Charlottetown bridal salon hopes shoppers will accept $50 consulting fee

A Charlottetown bridal salon is planning to charge a $50 consultation fee for appointments starting in the new year, to cut down on missed appointments and bridal parties not seriously intending to say yes to a dress.

Kelly Moorehead of Perfect Pear Bridal on Queen Street told CBCNews that she had been thinking about introducing the fee for a while, but decided to go forward with the plan after seeing that a salon in Moncton had done so.

We're small businesses. We need to be able to stay open. Kelly Moorehead, Perfect Pear Bridal

"We spend two hours with you, give you all of our expertise and try to help you find a dress to suit you. And at the end of the day, you walk away and we have nothing," she said.

If a dress is purchased at the store, the $50 is credited towardthe price.

Moorehead noted that Perfect Pear staff "love what we do" and put a lot of effort into preparing for each wedding dress appointment.

"We're just kind of like missing that two hours that we're putting out there," she said, calling the fee"just a little bit of money to cover the costs of payroll, lights, the rent, that type of thing."

Salon owns in-stock gowns

There's also the fact that the salon owns all the sample gowns in stock, and would like to cut down on people trying on garments they have no intention of seriously considering for purchase.

Moorehead saidthat happens more often with bridesmaids' dresses.

"We're here for business. It's not really a dress-up."

When it comes to wedding gowns, about 50 per cent of Perfect Pear's browsers do commit to one of the garments that are tried on during an appointment.

So far, Moorehead said, she has had no adverse reactions to the announcement of the consultation fee that becomes effective Jan. 1

She is hoping other bridal salons on P.E.I. will eventually bring in a similar policy. "We're small businesses. We need to be able to stay open."

Officials with two other P.E.I. salons Caseley's Bridal Boutique and Once Upon a Wedding told CBC this week that they have no plans for such a fee.

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