Am I mad for considering buying a wedding dress from China?

Welcome to Hitched ?

Buying a dress from China is very hit and miss. I would hazard a guess that 99% of the time, the dress you see on the website is not the dress you will get, just a copy. There have been a few stories on Hitched where the dress has been of very shoddy quality and looking nothing like the picture. So I would be wary.

There was a thread posted the other day about brides on a budget (https://www.hitched.co.uk/chat/forums/t/361862.aspx) - a lot of shops will more than likely have sample sales on, so a dream dress for a fraction of the price. I personally wouldn't like to buy a dress online, whether that's from China, US etc. I would like to try it on, see the quality of the material etc.

Hope that helps - good luck and happy wedding dress shopping!

Just looked very quickly at that website. Doesn't look reputable at all - I wouldn't trust a website that had a "customers that bought this (wedding dress) also purchased (cue pictures of 100s of other wedding dresses)".

Hi,

My boss ordered hers from ebay and that was a company in china. It was a copy of 'the' dress she had seen in a bridal shop for £1500 but having only paid £65 she was able to get it altered so it fitted like a glove. It looked amazing and her only comment about quality is that it was lighter than the one she tried in the shop, not necessarily a bad thing tho!

Someone else has just posted 'Budget Wedding Dress Ideas' with this on it:

'https://marketplace.asos.com/seller/weiweik/collection

It came from China, and arrived within 10 days of purchasing. The measurements they offer on the site are perfect, and they allow 5-6cm in each hem for alterations also, so really I just wanted to recommend it to any brides considering ordering online for a bargain dress. I ended up paying £72 for my dress and £25 for postage. '

Rach x

It is touch and go, but for your dream dress I would say its worth the risk, Just give yourself plenty of time for delivery, I ordered a bracelet from China and it took 6 weeks!!

the money you save on a dress you can spend on alterations and accessories.

xxxx

If you are not after a specific designers dress made by a china copy firm, it may not be that bad. I ordered one and the quality was fine, it just looked nothing like the picture.

The only thing I would say is do go and try on dresses first. About 90% of people end up getting something different to what they wanted due to finding something that suited them better, If you just buy online without having tried the style on, you run the risk of it being fine but not amazing. Work out the style that suits you first. Just be prepared that you may not have a great dress if from china. Perhaps you could find a second hand dress if you dont want to spend a fortune.

Thanks everyone for your opinions...it's so tricky knowing what to do but I will definitely take my time chewing things over! And yes, not sure about that site at all seeing as there's no real reviews!

Hi all,

my friend got her wedding dress online from china and she ended up covering it in fake blood and wearing it as her Halloween costume! Says it all!

i had also been considering this option until I saw hers but actually ended up getting my dream dress from a sale rail, less than half price for £330. It needs alterations as it wasn't my size but with the money I've saved that's fine. Also, I think the whole fun of getting a wedding dress is going round the bridal shops and trying as many on as you can, it's so much fun, makes you feel like a princess and makes you realise the style you had thought you wanted actually does nothing for your figure! I was determined not to get a strapless dress as I hate my broad, swimmers shoulders (even though I don't swim!) and that's exactly what I ended up getting as it looked gorgeous, no one is going to be looking at my shoulders when I have such a gorgeous dress on right?

lindsay xxx

Hi I am thinking of getting mine on Ebay. I recently ordered some bridesmaid dresses £15.10 each. Fingers crossed the quality is good. After I receive them I will order my dress. I will pop them up once l receive them. hope that will be helpful?

It's not something I ever considered, although I understand why people do.

Personally, if you haven't already, I would suggest trying on some dresses here first.

What you think might be your dream dress online, may well not be in real life.

Im in the samr situation.

Yourbridalwear do a copy of my dress for £1200 cheaper

Ive tried the original on and fallen in love, but I dont know if I should risk it by buying a copy

"am I mad?"

Yes. I wouldnt risk it. Unless you have a couple of 100 to spare on a dress that may be rubbish (and not many of us do I imagine) then I would steer clear.

Hmmm I am definitely intrigued by Yourbridalwear now - has anyone on here bought from them?

I really wouldn't risk it. If you are on a budget I would go for sample sales. As I mentioned before on this thread, there will be a lot of shops having them at the moment. Also, the yourbridalwear website does not look reputable to me, it just has loads of pictures of designer dresses up - you can bet your bottom dollar that's not how your dress will look like if ordering from them.

They have a facebook page with photos of real brides in their dresses. I was always going to buy from them but now I've tried the designer one on I fell in love and I don't know!

But.... like you say.on their actual website it just the designers!

Hi Rach - which Weiweik dress did you order? I have also looked at them and they look beautiful on site. Have my eye on one in particular. Was the seller responsive and helpful? Rach

I'll let you know in about 4 weeks! Yes I've taken the plunge & ordered my dress from Yourbridalwear. As someone else said, they have a page on Facebook & I messaged one of brides that tagged herself in pics. She had the same attitude as me which is if I'm not happy with the dress I should be able to sell it & make at least half of my £195 back & go to plan B. My plan B is to have it made locally. A friend of a friend has just opened a new business making dresses to order for £500 or less so I'll just go to her! Anyway this girl was very happy with her dress & said it was pretty much the same as the original. From what I can see on the pics it looks well made. There are lots of happy brides/prom goers on their page.

I couldn't buy the dress I want off the peg if I wanted to anyway & not just because it's £800. I love the original but the material wasn't right for me & I wanted a sweetheart neckline but it has straight across neckline. This way I get to tweak the dress to my liking!

