LJM Bridal

I went to LJM bridal last Saturday to look for my dress. I had a wonderful experience. The dresses there are one of a kind as this collection is only sold at LJM stores. My consultant was Kenyatta. She was great! She listened to what I liked about certain dresses and knew overall what I wanted my dress to look like without me even really explaining it to her. She is amazing! I would highly recommend LJM to anyone looking for their wedding dress!

One row of M.O.B dresses. The staff was friendly but not at all on the same page. The information of dress ordering was inconsistent from sales person to sales person.

I strongly do not recommend this location for bridesmaid’s dresses.
Our bride picked out a dress at this store and arranged a day for us bridesmaids to come in to be measured. I wore a comfortable t-​shirt. By comfortable t-​shirt, I mean a nice shirt that is too old to wear to work. I’ve stood up in a number of weddings, and I’m pretty used to how a fitting should feel. I immediately noticed that the tape measure was not tight across my chest. The associate called out the measurement for my waist, and again, I hadn’t felt the tape on my body. I stopped her and nicely said, «I don’t think that’s my waist.» She stopped, laughed nervously, properly measured my waist, and went «Oh! I didn’t expect that little waist under that big baggy t-​shirt!» I was a bit put off by her statement, and mildly insulted, but I refrained from making any further comment, including that that is the point of measuring. When it came time to order the dresses, the associate insisted that because my bust measurement was between sizes, I needed to order the next size up. Based on her faulty measuring job, I took the lower size. When I looked at my receipt, I found that the size she was insisting I needed would have required «extra width».
A month later, I received a panicked phone call from the bride. The manager had told her that one of the bridesmaids had not yet submitted her measurements, and if he didn’t get the measurements by the end of the month all the dresses were going to have to be rush orders. We were still six and a half months from the wedding. While I know that dresses take a while, this seems a bit extreme. Additionally, our bride had each of us wearing different colors. Therefore, the dye lots were not an issue, and he could have put in the orders for the rest of our dresses. However, the manager was refusing to do this until all the women had been measured.
A mere three months after we had scrambled to avoid a rush order, we were informed that our dresses had arrived. Three of us went together to pick them up. I put my dress on, and it was 2 inches too big in the bust. Upon asking, I was informed that there is a $ 90 minimum for alterations.
My friend’s dress was an unmitigated disaster. The dress was quite literally hanging off her body. There was enough fabric inside the dress to fit another normal sized woman. The halter was so long that the neckline was below her belly button. The manager came in and loudly insisted that the dress was the correct size. I pointed out to him that this was obviously not the case. He brought over the order sheet, insisting that the dress was the size ordered. We told him that the dress ordered was clearly not the appropriate size. While I was behind the curtain, he remeasured her and claimed her measurements were exactly the same, and she was going to have to pay for alterations. I told him that I wanted to see him measure her, and her waist lost 12 inches.
I requested that he correct this, as an error had obviously been made. Instead, he turned to the bridesmaid and told her she must have lost weight since she was measured. Finally, after a ridiculous amount of discussion, the manager agreed get a new dress made, and if it was not possible, he would pay for the alterations to make the dress fit. I looked over the new receipt and saw there was no mention of any of this on it. I requested that he write down what we had agreed to. He told me that his word was good and that he did not need to write anything down. He then asked me if I didn’t think his word was good, and I insisted that he put it in writing.
Two days later, the bridesmaid was informed that it would not be possible to have a replacement dress shipped to her in the same amount of time that it took the original dress to arrive. However, the woman who does alterations is apparently only available in the middle of the afternoon on week days. On the day of the alterations, the bridesmaid called me. It seems that «alterations to make the dress fit properly» had nothing to do with the length of the halter or the width of the hips. The manager adamantly refused to pay for any other alterations. I spoke with him over the phone, and he insisted that the wrong measurement was only in the waist and that the halter was not his problem. He went so far as to tell me that the bridesmaid «just has a strange body». I was then told that all halter lengths are the same, regardless of the size of the dress. I asked him if the six ft bridesmaid, and 5 ft me would have the same length halter and he actually said yes. The owner repeatedly denied any culpability in this and refused to redress the situation. Eventually, the bridesmaid took the dress with alterations to the waist only and went to a private tailor.
I have never been so rudely treated in my life. I have been better treated at «big box» bridal stores like David’s and paid a fraction of the cost for the pleasure. Please save yourself the headache and go elsewhere.

