CHESTERFIELD, Mo. (KMOV/Gray News) – A bridal shop near St. Louis is facing backlash after multiple brides claim the business never ordered their wedding dresses.
Signature Bridal in Chesterfield, Missouri, has been hit with several customer complaints following a viral Facebook post from a bride alleging that the shop never ordered the dress she paid for.
Angela McKeever’s daughter is one of the brides who had an issue with the business.
“I think most brides, they want everything to be perfect,” McKeever said.
In McKeever’s mind, things were going perfectly when her daughter found her dress for her May 2025 wedding at Signature Bridal back in April.
“We put the deposit down, it was 60% [of the price of the dress] at that time,” she recalled. “We were told we could pick the dress up in September.”
McKeever said her daughter followed up with the store last month to check on the status of the dress so she could be fitted again, pay the remaining balance and plan for alterations, but most of her daughter’s calls went unanswered.
McKeever said only once was her daughter able to speak to someone directly.
“One time she was able to get somebody on the phone. They said, ‘Oh it’s still not in’,” she recalled. “[We] follow back up, we’re almost in November, and we have not had a follow-up as to when her dress was going to be here or where it’s at.”
Over the weekend, McKeever reached out to the store again asking about the status of her dress. In an email, the store responded: “Yes, her dress is still coming in. Plus her veil is at the store already.”
McKeever tried getting in contact with the dress designer, Essense of Australia, who told her the dress was never ordered.
On Monday, Essense of Australia reached out to McKeever’s daughter, acknowledging the challenges she’s had getting her dress from Signature Bridal. The designer told McKeever they arranged for another bridal store in the St. Louis area to help with the order instead.
Essense of Australia wrote in an email to McKeever:
“Signature Bridal has not paid Essense of Australia for your gown (your contract is with Signature Bridal and your payment was made to that company), so you will need to pay the alternative authorized Essense of Australia retailer for fulfillment of a new order.”
Essense of Australia went on to encourage McKeever to attempt to claim a refund for the original order from either her credit card company or bank.
In a statement to KMOV, Essense of Australia said in part:
“We’ve recently become aware of the unfortunate situation at Signature Bridal in Chesterfield, Missouri as it appears they have not fulfilled their promises to brides. We are now working with other bridal stores in the area that carry our brands to help these brides get their gowns.
After repeated attempts to work toward a positive resolution with this store, in early October we notified Signature Bridal in Chesterfield, Missouri that they were no longer an active retailer for Essense of Australia and Stella York and they have been unable to place orders since.
We work with nearly 1,000 retailers around the world and want to reassure all of our brides that we are delivering gowns on time with no delays.”
However, on Friday, Signature Bridal said in a Facebook post that the designer is to blame, saying it was a mutual decision to now end the partnership with Essense of Australia.
“We have mutually decided to discontinue our partnership with Stella York and Essense of Australia,” Signature Bridal wrote, adding, “the decision was made with the intention of aligning with our long-term vision for Signature Bridal.”
McKeever said a Facebook post isn’t good enough, and that the salon should have called every bride directly to update them.
“Why is it on Facebook?” McKeever asked. “To me, you’re spending quite a bit of money, they should’ve called every one of those orders and let them know what’s going on and give them what their options are.”
The statement has since been removed from the store’s Facebook page.
KMOV went back to Signature Bridal on Monday to try and get some answers.
Over the phone, Signature Bridal owner Megan Price told KMOV’s Kimberly Donahue, “I’m emailing you a statement and you can leave my store.”
Price later sent a statement that read in part:
“…The decision to end our partnership [with Stella York Essense of Australia] was mutual. I have been waiting to get rid of them since we took over ownership as they are different and rude to work with. We have been continuing to make payments on dresses even the ones we are still waiting on.
We have tried calling and emailing Matt Brown at Essense over the last couple days to get clarification on the letters they are sending out as it had false information being stated, yet we have not gotten any response from them. We are working hard to make things right with all our brides.”
When asked if she had any proof of ever purchasing the dresses from Essense of Australia in the first place, Price said, “Those would be my bank statements, which I will not be sharing with you.”
Price later said about Essense of Australia: “Honestly as of today, I no longer trust them as they will not contact me back. At this point, I really don’t care what they say. My goal is to make the brides effect and either get them their refund or get them their dress.”
McKeever said she is relieved her daughter has several months to look for another dress, but she is sympathetic to brides who have closer wedding dates.
“It’s a very stressful event, and it’s not small dollars,” she said. “Some people may have been saving for this, and they don’t have the extra funds to go ahead and pivot and have another dress, and they may not have the lead time, so I would definitely call that out.”
As of Monday night, McKeever has yet to receive her refund for the original order with Signature Bridal.
KMOV has also reached out to the Better Business Bureau about the store.
A BBB employee told us they had one complaint filed on Friday, but since it is currently being investigated, they cannot provide any details about the case.
Multiple other brides have taken to Facebook to detail their experiences with Signature Bridal.
“They falsely claimed my dress was made and shipped. The designer never received my order or payment,” one bride wrote.
“Never interacted with such an unethical and horrible business and owner. So many brides without a dress or their money back. Scammer to the max. Screwing over women who have dreamed about looking beautiful on their wedding day their whole lives is evil,” another bride wrote.
Another bride who has not received her dress yet wrote, “My friend who also paid for their dress through Signature Bridal, emailed the designer Essense of Australia and they responded letting her know the order doesn’t even exist, and she paid for her dress that was never even placed in the first place. Which is most likely the case with mine as well, just waiting to hear back from the designer of my dress.”
Customers experiencing any problems with orders can contact Essense of Australia at Brides by emailing [email protected].
They can also contact Signature Bride by calling (636) 778-3200 or emailing [email protected].
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