Avoid Ushi Sato
Please avoid Ushi Sato at all costs!!!! I was a bridesmaid at my best friend’s wedding, and the experience was incredibly disappointing to say the least.
The bride also had her mother’s and sister’s gowns made by Ushi, and those turned out beautifully. Naturally, we were all so excited because she intentionally chose Ushi after seeing good reviews on reddit and genuinely wanted her bridesmaids to not only look beautiful, but feel beautiful as well on such a special day.
Unfortunately, the bridesmaids’ gowns were a completely different story. By the end of the night, my gown was literally falling apart. The stitching was coming undone, the hems were uneven, and the fit was poor on almost all of the dresses.
One bridesmaid’s gown was so badly made that it was completely unusable, and she had to rush to another designer just TWO DAYS before the wedding to have an entirely new gown made. That alone should say enough about the quality of the work we received.
To make matters worse, our first and only fitting was just three days before the wedding despite most of us having our measurements taken 5–6 months in advance. It was frustrating and honestly unacceptable considering how much time they had to prepare.
What made it even more disappointing was that some of our common friends were bridesmaids for a different wedding that also used Ushi, and their fittings happened before ours even though their wedding was scheduled weeks after this one. Their gowns were properly made, fit well, and they did not experience any of the issues we went through. It honestly felt like our gowns were rushed and neglected despite the bride putting so much trust in them.
Customer service was also terrible. Ushi himself never communicated with any of the bridesmaids.. everything was relayed through his assistant (who btw PROBABLY DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE WAS DOING). Even during our first and only fitting, he was not there. Considering the amount we paid and the importance of the event, the lack of professionalism and accountability was extremely disappointing.
None of us wanted to tell the bride about the issues so close to her wedding because the last thing we wanted was to add more stress during such an important time. However, we also knew she deserved to know the truth before paying the remaining balance in full for gowns that, quite honestly, should not have been paid for at all given their condition and quality. It was her hard-earned money, and she trusted them to deliver. We felt so terrible because she was crying so much about how bad the experience was WHICH SHE TRULY DID NOT DESERVE.
The wedding itself was absolutely beautiful, and thankfully we didn’t let the disastrous gowns ruin such a special day. Honestly, the only consolation was that the dresses looked somewhat okay in photos.
Overall, the quality, workmanship, communication, and service were extremely disappointing. OUR BRIDE DIDN’T DESERVE ANY OF THAT. So yeah, don’t hire Ushi.