Bargain Dress Hunting

Hiya,

I found mine in a bridal shop and it turned out it was in a sample sale. It wasn't an old design (still very much this season) but the shop was making way for new stock and so were getting rid of their samples. Worth looking at their websites and calling around to find out when their sample sales are on. This is the dress I got - I got it for just under £800.

You can get some good deals on preloved, I know some Hitchers have found their dress through there before.

I think Mori Lee and Justin Alexander have gowns that are stunning but don't necessarily have hefty price tags.

Hope that helps a little bit - good luck!

Thankyou, that is beautiful! love the detail ?

I first started looking for dresses in January and I caught the end of most of my local sample sales so late on in the year might be a good place to start. I know of a girl who got a £1400 ex sample for £600.

Oooh - Monsoon do some lovely bridal dresses too.

I got mine ex sample. Its a Mori Lee and was reduced from £1100 to £350

I'd say preloved would be your best bet.

I'd try some styles on to see what suits you and what you like first though. Also, you never know what bargains you can get in the dress shops if you're lucky.

If your wedding isn't while next October you've got plenty of time to hunt for bargains! Just keep looking in stores and googleing to find dress sales near you, ebay, preloved and gumtree. Depending on the kind of dress you want you can also try the high street- Debenhams, Monsoon etc.

If you've got an image of your perfect dress in your head it could be worth meeting with a few dressmakers, telling them your idea, your budget, and asking them what they could do.

Time is a very. very, good tool when wanting a bargain wedding!

There are some places that sell discounted designer dresses too, Copplestones has had good reviews on this Forum https://www.copplestonesbridal.co.uk/

Oxfam also sell new dresses that are end of range samples etc where their shops are, you would need to Google https://onlineshop.oxfam.org.uk/bridal it says there are 11

Hi come and see us, our dresses are all brand new and genuine designer and all below £550. We stock Maggie Sottero, Trudy Lee, Mori Lee, etc.

You can try them on before committing and find a dress that really suits you. If you want to have a look at the reviews on our website or facebook page.

Sample sales are amazing! I got a £2,700 Caroline Castigliano dress for £500 that way

By luck, I walked past a shop yesterday that's having a sample sale so booked in for Tuesday. But I'd search preloved, and places like that x

Oxfam and Barnados both have bridal shops, although they're in slightly random locations - both my friend who go their dresses there got an amazing deal on an ex-sample/preloved dress, then just went to a local tailor for alterations.

I got my dress from a place near Leicester called The Wedding Dress Factory Outlet. Depending where you are you should have a look at their website. Most of their dresses are around £399. I got my Benjamin Roberts dress for £399 and the lady doing my alterations had someone with the same dress and they paid £1800 for it from the higher end dress shop where I live. I got a real bargain.

Ohh and here's a flash of my dress

I only had a small budget too ... I tried some dresses on at a Banardos Bridal shop which were gorgeous and all under £500 but weren't quite right for me, but got this one ...

from Kitty and Dulcie for less than £400. The pictures on the website don't show the quality of the dress well enough.

I second the bridal charity shop recommendations, and 'bridal basement' stores like Copplestones.

I found my dress in a bridal shop for £1800,which was really out of budget. I then found the exact same dress on pre-loved from a bridal shop in the sale for £320, absolute bargain. Another vote for Pre-Loved.

Wow guys this is so brilliant I have been filled with hope that if so many of you can do it i can too! the dresses flashed were stunning! I'm going to write all your advice down in my notebook so I dont forget it! also arranged to go to our local shop in a couple of weeks so I can start finding the style I like. Then its bargain hunting from then on! Thank you for all your help I'm so excited! Wish me luck ?

I got my dress in a closing down sale for £99 (was £1100 new).

I then decided I wasn't that keen on it, took it to a bridal shop where they suggested radical alterations (£140), cleaned it (£60) and then I found a sparkly belt online to add to it (£100). So the finished product was £400 and I was thrilled

Meant to say - my main lesson is that people who do alterations can do amazing things with a dress. so a bit of hunting with some imagination and you should be able to get something incredible well within that budget. Good luck!!

I have to say give preloved a go.

I decided to have a look through eBay one morning and found a gorgeous ivory beaded dress for £10 with 3hours to go. I emailed it to my sister in law and and she agreed it was worth a go. With 2 minutes to go I put a bid in and got the dress for £10.50 plus postage. I readied myself that it may not be as lovely in real life but when it arrived I was overjoyed.

Im only 4tt 11" and the dress just hits the floor with 3inch heels, all beading is perfect and fits like a bespoke dress. My mum is a trained seamstress and has checked it over and over but cannot find fault, the silk alone would be a fortune let alone the hours to make it.

It needed freshening up from being store and I got a quote for £92 to get it dry cleaned which just seemed excessive so I bit the bullet, brought some silk handswash and cleaned it myself in the bath. It came up perfect and I am suitablly delighted

If i hadn't liked it or it didn't fit or ruined it in cleaning I'd have only lost £20

Mine was in a sample sale, got it for £350 ? Its a maggie sottero..

I noticed you are in derbyshire. If so, there is a shop near chesterfield, I think called new York brides ( or something like that) that sells all exsamples, non collected orders etc. Think all dresses are under 500. Or there is awedding dress Exchange place in southwest in nottinghamshire which might be an option. I also found a new one just starting up in nottingham by cooling wedding dress Exchange nottingham. In the end I got mine from preloved, but these would proyb have been my next step.

Vicster-where did you get your sparkly belt from please? I think my dress would benefit from one

Ooo thanks never heard of these places gone in my planning book ?

I found a dress I loved then searched ebay for it. Found one, brand new with tags plus a veil which was the style i wanted anyway and paid £90 for it!! Bargain!