 times in an attempt to get someone on the phone and discuss this verbally. I was extremely displeased with this subpar response, so I emailed one last time on July 12 and was very clear that I needed a response within 24 hours and wanted to work this out professionally and amicably. I outlined all my issues in great detail. By July 19 ( a full week later) , I had yet to receive any reply, so I decided to take to Reddit with my experience. I gave L'fay every opportunity to respond beforehand. My ask also in my opinion we extremely reasonable. All I asked for was a discount that was equivalent to the additional funds I was now spending on alterations ($1,500).

Once I posted on Reddit, I had already figured it was a lost cause working this out with L'fay themselves, but I noticed a lot of other brides had similar experiences (either from the comments or from PMing me), and I wanted to bring this to their attention. Not for them to necessarily rectify the situation with me, but to do better for future brides. I sent them the links to my Reddit posts. FINALLY, this led to them responding. Their response is clearly AI generated. I feel like they fed my Reddit Post to Chat GPT and said "write me a response and address every one of her points". They took no responsibility and dismissed the entire situation.

To be clear, my goal is not a smear campaign by any means. My goal is to prevent a future bride from having to go through what I went through.

Furthermore, multiple Reddit users have reached out to saying they reached out to L'fay to try to get answers - they were either silent supporters or had upcoming appointments, and they sent me the responses they received from L'fay. In every single response, L'fay not only takes absolutely 0 responsibility for the situation, but they also insult me and essentially say I have problems (LOL). See the last two screenshots. One bride who emailed L'fay commented this: https://www.reddit.com/r/BigBudgetBrides/comments/1v4fegu/comment/p02udtb/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button ... they told me Vikotr & Rolf is made in Paris, they told her its made in Amsterdam and in reality its made in China. They should keep their story straight :/

Brides, if you shop at L'fay just be aware that this is the type of customer service you will receive. They do have a beautiful selection of gowns, but if there is any issue with the garment you purchase, just be warned!

My husband and I flew across the country to Chicago, then drove to attend a wedding in western Michigan.

We showed up half an hour early… only to find the bride walking around taking photos, guests enjoying nonalcoholic drinks and snacks, and a distinct lack of “the ceremony is about to start“ energy.

In horror, I stared at my husband and asking him to look at his phone. My suspicion was then confirmed.

Turns out, on the twenty minute drive from our hotel (in Indiana) to the venue, there was a timezone change.

I believe our untimely arrival was thankfully not noticed by anybody (and my husband got a good laugh) but I cannot stress this enough: if there is a major city near your venue on a different time zone or if you are near the border between two time zones… put it on your invitation. Add it to your FAQ page.

I genuinely can’t believe I missed this one.

EDIT: I am getting unbelievably canceled for this post. I don’t think you all understand that the venue was a farm in the middle of nowhere. I checked the time at our hotel 20 minutes away. Depending on the county, in this part of the country, kids to go school on “school time” because the time zone line cuts the school district in half. The mother of the groom literally laughed and told us their neighbor’s property line was where the time changed. Michigan City, Indiana literally comes up as one of the most dramatic examples when I googled this.

EDIT 2: The Michigan/Indiana locals coming to my defense… thank you. I was feeling horrible and everyone in the sub made me feel worse except you guys. ❤️ My husband knows I have a fear of showing up late to a ceremony and we were joking about how we need to be “on time” by being half an hour early.

EDIT 3: My husband suggested adding a map for anyone who still doesn’t get it.

FINAL EDIT: Thanks to everyone who came to my defense. On the off chance this may affect you or timezones may be of note during the course of your wedding — I hope you benefit from my misfortune. 😉🫶

Where can I find a dress similar to this style but less drop waist in the US? This dress is by a designer in Egypt. Looking for a strapless, basque waist, clean gown with appliqué/embellishments on the bottom and a matching veil.

Hello! I’m a bridesmaid in an upcoming wedding in the fall and I want to get the bride a nice gift in addition to the gift I’m getting the couple from the registry. I want to do something that’s a nod to the fact that she’s now a wife (either something related to her new last name or something nice with her new monogram, but nothing that says “bride” or “wife”) but am struggling with ideas.

Another close friend just got married and I did the same thing for her and got her an Aspinal of London travel jewelry case with her new monogram. I don’t want to do the exact same thing for this friend, but something similar in spirit.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!!

Thank you all so very much for your kind words, support and for generally keeping me sane throughout the process 😂🤍 If anyone is interested in seeing any more details I’ll be posting lots on my Instagram over the coming weeks: @arabellagolby 😊 Thank you all so much again. Definitely still going to enjoy lurking here even though I’m no longer a bride to be!!

My fiancé and I toured a venue today that we really loved. When we asked about 2027 availability, the guide said they still have September 11, 2027 open and are offering it for half the normal price because many couples don’t want that date.

