I'm a newbie, this is my first post, apologies if I've done anything wrong...!
I'm newly engaged and haven't booked a thing yet - it's all about the saving!! We've discussed a few things, and h2b is absolutely intent on not spending anything unnecessary, which I do agree on in principle, but when it comes to my dress I'm a little hesitant. I want to make sure I have a stunning dress which is exactly what I want, not just the dress I could afford at the time...if you see what I mean? I want the wedding dress shopping experience with mum and bridesmaids etc....but thinking about the cost, I've heard from a couple of ladies recently they ordered made to measure dresses from Hong Kong and the like, and had great dresses for very little cost.
Can I have a little advice? Have any of you sourced a dress from far away?! If so, how did you find someone reputable to order from? How much did you pay (If you don't mind me asking)? And was the saving worth forgoing the dress shopping exprience? Did you feel you missed out at all?
Thankyou so much, I hope someone can help!
CommentAuthorLiza247
I have bought my dress from a bridal shop & personally wouldnt want to buy online however theres 2 ladies I have on fb who run businesses and deal directly with people who make the dresses in china & there prices are very reasonable, they can also make any dress from a picture think prices start at £180 to about £350!! They also check the dress before its sent to you. I think most people go wedding dress shopping instore to see which style they prefer before Ordering online
CommentAuthorKatya
the post you need for buying your dress abroad is on page 2 currently and starts "have you got a china dress" people have left reviews on there for brides to check out.
no matter what you do you still need to do the whole shopping experience first some dresses look lovely but when on look horrid, others look horrid on a hanger/manequin but gorgeous on! you may like ruffles but they may not suit you, you may think you hate buttons or lace but that may well turn out to be the thing you love most about "the one"
So when you go dress shopping dont tell them you are buying elsewhere let them think you are buyng from them. Try on EVERYTHING! whether you think you like it or not! as "the one" may surprise you!
Find out who you are & do it on purpose!
CommentAuthorAmberGem
Great advice ladies thankyou so much.
I will still go and try things on I think but I know what I'm like...!! I'll see "the one", it wil be perfect, and I'll want it there and then no matter what the cost..!!! Could be dangerous! Will have to make sure mum and BMs keep me in check!
CommentAuthormadhen
I'm the same AmberGem, and I'm planning to try on as many as possible in the shops and then if finances are limiting at least I'll know from trying which ones suit, and can then look into getting one made more cheaply elsewhere. I'd love if I could just get one from a shop, and I'm hoping I'll get an ex-sample one or something, but will just have to wait and see!
I would do as the others say and make sure you still go to the shops to try them, then you still getting the experience as well as making sure the dress you see actually suits you. I totally changed my mind on what I was going to go for because the type I originally thought I would get didn't suit me at all. I was going to buy from the internet but decided not to last minute as I was worried whether the site I found was reputable or not. There are reviews on here though about people that sound very trustworthy. My H2B doesn't want to spend unnecessary money either but for us he's decided we don't need a photographer because two of his friends do photography as a hobby, i'm not so sure about this so it best pay of for his sake! xx
CommentAuthorxbeckix88
I found a gorgeous dress but was well over my budget so im going to try it on in a Bridal shop then order 2nd hand saves me loads & I still get the dress i wanted :) x
CommentAuthorJanie
i'm using my friend, she has a fb page. There's a few styles i like, the kate middleton style dress, she can get me that for £175 and that's with the ace on the top being changed from ivory to pink for me too
Remember : To the world you may be just one person,
BUT to one person you may just be THE WORLD x x x
CommentAuthorHa_x3
edited
welcome to the forum. I ordered my wedding dress off ********************& it arrived in perfect condition etc its absoloutly stunning, was less than £200 also. Have a look in my photo albums on my wall if you would like to have a look xx
POST EDITED ... LINK REMOVED
Mrs Lunn
08/05/12 was the best day of my life
& I love my husband with all my heart xxxx
CommentAuthorMrs*Maria*Louise
i ordered my first dress from china for around £84 and did go to bridal shop anyway just for the experience when the china dress came it just didnt compare to the ones i tried on in the shop it didnt hold as nice had no weight to it an looked cheap to be honest but have heard lots of good dresses coming from china/hong kong. i did then buy a dress for a bargain £140 proper designer dress which i loved an it was new but couldnt forget a dress i had tried on in the shop an ended up buying it spending £1200 on my dream dress i would recomend you at least going into a shop to try diff styles on an for the experience you havent got to purchase from them an just have fun trying them on xx
We Did It Finally
Now Husband and Wife
It Was A Dream Come True
26/11/11 Best Day Of My Life
CommentAuthorElle23
Im planning on doing the whole bridal shop trying on etc for the exp[erience but also to find what suits as i have NO idea what i want at the moment!
IF i find the one.......im going to take photos (if they will let me) and take a note of the desinger and name of the dress. That way the china dress can be matched exactly.
Even if the budget was more generous, i really do not see the point in spending a silly amount of money on the dress as it will only be worn once!!!
