Ive found THE dress but....

That is a gorgeous dress. Could you not look around and seeif anywhere has similar design to that dress? Or even ask someone to make one for you?

Emma Louise x

Oooooh, it is lovely!

Would you be prepared to have second hand - there are loads of second hand wedding dress shops online, may be worth a look?

Yeah...I never imagined buying 2nd hand but it is my dream dress and I would do anything to get my grubby mitts on it for my big day. I have found a couple of people selling them so have contacted but no response to date ; (

Fingers crossed!

Its is a gorgeous dress

try on here - http://www.sellmyweddingdress.co.uk/database/search.php

there are two in a 10/12 if thats any use

Theres one here - http://www.thedressmarket.net/advert_results.aspx?cntry=1&cnty=All&price=1000000&size=&style=francoise&man=alan%20hannah

ring round all your local alan hannah stockists and see if they have a sample in the sale or be cheeky and ask if they will sell their sample to you (if it fits)

My dress is similar to yours and its on your dress website too - IS chelsea and I had a fit about the cost of it when I found it but I found I was comparing every other dress I tried on to it so had to have it, I WILL be selling it on after the day to get some of the money back for it, is there anyway someone could lend you the money for it

Good luck in finding it

Thanks 'iloveshoes'. I will use those contacts and pray! I have called about 4 shops and they all say they won't be selling their sample dresses yet as it's still a very popular choice. Plus the sample I tried on did have a snag in the fabric...being silk I would worry that it's quite a delicate fabric and many other samples might also be damaged.

Thing is I can afford it...just can't seem to justify spending that amount. Also when I told my Mum and H2B the price...they both said that it was ridiculous..just don't want my H2B on the day looking at my dress and all he thinks about is how expensive it was!! Ohhh...let's hope someone has one to sell me!

It does seem a lot - mine is £1300 so I know exactly how you feel, has your mum seen you in it, as soon as my mum saw me in mine the price didnt seem to matter, before that she was like your mum, your h2b wont remember the price on the day all he will see is the woman he is about to marry wearing a beautiful dress looking stunning!!

If you sell it on afterwards the cost seems to get better!!

Again good luck

Hello

I know how you feel - I had the same issue.

Try looking on ebay as you can get ex samples on there and lots of second hand ones. Whilst you might not have thought you'd get a second hand dress, it's quite nice to think it has brought someone else joy in their celebrations and you get to do that again !

Also try googling it - "alan hannah sale" and it might come up with some bridal shops selling it at a discount price (or indeed someone selling their own dress)

A dressmaker is a brilliant idea - they will be able to make it to measure, and also tweak it to add/remove anything from the design. It will be a fraction of the cost too. A friend of mine has got hers made for £600!

Good luck x

If you want it and it's just a matter of justifying it can you do anything else to raise some extra money so it cancels out how much extra it costs?

I'm having the dress I want which costs about as much but as I'm working in a call centre there's always overtime available so I'm putting in the extra hours to pay for my extra special amazing dress (wish I could find a piccy to share with you all but it's not on their website).

If you can't work overtime can you have a clearout on flea bay or DIY a few bits that you were going to buy otherwise (eg. invitations, jewellery, cake even?) We're doing as much as we can ourselves so we can spend more on the bits we really want.

With a bit of luck you'll find it cheaper anyway as everyone says, but just a suggestion in case you can't!

best of luck x

Thanks everyone...I've found a small bridal shop that does it but she says she's not VAT registeted yet so it will be about £400 cheaper...but worried if it's not VAT registered...what does that mean? Maybe it's start up business?

there is another designer that has a dress very similar to that one. I would keep checking online to see if you something else like it.

thanks queenbee....which designer? thanks

If she's not VAT registered, she's the one that'll get in trouble not you - snaffle it quick!

ummm...maybe I will check it out and snaffle a bargain! Thanks

A bridal shop that isn't VAT registered yet is either very new (trading only a few months probably), so their turnover hasn't yet put them over the VAT threshold, or they're not doing very well (bridal shops' turnover really need to be working well over the VAT threshold in order to cover overheads and continue trading, at least that's my experience). Chances are they're just very new I guess, which isn't necessarily a bad thing - but only you can make a judgement about whether you want to order from them or not, if they're a start up business.

the following are all maggie sottero

https://www.maggiesottero.com/images/trans.gif

http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?page=9&style=A3157

http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?page=2&style=A3231

http://www.maggiesottero.com/dress.aspx?page=1&style=J1190

there are loads more and i dont have time to search right now but i'll eventually find the one i mean.

