Michelangela Bridal Boutique

Alterations Never Done Despite Clear Wedding Deadline

I purchased my wedding dress from Michelangela on 24 January 2026, but communication and service deteriorated badly thereafter. From the beginning, I had explained that my wedding would take place in Limpopo on 4 April 2026 and that I therefore needed to collect the dress the week before in order to travel. However, as the wedding date drew closer, I noticed that no alteration date had been allocated, and nobody from the store was communicating with me. I therefore had to personally follow up on 24 February 2026 to request an alteration date. Despite the timelines already having been communicated, the initial alteration date offered was only 14 March 2026. After I raised concerns again, the appointment was eventually moved earlier. I dropped the dress off on 5 March 2026 with the seamstress used by the store for alterations, and clearly communicated the timeline. On 23 March 2026, I sent a WhatsApp message asking whether we were still on track with the dress, but the message was simply blue-ticked and ignored. The seamstress only responded on 26 March 2026, after I had complained to the bridal shop on 25 March 2026, with alteration costs and advice that the dress would only be ready on 29 March 2026, after the agreed collection date of 27 April. Shockingly, after the wedding, the dress was returned to the store by the seamstress still completely unaltered, yet the shop refused to accept a return of the dress. I also purchased a new petticoat from the store. Despite the store pushing urgently for payment, they never communicated that the stock would not arrive in time and instead provided an old, brown petticoat with holes in it. The bridal shoes delivered also did not resemble the pair I had selected. The store did agree to refund the shoes and petticoat, but refused to refund the dress, despite clearly demonstrating that refunds were possible. Another defence raised by management was that I had changed my dress selection. However, the store expressly approved the change at the time after I confirmed that I would pay the price difference. No concerns or objections were raised then, and this had nothing to do with the later failures regarding alterations, communication, and delivery timelines. What made the experience even more concerning was that when we questioned what had happened, the bridal consultant indicated that the seamstress had **** about starting the alterations, and while she was explaining this, the manager Ana, instructed her to keep quiet. Management’s response was largely that many other brides were happy with their service, despite several negative Google reviews from other brides describing similar bad experiences. Overall, the experience was poorly managed and deeply disappointing. I would unfortunately not recommend this bridal shop to anyone.