Good luck x
To be wed on our 10 year anniversary! 23.08.2013
CommentAuthorLaura
Hi Elle23 i was just like you and didn't want to spend a lot and was looking on ebay for a cheep dress.. but then i tried on some dresses last monday with my mom, nan and h2b mom and found the one. I know it was the one cos it made everyone go "wow" and made my nan cry. The only thing is it cost £1032!! but my mom has said she will pay for it as me and my h2b are paying for everything else. I think once you try a dress on you will know and then not want to buy a cheaper dress of line.
Hope you find one you like xx
CommentAuthorMrsDanks
The only thing I will say from my experience is the shops I have tried dresses on will only let you take photos of the dress if you are going to buy it, ie putting a deposit down for it. If you know the model number you should be able to find a picture online unless your like me who has just ordered a brand new dress that was only available the day before I tried it on and no matter how I word it on G**gle I cannot find it! xx
CommentAuthorclive
We went to a bridal store about three weeks about three weeks ago, and liz (not me!) tried on an essence of australia dress, and she loved it! Even I started to well up a little, so we both knew that was the one.
Anyway, the price was around £900 or so, so we had a look online, found the model number (she quite rightly wouldnt let us take any photos) and eventually we saw one on 'bay for £260. We didnt buy it, as I personally think we can do better.
Anyway, the moral here is, if youre going to get a dress cheaply, do make sure its genuine. Personally, i wouldn't take up a bridal shop's valuable time, only to get an inferior product when the workmanship will almost certainly be way below any standards thay you would want. It's nothing more than a kick in the balls for the bridal shop, who is trying to make a living.
CommentAuthorDonda
I agree Clive, but I also agree that it is a lot of money to pay out for a dress you will be wearing for one day. Which is why I'm thinking of hiring my dress instead of buying it, that way I get the designer dress I want, but can't afford, know that is it going to fit properly, that it is quality made and still keeping the bridal shops in business.
Met on 7th April 2008
Got engaged on 14th November 2011
Getting married on 12th December 2012
Looking forward to the rest of my life with the man I love
CommentAuthorclive
Yep! Good point made there.you also have the addd bonus of putting the money youmsaved onnthemdressmtowards something else! Win-win situation! :-)
CommentAuthorCoconut
there are loads of bridal outlet shops around! They buy last years styles direct from the designers and sell them really cheap! I'll be going there!
CommentAuthorabbylsharpe
I bought my dress 2nd hand, it's the exact style I tried in the bridal shop and was the size I needed and cost £150!
CommentAuthorAmberGem
Wow, you lot have some really helpful information, thankyou all so much for sharing. I hadn't really considered hiring to be honest as I think if I love the dress that much I'd be too sad to see it go...but then if it's only for one day it might make sense, so I will think about that option now too.
And thanks for mentioning bridal outlet shops, I'll have a search online right now, see if there are any near me!!
CommentAuthorKATG
Dont forget to try on all the sale dresses in the shops before you order online. I am sure the china dresses are great, but if the dress you love is in the sale at a price you can justify, why not. My dress is designer and it cost me £100 in the sale, is perfect and I bought it there and then in the shop. No stress about where it comes from and what quality etc, and I love it, it is definitely 'the one' no compromise at all.
Mrs Wilson2B
Need to loose 5 stones and 2lbs
3 Stones 2 lbs lost so far!!!
Getting Married 3rd August 2013
CommentAuthoremmaaa
I don't care whether my dress is a china dress, second hand or from a sample sale or discount store, as long as it's under £500. And I certainly don't fel guilty about using dress shops as an experimental zone for seeing what suits me, and then trying to find it cheaper elsewhere, they have a lot more money than I do! If the dresses weren't so hideously marked up on wholesale price anyway, they'd probably not be so far out of my budget range! Hadn't even thought about hiring, but to be honest I'm a magpie, I don't think I'd be happy about giving it back afterwards!
CommentAuthorMrs*Maria*Louise
i didnt think you could hire a wedding dress? my mom and dad always moaned at me saying i could hire one and the bridal shops we went to said they dont hire and didnt know anyone that did, i mean you can hire mens suits so why not a wedding dress!! xx
We Did It Finally
Now Husband and Wife
It Was A Dream Come True
26/11/11 Best Day Of My Life
CommentAuthorLinzi-jo
Have you thought about getting it made for you? If you look in the local papers and phone books there are often people who work from home and make dresses! All they need is a photo and they can copy a dress for you and can also change bits that you want changed so its completely unique to you. I had my prom dress made like this 5 years ago and all the lady charged me was £50 for her time and whatever the fabric cost (which she kindly came with us to help pick out). It ended up costing £90 for the whole dress. She was making a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses at the time, which she showed us and they were beautiful! Most of them will also have photos of previous work so you can look at them before commiting to having them make it for you, could be an idea if you have a couple of months for them to make it? xxx
Got together 14.02.2008
Got engaged 31.12.2010
Will become a Mrs on 30.08.2014 xxxxxx
CommentAuthorStinky87
I found the dress i loved went to try it on even though it was well over my budget and i then looked online and found a dress shop which was selling it off at nearly half the price as it was the shop sample. Might be worth considering this as i got a designer dress for cheap, reailed at between 1000-1200 and i paid 675 which included the dress, dry cleaning and courrier service to my door.