I have never left a shopping experience more aghast at a store’s business practices.
I came here looking for bridesmaid dresses, having asked them in advance if they had copper-​colored dresses. When I got there, the woman assigned to help us seemed to have no idea what copper was and showed us a bunch of swatches that were not right, at all. Pink and orange, mostly. She then told me that they would assuredly look copper– I just didn’t understand that swatches look different than the full dress does– and in any case, this is what they had available.
We walked back into the showroom, and bang: there were two copper dresses, spot on. Penny colored. The woman was stunned that this was what I meant by copper, and waved it away by saying everyone has different taste. True, we don’t all see colors the same way, but this was pretty bad.
We then started perusing the dress selection for dresses made out of the same material as the copper ones. The dresses were not tagged with the fabric type, and the woman kept showing us dresses then determining that it did not come in the color we wanted. As we kept going, we found more materials that came in the right color (why didn’t she show me those swatch books in the first place??). This associate also was completely unable to listen and make recommendations based on feedback. We said we wanted an interesting bodice and a knee-​length skirt. She kept showing us the plainest, ugliest dresses I’ve ever seen.
But here’s the worst part: When my friend tried on a dress IN THE EXACT COLOR we had seen a sample at Bella Bridesmaid, we commented that we had seen that sample before. The associate helping us assured us that no, every design at LJM is original.
It was not. It was identical. Down to the stitching.
When I mentioned that they were uncannily similar, the associate literally said (and this is a direct quote):
«Well, sometimes the designers just borrow from each other. There’s only so much you can do with a dress, you know?»
Um… What? Did you really just admit that the designers at LJM are essentially stealing designs?
On top of all of this, when she called to follow up after our appointment she was extremely rude on the phone… Merely clinching my conviction that none of my money, my bridesmaids’ money, or my parents’ money should go to this unethical establishment.

BRIDES BEWARE!!! ***This is coming from an event coordinator*** I will NEVER tell a bride to go here for her dress ever again after what I went through!!!
If I had known LJM would not only screw up when ordering my wedding dress ALL of my bridesmaids dresses I NEVER would’ve gone there. They did have the perfect wedding dress for me. But, the sales girl (she no longer works there, in fact most of the staff seems to only stick around temporarily) ordered my wedding dress 5 sizes too big. It was like wearing a tent. The owner tried to say I had lost weight or had been on my period when she measured me. Ha! I had actually gained 10 lbs since my dress was ordered! The girl either had no idea how to measure or what I’m betting is… the owner tells his sales staff to order dresses at least 2 sizes too big so brides and bridesmaid must get alterations.
So a new dress was rush ordered it still came in too big! Victor claims it’s not all his fault… um I trusted you to order me the correct size… not a dress that will need to be taken in. There was no way I was paying his seamstress to fix my dress. They have screwed up my wedding enough.
On ward to the bridesmaids dresses. It all began when I went with 4 of my maids to get measured for their dresses. They all vary in sizes and shapes. That day my bridesmaid actually called the sales girl out on not measuring the other girls in the correct locations of their body. Somehow, after she stood behind the sales girl and watched her measured the other bridesmaid her waist line shrunk 8 inches.
Another bridesmaid’s dress came in so large she could’ve fit another average size woman in it with her! I’m not kidding, the neckline came down to her belly button! She got it in writing that the owner would would have his seams tress come in and fix the dress at no cost to the bridesmaid. Well, he only paid to have it taken in… the neckline still comes down to her belly button but, apparently «that’s not his fault or problem.»…we have it in writing he would cover all alterations costs…
My cousin who’s normally a size 2 – 4 was ordered a size 8… they obviously wanted to make money off her by taking her dress in.
I had my matron of honor (she lives too far away to make the drive to LJM) get measured and called in her measurements. They told her what size she would need and ordered it. Big surprise… it came in too big! When they brought over her paperwork they said since she called in her measurements it’s not their fault the dress is too big. Well here’s the funny part… the measurements she called in were not the measurements written down by his staff… She even showed me the measurements she called in. the store had added at least 2 inches everywhere!
I would’ve written this a LONG TIME ago when all the problems started to happen… I just wanted to make sure to get all 6 bridemaids dresses and my wedding dress out of the store. You can’t trust them there! I still need a slip for my wedding gown… I’d rather walk down the street and pay an additional $ 5.00 at Eva’s for it then go back and deal with this company.
No bride should ever be taking this much advantage of by any of her wedding vendors. There’s plenty of other wonderful wedding dress stores out there! Stay away from LJM!

I made an appointment for 1pm on Satruday, and despite getting here late due to the horrible traffic they were quite understanding. Victor and Maggie were spectacular, incredibly nice and very great with suggestions and recommendations. My sister tried on several wedding dresses, and I tried on a few bridesmaids dresses as well. I wasn’t crazy about the style on the hanger, but the dress Maggie chose was quite flattering and very likeable when I tried it on. It was surprisingly comfortable. They have new dresses coming in all the time. The dressing rooms are nice and large and they have a large selection to choose from. The prices are pretty comparable to the area.

