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Your Premier Choice for Wedding Dresses, Tuxedos, and Everything in Between in Alexandria, MN and surrounding areas. We are a family-owned bridal and formal wear store in Alexandria, MN with over 30 years of experience in the bridal and formal wear business. Our certified bridal consultants pay attention to you and the details. Our store does much more than just sell wedding gowns, we are here to discover your dreams and truly serve you and participate in making them come true on your special day. This includes having over 450+ dresses for you to try on and experience.
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To provide superior bridal service and serve our customers, creating lasting relationships and memories. We love hearing the dreams and stories of our brides and truly making a connection. The relationships and memories we form are a gift and we are honored to be a part of all of our bride's dreams of their wedding day.
The Special Event Boutique and Bridal is proud to offer bridal dresses & gowns from the finest designers. Whether you're petite or plus-sized, we cater to your individual style of understated elegance, fashion-forward couture, timeless tradition & everything in between. Your gown sets the stage for your special event.
The Special Event Boutique and Bridal is proud to offer the best selection of bridesmaids gowns for your supporting cast. From petite to plus, persimmon to pistachio, zip-up to lace-up, satin to chiffon, at the knee or touching their toes, your bridesmaids deserve to look and feel the part! People could NOT believe how beautiful Rebecca's dress was, as well as the bridesmaids.
The Special Event Boutique and Bridal offers a selection of flower girl dresses for those sweet little ones. Dresses are available in sizes 2-14 in a wide array of colors and styles at a price point that fits your budget. Stop in today to see our collection or learn more on Mon Cheri Bridals website.
Reviews (16)
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Barb Folkerts
Apr 23, 2022
Absolutely loved our experience at the special event Boutique & Bridal! From the moment we walked in the door Jackie and her team made us feel special and we immediately knew we were in good hands. They have an incredible selection of the most beautiful, unique, modern and romantic dresses ever! My cousin was able to find the dress of her dreams! I just wanted to say thank you for making this day so special for her!
Jennie Ware
Apr 23, 2022
Picking out the dress was a good experience but picking it up was not that pleasant. The dress was much bigger than expected which was a surprise as they measured me when I picked the style and I didn't change size before picking the dress up. I was not assisted by a bridal consultant during my pick up appointment and felt like after paying in full the stylists no longer care to assist. A bit deflated on what should have been a happy day.
Amanda Strawbridge
Apr 11, 2022
When I went to try on dresses the young lady was pretty helpful with picking them out and setting me up to hold the dress before deciding to actually purchase due to need alterations in a short amount of time. On the other hand when I called the next day to inquire about purchasing said dress the lady on the phone was REALLY rude until I said I was going to buy something.

I told her about what time I would arrive to pick it up and she agreed that would work out fine. When I arrived to actually pick up the dress the older lady was helping other customers ( thats no big deal) she did not acknowledge my existence for at least 10 minutes while I was just standing at the desk waiting for help. After about 10 minutes she very rudely asked "can I help you with something?" She had very horrible demeanor and tone of voice while asking questions UNTIL I said I was going to purchase the dress then she changed her tone of voice and all of a sudden was very helpful.

I only bought the dress because it was a short notice event and I didn't have a whole lot of time to shop around and I did in fact like the dress. The Point is I give better customer service selling a 12$ cheeseburger. If I ever decide to shop for a dress again, I will not be coming back due to the extremely rude nature and lack of customer service from this particular staff member. If I am spending over 100$ somewhere I would like to at least be smiled at and welcomed when entering the establishment instead of being treated like a nuisance.
Sarah D.
Apr 06, 2022
I walked in kind of hesitant because my first experience trying on wedding dresses was just ok but I had an idea as to what I wanted and picture of me in a dress I thought I was in love with. My consultant was Denise I believe and she was AMAZING! She had so much input and really brought me out of my shell I was super shy going in lol I went in thinking I was just looking and ended up leaving with my dream dress! Denise is amazing and she's sooo kind and helpful I highly recommend!
Courtney Desautel
Oct 26, 2021
Great experience! I tried on close to 100 dresses at a variety of stores. Jackie was one of the most knowledgeable and flexible to work with. I got my bridal gown here and my bridesmaids also got their dresses through Special Events. I would definitely recommend. They have a ton of dresses and accessories to choose from.
Kelly Reller
Oct 22, 2021
I tried a couple other shops before visiting The Special Event, but this boutique was special. Denise provided exceptional customer service and was patient and so attentive to my needs and tastes. She helped me find the perfect dress, and when I got married recently, I received so many compliments on the one-of-a-kind dress. I'm so glad I shopped at The Special Event, and would recommend them to any bride!
Griselda Garcia
Mar 24, 2021
I've been holding off on writing this review. The beginning of summer I walked into the bridal store, their was an older women & a toddler. The older woman looked me up and down and asked what we needed help with and I obviously told her I need help finding a dress for my big day. She literally said " we don't carry your size here" I'm sorry I didn't even tell her my size or she didn't bother to measure me for anything.

