Helen Miller

3326 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94118

"This review is a mixed bag. First, in the "pro" column: Helen Miller has many beautiful designs in her shop. Because she designs the dresses herself and has them made to order, she allows for customization with no extra charge depending on what you want to do. For instance, I asked for a slightly longer train and buttons all the way down the back of my dress. Helen made the experience of shopping for my dress very enjoyable. I love the dress I picked, and she kindly offered me a slight discount because it was just over the top of my budget. Her dresses are made of high-quality materials and her designs are unique and sophisticated. I also appreciated that she guaranteed the dress would be ready within a fairly narrow time window, as I live out of state and could only pick up the dress when I was in town visiting my parents. On the con side: my experience picking up the dress and getting alterations was less positive. As I said above, I had asked for a slightly longer train on my dress. Over email, Helen recommended adding no more than 10-15 inches to the train so that it would meet my length preference without becoming too heavy. When the dress arrived, I was shocked at how long it was, and expressed my surprise to Irina, Helen's colleague who was helping me that day. Irina said to me, "well you got what you asked for." I was taken aback by her comment and decided I would just have to convince myself to be happy with the train as it was, given that Irina did not seem open to my comments, and I had limited time while visiting my parents to get alterations done. I admit it did not occur to me to measure the train until later, after I had taken the dress home to my state. The train was 40 inches, which was much longer than the 20-25 Helen had recommended. I ended up paying an extra $200 to have another bridal seamstress shorten the train to what it originally should have been. I wrote to Helen to ask her to reimburse me for this cost, as we had an agreement in writing about what the train length should have been. She declined, citing her policy of not being responsible for changes to a dress once it leaves her store. She said she would have shortened the train for free when I picked it up if I had said something then. That may be true, but 1) I had no way of knowing that the alterations would have been free, because no one explained that to me, and 2) I had no reason to distrust that the dress was the length that I had requested, so I figured it was my mistake for ordering a too-long train and I would have to live with it. Overall, I'm disappointed that Helen doesn't stand behind the fidelity of her dresses to her customers' orders. I understand her policy of not paying for changes to dresses outside of the shop if a bride changing her mind or damages the dress - unscrupulous people exist and a dress shop should not be held liable for changes or damage that they did not cause. In my case, I was asking for compensation to return my dress to the state in which it should have originally arrived, and to which we agreed in writing. I wouldn't entirely dissuade a bride from purchasing a dress from Helen, but I would advise caution. Either take your dress elsewhere for alterations (I wasn't thrilled about the quality of my alterations either, but I'm leaving out those details as it's not the focus of this review), or measure and double-check everything when your dress arrives to make sure it lives up to what you ordered."

"If I could give 0 stars I would. I went to Helen in January for a custom dress and she didn’t start on my dress until 2 months after she said she would. No communication or updates after taking my deposit. When she did start, she produced the most cheap looking dress that was nothing like what I wanted. She overpromised and underdelivered. If you are a bride, save yourself the time and money and go elsewhere."

"Helen and Irina are the ultimate wedding dress team! I could not have been happier with my one of a kind Helen Miller custom dress. It was everything that I wanted: elegant, ethereal, and whimsical. Prior to finding Helen's Bridal shop, I had been to about 10-15 bridal shops around the Bay Area and was even talking to international designers. Helen's place was my last stop and I was about to go with another dress I wasn't 100% sure about, until I got that "feeling" while trying on dresses at And Something Blue. Helen's dresses are unique and exude elegance + class. She is a true visionary. Her prices for a custom dress are incredibly low and cannot be beat. She has her dresses made in Europe, so if you are looking for a European feel in San Francisco, this is the place for you. Irina was also an expert on what to do on all things alterations. It's clear she has an incredible depth of knowledge that few seamstresses have. I cannot recommend Helen and Irina enough!"

"I flew 3,000 miles from New York to find my perfect dress! Helen Miller, thank you so so much for all your help and care! I had an amazing time during my visit this September! Everyone was extremely welcoming and the salon was beautiful. My guest and I arrived about 25 minutes early, knowing that we would probably have to wait up until our actual appointment time, but we were thrilled when we were actually taken back to our room 20 minutes early! Helen herself was my consultant for the day, and I could not have asked for a better treat. She found amazing dresses that were well within my price range and really considered a style and fit that would work well with my vision and with my fair complexion. I felt amazing in the dresses, and Helen was eager to help me find the perfect dress and accessories for my vintage boho wedding vision. I will definitely be coming back for a follow up and fitting. The experience was even better than I had expected!!"

"Choosing your wedding gown is such a monumental time in your life. From the minute you walk into a bridal shop, to browsing all the gowns, and eventually finding "The One." There's so much pressure! Every woman knows what I'm talking about. We've seen enough romantic comedies and reality shows to know, there's that wedding gown "magic" you should feel. That's the only way I can describe my experience with Helen Miller Bridal. I started my wedding gown search almost 8 months before my wedding. Along with my mother and matron of honor, I planned to visit three different Bridal shops based on reviews (like this one) that I read on Yelp! I thought Helen Miller would be higher on my price range than I wanted and most likely not the place I would go with. However, the beautiful shop always intrigued me when I would walk by and I still made an appointment. At the time Irina was there and I told her that I had no idea what style of dress I was looking for but I knew that I did NOT want a mermaid dress. She pulled a few dresses for me to try on and was very thoughtful about staying within my desired budget. At first, nothing really fit how I was hoping and it felt like this wasn't going to be the place I would find my dress. Then she looked me up and down and said, "i have one dress I want you to try on, ok?" I was reluctant when I saw it but obliged and tried it on. It fit my body, like a GLOVE, and the instant the curtain was pulled back, both my mother and matron of honor gasped. We knew it. We had found, "The One!" And guess what? It was a MERMAID gown. Ha! So much for thinking, I knew what would look best on me! Throughout the following 8 months, I came in for two fittings and also brought my 7-year-old soon-to-be stepdaughter with me. Helen mentioned to me that she would be willing to make a custom flower girl dress for her and incorporate the same lace from my dress into hers! AMAZING! To say I was so impressed with my experience with Helen Miller, herself, is an understatement. She is always so lovely and gives the BEST advice (as evidence to her designs). I feel so honored and lucky to have worn one of her beautiful dresses on the most amazing day of my life. I have never felt more beautiful then in that dress. I loved everything about Helen Miller Bridal, that I also found my earrings and garter belt there as well! Who doesn't love one-stop shopping? Hands down, I recommend this bridal shop over any other shop around! You get such a personal experience here and when do you ever get to work and meet the actual designer?? All the other bridal shops in SF feel very commercial and less personal. Run, don't walk here if you are looking for the dress of your dreams. You will be so happy you did :)."