Weddings are by anyone’s terms, expensive.
Even those who have small weddings can sometimes feel the pinch as the little bits and pieces add up.
Your wedding dress however, need not be so terrifyingly costly!
More and more brides are either buying their dress from the high street or pushing their chips forward and buying online. Well, what’s so brave about that?- Not a lot when you are buying from a reputable name or official online outlet with free returns... but how about eBay? ... How about from China?
When planning my wedding I chose to take this leap of faith and ended up buying two dresses from China- they were both custom made to my measurements and both created to ‘look like’ the images used in the listings.
I ended up buying from these eBay stores following a manic day of trudging round dress shops in my town... where I was greeted by nothing but rude women, who were interested in your money and not alot else. I know I cannot speak for all bridalwear shops, but honestly, my experience was shocking.
After a few hours of being pushed into dresses I didn’t like- but were more expensive, being clawed by fake nails while getting laced up, and being looked at down noses when I said I couldn’t afford it... I gave up my in-person search and my online quest began.
I ended up on eBay, my favourite haunt, where I typed into the search engine exactly what I wanted... (I always knew I wanted a tea-length 50's A-line style lacy number!), chose “new” as a filter and was left with a few dearer / not quite right dresses in the UK or several options around the £100 mark from China.
They both replied really fast, and with good English. They were both extremely helpful in explaining the exact ordering process and describing the fabrics used and different additions available.
I took the dress I had decided on to a good friend who made some minor (though drastic!) alterations to it- she added extra fabric to the bottom to make the skirt fuller, and added a purple ribbon to the waist to match my theme (something I wanted to wait to do, so I could match the colours exactly) and added buttons to the back. Overall, with fabric and alterations (with mates rates, admittedly), the dress came to £260 in comparison to similar dresses in the UK that can come in at around 10 times that!
The results... well, see for yourself, below!
Sarah did the best job ever and completely exceeded all my expectations- I knew I'd love my dress, but I didn't know I'd LOVE my dress! And the best part about it is that absolutely no-one has the same thing!
I do still stick by my thoughts on wedding dresses however, in that I don’t think you should spend a fortune on something you will only wear the once! I did always think too that I would wear my dress then sell it on... but now it is mine and it was such an intimate work in progress, that it means so much more! All in all, from a personal view, and from my purses view- this was the best investment I could have made and was completely worth the gamble.
Besides, most things nowadays are made in China... this way you just cut out the middle man, the designer label adding and the price boost, just by buying straight from source! Your purchase may not initially look or feel exactly as advertised, but with a little work, and very little money, the foundations can easily be built on to create your perfect on-of-a-kind dress, if you are prepared to work on it.
For those willing to take the plunge: the seller below is who I worked with on my wedding- day dress and now would completely trust with another creation!:
Even those who have small weddings can sometimes feel the pinch as the little bits and pieces add up.
Your wedding dress however, need not be so terrifyingly costly!
More and more brides are either buying their dress from the high street or pushing their chips forward and buying online. Well, what’s so brave about that?- Not a lot when you are buying from a reputable name or official online outlet with free returns... but how about eBay? ... How about from China?
When planning my wedding I chose to take this leap of faith and ended up buying two dresses from China- they were both custom made to my measurements and both created to ‘look like’ the images used in the listings.
 |
| My Inspiration - Audrey Hepburn in "Funny Face" Image credit: www.access-fashion.com |
I ended up buying from these eBay stores following a manic day of trudging round dress shops in my town... where I was greeted by nothing but rude women, who were interested in your money and not alot else. I know I cannot speak for all bridalwear shops, but honestly, my experience was shocking.
After a few hours of being pushed into dresses I didn’t like- but were more expensive, being clawed by fake nails while getting laced up, and being looked at down noses when I said I couldn’t afford it... I gave up my in-person search and my online quest began.
I ended up on eBay, my favourite haunt, where I typed into the search engine exactly what I wanted... (I always knew I wanted a tea-length 50's A-line style lacy number!), chose “new” as a filter and was left with a few dearer / not quite right dresses in the UK or several options around the £100 mark from China.
 |
| The image used to advertise my dress on eBay |
I began by investigating... I picked out my favourites and scoped the sellers- what was their feedback like? How many other people had bought that item? How long had they been running for? This filtered the options leaving just a handful- I emailed my favourite two, asking for further details on fabrics etc. and to see just how easy it would be to talk to them...
They both replied really fast, and with good English. They were both extremely helpful in explaining the exact ordering process and describing the fabrics used and different additions available.
So... with the help of my mum, we got measuring and I ordered two dresses... one at £55 and one at £90. They arrived as per the shipping descriptions a few weeks later, and I paraded around the house in them... The one I wore on my wedding day arrived second of the two and as soon as I put it on I knew it was ‘the one’!
 |
| A bit of a cinderella, it didn't look much, but with tight purse strings and a bit of vision... |
In terms of fit, they were perfect, and though they differed quite drastically from the images, for the money I couldn’t really argue! They were completely worth the gamble. One dress had a slight flaw and I was refunded immediately by the seller for the cost of repair- no questions asked.
I took the dress I had decided on to a good friend who made some minor (though drastic!) alterations to it- she added extra fabric to the bottom to make the skirt fuller, and added a purple ribbon to the waist to match my theme (something I wanted to wait to do, so I could match the colours exactly) and added buttons to the back. Overall, with fabric and alterations (with mates rates, admittedly), the dress came to £260 in comparison to similar dresses in the UK that can come in at around 10 times that!
The results... well, see for yourself, below!
 |
| The end result, finished deal, super fantabulous, end of a journey dress!!! |
Sarah did the best job ever and completely exceeded all my expectations- I knew I'd love my dress, but I didn't know I'd LOVE my dress! And the best part about it is that absolutely no-one has the same thing!
I do still stick by my thoughts on wedding dresses however, in that I don’t think you should spend a fortune on something you will only wear the once! I did always think too that I would wear my dress then sell it on... but now it is mine and it was such an intimate work in progress, that it means so much more! All in all, from a personal view, and from my purses view- this was the best investment I could have made and was completely worth the gamble.
Besides, most things nowadays are made in China... this way you just cut out the middle man, the designer label adding and the price boost, just by buying straight from source! Your purchase may not initially look or feel exactly as advertised, but with a little work, and very little money, the foundations can easily be built on to create your perfect on-of-a-kind dress, if you are prepared to work on it.
For those willing to take the plunge: the seller below is who I worked with on my wedding- day dress and now would completely trust with another creation!:
And also, not forgetting the beautiful Sarah, who's wedding room is not one to be missed! Keep your eyes peeled for a special feature on "Room 26" coming soon!
Love,
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