I went to a wedding yesterday and pretty sure the bride had the adelaide maggie dress on, it looked gorgeous and was really flattering. The first dress I fell in love with was over £2000. I was going to hire a dress but I ended up going to a dress maker who made me my dress for £800 including veil, detail added to shoes, 5 fittings, really personal service. I took pictures of dresses i liked and she came up with something that was completely made for me and had the details on that I chose. I would really recommend doing that and taking a picture of the dress you like (which is gorgeous by the way). Was trying to post a pic of the dress for you to see but have no idea how to do it in this new forum!

Thanks again everyone. Thanks Queenbee for the Maggie suggestions...I had tried a couple of them. It's the structured corset I love (can't really see it in the alan hannah picture) but it's a very structured corset down to the waist and then a fairly plain A line skirt. I think I will keep looking in case there is something similar. x

I had the same problem as you.....

But i found a dress almost identical at grace's fashion shop. They are generally internet based but just opened a store in Leicester which was great for me. My dress is £350 instead of £900 quoted by bertertex and the quality is fab.

Another hitcher reccommended Millys bridal shop - they are based in canada but the prices were great.

I didn't like the idea of not being fitted properly so when grace's opened in leicester it was a god send...

both benjamin roberts. Available in other colours. you wont beat them for internal corsetry

I know how you feel,i got my dress,and then i found a pic of the Alan hannah francoise dress and fell in love with it,it gorgeous,but i have to agree the price is just toooo much

I'll keep my eye's open if i see it on ebay or elsewhere

Hi MayDay

I also fell in love with this dress, it is so stunning! I also felt it was a lot of money to spend on a dress for one day, I was lucky enought to win a competitiion to have a dress made for me.

I was going to buy the Francoise dress second hand as I just wanted it no matter what.....I am not sure what size you are but here is a link

http://www.1stcallforweddings.co.uk/showroom/gowns/cl-4595.html

Have a look on all the second hand sites, I just typed 'Francoise wedding dress' in the search engine and a lot of second hand sites with this dress came up.....

Good Luck!!!!!

Have you enquired about getting it made in a different fabric?

I don't know if Alan Hannah do it, but I know a lot of the designers do their dresses in different fabrics, which are all different prices.

Thanks for the link...I have emailed the person selling at 1stcall but no response to date! I also found another selling a new one but again...have had no response to email which is so frustrating as want to know if available!!

TBH - it's the fabric that makes the gown hang so well...but it's a good idea!

I think I have found a lady who is willing to give it to me at sale price...a 2hr drive away but well worth the discount. It's still way over budget but at least I save something!! Thanks for eveyone's help and suggestions x

It's very similar to my dress (you have good taste!!!) which was £1K with some extra beeding on the neckline and the back. It's made of dupion silk, has a great corset which actually gives me a waist!! Comes in various colours although the only piccies I can find are in pink.

It's the first one (Brooklyn)

http://www.elizabethsmithbridal.com/pages/gownstyles_nicola_anne.html

The second one (Charlize) is very similar but a two-piece and the rusching (how on earth do you spell that!!) is on an angle rather than straight across (I tried this one on first before going to a designer day and ending up with Brooklyn.

Why not sell it on afterwards? That's my plan, if you can get 50% of the cost back then the dress is only half price, and I think easier if it's a well known name like Alan Hannah.

Personally I can't see the point of keeping a dress in a box after the wedding, when someone else could enjoy it - just my opinion tho.

GO 4 IT!!! get the dress u love. I fell in love with a complice one that cost £2500, i searched everywer else but none felt quite the same. You only get married once and you will feel like a princess