As the familiar jingle proclaims, "You'll love David's Bridallll!"

With over 300 locations nationwide and one-third of brides (about 750,000 women each year) purchasing their gowns from David's, you'd think this would be true. Well, not so much.

In fact Denise and Alan Fields, co-authors of Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget, dedicate an entire chapter of their book to why they do not recommend the chain. According to the Fields', "We can't recommend any of our readers give David's their hard-earned money. We expect a market leader like David's to set an example for other bridal retailers when it comes to customer service and satisfaction... instead, the chain sets new lows for the industry."

Ouch.

I've gotten a lot of great tips from Bridal Bargains, so I totally crossed David's off of my list of wedding gown retailers to visit. That is, until I heard the familiar jingle followed by four magic words, "It's the $99 sale!"

The Fields' warned that the $99 sale is one of David's scams to lure you in to the store, but with a location less than a mile from my condo, there was no harm in seeing what they had to offer. Right?

To make a long story short, I called up Ms. N to meet me at David's to check out the $99 sale. About an hour later, I walked out with my wedding dress.... A month later, not totally convinced that my dress was "the" dress, I called Ms. L to meet me at David's (for another $99 sale) and left with a dress that I absolutely love!

Two trips to David's Bridal, and I spent $200 + tax on two gorgeous dresses that initially cost $750 each.


To match up my experiences with the David's Bridal gripes listed in Bridal Bargains:

1) Spam, spam, spam!: Yes, you do have to "register" with David's Bridal. They will email you every day and pass out your information to other vendors.... Unless you tell them to keep your information confidential and unsubscribe from their email list. I did both, and I'm spam-less.

2) Trashed gowns: David's bridal used to be totally off-the-rack. However, given the damage and make-up stains on some of the dresses, you can now special order your dress. The problem is that they have a reputation for getting orders wrong. Since it can take 2-3 months to get in a dress, you want it to be right!.... I found a dress off-the-rack in my size with a few tiny stains, and I asked them to clean it for me. They did so with no problem.

3) Service, or lack thereof: I had outstanding service at David's. However, I came in with a mission: "I only want to see $99 dresses. Here's my checklist. What can you offer me?"

I admit that I was prepared for attitudes. When I'd visited other boutiques and told them I didn't want to spend over $1000, I noticed the level of treatment drop exponentially. With David's Bridal already having a bad rep for service, I was ready for the worst.

Instead, I got a great consultant who showed me several gowns. I didn't stick to my $99-only rule, and I ended up wavering between a gown that was $99 and one that was $600. Despite her commission, the consultant told me that the $99 gown was more flattering.

With that being said, service may be place and/or time dependent. I went to a store in Ann Arbor in the early-afternoon on a weekday in May. Try going on the Saturday right after New Year's Eve (ahh, the good ol' NYE proposals) in a big city, and you might have a problem.

4) Ethics: The book claims that the $99 sale is a scam to lure people into the store. In actuality (supposedly), David's Bridal only has a few gowns for $99 in terrible condition and in odd sizes. Once they get you in there, they'll try to steer you to the most expensive gown, toss in a few hundred dollars worth of accessories, and rip you off on shoddy over-priced alterations.... As I stated above, I found -- not one -- but two gorgeous dresses at the $99 sale. As far as alterations, I only need my dress hemmed and will be that done somewhere else.

To be fair to the authors, I can see where they're coming from. The opinions in their book are largely based on personal research and emails from brides and brides-to-be. Like most reviews, people only comment if they've had a terrific experience or a horrible one.

David's Bridal isn't going to bring out the champagne for you. If a bride has a so-so or even a really good experience, then you're probably not going to hear about it. On the other hand, if a store screws up someone's wedding dress a few weeks before the wedding?? That can be an entire book in itself!... Get a few of those negative letters, and David's Bridal goes on the D-list.

Despite David's Bridal being hit or miss, there are still a number of reasons to give them a shot:

• The gowns are beautiful... even if they're designer knock-offs. On your wedding day, people are going to notice the expression on your face, not the designer of your gown. A happy bride in a $99 gown is much more beautiful than an unhappy bride in a gown worth $20k.

• They're here to stay. We're in a recession, and a lot of pricey boutiques have had to close their doors because people just aren't able to spend the money they used to on gowns. What happens to the special orders? Most brides-to-be usually get a refund... some do not.

• They have a pretty decent exchange policy. Although David's Bridal will tell you that their dresses are final sale, you have up until the day of your wedding to exchange your gown. I didn't know this until after I bought my second gown. With two wedding dresses in my place, I was desperate to get rid of the second. I took it to the store not expecting much, especially since it was on super-clearance, but they gave me store credit..... The catch was that I had to use it the same day, so I ran around the store and got shoes, jewelry, a veil, some hair pins, and a cute book for Lu and me to read. A week later, I realized that the shoes were uncomfortable, and I really didn't need the hair pins. I was able to exchange my exchange for something that I liked.
  

I didn't get everything at David's Bridal. However, the total for my entire wedding day attire, which I'll elaborate on throughout the week, including: ceremony dress, reception dress, all accessories (traditional veil, birdcage veil, shoes, purse, jewelry, and garter), alterations, and the associated shipping and taxes rings in at under $450.