I would like to draw the attention of future brides ~ My future daughter-in-law has ordered PAID IN FULL for her wedding dress!

After the media drawing our attention to the problems at BAM she sent a few emails to Kathy Strukel (owner) ~ that went un-answered! It was only after her email stating she was going to take legal action did she receive a email telling her that her dress was in and when would be a good time for her to pick it up. She responded 4:30 tomorrow ~ Kathy sent a response Thursday 2/2/12 @ 4:30 she would be there! I left work early (WO pay) to go meet her to pick up her dress only to wait 1 hour and Kathy Strukel was a NO SHOW! What kind of businss owner is this? This should be a HAPPY and EXCITING time for a bride and groom NOT STRESSFULL!

We again would like to know the answer to two questions.

1 If an inventory or “consolidation” needs to be done then why is no one at the store? It takes people to do inventory and a daily drive by during business hours shows no one inside.

2 If a remodel is being done, then why is there no evidence of contractors working to separate the store back into two units?

Businesses are there to make money. I don’t know of any business owner that would close for reasons like this and then by appearance do nothing. It does not take long to conduct an inventory of a small wedding shop. It does not take long to separate one store front back into two. Viable businesses would be doing this work as quickly as possible and remaining open as much as possible in this situation. From postings on the WNDU website from customers who did manage to get their gowns, it appears that workers were telling people the store was closing and after there was no telling when people would then be able to pick up their merchandise.

We would recommend that anyone who is waiting to pick up merchandise, keep up the pressure. There is no reason, if what the owner is saying is true, that she can’t reopen the doors while nothing is going on in the building and give out the merchandise that is waiting there for her customers.

Our Opinion:

Whatever this is it is being handled poorly. Inventories do not take 2 weeks in a small store like this to be completed. Stores like this do not close to “remodel”. This is one of the busiest times of years for wedding gown shops as many brides became engaged over the holidays and have been checking out fashions at winter bridal shows. The gown is one of the first things most brides start to look for once engaged. Also stores remain open during remodels to keep making money and services customers and have the work done during off hours. And if they really care about their customers they keep answering the phone and don’t let it go long enough that the local news station picks up the story. That is another question, just how long has the store been closed and brides have been worried till WNDU picked up the story? It just doesn’t happen in a day.

The WNDU statement said that Bride’s a la Mode would reopen on 2-15-11 however tonight on their Facebook page was posted this:

Brides a la mode is closed for an inventory and some remodeling. More news will be available on February 15. All orders will arrive on schedule and alterations are still available.

“More News will be available” is NOT saying they will reopen on that date!

Our recommendation:  If your wedding is still a while off, hold tight till the 15th. Don’t panic. If your wedding could be impacted by this closure because it is coming up soon, I would call the store and post to their facebook page to be contacted if they haven’t done so. If after a day or two you do not hear back, contact WNDU and let them know you are not getting through.

In our opinion we would recommend anyone relying on Brides a la Mode at this point to start formulating an alternative plan. Two plus weeks of closure for inventory or even remodeling is not a trust inspiring reason to close a shop.

There are several reputable gown shops with long histories in the Michiana area to check out. Bernardo’s for the Bride, Greta’s both of which are in South Bend, Stephenson’s in Elkhart and Treats in Plymouth.

What can you say, it's the classic groom look!

I don't think the no socks look works for a wedding, maybe if it was a beach wedding. But GORGEOUS!

Absolutely NOT! Any man of mine showed up to the altar looking like a geek/nerd would be left standing at th altar! GQ I'm sorry, blew it with this one.

See more of Darren groom fashion photo shoot here along with all the designer details and prices.

Lisa Edelstein (Georges Chakra),            Kate Hudson (Marchesa),              Kristen Bell (Jasmine di Milo)

All in white these gowns are gorgeous! I especially love the De Milo that Kristen Bell is wearing, and while a little high cut it would make a fantastic bridesmaid dress.

Sofia Vargara (Carolina Herrera),        Fergie (Dolce & Gabbana),           Dianna Agron (Reem Acra)

I just love Fergie’s Dolce & Gabbana gown! Gorgeous! All three of these I believe would work worderfully in bridal white.

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]]> http://michianaweddings.com/2010/01/bridal-fashions-from-bridal-spectacular/feed/ 0 http://michianaweddings.com/2010/01/the-bridal-spectacular/ http://michianaweddings.com/2010/01/the-bridal-spectacular/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:43:02 +0000 Amy http://michianaweddings.net/?p=147 Sunday was the Annual Bridal Spectacular at the Century Center. It was a great success. I wandered the aisles and they were packed with brides, grooms and their families planning for their wedding day.

Vendor highlights included gorgeous gowns from Bernardo’s for the Bride. Martin’s Catering had their usual delicious meatballs to sample. Creative Catering had some very yummy rice and chicken. Allie’s Café & Catering, was passing out some excellent meatballs themselves but watch out they were garlic. Century Center had a nice buffet of appetizers to sample. American Espresso was there serving up samples of their fantastic coffee. I had to go back several times, yum!

Cloud Nine Invitation Design had some fantastic and unique wedding invitations on display. Christine is very talented!

There was a line of people waiting to jump in the Fun Zone PhotoBooth for some free pictures. with lots of laughter from inside.

Photography: A lot of photographers were on hand and as usual I can’t speak enough about the great photos Allure Films had out. Very noticeable though was that no two photographers are created equal. I was shocked as I leafed through albums to find poorly focused images and this was not “artistically” out of focus pictures, they were just not focused. Also noticeable were images that were not properly color corrected. If the image has an overall brown especially in the whites or blue tone to it, this is not sepia, it was poorly shot and never color corrected.

The Knott was there passing out free copies of their national magazine. Of course I grabbed a copy!

Surprise Parties was displaying some fun naughty lingerie.

And of course there was tons of literature and people to talk to!

Then there was the fashion show with all the beautiful gowns and dresses. Allure Films has released a few images from the show, check them out below.

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