Yes, thank you for taking the time with me… until I paid you… LJM.
My dress was to be in at the end of July. I had to continuously call the store because only one person knew how to call for an update? Ironically, he was out, on vacation or on a call that numerous times I called. I finally got a call back — during the 2^nd week of August.
I was assured that there was enough time to alter the dress– they would even do it for me there. Fabulous!!! Free of charge? Nope. There was no apology, no offer to compensate for my having to continuously call the store, get no information and receive my dress about 3 weeks later than expected. 1 month before my wedding. They even charged me the lousy $ 20 for the garment back (um, no, the garbage bag style bag wouldn’t do for this dress I waited my whole life for).
Yes! Great prices, but that’s it!!! Once you pay you’re no longer a priority. And let me add that the emergency alterations cost almost as much as the dress. Turned out to be more of a headache than a deal!!!

I found LJM bridal when going in to get fitted for a bridesmaid dress for my friends wedding. While I was there, I figured I’d try on bridal gowns since my wedding was 3 months after hers. Their gown selection was great and, at the time, so was their service. I found my gorgeous gown that day (and that’s the only reason LJM gets 2 stars) then everything went downhill. My friend had a much more horrific experience than I dealing with them crushing her veil, them altering her dress and leaving pins in and various other altercations. Her experience was enough for me to pick up my dress and definitely go elsewhere for alterations. (Side note, the veil that arrived was a different veil then the one I ordered. I was happy with the one that arrived, but just be careful that the order is placed correctly!).
The day when my dress finally arrived in the shop, what should have been a happy and exciting occasion was extremely discouraging. Lining was showing where it shouldn’t have been, the girl putting me in the dress didn’t lace it up right, the dress was way too big on me, overall, I thought I was going to have to go find a new dress.
Overall, their dress selection is good, customer service leaves much to be desired.

What a mess…
Went to pick up my dress after the alterations were complete and it was a horrible experience.
First, the girl had no idea how to do the bustle. I have no clue on how to do the bustle… cheers. When I asked about it, she was like no one showed me. Well, shoot… NO ONE SHOWED me either. How in the heck am I supposed to know if you dont know. What a joke.
Second, the dress was all wrinkled!!! I have never seen such a thing. When I contacted them about it, they said that the dress was steamed, but must have been the way the dress was put in the bag. UMMMmm, then maybe you should have put the dress in the bag/​hanger better. Check out my photos of the «steamed gown.» HILARIOUS
I am shocked by the customer service at this place. Definitely not up to par. Once you pay for the gown, its all downhill from there. You can get a gown for reasonable here, but dont expect ANYTHING else. Late workers, not helpful workers, disorganized, wrinkled dresses, etc. HORRIBLE.
I would not recommend to anyone… go somewhere else or you will be dealing with a headache.

The consultant was nice and helped us pick out a great dress for my mother for my wedding… that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that they tod us that the dress would be back mid May, but when we called to check on the status, we were told that it would not be back until the first week of June.
We called the first week of June and was told it would be another week. This happened a couple more times. Needless to say, the dress did not come in till the last week of June. Management did not seem interested in all in helping to find out what the hold up was. I pressed the issued and he claimed that it was the shipping department holding it up.
This store had a problem with returning calls, especially when they know they are in the wrong. I would recommend that if you insist on buying from this location, that you give yourself plenty of time (at least another month or so past the date that they give you) if you think you will need alterations.
Would I shop there again… PROBABLY NOT!

I went to this salon because of the positive Unilocal reviews, and my first experience was great. The consultant who helped me find my dress had just enough opinions and they let me stay late when my appointment ran long.
I was shopping in January for a wedding in July, and I was assured that my dress would be in by the end of May at the latest. Beginning of May, I start calling to get an eta on my dress, and it took three weeks of calling for someone to actually give me a call back with an eta. They said it would be in the last week of May — cutting it close, considering the alterations I wanted done, but still workable. Last week of May, I call again to find out my dress had been delayed THREE WEEKS. No one had bothered to call and tell me and no one on the phone was particularly sorry about the delay.
After much complaining, I finally got them to speak to the company and it arrived only TWO weeks late. Victor was patronizing and rude on the phone, and the whole debacle was extremely stressful and could have been handled much better.

