Van Der Velde Couture Showroom

I cannot recommend Van Der Velde Couture Showroom enough!! I found the dress of my dreams there!! They have the most beautiful wedding dresses and Colette is the kindest person ever! I never felt judged or even pressured into picking a dress. She even made sure that every dress I did try on was within my budget! After I found my dream dress, it needed some alterations and the lady that did them was amazing! They never tried to up the prices when I was getting alterations. It was the same price that she told me it would be when I first started them! They are the best here and I cannot recommend them enough!

I can’t recommend Van Der Velde Couture Showroom enough! Not only are the dresses absolutely stunning - Colette makes the entire experience so fun, relaxing and comfortable. The boutique is intimate and welcoming. I had the most amazing experience finding my perfect dress. If you’re looking for your perfect dress - go here, you will not regret it!

I HIGHLY recommend Van Der Velde Couture Showroom! I had an amazing experience with my dress shopping and big purchase. I had visited a few other bridal salons before going to Van Der Velde, and this experience trumped all others. Colette and her staff were extremely accommodating, and helped me every step of the way. They went above and beyond to help me find a dress I felt amazing in. I was unable to decide on a dress during my first appointment, and Colette was kind enough to set up an additional appointment for me to come back in and try on my favorite dresses once again. At that point I knew which dress I wanted to say YES to. I greatly appreciate the teams patience and understanding. At other salons I felt rushed and pressured into purchasing and the experience here was quite the opposite. The selection of dresses is amazing, and the showroom is beautiful. I would highly recommend Van Der Velde Couture showroom to any bride looking for a dress! I can’t wait to go back for my fittings ❤

I visited 8 other wedding dress stores all over downtown Chicago and the surrounding suburbs before finally finding my beautiful dress at Van Der Velde Couture! Save yourself some time and start your search here because you will not be disappointed.

Both the owner, Colette Van Der Velde, and the designer, Matthew Christopher, were there to help me find the dress of my dreams. Matthew got in touch with me right after I booked my appointment, asking what styles I liked so he was able to pull dresses for me to try on in advance of my arrival. I was the only bride in the showroom so Matthew and Colette completely personalized the experience to create the perfect day.

My family was greeted with a champagne toast and were seated in the posh showroom as I tried on all of the beautiful dresses that were all similar styles to the ones I had discussed with Matthew prior to the appointment. Matthew and Colette worked with me to stay within my budget and also offer in-house alterations. I feel like I got to know them both during my appointment so now I can't wait to see them again at the fitting!

Matthew and I have continued to stay in touch after the appointment. I cannot fathom receiving this level of customer service anywhere else. With beautiful gowns and lovely people there to help you through the process, I recommend Van Der Velde Couture Showroom to every bride!

I highly recommend Van Der Velde Couture Showroom! I had a horrible experience at another bridal store that made me feel not so excited to look for a bride dress. I made an appointment with Van Der Velde but called back to cancel because of how I was feeling from my previous experience with the other bridal store. Bill answered the phone and as I am sitting on the phone crying saying I am going to cancel my appointment he reassured me to "just come in, I promise you will find something. We will work with you and find you what you are looking for." His voice sounded so reassuring that I kept my appointment and my mom and I drove out there. Colette, his wife, met my mom and I when we arrived at the store. She was extremely nice and very sweet. I felt she got to know me as a person and not just as a someone here to buy a dress. Colette did not rush me, because she understands how important it is to love and feel comfortable in the dress you are going to wear for your big day. Bill was right I DID find my dress! I greatly appreciate William and Colettes time and patiences with me. Never once did I feel pressured, rush or looked down on while looking for bridal dresses at Van Der Velde. I highly recommend Van Der Velde Couture showroom to any bride looking for a dress!

I can’t say enough about this place!! Collette was amazing! She helped my daughter find the perfect dress for her wedding. Her dresses are beautiful, and she does a fantastic job of helping you find exactly what you want. Ruth, who does the alterations is also amazing! She transformed my daughter’s dress beautifully! I would not go anywhere else!!

I had a lot of anxiety as a plus size bride, but they made me feel so welcomed. Colette made my try on exactly how I wanted it be and I felt like a princess. I cannot thank them enough for the incredible experience they gave me. The dresses are amazing quality and stunning.

Van Der Velde Couture was amazing! Bill and Matthew brought my vision to life with my custom wedding dress! Everything was created sketched, and delivered within six months. I was speechless when I tired it on and it was exactly what I always wanted!! They have a gorgeous showroom as well to make you and your bridal party feel special. Would definitely recommend!

Such a great experience trying on all the dresses at Van Der Velde Coture Showroom 💜 Everyone there is amazing, kind, and incredibly helpful. You can tell they are very passionate about what they do, and I felt like I was at home. Thank you for helping me pick out my dress, can't wait for everyone to see how beautiful it is on my wedding day.