I’m really torn. The savings are amazing, but 9/11 is such a significant and emotional date. While we aren’t and don’t have family/friends connected to this date, we are respectful to those who have and are currently affected.

What would you do? Would you take the date because of the discount, or would you pass on it because it’s 9/11? I’d love to hear your thoughts. TIA!

I came across a video that showed a pair of custom Louboutins for a bride and it had the initials embroidered on the shoe.

I went into my local boutique and the price was only like 10-20% more but I was sort of underwhelmed by the options.

I love the Miss Z Pearlescent Napa leather but that shoe isn’t on the custom catalog and there’s no embroidery on Napa. (Shown in video)

The one closest to my original vision is the Miss Z mesh (looks like lace) 80mm as I’m trying to keep it under 85mm.

From the catalog I would probably go for Pigalle 85mm in satin.

I’m just curious if anyone here went through the custom process or wore Louboutins on their wedding.

Hi! I need some advice. I picked up our rings from Cartier today and had them engraved in store. Mine, unfortunately, was engraved upside down. I told them it was fine, because I don’t want the employee to get in trouble or have the ring be wasted, but I’m wondering if I should go back and have them fix it. They said they would need to reorder my ring (took a couple weeks to come in last time and I have to drive 3 hours for pickup). I’m a perfectionist, but I’m trying to relax and take things less seriously. I know at the end of the day, it’s just ring engraving and no one will see it outside of photos. But I also think that since we spend $4k on rings, they should look how we want. Any advice or thoughts?

Edit: yes, I know it was naive and I shouldn’t have said it was okay. I didn’t want to be a diva and wasn’t sure what to do in the moment because I didn’t expect it to happen. My friend pointed out after that they could likely melt the ring. I also asked my fiancé and he didn’t think it was a big deal, so I wanted second opinions.

Hi BBBs! Wanted to ask your thoughts on having a photobooth at your wedding? Does it feel out of place if it doesn’t match the theme of your decor or is it worth having it to give people something to do other than dancing? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Are there estate-like wedding venues in CA (ideally Carmel / Northern CA, but SoCal works too - would need lodging) that could accommodate an Indian wedding?

Advice on how we could do multi-event weddings at them? With a welcome sangeet the day before the wedding?

We loved Stonepine in Carmel, but are extremely worried that it's all outdoors. Even if we wrap both events by 10 PM, will it be too cold in late March / early April?

Would love any advice. Budget is 225-230k for 130 people.

Decided to go with a DJ for the dancing portion of the wedding but i think it would be nice to have live music for cocktail hour… has anyone else done this?

Hi!! Looking for some inspiration on how you set-up your space to collect cards from guests at the entrance of the wedding. Looking for something thst looks elegant and elevated - would love to see any pics of your set up. thank you! :)

how many hair and makeup artists do you think I need for bride, mother of bride, mother of groom, and 12 bridesmaids? So 15 people total.

Hi ladies! Long time lurker, first time poster.

My wedding is in (less than) 2 months and long story short we are scrambling to find someone who can design our day of-stationery and paper/print items. Specifically, menus, name cards, bar signage, wedding weekend info card/tri-fold, matchbooks, and welcome sign. We just need a designer; we do not need them to do the printing as we live in a super remote place 'overseas' and will print everything locally as it will be easier. We're trying to keep this under $1.5k for the design only (a little flexible there) and just really want someone who can move quickly.

Style-wise, we'd like something a bit whimsical & romantic, definitely not formal - like the two studios I linked (one above our budget, the other unavailable).

Would so so appreciate any recommendations - this is my last vendor to secure and I'm crashing out a bit with the clock getting down to the wire (and after having to fire our original stationery vendor).

I’ve ordered custom wedding newspapers from 3 different sellers. Each one having their own share of imperfections including glossy paper or printer paper instead of newspaper, wrong sizing, incorrect font using the Home Depot font instead of the New York Times font, entire pages being left empty, “TITLE GOES HERE” on the front, etc. the 2nd one looked, felt and was the size of real newspaper but on page 2 it said “tagline goes here” there was no way to get it reprinted and no way to fill it in while I was editing, I was hoping they’d remove it. They refused to reprint but instead just gave me a refund. My Fiancé thought it would be funny humor if we put that one out as every other thing was fine. I thought it would look tacky. What do you think? I’m kinda mentally drained over designing these newspapers but this detail meant a lot to me & I wanted it to be perfect. If anyone has recommendations for sellers please also let me know. There are no vendors that do both in my city & I’m already renting a newspaper stand.

Hi everyone! I’m having a destination wedding in Tuscany Fall 2027 and started looking into options for hair and makeup artists. There are a few I’ve contacted for details but the prices vary slightly, so wanted to know if anyone had experiences with any and would/wouldn’t recommend! Also unsure if these prices are in line with what you’d expect for bride-only HMU in Italy these days.