No no no. Not here.
I came here based on the Unilocal reviews and this was not the place for me. Walking in, there was a sign that said «no pictures». I get why some bridal salons do that, but really? It does not help with the selection process.
My consultant was really chill… but almost to the point where she seemed disinterested in my quest to find «the dress». She kept stressing that ALL the dresses here are customizable and handmade. Which I found out later was not the case.
After walking in to the dressing area, you have the option of picking out the dresses you would like to try directly off the rack. The dresses are organized by shape/​style. I must have tried 6 or 7 dresses, but couldn’t really find anything I liked. A lot of the dresses here are strapless sweethearts, which is fine if you are looking for strapless sweethearts, but I wasn’t. But, no worries, it was customizable right?
When I came pretty close to finding a dress I liked, it was really a let down. The designer (or owner) I’m not really sure, came up to see the dress. There were some issues with a dangling beading accent (which my bridal party and I agreed we should remove) and I wanted a scoop neck instead of the sweetheart. Now, again, my consultant said dresses were customizable here right? But instead of agreeing to alter the dress, the owner immediately was like «No, just add some tulle and it will look like a scoop neck» and «You can just cut the dangling part off». It’s off putting when the bride tells you exactly how she wants the dress altered and you tell her that you won’t do it. Customizable, yeah right.
Although the prices seem affordable, I really was not impressed with the quality. You get what you pay for I guess. I knew I wasn’t going to find my dress here. On to the NEXT one.

I had an appointment at LJM Bridal yesterday along with my bridesmaids to shop for both wedding and bridesmaid gowns. My appointment was at 10am right when they opened. Unfortunately, no one was there to open the store on time. Actually whoever was supposed to open the store lost their keys so they opened about 45 minutes late. We ended up checking out a store down the street from there (I won’t mention the name in this review but it was horrible!!). After about an hour at the other store, I headed back to LJM and was pleasantly surprised.
LJM has an amazing selection, all the dresses, wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses are their own line which means no designer name and prices. I honestly don’t think I saw a dress over $ 1,200 there and settled on a dress for $ 899 which they offered a 15% discount on if I made a decision that day. We also got lucky and nailed down the bridesmaid dresses the same day (whoo hoo!).
Amanda, the person who helped us was great. She was not in your face, but rather sat on the sidelines to see my reaction to the dresses I tried on and recommended others based on what I liked. Very sweet and efficient.
The store is clean and tranquil, the sample dresses were all wrapped in individual plastic bags to stay fresh and clean (the reason I mention this is the store we looked at while we were waiting were dirty and smelled — yuck).
Bottom Line: I want to look good on my wedding day, but don’t see a point in spending $ 3,000 plus on a dress that you will only wear one day. If you are not set on a designer label, this is the place to look. The dresses are very well made, the staff is very friendly and courteous and the selection is outstanding.
I would have given 5 stars if we walked in right at 10am, but alas, these things happen. They didn’t give us grief when we showed back up 2 hours after our set appointment and were very apologetic. I would recommend this store to any bride and budget!

This was my first appointment of four in one day. I showed up for my 10oclock appointment, and they weren’t even ready for me. No lights were on, the door was locked, and no one was there.
One guy finally showed up and let us in, and didn’t have any of my information, and was not ready for me to be there. He walked me around the room and told me to start picking some dresses to try on. I started grabbing them off the rack when he came up and told me I was only allowed to take 6 back into the dressing room at a time. So I stopped at 6, took them back, and figured I’d come out and grab some more.
I never came out of the dressing room, and I felt like I wasn’t allowed to. He kept running and grabbing me dresses based on what he thought I liked. I got halfway through the first rack, and didn’t even get to look at any more! I only saw what HE brought me based on what HE thought I would like. It was never my decision.
I budgeted an hour to be there, and that WAS NOT enough time. He was the only one in the store until 11:30 when we were leaving, someone else finally showed up. It may be better if he had more help, but it was not the best situation.
He was very nice, but I just didn’t get the most out of the experience. I’m sure they have a GREAT selection, but I didn’t even get to see half of it based on the way he handled my appointment.

This was the first store i visited looking for my wedding dress and even though I have not made a commitment to one dress just yet, I did love the customer service here! I called last minute and to my suprise they accommodated me. Lori greed us right away and was so pleasant for the whole experience, even though it was past the stores closing hours she stayed and did not complain once. I highly recommend her, she knows what shes doing!

There are so many bridal places on Harlem and when I was thinking of purchasing my wedding dress, this area was not my first choice. My friend got married a year before me and actually bought her 2^nd wedding dress here off the rack and told me that I had to make an appointment and check it out. Lets just say, I was not disappointed, I found my wedding dress here off the rack as well and just loved it. The boutique is VERY cute VERY clean and just everyone was very friendly. I have had many horrible experiences with my mother looking for wedding dresses at other shops on Harlem Avenue. Almost to the point where we weren’t acknowledged and dresses were just thrown at us, and the dresses were very heavy.
Here at LJM Bridal, my consultant was super nice and actually made me try on the dress that I ended up buying, but I never would have picked it out for myself. They are really there to help you and get to know you one on one. If you are in need of a bridal salon with great customer service and beautiful dresses, then this is your place. It’s Michigan Avenue Customer Service but on Harlem… Who knew?

