would you/or have you bought your wedding dress online.

Hello all

Just wondering if anyone has got any experiences of buying their wedding dress online.  I'm getting married on May 1st 10, so its clearly still a while away.  But this is budget wedding central and I cant justify spending hundreds of pounds on a dress I will only wear once, I would rather put a bit more money into the reception party for everyone to have a good time.

There's loads of websites and good old ebay stores where you send off your measurements and they send back a dress in 6-8 weeks sounds good as its made to measure, appears to be cheap.  But is it just too good to be true.  I worry about fabric quality and the finishing. 

Anyone got any experiences or further thoughts.  Thanks for taking the time to read my query.

I think that a lot of people find that they don't really know what looks good on them (style or color) til they try stuff on. So at the very least, do go to a B&M store and try stuff on first.

I've heard not-to-comforting things about the ebay (most of them from china) stores. Show you a picture of a designer dress, and give you an awful replica. So buyer be ware.

Not speaking from personal experience - just what I've read.

I'm not sure what your budget is, but I would recommend at least looking around before you go the online route.  Plus, if you can find a dress that you can buy off the rack you'll get a really really good deal. So who knows, you might get lucky ;)

I used to work at a bridal shop and all of our dresses were under $900. The majority were in the $300-600 range, and we had some gorgeoussss dresses.

I agree with amethystgirl on at least going and trying different styles on. That way you'll have an idea of what to chose. Pay attention to the fabrics as well, that way when you order you'll know what to expect.

Here's a designer that's fairly cheap (of course prices change from store to store) and has some really good quality stuff.
http://www.casablancabridal.com/collections
I don't believe you can purchase directly through them though, but they have a link where you can see if there are retailers near you.

Congrats and good luck!

I ordered a ball dress off this site www.lightinthebox.com and I'm not kidding- the quality is amazing. I live in Australia, and I got the dress about 2 weeks after I ordered it. They have a MASSIVE selection of dresses for any occasion, and while I dont know about wedding dresses, the quality of the one I got was amazing and nearly exactly like the picture it provides.

Being a Chinese store I was a bit scared, but they make them to custom fit (and they do)

I suggest you have a look :):)

I bought a gorgeous Maggie Sottero wedding dress on ebay for $120!!! (See my pics) I got it hemmed and taken in a couple places for less than $50.

Just got to do your homework...I looked at a bunch of sites and dresses before making up my mind.

Good Luck!

One thing to keep in mind is that there are clothing sizes and Bridal sizes.  Bridal dresses tend to run a bit small for the size.   When I was trying them on I was having to try on 2 sizes up from what I normally wear.  Some of my friends have had the same experience.   So knowing what "bridal size" you are would be a good start.  And if in doubt, then go the next size up.  It is always easy to get an item taken in, but adding fabric is trickier.  

I would say if you bought a dress from someone who has worn it already, like on e-bay, then you probably can get a good fit.  I mean if you are a size 8 and the woman selling the dress was a size 8 then chances are good it will fit ok. 

it's really rude to try on dresses at a bridal shop to see what looks good on you and then go and buy your dress online. Stores like Nordstrom, Macys and J Crew sell wedding dresses, or even just white formal dresses that you could wear for a wedding dress. If you want to order things online those would be my suggestion because they will probably let you return them, unlike the chines ebay people. Or go to a davids bridal, they have some decent dresses for 100-200 dollars.

I suggest buying it in person because I know things dont fit right/look right when you buy online... I wouldn't risk it with this kind of purchase. You might wear it once, but the pictures will be around for a LONG time...

I think you probably should buy it in person.  I did a lot of searching online before I went shopping so I would know what I wanted to look for.  I had no clue what looked good on me.  I ended up buying a dress that looked really plain in the picture but for some reason looked great on me.  You can go to somewhere like David's Bridal which is reasonable, and they have sales quite often.  My 2nd choice dress would have only been $300.  I was really happy with David's.  If you're really looking for a deal, you could try classifieds or craigslist so you can at least see and try on the dress before you buy.

