Viva Amore

10/16/09

Amazing Find!

by lgranger8 at Citysearch

There are several things I LOVED about this shop:

1. There were so many beautiful dresses! Some bridal shops have lots of dresses, but most of them are really tacky and cheap looking. In my search, I walked into a lot of stores and I only liked every 1 out of 15. At Viva Amore, I must have tried on at least half of the dresses in my size over 2 visits to the store. They are all so beautiful and each one has that "wow" factor.

2. I also loved the fact that they carried so many dresses for "real" women (not just women that are size 2!). There was a huge selection of dresses in sizes 8-14 and there were also plenty plus size gowns that were beautiful.

3. The service was wonderful. When I was finally ready to get my gown, Mena came in on her day off and spent 4 hours there while I tried on every dress and then tried the top 3 on multiple times. I never felt rushed and I appreciated her honest feedback.

4. The prices are AMAZING! There's no doubt about it- they sell dresses at a steep discount. There is nowhere else that even comes close to those prices in Boston.

I am soooo glad that I found this store. I could never had afforded the beautiful dress otherwise. I would not hesitate to recommend anyone who asks to Viva Amore.

• Pros: Beautiful dresses at steep discounts

10/13/09

Great place for wedding dress with unbeatable service

by danaO13 at Citysearch

How do I even begin?! I contacted them a month before my wedding from 6 thousand miles away. We had a constant conversation by email with them sending me tons of pics of dresses they were getting in that fit my wish list. I looked at wedding dress retail stores and tried on beautiful gowns that were totally out of my budget. The week of my wedding I flew into Boston and headed to Viva where Mena and Anita had already pulled some dresses for me to try on. This was on the Tuesday before the Saturday we were married on. After trying and retrying and back and forth and a budget consult with the fiance, I finally decided on a dress Anita had spotted for me. At 7:30 pm they sent me to their tailor Janette who stayed open a half an hour late for me. We did a fitting and even altered the shape of the dress a bit. I picked up the dress on Friday a.m. Wow! No high end boutique or retail store with a Newbury St. Address could offer that and I'd still have to spend 3xs what I did for a gorgeous dress. The only thing missing was a pair of shoes. I had overlooked the seasonal shoe selection problem. All creams and ivory colored shoes at stores were GONE! I bought a pair of black pattens but after trying them on Friday when picking up the dress, I was heartbroken that they really weren't fitting. So the most amazing part of the story, other than that Mena and Anita are just awesome to try dresses on with, is that on a Friday eve in rainy, rush hour traffic...Mena, my hero, drove all the way from Watertown to Marblehead to bring me 4 pairs of shoes to try on and I found THE pair..she also threw in a hanky and garder. I'm telling ya, I've not had this kind of care and service in years. They take their work personally and they will treat you like a friend who they care what you get. They aren't selling dresses on commission, this is their business and they are trying to build the best they can! I wish all the brides out there would resell their wears at Viva so future brides could have options with amazing service. I also hope in the future they can expand and accommodate grooms as well. I myself would fly back to help paint and arrange. Believe me they are worth every second you spend going to them! Blindly trusting them was one of the best things I did in my overwhelming wedding planning. Thank you ladies! I felt so glamorous once that dress was on! Perfect!

• Pros: great people, repurpose of dress, eco-friendly line
• Cons: could use more inventory.