Madeleine Aleksandra couldn’t wait to walk down the aisle in a stunning $6,000 wedding dress she purchased from a boutique.
But she’s now facing the heartbreaking reality she may never get to wear her custom-made gown after discovering the bridal designer has quietly shut its doors.
An application for a winding up has been filed against the bridal shop, leaving the Melbourne bride-to-be completely shattered. Winding-up orders, typically initiated by creditors, seek to place an insolvent company into compulsory liquidation. However, the application could still be withdrawn or opposed.
To make the blow even harder to bear, her grandmother had generously paid for the gown in full with cash, wanting to gift Madeleine the dress of her dreams.
‘It’s absolutely horrible for something that is supposed to be so special,’ the 31-year-old bride told Daily Mail.
‘I am so scared that I won’t get my Babcia’s money back. She’s 86 years old and has no idea because I can’t tell her. She still doesn’t know about this, I don’t want to tell her because she would be absolutely devastated.’
Madeleine claimed she has been trying to get her money back since October last year after realising something wasn’t right when issues began to emerge.
In a last ditch-attempt, she claimed she now has no choice but to raise her concerns publicly on social media after the bridal designer completely ghosted her.
Madeleine Aleksandra is now facing the heartbreaking reality she may never get to wear her custom-made $6,000 wedding dress after the boutique disappeared
Daily Mail has contacted the bridal shop multiple times for comment but has not received a response. Calls to the business go straight to voicemail.
‘The bridal designer has left me $6,000 out of pocket and without a wedding gown less than a week away from my wedding,’ Madeleine claimed.
When she first ordered the dress, she was required to make an upfront payment so her grandmother kindly paid in cash the ‘old-school’ way.
She claimed her wedding dress was made using synthetic fabrics instead of silk.
‘I’ve been trying to get a refund because they made my dress in a man-made fabric when I’d specified and paid for a 100 per cent silk fabric,’ she said in a video.
‘There were design issues where it didn’t fit me properly.’
When she sent a follow-up email just to ‘double check the fabric composition’, Madeleine claimed she was told the silk Mikado was ‘hard to source’, so synthetic material was used instead to ’emulate its look and drape’.
‘I went and did my own research because I was really shocked to hear that for the first time throughout the process,’ she claimed.
‘I contacted some fabric suppliers who had it readily available in stock.’
In a last ditch-attempt, she claimed she now has no choice but to raise her concerns publicly on social media after the bridal designer completely ghosted her
Over the months, she made multiple attempts to arrange fittings to ensure her dress was made according to her specifications.
‘Usually in a custom process, you’ll have multiple fittings, which I never had,’ she said.
‘I never saw my wedding gown until the final appointment. I also asked the bridal shop to come in earlier to my final appointment to see what could be done.
‘They ignored that request and basically just told me to come in for my final appointment, which I did with my best friend who’s my maid of honour.’
When she saw her dress for the first time, she was ‘devastated’.
‘After that appointment, I asked for a full refund, and they have been fighting ever since to say I am not entitled to one for a “change of mind”,’ Madeleine claimed.
‘But in fact I did not change my mind – they used a fabric in a dress that was not specified, the dress didn’t fit me, they told me they didn’t know what could be done in the timeframe left.
‘It has been an absolutely horrible experience.’
She has tried everything imaginable to get in touch with the bridal business – but her emails have now started bouncing back.
‘I’ve heard nothing from them. I emailed following up again on my formal letter of complaint this week and the director’s email has now bounced,’ she claimed.
Madeleine said she even contacted Consumer Affairs Victoria and the ACCC who advised her to send formal letters of complaint to the bridal shop.
However, those letters have been ignored.
She has tried everything imaginable to get in tough with the bridal business – but her emails have now started bouncing back
On Thursday, her accountant friend did a deep Google search and found the bridal shop’s notice of application for a winding up order.
‘I’m not sure what this means for me or anyone with a dress order, but I think it’s unlikely Babcia will get her money back,’ she said, struggling to fight back tears.
‘I don’t know what else to do. I’m really exhausted from this process. Just makes it worse being my Babcia’s money… I don’t even want to tell her because it would break her heart.
‘They have made this a really horrible experience and I just wanted to raise awareness so it doesn’t happen to anyone else.’
Madeleine is set to walk down the aisle this weekend, and fortunately she has found an alternative dress.
‘Luckily, I have managed to find another dress just in time but it’s cost so much more and left me so out of pocket,’ she told Daily Mail.
After speaking out, multiple brides came forward claiming they had been left without wedding dresses after ordering from the same bridal shop.
‘I have a dress with them for my wedding next year. They are not replying to my calls or emails. I’m actually so nervous,’ one claimed.
‘I was supposed to go try on gowns there this week and they cancelled my appointment last week due to them shutting down the retail boutique,’ another said.
