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

My chinese dress has arrived. i should explain that i didn't buy a custom dress as I know exactly what i want and would have made it myself but buying a stock dress to alter costs about 1/3 of the cost of buying the fabric in the UK.

So, I've bought a stock, off the rail, uncustomised dress with a satin top and a 4 layer chiffon skirt. Very plain (or it will be once I've taken off the pearl appliquees which are hand stitched and easy to remove). I have to say that I am amazed at the quality of this dress for the money I've paid. It is a factory dress in a simple style; similar in BHS/debenhams cost £395-750 and I have paid much much less. By the time I've customised it myself I will have a bespoke lace and chiffon informal dress in exactly my size to exactly the design I want for less than the cheapest sale dress in one of those stores. It took 8 days to arrive and is exacly what I wanted at a quality better than i expected.

The money I've saved will go towards a live band for the reception :-)

Sounds like a good plan that's worked out really well for you :o)

Mine was a money saving exercise. I just didn't have £800 plus to spend on my dress & figured if I could get one made for a quarter of the price, happy days! It was a risk but it's paid off for me too.

Hi ladies, this was my experience with shopweddingdress.co.uk.

I am writing because I could not find a proper review of this website OUTSIDE their own website so I thought I should share the experience to other brides that might me considering use it.

I am a Bridesmaid living in Scotland and I bought the wedding dress my brother’s bride to be that lives and is getting married in Brazil. The shop has shipped the dress to me here in the UK and it will be taken in person by a family member to her in Brazil. This was my (and the bride’s) experience with this website.

The pros

1. Excellent customer service! We exchanged more than 20 emails with Shirley in 3 weeks BEFORE we've placed the order and paid for the dress and the replies were always helpful, prompt and courteous. I personally believe that was a key element for the bride in choosing your website against others. When you buy online you have to be able to get in touch with your supplier as that helps building up the trust. I can assure you that their service had a big impact in the entire experience;
2. The dress looks exactly as the picture. Again, online shopping is all about trust so that also had a huge impact on me when I first opened the package and on the Bride when she first saw the pictures and the movies I've made for her of her dress;
3. The dress is very nicely constructed and one can notice that no material was spared to make everything looks like it should. The bust area has padding so no bra is needed and that was very thoughtful (and again, exactly as described on your website). There is a build in petite-coat and it makes the dress looks just picture perfect.
4. The value for money was outstanding. There was no duty to be paid in the dress and if the bride needs to make any alterations on her gown I am sure it will be minimal. The gown was made for her – personalized for her measurements and no extra cost for that. Also the delivery was free!
5. It was fast- we had the dress arriving only 20 days after placing the order (that was 14 working days!)

The Cons

1. Ladies, there is no miracle – something has to be sacrificed in order for the price to be so much lower that what one would paid for a made to measure dress int eh UK or in a bridal boutique for a designer gown, and from our experience, I can say it was do to with the finishing – finishing’s are usually the most expensive part of a wedding dress, the bride was prepared to have some extra work done in the dress in case she thought it needed ( mind you, she was ready from the worst case scenario, which was not the case AT ALL!)
2. There were lots of long nylon threads hanging from the beading areas;
3. The beading in the empire waist are is not as rich as in the picture;
4. The lace around the hem of the dress was poorly sewed so it will need some extra stitching to make sure it doesn't come out;
5. The lace appliques with the beading spread all over the dress were also poorly sewed so it will need some extra stitching to make sure it doesn't come out;
6. The beading in general is not of great quality.

Overall

Please note h that the cons list is not at all bigger the “pros” list and one has to understand that the beading and the finishing’s are usually the most expensive part of a wedding dress, so be prepared to have some extra work or adjustments done in the dress in case she thought it needed.

Having said that, both me and the Bride would definitely recommend this website to anyone that is interested in this experience! If you consider the worst that can happen is for you to spend the same amount that you've paid for this dress to improve it and STILL it will be way cheaper than a dress from a standard bridal boutique.

Thanks for that review because it was me who originally started this thread and questioned if anyone had bought from shopweddingdress.co.uk!

I also found when initially communicating with Shirley that she was fantastic at responding, just for me personally I went off the idea of buying from this particular site because as you mentioned, there's absolutely no feedback anywhere online for this company. I thought it was too much of a gamble so have decided to steer clear of buying from China!

Always good to hear about other people's experiences though so people can make up their own minds.

Hi Sarah! Can I ask: did your dress come with boning in it at all?

If you mean me hun yes it does have boning. It also has a few layers & is quite heavy.

I didn't risk buying my dresses from a chinese website. I found my dream dress on justthebeginnings.com. When I received it I was happy with the quality and the price was under 300.00 so I was happy.