And when I asked if she could measure me she and also charged me $10. This was the first bridal store I went into before going to any other store and it was the worst for me. I'm sorry I'm plus size and got treated like it was a bad thing. Don't waist your time going here if you are plus size.
Jacquie Marshall
Jan 24, 2021
The team at Special Event Boutique deserves more than 5 stars. The ladies went ABOVE AND BEYOND any bride's expectation of what wedding dress shopping/tux shopping should, would, and could be. Not only did they help me find my dream dress, but when our wedding was rescheduled (aka planned from 7am to 6pm that same day) due to covid-they helped me get my dress altered and my husband a tux in like 4 hours!

They stripped a mannequin, hemmed, sewed, and steamed the tux for my husband to wear for our wedding-THAT DAY. They were so gracious, kind, helpful, warm, and understanding. They made me feel like the most beautiful bride and my husband feel like the most handsome groom. We cannot thank them enough for how much they helped make our wedding day dreams come true. We would 10/10 recommend Special Event. You will find the team treats you more like family than a special event client.
Erin Hilby
Apr 10, 2020
I got my wedding dress here and the staff was wonderful for picking out my dress. They were friendly and let me try on all different styles and I found the dress of my dreams! They also ordered me the correct size so I needed little done in alterations. Everything went wonderfully with my dress. We also got our tuxes from here and for the most part everything went ok.

The one mistake was the colors of our bowties got messed up and this was a detail that I confirmed with the staff at least 3 times throughout the process, so that was a bit of a disappointment. They made it right and offered reimbursement on the ties, so that was nice.
Cheryl S.
Aug 31, 2019
I have 2 experiences with this place. I bought my dream wedding dress from Special Events. My experience from try on through purchase and pick up was all I could hope for and more. The experience was such that I wanted to give them my business for tuxes, even though they are higher priced than other places. HUGE mistake! My groom did his groom try on and needed a few adjustments.

This was no concern because we had 7 weeks until our big day. 6 days before our wedding all of the tuxes were in. I had 4 people needing tuxes. All 4 had errors! Even after a groom try on- his had problems. His pants were now too long, jacket sleeves were too long and one was not properly secured at the cuff. One needed every piece smaller. The other 2 needed larger jackets.

We got replacement pieces before the wedding. Groom still needed buttons moved on his jacket the day before the wedding. This button fell off when he got dressed on the wedding day. His shoes magically shrank from the week before! Special Events had no shoes in his size for our wedding day. He went to Target for shoes! Through all of this the blame was put on the vendor- Savvi formalwear.

We were told they have had a lot of issues with them. If that is the case- why would you let them jeopardize your business? Why are you not being proactive based on past experience? The tuxes were hands down the most stressful piece of our wedding. The tuxes! I put blame on the place that couldn't secure a button to a jacket! Completely incompetent is my lasting impression when my first impression was stellar.
Mallory Peasley
Dec 03, 2018
I will start off with one good comment, I had a great first impression with them when I bought my wedding dress. Jackie was wonderful, but that's the ONLY good impression I had. The other staff I dealt with were very rude and extremely unprofessional-right down to actually laughing at a concern I had over the phone and then proceeded to LIE over the phone, and laughed more when they were caught in the lie.

I strongly suggest that nobody goes here. Here's a short list of everything they did wrong: One of my bridesmaid dresses was ordered 4 sizes too big. I had a phone call from them telling me there was a problem with the bridesmaid dresses that I picked up, I told them I didn't pick any bridesmaid dresses up and they just told me they'd call me back.

I never heard back from them, panicking that my bridesmaid dresses were missing I called them back later and they said "oh yeah it wasn't yours." I mean, how do you not call your customer and notify them of this mistake? We were notified that the tuxes would be in Tuesday before the wedding, my dad drove an hour on WEDNESDAY to pick them up and they weren't ready. Tuxes were picked up Thursday and NONE of them had pocket squares, causing us to have to make a THIRD trip there.

