Pros
I have had some really great brides. It is so great to be able to form personal relationships with customers. It's retail but it's high end retail. Commission CAN be awesome if you just happen to have a great pay period and sell a lot. I've made $20 an hour before.
Cons
To be completely straightforward, this job just isn't worth it. Half the time it's almost impossible to make commission and you're stuck with $7.25 an hour after working your butt off for the pay period. Management doesn't seem to understand that some brides just won't buy after their first time. They expect you to make the sale and if you don't, you're expected to set them a comeback appointment and call them until they come in and purchase. They expect you to completely accessorize EVERY bride from head to toe in order to sell more, when a lot of brides don't want a veil or jewelry or a sash. I was not properly trained. I was basically thrown in and then yelled at every time I didn't have good sales. My manager kept saying, "You really need to start being more aggressive." HOW? I didn't know how to sell… Teach me HOW to make the sale and how to be more aggressive instead of just scolding me. Even when I finally figured out how to close sales and started earning commission, I would get in trouble for not selling the right things. I would be proud of myself for selling 10 bridal gowns in one week but would instead get scolded for not selling enough bras and slips. I have never been rewarded or congratulated for good sales. EVER. Just always told what I could do better or what wasn't good enough. Also, there are absolutely NO benefits of working here. None. I mean, you get a 25% discount but unless you're getting married soon, it's pretty useless. You also don't really get breaks. On busy Saturday's or weekdays where you're the only consultant there, you can't take a break. Oh, but you're super hungry? Too bad. A bride just showed up and you have to commit the next two hours helping her find her wedding dress before you can eat. Your bride didn't buy and she scheduled an appointment to come back on a day that you're not scheduled? Guess what, you've gotta go in ON YOUR DAY OFF for the appointment or if she buys that day, you don't get the sale. I can't count how many times I have gone in on my day off for a bride, or stayed two hours late for a bride, when they don't buy. It is so frustrating. Time seriously is money at this job. Also, being that the stylists are only part time, sometimes we only get about 20 hours a week, sometimes less. The shifts are scheduled very inconveniently, as you usually only work 3 or 4 hour shifts, unless it's Saturday, where usually you will work open to close, which is absolutely draining and exhausting. I ALWAYS work 5 days a week even if I'm only working 20 hours, which is ridiculous. I should have more days off and not have to go to work almost every single day for a measly 4 hour shift. Overall I just really don't recommend working here to ANYONE. I have never seen so many customer complaints towards any company as I have seen for this one. It doesn't surprise me because the employees are underpaid, overworked and under appreciated. I work so hard and it almost never pays off. It's super easy to talk bad about a company or a job when you don't like the management. In this case, I absolutely LOVE all three of my managers, so writing this review is hard. I only felt compelled to because I feel so strongly about how horrid this company really is.