When I think about this place, four months later, it still gets me completely upset. If 0 stars were a choice, that would be what I’d give them.
I found a dress that I absolutely loved when I went to an appointment by myself, so I brought my mom back and ultimately, we ordered the dress. Bad decision.
A month before the wedding, with no phone call as to whether my dress had come in or not, I decided to call them and see what the hold up was. When I reached them, it turned out that my dress had just come in last week and they didn’t think it was important to call to let me know so we could schedule a fitting. I scheduled one at the beginning of the week. My friend & I go in and they had us sit in the back by the dressing rooms. Ladies are rushing around and it’s taking a while for someone to come back. When someone does, it’s the manager who is on at the time, telling me that the dress was here but it was damaged so they had to send it back. To China. Which is closed down right now due to Chinese new year but she is swearing that it will be here in time for the wedding which is now 3 weeks away.
3 weeks away from my wedding and there is a definite possibility I may not have a wedding dress. Thankfully, a week before the wedding, the dress was in and I went there straight away to have it fitted to take it in and shortened. The store did not do anything for us. They did not pick up the remaining payment on the dress or the alterations. All they did was stand there and say, «see, we told you not to worry and that it would be here.» We couldn’t even take the dress home that day! My mom had to drive to the shop (which was an hour away) 2 days before the wedding because they couldn’t have it steamed before then.
If you want a place that you can trust with such a big purchase, I would save some time and go somewhere else. Please don’t buy you’re dress here. It’s not worth it.

I ventured in here, with an appointment to look for bridesmaid dresses. After looking through what was probably 15 minutes, my sisters tried on a few and we left.
The reasons I wasn’t wowed was because when I called to make the appointment the woman said they had a variety of bridesmaid dresses… Shame on me for assuming more than 15 options. They also didn’t offer any JR bridesmaid dresses, (but I didn’t ask that when I called).
The other thing that was slightly concerning was that I felt like chop liver because I wasn’t shopping for a wedding gown, just bridesmaid dresses. I had an appointment and when I walked in the woman said, «I’m not sure if I have anyone to assist you, we’ve had a lot of walk-​ins». I responded, I had an appointment, just so I was clear, last time I checked that was the point of making an appointment.
Lastly– parking is atrocious. Thankfully the woman warned me not to park in the neighboring lot— but as for the street, you are competing with so many businesses for a parking spot. I ended up parking on the side street around the corner.
In my opinion, this place might be good for wedding gowns and I did see a lot of Mother of the Bride gowns… I just wouldn’t recommend it for bridesmaids and I would also recommend hitting it up on a week day.

A wonderful little place tucked away in an unlikely and somewhat chaotic location. I would highly recommend this place. This was the second place I went to look for a wedding dress and I found one that I REALLY liked a lot. However, it was just not the one. I didn’t end up buying my dress from here but I would still say that it was a great experience for me. They made some excellent suggestions that I had tried on and which looked great on my figure. The quality and prices of the dress were phenomenal. It is certainly a place worthwhile going to because these women have real experience and know what they are talking about. They didn’t really pressure me into making any sort of decision and were very understanding of the fact that I was just not to commit to a dress I really liked there.
Overall, definitely check it out! No regrets, assured

I’m not a huge stickler when it comes to customer service and I had been to other bridal shops (Eva’s/Jackie’s), and while not impressed, I was not offended by the lack of service.
Then I walked into LJM… They happily took me right away, without an appointment. They asked what I liked and walked me around the store, pointing out dresses that I might like to try on. She was very helpful and open to taking my, and my MOH’s suggestions. She didn’t make me feel like I was being overly picky either (which I probably am being).
She helped me try on and wrote down my favorites. She clipped all the dresses so they fit and was so wonderful and complimentary! She didn’t try to rush us or sell us anything on the spot. She explained the payment process and suggested how they could alter some of the dresses to make them more like my ideal dress. Overall, I found 4 dresses that I LOVED and can’t wait to go back to try them on again!
Prices were in the $ 1,100 range, but she did say that they would work with you and negotiate. Also, if I chose to buy my bridesmaid dresses from there ($ 150-​$ 180), they would receive a 15−20% discount.
Way to go LJM and Christina! Can’t wait to come back!