Ballew Bridal rescues wedding from designer’s abrupt shutdown
Dear Editor,
My name is Melanie Brooks and up until recent I have been an excited bride due to wed on the 23rd of September. Planning a wedding can be exciting, fun, and stressful. Every woman longs for the experience of picking a dress for herself and her bridesmaids. The experience should be special and mine was just that with Ballew Bridal in Collierville. I chose a specific dress by Alfred Angelo, and the order was placed for an August arrival, allowing more than enough time for any alterations. I marked the dresses off my list and had not thought about it anymore simply because the experience was so professional and helpful. This past Friday July 14, 2017, I received a call from Ballew informing me that the Alfred Angelo company had closed its doors without warning and at the time of the call they could not confirm if my order had been processed or would be shipped. The consultant was very kind but all I heard was that “I had no bridesmaids’ dress.” I instantly started to cry and asked to call her back after I collected my thoughts.
My mind raced as I thought of a possible solution. Some may pose the question, ”What’s the big deal? Just get more dresses from somewhere.” That may work with two bridesmaids but I have 10 bridesmaids. It also can take 8-12 weeks for bridesmaids’ dresses to be made, and I don’t have much time keeping in mind alterations may be needed. Basically, it could not be done. At this point I am still crying so I called my mom. She listened and suggested we both head to Ballew to see what our options were. While en route my mom called Ms. Ballew to verify we were on the way and asked if she could help. I was the first to arrive to Ballew and was met with a caring hug from Ms. Ballew. She already had dresses pulled that were similar to the original dress I had chosen. Ms. Ballew also had contacted another vendor to verify their quick shipment time range and showed us the options for that dress line. Once I had chosen another dress, Ballew Bridal had it quick shipped and fabric changed to match my colors. They turned the most stressful day of my wedding planning around completely.
While finalizing my dresses, I sat and thought about how my horrible day was also a horrible day for Ballew Bridal. Although Alfred Angelo was the designer I originally chose, I was a customer of Ballew Bridal. Although this was no fault of her own, Ms. Ballew took on full responsibility of helping find a solution and going the extra mile to ensure that I could have my wedding. She went out of her way in every aspect and showed me that she cared. I have been to several boutiques and major chain bridal shops and have never felt that feeling. I cannot endorse her business enough and thank her for all she did for me.
Thank you.
Melanie Brooks
