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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
Jess Grieveson-Smith

Harrogate bride heartbroken as Leeds bridal shop makes her a 'disgusting' wedding dress

A bride due to get married in August has been left heartbroken after her dream dress failed to arrive.

When Vanessa Smith attended her first fitting last Friday, June 4, at Dress Up Leeds, she was dismayed to discover her original order had been cancelled.

The dressmaker had instead made a different dress, which Vanessa claims looks nothing like the dress she wanted, meaning she now has very little time to find a replacement.

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Vanessa, from Harrogate, went to the fitting with daughter Michele in preparation for her wedding on August 14.

Vanessa said: "As it's not my first wedding, and I'm 67, I wanted a different dress that wouldn't show the top of my arms.

"I'd worked hard to lose two stone and had themed my entire wedding around the grey dress I had chosen.

"I was told my dress had arrived, and originally was told I would have to wait till July for my first fitting.

"But I had said that it was too close to the wedding and so I was booked in for the Friday."

The dress that Vanessa had ordered (Michele Smith)

She continued: "When I went across with Michele, we were told the dress had been cancelled and so a different dress had been made for me.

"But the dress was disgusting and nothing like what I had ordered. I couldn't even try it on - the material was completely different to what I'd ordered.

"I didn't get a sorry, instead the dressmaker got in my face and said I had plenty of time to find another dress."

Vanessa got her deposit back, but as she has searched for other dressmakers who may be able to help, anything she has been offered has gone over budget.

The dress that was given when Vanessa attended the fitting (Michele Smith)

Vanessa added: "There was no warning.

"The dress was everything I wouldn't have chosen, it was ugly."

When daughter Michele approached the store on social media, she claims she was blocked and barred from leaving reviews.

The owner of Dress Up Leeds told Yorkshire Live: "I apologised and refunded the money.

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"Unfortunately two days before the fitting, the order had been cancelled by the supplier and so I had made the dress instead.

"Everyone is struggling after the impact of coronavirus and we should be helping each other.

"The dress was a normal one as opposed to a wedding dress and she can get something else.

"I was contacted lots of times through my social media, with the bride and her daughter leaving reviews on my page so I had to block them.

"My customers are happy, and I am sorry that in this case, they weren't."

Vanessa is still searching for a store or dress maker who may be able to help her, with daughter Michele taking to social media to ask for help.

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