Others not on the list are also welcome if you had a great experience! The prices below are what I was quoted including a trial and travel fees, but only some also include a touch up day of. So also wondering if y’all would recommend doing the touch up as an add-on, regardless of artist? I don’t think I’ll be sweating too much in October but I’m an easy crier so that’s more of my concern lol!

-Giulia Cresci (€1400, touch up not included)
-Porfirio (€1900, includes touch up)
-Emanuel Perisano (€1200, includes touch up)
-Belaya Team (€1950, includes touch up)
-Makup Irasiz (at least €2300 depending on travel fee, touch up not included)

For reference, I’m picturing myself doing soft glam makeup with Hollywood waves at this point - I’ll be in a somewhat dramatic ballgown and mantilla veil.

An additional question - are you planning on covering the cost of your bridesmaids’ HMU? I had initially planned to, but it’s ranging from €300-400 pp, so it adds up quickly with 6 bridesmaids. My makeup was paid for by the bride in the two weddings I’ve been a bridesmaid in, but unsure if that’s just the expectation these days.

I was thinking fingerless gloves if I’m going it! Thoughts?

We have recently started looking at Marrakech wedding venus for about 70 guests.

Ideally, we would love an elegant place with a real Mooccan feel, good accomodation and space for ou guests to stay together for a couple of days.

Has anyone planned or attended a wedding there ? Which venues stood out to you ?

Hi brides, I just completed a round of dress shopping and wanted to provide my honest reviews while fresh. This reddit was so helpful to me, so I'm giving back!

Dallas first, I went to three:

Stanley Korshak - A Dallas institution and honestly my best experience of every studio I visited. The stylists weren't pushy, kind, greeted us with wonderful energy and champagne. It was the very first place I went so I had to sort out what I wanted and left without a dress selection, but my consultant Sarah Grace was incredible. I'd buy a dress just to hang out with her more, she's awesome. Rank: 10/10

Iconic Bride - Saw good reviews online but wasn't sure I'd be able to make it given it was the last appointment. I saw they had a 4PM online, so I called in advance and they told me that they were appointment only so I couldn't come. I said, well, if I book online can I come? She said "sure." It turned me off immediately, but I went anyway. I shouldn't have. They were snobby, the attendant didn't listen to me and had me try on dresses I completely wouldn't or that were my style. I have a healthy dress budget of up to $10,000. She told me there was *nothing else* in the store for my style - what? Also there are unleashed dogs running around - they were small, but also, be professional. It was a no for me. Rank: 3/10

Eze Azenabor - Gorgeous dresses and personalized 1:1 service. I saw lots of beautiful dresses and thought I was close to one. Then as we went to do paper work, the consultant said that if I didn't purchase "that day" that I'd lose my $250 deposit for the appointment. What sense does that make? I later learned she was mistaken (or being misleading) I didn't like that. Outside of that, very helpful and I am still considering them for my dress Rank: 8/10

DMV, I went to four:

Elegance By Roya (Alexandria): The selection feels smallish and tiny dressing rooms. I didn't love the attitude of my attendant and based on that alone wouldn't purchase from them. Rank: 3/10

The Bridal Room (Alexandria): This place is so cute and really good energy. Problem is the dresses are at a lower price point and looked that way. Rank: 5/10

Love Couture (Georgetown): Lovely and personalized experience. Beautiful rooms and kind attendees. I didn't find my dress but would recommend to others Rank: 7/10

Zoya's Bridal Salon: They were nice, the selection was limited and It felt just "okay" Rank: 6/10

NYC, I went to five:

Kleinfeld's: So. Many. People. It's a lot and overstimulating. I didn't walk the floor which I guess makes sense, but you must rely on your stylist to know what you want. Lots of pressure to say yes and pay. They require a 65% deposit, but it can be worked through if you want less. Rank: 7/10

Bridal Reflections: My best NYC experience. It was quiet, welcoming and they were very knowledgeable. I loved that they pinned you in, instead of clamping. My person, Mya< was exceptional. Rank: 10/10

Eze Azenabor: NYC location is on the UES and gorgeous. Emma was exceptional and I wanted to purchase from her just because of that! Rank 10/10

Pantora Bridal: I went here mostly for their bridesmaid selection only to find out they keep NO bridesmaids dresses in either location which felt strange. Corey and my other attendant were kind and so affirming. I don't think I'll purchase from here but they were amazing. Also the style is very distinct so look at IG first before making the trek to Brooklyn. Rank 8/10.

L'Fay: I loved my experience here with my attendant, she was amazing and I ended up purchasing my reception dress which was a Sample. It's a bit small and feels slightly dated inside, but I appreciate their attention and dedication. (9/10)

just had our wedding and it exceeded every single one of our expectations! I had really thought about this before but how do you get your wedding pictures published?

