dress from china?

Your best bet is to use the forum search and read the other threads about this, and there are quite a few. Some people have had great results and some have had horrendous experiences. It's up to you how important your dress is and if you think the money would be better pent elsewhere, or if you can afford the risk. The quality will never be as good as getting it from a shop over here as (even though 90% of dresses are apparently made in China anyway) there's nobody to guarantee the quality. They are also notoriously bad for dealing with returns and problems. There was thread the other day and someone said that there's a company - possibly on eBay - that holds your money until you have received the dress and are happy with it. I wouldn't risk it for my dress because if it all went wrong at the last minute I would either have to have a dress I wasn't happy with or be forking out a butt load of extra money that I can't afford. I might risk it with my BM's dress though as it's such a smaller amount, but I think you have to pay import taxes on anything over £15 - best off going to HM Revenue and Customs site or something to find out about charges - so it might not work out that much cheaper, especially if I had to replace that too.

*spent

I had every intention of getting mine on ebay however once i tried them on in the shops I realised just how much the dress meant and how important it was. In the end I didn't risk it. If you are on a budget lots of shops do off the rack ones for a considerable discount so try that x

I've had one-which seller is it as I looked at a few?

If you want a less expensive option, I would highly reccomend www.myweddingdressforless.co.uk - I used them and they are brilliant. The risk you run on e-bay (which I did come accross when ordering from e-bay) is that they show designer pictures, and they *try* and copy them. Now, in my experience, this is OKAY BUT they are never the picture. (I ordered 2 dresses, one from myweddingdressforless and one from an e-bay seller)

The dress from MWDFL was way higher quality, custom sized for my measurements and my own design really once I had suggested alterations to their design. I say THEIR design because all the pics on their website are their own samples and designs and you know exactly what it will look like when it comes if you choose one of theirs. They offer a huge selection, and if you want anything changed they will do it and make sure you are in love with it before they send it out. I HIGHLY recommend them as a half price or more alternative to a high street dress shop. They can custom make your dress in about 8-9 weeks as well, not like the local bridal shops that take 7-12 months to make a dress. Overall, my dress cost me £350 (shipping included in prices) and very reasonable alteration prices if you want something drastic changed on their designs (£25, flat rate generally). I actually got one of the most expensive dresses on their website so everything else will be 200-300 ish range. SO have a look.

Overall, I say go try dresses on, find your style and then find something very similar on their website. On e-bay, the copy came and it was mediocre quality and not an exact copy of their picture.

(I am not affiliated with them, or work for them, just had an amazing experience, and can't recommend this Chinese company enough!)

Hope this helps!

I think the seller is i.happy.i or something along those lines. The problem im finding is im on a tight budget and down in south wales there are no warehouse sales or anything like that. I have tried dresses on and i know which style i like but they were all around the 1000 mark which is way out of my budget.

coolartist87, i will have a look at their site now, im sure i have already looked because ive been searching the internet for weeks trying to find something, but if you have had a good experience its reasuring.

thanks for your replies, i think ill leave the dress i have found, id be gutted if it all went wrong.

Great! let me know how it goes- if you read their website reviews, I think you will find a lot of them very re-assuring actually. We were all in the same position your in, and honestly, its a hard gamble, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Its a risk. I have come across brides who were thrilled with theirs, and others who lost out because they were terrible. Also be aware some have huge custom charges.

Could you not try and find something on preloved? Some of the dresses are brand new at a big reduced price.

If you are in South Wales carli, it might be worth you having a look at Confetti and Lace - in the Macarthur Glen shopping outlet near Ebbw Vale. They had about 50 dresses I'd say, all of them half price - mostly about £400. Still a lot of money, but less than £1000!

Alternatively do look in some of the bridal shops over the next month or so, as they sell off their ex-sample dresses - or look at Preloved, Ebay, sellmyweddingdress etc.

Also there is a Cancer Research bridal shop in Whitchurch, Cardiff. They have a lot of dresses there - some donated by brides, others ex-samples donated by shops. That's where I bought my dress - an ex-sample - for £200. Some of the designs are a bit old-fashioned, but others were modern and really nice - it's quite a mixture of stock, just depending on what they are given! THey were very lovely and spent ages with me as I tried on loads of the dresses. I also bought a petticoat and shoes there.

Good luck in your search!