All the groomsmen shoes were the wrong size (even the ones that went into the store to be measured and tried shoes on). The groomsmen were overcharged for their tuxes and never refunded the difference. My grooms tie was the wrong color-TWICE and it never got corrected, he was stuck wearing the WRONG color. And after all of the above, they call me three weeks after my wedding to let me know they're charging me for "missing shoes." "Missing shoes" that I was never even notified about and on top of that, there was no phone call that anything was missing until it was too late to return them, AND when the tuxes were dropped off the person who did inventory was there and we were told EVERYTHING was accounted for. I don't even know how a place that does business like this is still open.
Tanika C.
Jun 20, 2018
Jackie is absolutely wonderful. She is personable, caring, and went above and beyond to help me find and get the dress of my dreams. I would highly recommend meeting with her or Sydney. I had been to numerous boutiques and dress shops around Minnesota and North Dakota, and I ended up going back to Special Event Boutique to find my dream dress. There is such a beautiful and unique selection of gowns, you have to experience them for yourself!

Definitely check out designers and the gowns they carry on their website and jot down different styles you want to try. Don't forget to step out of your comfort zone and have fun! You won't regret it :. Thank you again, Jackie and Special Event Boutique!
Alexa L.
Oct 27, 2016
I can't say enough wonderful things about my experience at Special Event! We were greeted right away and brought to a very spacious spot reserved for us with a couch and dressing room right next to it. Simone was incredibly sweet and got to know me a bit and what I was looking for before she went to pull dresses. She was with me the whole time in the dressing room but I felt completely at ease and comfortable.

I ended up buying the very first dress I tried on and couldn't be more thrilled with my choice and experience. Simone was not pushy but so helpful and I am so appreciative for her expertise!
Andrea Y.
Sep 12, 2016
I have been to Special Event Bridal twice, once to help my cousin pick out her wedding dress and the other to pick out bridesmaids dresses. Both times we were in there I was VERY impressed. Simone was a delight to work with and made sure we tried on everything that caught our eye to be sure we got exactly what we wanted. She even helped one bridesmaid combine parts of two dresses to make it work just right for the bridesmaid and the look of the wedding!

She understands it is a big purchase and wants you to be happy. Simone took her time with each girl helping them in each dress and not once did we feel rushed or that we HAD to buy something RIGHT NOW. She even double checked our measurements when they seemed a bit off to make sure we were getting the right size dress. My suggestion to people reading reviews: Don't just trust one site/one review. Check multiple sites and see what the average of them all are.
Rachel S.
Dec 09, 2015
This is a place to avoid. I had a lady who was nice enough the first day, but when I went back, the lady that helped me (Simone) was nasty and angry when she realized I wasn't ready to buy a dress yet, since it is a very expensive purchase and I needed to think about it some more. She was very mean to my mother in law, and told us that we had to leave.

Very rude. I couldn't believe it. They're also paranoid and don't allow picture taking, and don't let you have any privacy and insist on going in the dressing room with you. When you do need help, they are nowhere to be found. After Simone told us we needed to leave if we didn't make a decision right then and there, she told us we had five minutes before we could leave.

My mother in law was appalled at their behavior, and she doesn't get upset easily. I went to go take the dress off, and a lady (that turned out to be the owner of the store) started snapping at my mother in law and telling her that I couldn't be in the dressing room alone. It was awful. I left feeling horrible. I ended up buying the dress from them since it was one-of-a-kind.

My mother in law really hoped we would find a dress somewhere else, since their service was so awful, but in the end I went with the dress that I liked. I have had nothing but bad experiences here. I also know a girl who had an experience where they ordered the wrong dress for her, and they insisted that it was the same one she had tried on, when it clearly wasn't.

They didn't even try to resolve the problem and told her that they NEVER make mistakes, so that it must be her fault. They said that they ordered the dress she picked out, and that it was her problem that she had the wrong dress, basically. She went to Jackie J's and Jackie ordered the right dress for her and fixed the problem with no issue. Please, if you're reading this review, go to Jackie J's instead.

I was forced to buy my dress here since it was one-of a kind and I couldn't get it anywhere else. But if my and my friend's experiences here have taught anything, it's that they only care about money, sales, and pay no interest to people. They are very fake. They were nice to me up until I said I wasn't ready to purchase the dress that day.

And guess what? I was an interested customer who did end up buying the dress, but only because I couldn't find anything anywhere else. Please don't go here, not because of any bitter feelings (it's over, it's done, it's fine), but they are truly not sorry for how they treat people, and they gave me very bad dress-shopping memories. It's unfortunate and I don't want anyone else feeling like that, especially a bride on her special day.
Mary R.
Jul 23, 2015
Save your money and run! My dress was 2 sizes to small! My seamstress could not understand how their measurements could be so off! When talking to the owner, she suggested in a round about way that I had gained weight! To add insult to injury, when I asked for reimbursement for my seamstress, she yelled, 'absolutely not'.