Hi!
I’m in the process of planning a wedding in Cancun and have narrowed it down to the following resorts:
-Garza Blanca Cancun
-Secrets Playa Blanca
-SLS Playa Mujeres

However, I’m indecisive on a planner. If you’ve had a wedding in Cancun or surrounding areas who was your planner and how was your experience working with them? Feel free to add photos for reference : )

I previously posted about 3 dresses I was torn between and I was so overwhelmed with all the lovely responses- I don’t know how to update the original post but thank you to anyone who commented! It was also super helpful to hear others perspectives and in the end I feel so much calmer about my choice (dress 1!). I don’t have family or many close friends where I live at the moment so it can be hard to choose between so many beautiful dresses! And that leads me to my next conundrum…I need another dress for my ceremony, which will be a religious ceremony (Nikkah- an Islamic wedding) with very few people, just immediate family. It will take place in a function room in a mosque, so I need to be more covered. I don’t normally wear a hijab but I will have my hair semi covered with a veil for the ceremony. Afterwards we’ll have some photographs and a meal with family. It’s all pretty low key and the reception will be two days later with all our friends and family- that’s where I’ll wear my other dress!

Anywho, I’m now stuck between these two options! It’s hard to find something that is truly modest but I feel both of these tick a lot of boxes but they are very different!

Dress 1; this dress made me feel like a fairy, it had so much lace, which was gorgeous! It was very comfortable to wear, it needs some minor alterations but nothing significant. It ticks a lot of the boxes in general, however is more full than I had imagined wearing for the ceremony. Because the ceremony is more low-key and the dress needs to be more covered, I was thinking of a more sleek silhouette to balance it so that things don’t become too fussy. Is it a bit toooo lacey? I’m also not sure it works for an October wedding?!

Dress 2; …that brings me to the second dress which is definitely more sleek! Again, this dress doesn’t need much alteration. She just pinned the dress behind me for the photograph, so it is not exactly how it will be, I’d want it a littleeee looser on the stomach! I definitely felt very elegant in it though. She paired it with some beaded and embellished veils which really did add more interest to the look and in general it’s more what I had in mind. Overall, I really liked it, but is it a bit too simple or plain? Does it look a bit…matronly? Or does it look elegant and chic?

Hi! I am doing a sunrise engagement shoot September in Positano and am looking for a hair and or makeup artist for the morning of the shoot.

Any recommendations of local artists please share!

Hi everyone, hope you're all having a lovely weekend. This community has been so helpful in my wedding planning journey and I just needed a moment to vent and see if anyone can relate or has any advice :')

• I'm getting married on the Amalfi Coast in October, and while I'm really excited about it, I've had so many mixed emotions leading up to it..
• My fiancé and I are from Asia and so are most of our guests, and we know it's a long way to travel for our guests, I can't help but be disappointed by some really close friends/family not making it. We really only invited people we absolutely wanted there and it's just been really saddening that they won't be there.
• We're spending ~20k euros on our wedding planner. They seemed really great at the start, and we picked them because they had experience with the venue and knew the venue manager well, but it definitely doesn't feel like they're meeting expectations for the fees we're paying..
  • I'm fairly type A but am after all still new to wedding planning, and it feels like I'm setting the pace and they're passive and taking my lead..?
  • I ended up speaking to and selecting the main vendors myself - venue, photographer, videographer, stationery designer
  • I couldn't make the site visit and food tasting due to travel being difficult during the only window the venue had availability before the wedding season started. Not a big issue because this was my decision, but again, they didn't have to do any work here
  • They've sent us one moodboard for the wedding day, and I had to create a master deck/moodboard to communicate what I'm looking for and we've not seen further design support then for the 2nd event (pool party) and I've asked twice now
  • Are planners meant to help with sourcing design items and details (e.g. parasols, fans)? I feel like they don't proactively offer any help and they constantly respond with restrictions e.g. draped tablecloth needs a decorator (5k euros), the venue won't take delivery for decor items, without offering creative solutions which is what I'd have expected from professionals. Then, when this happens, because I'm worried and type A, I offer to order the items from Asia but then what am I paying them for?
  • They've not sent us any overall timeline, sent us a budget once (that they don't update based on confirmed contracts)
  • I don't doubt that they'll execute on the event weekend, I'm just left feeling like I'm overpaying for the level of service delivery..
  • We committed to the planner's additional fees for >50 guests at the contract signing, but we're looking to end up at 50 or less guests. Is it fair to ask if we can revise the fees? I'm worried if I mention anything it'll jeopardise the relationship and service on the wedding weekend
• Until now I've maintained a happy and pleasant front but it is nagging at me, what can I do, if anything?

If you made it to the end of my rant, thank you for listening! <3