Wedding Belle's - Stokes Valley
About Wedding Belle's
Hello and welcome.
My name is Althea Smith and I am the proud owner and operator of WeddingBelles in Stokes Valley.
I am a third generation taylor and seamstress. I first started making dolly dresses when I was four (and I still have the machine that I made them on)!
I learned to sew at a very young age and was taught by my mother, who was also an accomplished dressmaker, and a fantastic taylor in Auckland called Bella Myhill.
While at high school, one of my favorite elected subjects was clothing (it certainly wasn’t cooking) and I had an amazing South African teacher who was also a great mentor to me.
After leaving high school I became a cost accountant, but could not give up on my dream of becoming a seamstress and spent many happy hours creating dresses and ball gowns for my friends.
I eventually married and moved to Waitotara, becoming the dressmaker for the local community.
During this time I started a family, relocated to Devonport, then uprooted and moved again to Twizel where I worked as a dressmaker and taught sewing at the local high school.
Eventually I moved to Stokes Valley where I worked as a seamstress for Shaw’s Fabrics, all the while teaching my craft to students at Naenae College, Taita College and Hutt Valley High School.
It was there I decided to start my own business and created Althea Sportswear.
I manufactured garments for local softball, rugby, rugby league and marching teams, and I also made wedding and ball gowns. I competed in the wear for the Rose Of Tralee contestants, as well as doing repairs and alterations.
I bought Wedding Belles in 2004, which, at that stage, had been operating in Stokes Valley since 1994.
Our goal is to make the bride and her party feel comfortable and beautiful in their dresses for their special day, and to make the bridesmaids and flower girls gorgeous to complement their beautiful bride.
It is our mission to make our dresses and gowns both beautiful and affordable for everyone, and to make every bride feel beautiful on their wedding day.
Contact Wedding Belle's
| Address : | Wedding Belle's 415 Stokes Valley Road, Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt 5019, New Zealand |
| Phone : | π + |
| Postal code : | 5019 |
| Website : | https://www.weddingbelles.co.nz/ |
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Ian&Trudy Green on Google
β β β β β My rating is no stars, Was very rude when we came in to all do our fittings, was in a rush to close shop rather than focusing on the task at hand,all my brides maids dresses were made wrong, they were either to big in places , straps falling down, hems not taken up when Althea said they were. Jacket that was made was miles to big not gathered properly, and even the material was all wrong. As for my wedding gown , i did not buy it from Althea but asked for hem to be taken up... it was not!! She said had been. I nearly fell over twice and had to hold my gown through out the entire wedding. walking up the aisle with my dad, to our first dance. I am so disgusted in how my dress was not taken up and brides maids were very unhappy with what they paid for. I would not recommend weddingbelles to anyone. She was just in it for the money..spoke to a few people in Stokes valley and they all gave me a bad review on her said she was no good and should not be in the dress making business . We will be getting married again in ten years to redo our vows, i will be a lot happier the second time round with what i will wear. DO NOT BUY FROM WEDDINGBELLES YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED!!
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Allison Miller on Google
β β β β β The dress I got was a good price and the alterations were perfect. Giving 4 out of 5 stars only because my dress was mailed to me a bit late, but I think this was because of some personal medical issues.
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Aimee Lee on Google
β β β β β I regret ever going there to make my wedding dress, it looked nothing like how asked for it to be made, she kept promising it would be shaped towards the end. There were delays i thought it wasnt going to get finished at all. I did get my dress 1 day before my wedding so couldnt do anything about it other than wear it (my wedding day was perfect other than the dress) i threw it in the trash afterwards.
Had to rebuy my bridesmaid a dress the day before my wedding after taking it in store to alter it. She really made a mess of it.
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Estella Kiernan on Google
β β β β β Cant recommend enough!
i am plus size and short and was on a tight budget so i took in some ideas and we designed a custom made dress.
i was so so happy with the results and the fit was amazing. she kept to my budget and was much much cheaper than buying off the rack.
she was also a lovely person - very caring as i was going through a rough time leading up to our wedding!
the thing with custom dresses is that they are often hard to visualise when we are so used to seeing before we buy - might explain some of the reviews - its important to know what you want, what your non- negotiables are and leave time for alterations before the big day!!
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Alison Stanton on Google
β β β β β I am thrilled with my dress and the service we got.
I had very specific ideas of the kind of dress I wanted, and as a plus size woman it's hard to find something to try on.
I wanted a full blown wedding dress with train in black.
Althea took my ideas and sketched exactly what I wanted and the price was thousands of dollars cheaper than I expected.
My dress is beautiful. I felt great on my day.
I cannot recommend Wedding Belles highly enough.
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Kenzie Kitty (Kenzie) on Google
β β β β β I am absolutely appalled by the customer service I received. I managed to find my dream wedding dress, and left it with them after purchase for later alterations and so my partner would not see it. I later moved house, moving to a different region, and requested that the dress be delivered to myself. After waiting for the couriers to return to normal what with covid, I was informed that it would be delivered, however a month later the dress was still not delivered, despite multiple statements that it would be posted "tomorrow". When it finally arrived it did so in a post bag which was torn. There was no protection for the dress and it was simply folded into the post bag. I am absolutely horrified by all this as my experience in the store had been wonderful. However, when you are a business dealing with items of sentimental value, especially wedding dresses which are to be worn on one of the biggest days of a young woman's life, you need to take a lot more care than was shown. Hence, despite my experience in store, I cannot give any more than 2 stars and would not recommend them to anyone.
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Moana Gargiulo on Google
β β β β β Althea made our daughter's first holy communion dress. We were extremely happy with the dress. Made perfectly and high quality. We had lovely comments from others about her dress. The day was special and our daughter looked beautiful in Althea's creation.
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Emily Watson on Google
β β β β β Had my wedding dress altered. Cheap alterations, the staff member was very knowledgeable and gave lots of good advice. Thanks for the service
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