I would advise you to try dresses on first though rather than just picking one off their site. I found that styles I thought would look hideous didn't & the dress I've gone for isn't something I thought I would have!

If you can wait 4 weeks for my verdict, I'm happy to give an honest appraisal of the dress & if it's a good one, I'll post pics x

Don't do it! I've wasted money by buying a dress online. It seemed too good to be true and having received it last week I am so gutted. Thankfully with import taxes it has not cost me too much but it is still a chunk from our wedding budget that we've lost. I'm now on the hunt for a wedding gown that costs less than £400. Not sure it possible as the bridal shops I have rang and emailed have said I'd need to have one of their sale dresses with a budget that low and as I'm a size 8 it's not going to be easy!

My mother in law bought her dress from lightinthebox.com thats a Chinese company - and she couldnt fault it. It was very good quality, made to measure, and fitted perfectly. There was also plenty of rooms in the seams if she needed to let it out or anything (which she didnt)

It was also good quality, heavy material... and she only paid about £200 for it.

I guess there are probably some good and bad sites out there... but I can reccomend that one....

Hi,

I ordered mine from here - that was my OP that Rach mentioned. I don't think they have it anymore, but it was this one. Rubbish photos! I have taken the bow off, and removed all the boning as it is not very me. I am waiting for a pearly sash to arrive, then I will flash a pic of it in real life! But I can honestly say I am thrilled with it. I didn't go to any shops previously or try any others on AT ALL!! I knew this was what I wanted.

I have bought my dress from ebay and am waiting for it to arrive (ordered end of March, estimated completion & delivery date beginning of May) It's not from China as far as I'm aware? But I'm a plus size bride wanting a deep red dress; to find that in ya average bridal shop would have been almost impossible!

My cousin bought her dress from China for little over £100 (including custom made and delivery) and it was stunning. She is UK size 4-6 and no dresses within her budget over here fitted without alot of alterations which boosted the costs up considerably. The quality was amazing, material and detail all spot on ?

Most things are made in China anyway so what's the problem? There was a post before about a smiliar situation and people were saying that even designer dresses are made and shipped from China?? If you're going down that route make sure you pay using paypal or similar as you have protection with this so that if anything did go wrong at least you can claim your money back!

Very good advice. Also a good way to see if an online company is legit is to see if they accept Paypal!

My dress is one thing that I am willing to splash the cash on. However, i have just ordered a dress from china (via eBay) for the bridesmaids, I ordered 1 in a size 10 as 10 should fit them all just to try on and check the quality - it cost me £40 - hoping it is nice but I know that if it is awful that was the risk I was taking, it says they take returns as well so I should be ok if it's awful. Worse case is I lose £40

Good luck but I do agree, try some on first as you may want something completely different to what you imagine

I think it depends on the dress and price, a relatively simple dress that is half the designer price is less of a risk than a dress with a corset, full multi layered skirts and loads of lace and beading for £150 instead of £1500.

I'd agree that if you can pay on paypal you've got more protection but they still won't refund you if you get a poor quality dress that looks roughly like the picture.

My friend ordered one from China through ebay and the quality was pretty good but it didn't really look like the picture and it was brilliant white not ivory when she'd ordered ivory. She ended up buying something else on the high street.

Hello,

I got my bridesmaid dresses from China and they are lovely; exactly as they looked on ebay.

I did have to get them taken in a little bit but overall I saved lots of money and my bridesmaids are happy with them ( :

I ordered mine online and it came exactly how it was in the photo. it took a while to come but that's expected. x

Well today I've ordered two bridesmaids dresses from China. They're a very simple design and for my young bridesmaids so I'm pretty sure I can do a few little alterations if needed. (pre teens are so much easier than us full grown women with our boobs and curves!) Plus it was £31 for two dresses and tracked shipping so even if they're only fit for dressing up or halloween I've not lost much.

I was planning to get something a bit fancier from someone in the UK who designs and makes (or probably has a team make) her own bridesmaid and wedding dresses but when I looked at them today she's removed half the range. That included the two I liked best and another off my shortlist (I had a short list of 3 or 4 and was going to let the kids choose) plus the price has gone up from £70 to £100. I know there must be overheads and materials costs going up but that seems a massive hike.

Could you advise which of the Chinese websites you ordered from and had good experiences with?

Well I got 2 parcels in the post today - my dresses from China that I got through ebay and a second hand bargain dress also from ebay that turns out to be from Light in the Box! The Light in the Box dress (left) is really good quality; at least as good as you'd get in a decent high street store, it would be £70ish from them. The dresses from China (right) are also good quality but a lot more flimsy, that's partly because they're just a fairly basic chiffon dress and partly because they were just over £15 each inclu P&P (no import tax). I've only got the listing pic for them but they are a pretty good likeness except the skirt is more pleated. So my conclusion about my 'Chinese dress' experiences... 1) It's worth the risk if it's not too much cash and a simple dress and 2) Light in the Box are pretty good value.

Thanks for posting your feedback, always good for those people contemplating buying stuff from China to hear about other people's experiences!

My MILTB said to order one off Ebay from China as some are only around £50 and she figured if I didn't like it I could always re sell it. I have always been dubious of buying ANYTHING from China on Ebay let alone a wedding dress. I have felt some awful material on dresses in places like BHS so wouldn't really want to risk even £50 on a dress I can't see as it could go towards one I love over here that I can try on and actually see!!

I bought mine on ebay and it came from china, i love my dress but one thing about it is, it needs to be cleaned before my big day, it has a very light stain on the bottom which looks like a water mark. But even though i love it if i could go back and choose again i don't think i'd order from china.?