Buying a weddng dress online, from abroad - Your thoughts?

Will they send you swatches? I haven't ordered my dress yet, but once I've tried on a few more, unless I find something I love more, I'm planning to order one from Honeypie, but not before I've had some fabric swatches! Sorry, this isn't very helpful, but I'll be watching this thread because I'm not sure either...

Libby
xoxo

I wanted a tea length style dress and looked at companies such as Dolly Couture in USA but just couldn't bring myself to it...I then looked at Honeypie etc but it still didn't feel right. I cant recommend enough going to a boutique and actually trying on the dresses and getting the customer service and the whole bonding session with your bridesmaids/mum etc. This is what I did and I'm so glad, and it felt so much more special!

I ordered one from China in May from eBay. It was a copy of Mori Lee 5103 and to be honest, I was disappointed. I spent ages searching for the seller with the best rating/comments etc. If it had been a simpler style of dress it might have been okay, but the lace was terrible quailty, the size smaller than expected and some of the finishing was quite poor.

I wouldn't bother in future.

It's a tricky one! It can work out really well... but it can go very badly too.

The highest risk seems to be if you try to buy a "designer copy". Those are sites where they steal the manufacturers images and use them to sell horridly made copies.

As far as I've seen, brides who buy own label designs are less likely to have a problem.

Hi ladies!

Thank you for the replies so far! Reading with much interest and making notes. I am out photographing this morning but will reply individually later today.

The main issue for me is that I have already seen a dress and fallen in love but worried abour the possible pit-falls with this method of buying a wedding dress!

I have just 10 months (OH, God!) to go to the big day and no idea of timescale and how long I can afford to hang around on this decision.

Thank you again!

Andrea de Gabriel

I bought my dress from a bridal shop...I've got a 6 month wait for it followed by expensive alterations...

I decided to take the risk and order my bridesmaid dresses online...they were such a bargain, they were made to measure so no alterations needed...and they were ordered and received in just over a week! Really good quality too!

I have to say I do wish I had ordered my own dress online...

Like Paula said, I think there's a big difference between online suppliers that do their own designs (honeypie, light in the box), and the ones that rip off existing designer dresses. As far as I can tell, I think you're talking about the first kind Andrea? As general consensus does seem to be overwhelmingly negative in the second case.
xoxo

I am going to be honest here but do not mean to offend. When it comes to your wedding dress you get what you pay for. My moh bought her dress online, it looked ok in the day ( not top quality but it was alright ) but at night the skirt was see-through, the beads and dimanties had fallen off and the bodice was falling apart. Another friend bought her dress from a salon and it was stunning high quality, it stayed intact all night and looked as amazing in the night as in the day.

It depends of course on what you mean by online/overseas. If you are talking about BHLDN then I think that you have little to worry about, whereas a chinese made to measure off ebay is more of a risk.

As someone who works in the visual arts I suspect that if you go for a Chinese copy you will be very aware of its shortcomings.

As someone not in the visual arts I'm actually pleased with my chinese dress: I'm using it a base to make something else anyway but I couldn't have bought the fabric for what i paid for mine. The arguments/discussions go round and round, but if you are aware that the quality and weight will not be comparable to most Bridal boutique dresses, that you shodul never risk buying one with all over lace (like the one in the picture above) as they are so very difficult to alter, that the trimmings will be of a cheaper quality, that the boning is likely to be less strong.

I bought my wedding dress online. From David's Bridal which is an American company (although I believe they have opened a shop in London now). I had no issues at all and would definitely do it again. I could track my dress all throughout the delivery stage so I wasn't constantly worried about whether it would reach me. When it arrived, it came beautifully packaged and my dress is everything I dreamed of and more.

If you need a dress altering, you can take it to any dressmaker or dry cleaners who offer the service, you don't necessarily need a bridal shop.

If you stick to the phrase 'if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is' then you can't go far wrong! And if you do buy online, check their return policy before you buy!

xx

Thank you all again! It appears that there is truly a mixed bag of good and bad experiences and opinions.

When I started looking all I knew was this:

* Colour - Champagne

* Material - Lace

No long train. This was my absolutely, 100%, perfect dress> http://www.justinalexanderbridal.com/wedding_dresses/8737

Since I posted here, I remembered that one of my most favourite friends in the wedding industry is someone who actually runs a fabulous wedding dress shop less than 2 miles from my house! HOW COULD I FORGET THAT???! ?

I will be payng her a visit in the next few weeks!

The reason why asked about buying online and/or abroad was simply that I figured I would have more choice, not realising that there could be so many differences in the way I choose and how I choose!

Ultimately, as some said, I now feel that I need to see and try the dress before I make up my mind...

Thank you all again!

Next!

Andrea de Gabriel

I received my dress from China today. They are on ebay but also have an online shop and a warehouse in Manchester. I understand that they used to allow people to go to the warehouse and sell from there but have since stopped this and become online only.

The dress is gorgeous and what I was hoping for. Very minor flaws, one is some of the threads are sticking out on the beading (beading's not loose or anything but they haven't cut the thread close enough) and some of the beading is a little too high on the bodice so digs in a little. But these are things that even I can fix (and I am useless as needle work).

The quality of the dress is fab, stitching is solid and it not a cheap see through material.

It is a gamble buying online but I am beyond happy with my dress. If you do for it just make sure you have a seamstress who can make any adjustments. That's what I'm doing, although I don't think it actually needs any but will take it to her for her opinion (she's someone I know anyway).

hth

Pahahaha... Oh dear.. This poor girl!! My sister bought 3 dresses 2 from an online company and one from a bridal shop... The toe were almost as bad as the above. X