‘I should’ve seen the signs’: Hawaii bride’s dream dress is $15K. She gets Missouri designer to make it for $2K. Then the day before her wedding comes
Every bride has a wedding dream dress, but this one just turned into a full-blown nightmare. One Hawaii bride thought she found a budget-friendly workaround to her $15,000 Galia Lahav fantasy by trusting a Missouri-based designer she knew from high school.
It seemed like fate… until seven months passed, the second fitting arrived, and there was still no dress. What followed was a last-minute scramble and a trip to David’s Bridal the day before the wedding. Now she’s saying she should have trusted her gut.
Who Did She Order Her Dress From?
Angela Smith (@angelasmith47) is finally sharing a story that caused her quite a lot of pain and frustration just a few months ago. Her wedding was in October, and now, in March, 222,000 viewers have so far tuned in to listen to the rollercoaster of events that occurred.
Angela begins straight to the point. Part of her caption states: “I had to buy a new dress the day BEFORE my wedding.” She explains that the story begins with her having the Galia Lahav Catalina wedding gown as her dream wedding dress. The price? $15,000.
Of course, this is way over budget, and Angela wracks her brain to try to get it in an affordable manner. This is when she remembers a dress designer from high school.
She says this person always designed the prom dresses and Angela had seen her designs before. So, she reached out and asked if they could recreate the Galia Lahav gown with the budget of $2,000. The designer agreed and confidently stated they could do it.
Now, Angela explains that the designer is located in Kansas City, Missouri, where she is from. However, she now lives in Hawaii and most of the exchange was made over text. There were only three fittings in total when Angela would fly in to do other events, like her bachelorette party, engagement photos, etc. At the first fitting, she gave them the link to the exact fabric and clearly stated her “vision” for the dress. Then five months pass, and she returns for her second fitting.
What Happened with the Dress?
With her first fitting taking place in April and her second in September, Angela states that the designer had a whole five months to work on the dress. Yet when she arrived in September, nothing was there to see.
“I came in expecting for my dress to be like, 90% done. Considering everything was pretty much paid for and it’s been like five months since,” she explains.
Apparently, they hadn’t even ordered the fabric Angela had asked for. She leaves the fitting feeling dissatisfied and sends a text asking for progress pictures from there on out. She politely asks if the dress can be ready for October 10th, her wedding being on the 18th. The designer answers confidently and says they can provide the photos and it will definitely be ready by the date Angela asked for.
Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
When Angela texts asking about how the process is going, the designer just says it’s going well. Except she arrives a week before her wedding and goes to her last fitting, only to find not what she had asked for.
Angela shows the “dress” she was given and it was a two-piece dress with none of the aspects she had asked for. She rants, “This is what I get trying to support a small, local business.”
@angelasmith47 STORYTIME ? I had to buy a new dress the day BEFORE my wedding ? At this point I’m just here for the plot. Buuuut, everything happens for a reason and I’m glad I can laugh about it now. ? #storytime #weddingtok #kansascity #wedding #davidsbridal ♬ original sound – Angela Smith
What Did She Do Next?
Unfortunately, being a week out from her wedding, there was not much that could be done. Angela’s mother demands it to be finished and the designer says it will be ready by October 16th, two days before her wedding. It is also coincidentally the day of her rehearsal, and while she’s celebrating with family and friends, Angela receives a text asking if she can pick up the dress on the 17th instead.
“At that point, I lost it. I was like, you’re joking right now?” Angela then demands a refund but the designer only apologizes and says she had an emergency. Angela ignores this and goes to David’s Bridal instead.
In a bittersweet turn, the store only had three dresses for her to choose from. It was also closing down, meaning Angela got her dress 60% off. While she’s at the store, the designer FaceTimes her to show her the dress.
“I was like, you know what? For the heck of it, let’s just see what it looks like,” Angela agrees. The end product? Only the skirt was finished. This makes Angela decide to get the dress from David’s Bridal instead.
She says that miraculously, the designer hurriedly sewed together the entire dress. Angela goes ahead and gets married in the David’s Bridal dress. She ends the story by saying not to be gullible and to always trust your gut.
Viewers are Speechless
The women in Angela’s comments section are clutching their chests over the stress. One viewer shares, “The dress should have been ready at least 1-3 months before the wedding. How stressful!” Another says, “A month before and still no dress, I WOULD BE FREAKING OUT.”
About the half-done dress, one viewer comments, “I gasped at the pic.” Similarly, another viewer says, “My jaw dropped at the dress reveal. OMG I’m sorry that was your experience! I’m glad you were able to find another dress for your wedding!”
Others say they’re afraid it happens to them. One soon-to-be bride comments, “As someone whose dress ‘is running behind schedule’ I did not need to see this.”
A second viewer jokes, “This gave me anxiety about my dress not being ready in time even though it’s hanging in my closet 6 months before my wedding.”
And for the question everyone was asking: “Did you get your money back!!” Angela replies that she did.
The Mary Sue reached out to Angela via TikTok comment.
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