I couldn’t tell whether it was the insinuation that my friend was fat or the total lack of helpful solutions that the seamstress was offering, but I knew that if I didn’t step in soon, my beautiful friend was either going to refuse to pay for her own wedding dress or end up on an assault charge as she wrestled the unhelpful, condescending woman to the floor amidst a cloud of duchess satin.
As I rolled up my metaphorical sleeves and wandered into the foray with placating words and mediation skills that the Dalai Lama would have been proud of, it occurred to me that I’ve become spoiled. I’m used to working with bridal retailers who stock leading wedding dress designers, know their craft inside out and pride themselves on customer service. I love the way that these independent boutiques go above and beyond to make every single girl who walks through the door feel welcome, beautiful and special.
I hated the fact that it was not the service my friend was receiving.
Trying to methodically work through solutions to the “I can see my own belly button because the bodice is too big” problem, we finally managed to win the confounded woman round to an adequate answer. But as I stood there looking at my friend with wild fury in her eyes, her cheeks flushed from the exertion of keeping her temper and her hand bleeding from where she’d sliced it open on a dress pin, I felt a million miles away from the happy cocoon of Mamfii Bridal.
Just weeks before I’d had the pleasure of watching the team at work in the Guildford boutique, taking girls under their wings and finding dream dresses as easily as if they had dropped out of the sky just for that particular customer. Nothing was too much trouble and questions weren’t limited by someone’s lunch break. Honesty, experience and friendliness shone from Sam and her staff as they talked brides through their very first ever experience of trying on a wedding dress to those who just needed a few last minute tweaks to their gowns before the big day.
If you’d like to read more about Mamfii and how a decent bridal retailer ought to operate, check out the Mamfii Bridal Blog, which now has my full report on the glorious day I spent in wedding dress heaven, rather than the torturous afternoon of wedding dress shopping hell that my poor friend was put through last week.
Mamfii Bridal by Segerius Bruce Photography