My friend just got her wedding dress from here so I went with a different friend to check this place out. Colette picked AMAZING dresses for the bride to try on that were SPOT. ON. My friend wants very custom alterations and Colette reassured the bride how it’s COMPLETELY feasible—and I later found out extremely reasonable pricing wise. I’m bummed I’m already married because I would’ve liked to purchase my dress here!

Collette was amazing!!! This was only my 2nd time trying on wedding dresses and Collette picked out the perfect dresses for me! I can't wait to go back and bring my friends! 💕

Very unique designs and what I love most about it it was every detail on the dresses. Customer service is amazing!!!

Designer’s wife as an amazing personality. Absolutely beautiful place, make sure to check out the Lingerie

I will start by saying the dresses here are stunning and elegant and there were customizations they made for me that my dress completely unique. If I were reviewing just based on my dress, I would have given this place a 5/5 stars.

However, bridal dress shopping is not just about the dress, but the service of people at the store as well. Because of that, I have to write a negative review because of my experience with the seamstress, Ruth.

From our first interaction, and for the multiple alterations appointments after, Ruth never failed to comment on my height and how I’m just so short to her. I politely laughed along with it at first, but after a couple of times, it got to be old. After a couple more times, I was annoyed. Ruth also had this tendency to refer to me in the third person even though I was standing in front of her. It came across as demeaning.

Three days before my wedding, I came into the studio to pick up my dress. Upon trying it on, the length was still too long. (This is the third time I’ve come in for alterations). Ruth, of course, did not fail to ask me if “I’ve shrunk” (as in, it’s my fault her measuring was inaccurate). Ruth’s body language and tone of voice gave me the impression that her error in measuring length during our last session was a bigger inconvenience for her than it was for a bride on the week of her wedding. She implied I had to come back another day to pick it up. I let her know that I lived over an hour away, and since it was three days before the wedding, I happened to have wedding-related plans.

After asking Ruth if there was a possibility she could get it done today instead, she said something along the lines of "We'll see". When I asked her to clarify, she left the room without a response, came back, and flatly told me to come back at two.

I left that morning appointment feeling disappointed and with a sour taste in my mouth. Ruth never apologized that the dress was incorrectly altered, and did not apologize for the time she was taking away from my wedding week (especially because it was cutting into the time I was supposed to spend with my fiance’s family who just arrived from out of town that day). I figured I really liked my dress so I wanted to talk to Ruth professionally one-on-one to get it off my chest that I felt slighted.

I came back at 2. After I tried on my dress and it thankfully fit, I asked to talk to Ruth in private to advocate for myself and let her know I felt disrespected by her actions that morning. As I tried to explain my perspective, Ruth was dismissive. She did not seem to want to understand the gravity of how I felt and actually tried walking away from me multiple times during this short interaction. Frustrated, I said, “I felt like you were being rude” She smirked, said, “I have to leave or I’ll be late for my second job” and walked away. I was absolutely appalled by Ruth’s response and I can say I have never been so outright dismissed in my entire life.

I decided to talk to Colette at the front desk. Ruth was still there and she told Colette something along the lines of, “SHE says I was being rude to her this morning by putting her off.” (Again, I was standing right in front of both of them, yet Ruth continued to refer to me in the third person).

After Ruth left, I tried to explain my woes to Colette, including the error in alterations and Ruth's condescending comments/attitude towards me, but again I felt like I was heard, yet not listened to. She said she would talk to Ruth. I was given the impression she would not.

Colette did not charge for alterations and tried to mitigate the situation through this. However, it was never about the money. If I had known I would pay for alterations instead by being disrespected and patronized, I would have much preferred to pay for the alterations.

Wedding dress shopping and altering is a huge process for a bride, and every bride should feel confident, respected, and cared for, all of which I unfortunately did not feel at this establishment.

Worst experience ever. Our appt started on the wrong foot- the second we walked in, one of the owners said he got the times mixed up and his wife wasn’t there to help. We continued on because we had a bunch of girls that drove from hours away and everyone was excited to see my friend in wedding dresses. I can understand and respect that not every dress is gonna fit because they’re off the rack but these dresses were all very small. When I asked the owner if he had anything bigger, he told me no, they don’t carry her size because their dresses are for models. Which again, I can respect that but they discussed her sizing before we even went. If it was something that was known and known they wouldn’t be able to accommodate, he should have been upfront about that. Even aside from that, this man just seemed to not care at all. He didn’t check in with us or really talk to us at all. We went somewhere else the week before and the worker was so friendly, so sweet, so talkative. Our whole experience at Van Der Velde was a mess. My friend left in tears. Trying on wedding dresses and having your whole wedding party there should be FUN. Not the bride feeling uncomfortable and sad. Oh and the husband said his wife would reach out later and she never did. It’s been over a week now and nothing so they clearly do not care at all.