CommentAuthorNikitaL
I have my dress already, its the first thing i bought. I wasnt planning on buying it but i saw a picture of it on g**gle and fell in love,thinking it would cost a fortune, i was so shcoked when i found it on 'bay for only £50!! i bought it straight away! Its here now, and although i like it, it doesnt really match the colour in the picture, not sure if this is because it is purple or not i dont know. But it is Very nice, depending on your taste of course. I am falling in love with it the more i look at it, and what a bargain price! Fast delivery too, especially from china. Now i just need to drop 3 dress sizes to fit into the bloody thing!! lol!! They had a wide range of different dresses on there and they are good quality for the price, but you do get what you pay for. I have put photos in my album if you want to have a look. Good luck anyway, hope you find your dream dress and it is in budget. :)
CommentAuthorJEm1905
We haven't gone "dress shopping" as such.. we went on ebay found the ones we wanted for a price we liked.. then found out my W2B's family are paying for them i keep teasing that i wish we had picked a more expensive dress but im over the moon with ours. Different to most brides which is perfect because we are definitely not normal brides
Got together - 19th May 2009
Our Civil Partnership - 19th May 2012
Waiting to re-Marry my Princess Legally
<< My Gorgeous Little bubba Lola <3
CommentAuthorkrissy905
you can hire dresses i know of at least one shop that does it in lincolnshire and they use to be one in grimsby that hired bridesmaid dresses but its not very common so not many do it anymore x
CommentAuthorTrudi
In my experience as a Bridal Consultant I have found the majority of Brides that visit the shop prefer to buy instore as most of us now do pre payment plans to help cover the cost, also there are always bargains to be had as the collections change so often. I have bought my own dress this same way, buying something I never would have thought to try in the first place, we hear too often stories of people buying online to save money but inevitably become disappointed when the quality isn't there when it arrives. From a working point of view and I am only an employee, Brides that try with the idea of buying online can be a bit frustrating and take up appointment times for those that want to buy instore, its also a waste of the Consultants time. But I think its a very good debate here, I understand the need for restricting the spending and that the dress will only be worn once but in my opinion for the best day of your life it is always worth it, don't forget you will have years of looking back at your photos, will you regret your choice if you bought online? I think I would
CommentAuthorAmberGem
Hi Brides, I don't have much time to get online, so haven't been here lately - thankyou all for your replies! I went dress shopping for the first time yesterday with my mum and both BMs, and have found THE ONE already! I love it, can't stop thinking about it, and didn't want to take it off!! However, it's way out of my budget. So I've been online trying to find one in a sample sale, or second hand, and think I have found one...!
For all my thoughts of getting it made abroad, I know I would be so worried about the quality, not being as happy with it as I was with the original in the shop...so I don't think I can!
Thanks for all your comments XXX
CommentAuthorStaceyP91
edited
I did exactly the same, i went into a bridal store to see what i liked & i did find 'the one' however....is about £800 over my budget! Have found it on 'the woman who cant be named' site & a few ladies have recommended her from here. So will be ordering it from there. like others i cant afford to spend thousands of pounds on a dress il be wearing one day!
Xxxx
30-11-13 my life becomes complete
Mrs Solomon to be <3
CommentAuthorCarsey
I would be a little wary of buying from abroad. I know the weight isn't the same and the material not as costly. I understand not wanting to spend a fortune on a dress though. I had been bidding on one on 'bay and was outbid at the last second (sat in a pub with only the little screen on my mobile!) I was a little gutted so bid on the next dress to end, which if I had looked properly was a size 12 (I was almost an 18 at the time) and I won it for £84 with postage. I was dreading it turning up and finding out I had wasted my money, even though it said in decription it was a genuine Christina Rossi dress, I though I wouldn't be that lucky. When it arrived it was beautiful and genuine. I loved it so much (It was the same sort of style I had tried on in shops) that I have now lost almost 3 stone and it *almost* fits :) another 1/2 stone and it will be perfect (I hope) So I am all for buying bargain dresses, but I would definitly worry if I was ordering from abroad.
Hope you manage to ind the dress of your dreams at a cost you are happy with.
CommentAuthorRockabilly chick
Have a look at the China Dress thread. I got mine from China and its perfect in every way. You will be fine ordering abroad as long as you use a reputable company. The company I used is the one that is mentioned a lot on that thread. I ended up liking my copy more than the orginal :-)
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CommentAuthorricky
I got mine from China and also my flower girl dresses..they were fabulous..all three were absolute bargains and had lots of weight to them and lots of detail. pics on profile. x
