Rosella Wedding Gowns, Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Rosella was the second bridal shop I visited when I was looking for my wedding dress, I arrived 5 minutes early (half an hour after opening) the lights were off and stayed off for the first fifteen minutes and the two woman were more interested in talking about a holiday than helping me look through the dresses that were tightly packed together. I explained there were two (very) different styles of dresses I liked and did they have anything like that at all. They said they did and left me to look for them myself, it wasn't until I explained that I couldn't find (the mermaid/fishtail style) that one of them bothered to get up and help. The first dress I tried on was beautiful but it didn't suit my shape and i didn't feel confident in it at all, the sales woman was very pushy and kept saying how it was an amazing dress etc. Ignoring me when I said I didn't feel comfortable in it. I tried on another two dresses- the last was perfect and my dream dress. My mum asked them how much alterations would be roughly (for example the previous Bridal shop advised to keep about £200 aside for alterations) but Rosella wouldn't give us a rough quote or a price list to look at, which was strange because later we noticed there was a framed price list of alterations in the corner of the shop! Not sure why they couldn't have just pointed that out and said this is roughly what it may cost! I knew I wanted the dress but I felt very uneasy with the staff, I asked what the name of the dress was, and they wouldn't tell me (until I paid the deposit which I think was 50% of the dress), which was also strange as the first bridal shop I went to had the same designer and They had actually written down the name of the other dress I had tried on with them! Rosella also told me I was a size smaller than I actually was so had I bought the size they suggested it would have been too small. The dress had a lot of detail on the back, however I struggled to see it as they had one full length mirror then a tiny hand held make up mirror to see the back, (would have been better to have another large mirror so you can actually see the beautiful detail. We asked if we could take a photo on my mum's phone so I could see the full dress at the back but they said no- even though we offered to delete it after, because 'the groom might see the dress on iCloud ' ?! I really wanted the dress but I just didn't trust the people who were trying to sell it to me. The overall service was uncomfortable and rude. I actually burst into tears at my next bridal appointment which was directly after Rosella- another bridal shop in Cirencester who's customer service was amazing but the gowns weren't to my taste. It took me ten minutes on the Internet to find out the name of my dress and as I knew the first shop I visited (Wedding Days- Cheltenham) sold for that designer, i phoned them that day, was measured the next day at their store and ordered (the correct size) wedding dress there and then. I shared my experience with others I met at wedding fairs etc and quite a few people I spoke to had a similarly negative experience with Rosella. It's a shame because had they just been a bit more open and honest and dare I say friendly I would have given them my money!

Felt the service was very pushy compared to other bridal shops I'd visited and didn't feel at ease as the owner seemed more interested in making a sale than making sure I found the right dress for me. Wouldn't go back.