My mother used to work at davids bridal and they have great sales where you can buy dresses for like 100 dollars.... just wait for the sales since you have until 2010~

I wanted a non-traditional dress. I almost bought mine online, but decided to wait till I got to the States to actually see the dress. THANK DOGS I did wait. The material was hideous. Although by the time I finally found a dress, it was the night before my wedding. Lucky for me it fit with no alterations needed. And the price wasnt too bad. And most importantly I looked goooood.

After failing to find anything I loved or could afford in the stores, I bought my wedding dress online from J Crew, but it wasn't anything too fancy - just a long, ivory version of a silk dress I already had in a short green version. I was quite happy with it. One of my coworkers just got married in a dress she bought from jcrew.com and a veil she bought on etsy.com, and she was also very happy with the process. In the end, there are some great deals to be had online, just like there are some great deals to be had in the stores.

In my opinion, shopping online can't hurt, as long as you only buy from sellers with a generous return policy and reasonable shipping costs. Definitely stay away from anything custom-made!

Hi all thanks so much for the reply's,

yazzy6753 - I've heard good things about www.lightinthebox.com so its good to hear you had a good experience. 

hayleymajayley - I agree with you about trying on in a specialist bridal shop being rude if I have no intention of buying there.  I would feel so awkward its a very one to one selling experience and the bridal shops here give you a glass of bubbly and make it a real 'event'.  Plus most places starting price for gowns is £800 pluss so even if i fell in love with one i couldn't afford it.

To everyone else, unfortunately I have no ideal what most of these places are, as I probably should of mentioned prior I live in London so J Crew, Macys etc don't exsist here in the UK.  However you have got me thinking about visiting some big department stores and trying on some dresses as I wouldn't feel as uncomfortable in this enviroment. Even if its just to get an ideal of what shape suits me.

Buying second hand is a little tricky as I'm 5'10 and most brides have dresses shortend while I need more length.  But i'll keep looking as i can't be the only one this tall. 

I quite fancy a 1950's style gown as i'm a bit of a Morrissey obsessed rockabilly at heart.  Theres a 1950's store called vivien of holloway.  www.vivienofholloway.com and the shop is in north london so i'm heading up there with some girlfriends to try on some outfits. My budget is about £300 for whole outfit inc shoes, jewerelly I've got passed down through the family and i got a mywardrobe.com voucher for my birthday which might cover the shoes just leaving £300 for the dress / lingerie alone.  I'm not sure what this is in $$.

Still got a while to go (& about 7llbs) So i'll keep on the hunt, but thanks so much for all your replys.

xxxxxxxxx

Original Post by naruelle:

My mother used to work at davids bridal and they have great sales where you can buy dresses for like 100 dollars.... just wait for the sales since you have until 2010~

 Yea...the dresses are cheap...

but they charge you up the butt for alterations.

What about this? Kinda 50's style?

http://www.additionsdirect.co.uk/rf/add/p.do/ women/bridalwear/angelica-prom-style-wedding- dress?Nao=12&groupId=573395871&Nu=thi s_product&SNtk=&Np=1&SN=151+42944 84384&Ntt=573395871&D=573395871&N tk=group_search&Dx=mode%2bmatchall&th isprod=573395871&N=151+4294484384&Nty =1&Mis_item_id=15&Mis_item_loc_id=1&a mp;product=573395871&pageSize=12

2 piece and length can be added by the net petticoat underneath?

An idea for a second hand dress. If you find one that fits, but is too short, it could possibly be lengthened with either an added ruffle at the bottom or a lacy addition at the bottom. Would depend on the style, but that is a real possibility.

Start asking around now for recommendations for someone who does alterations. Some stores charge outlandish amounts, but you can probably find someone who will do it on the side for cheaper.

i bought my wedding dress on ebay from a u.s seller who ended up not using the dress they bought.  quite a few people are selling like this, whether it be on ebay, craigslist ect...it's a mori lee so i researched the dress from the official website and tried on similair styles before i made the purchase. i ended up getting a normally $400.00 dress, brand new with tags for less than half the price including shipping.  the only alterations i needed was to put a bustle on and let out a half an inch around the waist. i have pictures of my dress up, and everyone thought it looked perfect and could never have guessed i bought it on ebay. needless to say i have no regrets what so ever and consider it a great experience!