Brides who ordered wedding dresses from “I Do Bridal Boutique” in Fort Wayne, Indiana may not get them for their big day, but one TikToker isn’t surprised that the store may have failed its customers.
In a viral video with more than 121,000 views, TikTok creator Amanda Caroline (@amandaschwartz730) shared why she isn’t surprised the store closed its doors.
@amandaschwartz730 I really hope all of the current brides find new dresses 🥲🤍 #bridalboutique #idobridalboutique #idobridal #fortwaynebride #weddingdressissues #weddingdressgonewrong ♬ original sound – Amanda Caroline
“The bridal boutique that I ordered my wedding dress from has unexpectedly closed their doors,” the TikToker explained in the video.
According to Caroline, the boutique made a social media post that explained that they couldn’t overcome the hurdles and obstacles the wedding industry faced since the COVID-19 pandemic. The post also instructed brides who had not received their orders to contact their credit card companies for refunds. However, it provided no refund information to those who paid by cash.
“So I’m assuming unfortunately they are just not gonna get a refund,” Caroline said.
The TikToker wasn’t at all surprised by the boutique’s closures. Back in 2019, she ordered a dress for a wedding, but said she had a “horrible” and “stressful” experience with the store and its sister store Wendy’s.
“Honestly surprised that they didn’t close sooner but to close unexpectedly is so wrong,” she said.
The woman then explained that she discovered the bridal boutique, Wendy’s, at a bridal expo where several vendors were present. After entering a contest, she won a $500 gift card for the store, so decided she would try on dresses there and make appointments to do fittings at other stores. Though none of the dresses at Wendy’s fit the “snow queen” vibe she was looking for, she settled on purchasing a strapless dress off the rack after she was assured they could make alterations and add sleeves.
“This was the first place I tried on dress and I felt like because I won that gift card, I had to buy a dress from them,” she continued.
So she used the gift card and only paid $60 for the sleeveless dress, hoping the store would deliver on their promise.
Nevertheless, she still wanted to try on other dresses in case she found something she was really in love with. That’s where the sister store, “I Do Bridal Boutique”, came into the story. A week later, she showed up at the store for her dress consultation but apparently, her appointment was canceled because Wendy Boutique reported she had purchased a dress there.
She decided to try on dresses anyways and was surprised to find the perfect look and fit to match her wedding’s theme.
“We bought the dress that day and paid in full,” she said.
The boutique then took her measurements and assured her the dress would be ready in time for her wedding about a year later.
“And this is where the story gets a little fishy.”
In June 2019, the woman called the boutique to get an estimate of when the gown would be ready and she was told it would be in the store within two weeks. However, two weeks later when she called back, it still was not ready. As months passed, the company continued to give Caroline the runaround. Eventually, she did receive her dress, but then the alterations became an issue.
“Alterations took like another two months,” she said.
In the end, the TikToker was happy she received the dress far ahead of time, because she clearly would not have had it by her wedding day had she waited longer. And she quickly recognized her experience with the store’s poor customer service was not an isolated event.
The Daily Dot reached out to “I Do Bridal Boutique” for further information via their website’s contact form and Amanda Caroline via email.
“All of these brides are commenting with similar stories to mine,” Caroline said in reference to the comments section of “I Do Bridal Boutique’s” social media apology post.
In the comments section of the video, other brides worried that the dresses they ordered from the company would never be delivered.
“I am currently panicking,” one user wrote. “I ordered my dress in December and it’s supposed to be in, in August and they aren’t returning my calls for email.”
“I ordered my wedding dress at the end of January,” another user said. “I’m panicking, I don’t know what to do.”