Wedding Dress on a Budget

I can't make any recommendations as I don't live in your area but the town where I work is, economically speaking, not as well off as many of the other towns in the area - lots of people out of work etc. There is a bridal store there and she sells dresses at a lower mark up because she knows people in the town can't afford many of the other shops (she has said this explicitly to me). I haven't bought my dress from there but she did ring me to leave a message today to say that a dress I had tried on at her shop was now reduced from £500 to something like £250 in her sale (sample dress, if I'd wanted one that wasn't the one in the store, it would have been more like £500). It might be worth thinking about if there are any shops in towns that sound like the one I work in near you. I really hope that doens't come across like I'm judging the town or making assumptions or anything - for the record I love my job in the town and the people and students I work with are great!

I think bowski bought hers from weddingdressforless and was really happy with hers x

Most shops have sample dresses which cost less. Or check out preloved, ebay etc.

Also shop around as my dress was £750 in one shop and £650 in another! I ended up finding a shop that had it in their sale so paid £450.

Hi

I'm seriously considering getting mine from all for dress, i'm planning for 2013 too!

They seem to be very 'similar' to designer ones and they are very reasonable - depends if you are happy sending off your measurements and waiting i suppose! I know you can visit their store (although i think this may be in Liverpool) where for a £20 fee they will take all your measurements and they have lots of the dresses to view - by appointment only.

http://www.allfordress.com

They sell on ebay and seem to have great feedback

Just to add I was on a similar budget to you (around £500) and accidentally have stumbled across the Alfred Angelo Fabuless range (if you type into google the range will come up). The dress I like style 2199 is £245 in my local shop. I think all the dresses in the range are under £500.

I also found at a small local bridal shop there were a number of dresses under £500.

Regards

Michelle

Sample sales from bridal shops are a great option too. My dress would have cost £1100 if I'd ordered it new, but I got it for £99 in a sale. I will have to pay for alterations and cleaning, which could well add another £300 but still a real bargain.

Also, look at the high street shops; Phase Eight, Coast, Debehams, House of Fraser all have a wide range of wedding dresses at good prices.

Where in the country are you? in liverpool there is a place called Copplestone bridal, all the dresses are end of line, discontinued, samples etc. and nothing costs more than £399.

BHS, Moonsoon and Littlewoods do reasonable gowns. Have you considered a pre-loved dress? I had a look on a site and managed to get mine for less than half the original price, with the tags and it hadnt been worn (think the poor womans wedding was called off)

Saw this one on a bargains website I am a member of:

http://www.very.co.uk/veronica-fishtail-jewel-wedding-dress/573395574.prd?browseToken=%2Fq%2Fwedding+dress&aff=awin&affsrc=47868&cm_mmc=awin-_-47868-_-Communities+%26+UGC-_-0_0

The also have quite a few others at good prices:

http://www.very.co.uk/women/wedding/e/b/1617/s/bestsellers,0.end?trail=1589-1617

Not sure if you would like this idea but many bridemaid dresses come in a variety of colours including cream/white/ivory. I'm sure most bridal shops would be able to help you with this. A couple of examples of BM dresses that could easily pass for bridal gowns...

Also, on Dessy for example search all bridesmaid dresses in white/cream.

https://dessy.com/

Hey Marbles!

I recoment going to a bridal shop, finding out what style you like best (neckline, train length etc) and then finding a dress maker in china that you trust. I have heard mixed reviews on light in the box and millies bridal, and some from my wedding dress for less, but I went with them because they have their own designs on their website (all their own samples of sewing as well) unlike the other chinese websites that have the designer pics, and not their own samples. I felt more confident with my choice anyway.

I too was on a tight budget when ordering my dress, and I was thinking about getting mine from light in the box or millies bridal, but then I found MyWeddingDressForLess and I decided to go with them. I have ordered with them about 5 weeks ago and its set to be finished next week (oct 12th). They are fantastic at anwsering any questions you have, and you get progress reports to show what stage the dress is at along the way. I had significant changes to one of their designs for a completely custom dress and they were really good about it; only 25£ for all the changes and custom choice in colours, beading, neckline, etc. I have been sent pics after it was done being sewn, and will get more pics next week before it ships, but so far I have been very please and all their dresses (save for the kate middleton knock off) are under 350£ (most between 212£ and 320£.

I bought a second hand dress for 350 from sellmyweddingdress.com. It was 1500 new, and i am proud to be the second person to wear it -it looks like new!! I did not really see the point in buying new.

I bought a second hand dress for 350 from sellmyweddingdress.com. It was 1500 new, and i am proud to be the second person to wear it -it looks like new!! I did not really see the point in buying new.

I did get my dress from http://www.myweddingdressforless.co.uk/ I'm very happy with it. I customised one of their dresses and the whole thing came in at £257 and that included the hoop. The quality is the same as the ones in dress shops and they are also ethical in their employment and payment of staff (don't know if thats a concern for you but is was for me). Anyway it fits like a glove as it was made to my measurements (which ones in the shops aren't) I ordered mine of the 15th of July and it was with me on the 15th of August. I was given the shipping details when it was shipped so I could track and and basically knew which day it would arrive with me.

The only down side is because it's been shipped from China it needed a steam to get all the creases out although that might be because mine has organza on it which creases easily!

Anyway here are some pics of me in it fresh out of the package before it's been steamed, it doesn't look too bad crease wise but I could see a couple on the dress in the flesh that I wanted gone https://www.flickr.com/photos/25919016@N08/sets/72157627532646760/

Wow - thats fab. I think i am going to use them or another one called 'all for dress'. Did you take all the measurements yourself or order a standard size?

x

I got H2B to take all my measurements, it seemed daft to order a standard size when I could get a made to measure one, I'll never get a made to measure dress again in my life so why not? Especially as it's the same price.

I can't comment on all for dress as I didn't look at them but I did research the one I used loads to make sure I wasn't going to be one of those people who ends up with an internet dress of that is terrible quality. They're really helpful nothing is too much trouble for them and they will answer all your questions really quickly!

Hi i have a wedding dress for sale you didn't mention your size.

if you are interested my email is *************@*******.**.** i will send you some pictures. The dress is size 18 ivory colour with detacable train for evening comfort, it is strapless with a secquined and peral embroidered bodice and some on the skirt too. it is Beautiful bouht it for £750 from Losners Stamford Hill, want £350 for it.

i wore it once and had it professionally cleaned, i also have a pearl tiera, a diamontie tiera and a shoulder lenght veil also in ivory

let me know

I bought mine from indesigngowns.com.

perfect fit. excellent quality. excellent service

There Too, Cheap wedding dresses uk online shop, how much beautiful dresses ?

http://www.gogogu.co.uk/

Hi! Im in the same situation but I find this one http://www.dressoutlet.co.uk/shopping-no-shoulder-strap-gownes-2041.html for now is the winner, still don't bougt it bt I tink it will be lke that one. And is less than £200

Hiya,

am looking for a custom made dress on a budget too - with regards to getting a dress sent over from China, how much-ish would customs charge for that?

Thanks,

R xx

Oops

Hi :0) I also looked at lightinthebox but chickened out. I'm on a budget too and really only wanted to spend 200-300, thinking I could perhaps buy a corset I had fallen for and Mum would make the skirt. I booked an appointment at the local bridal shop, purely to try on shapes and if anything, rule certain styles out. We are getting married in June, I am tall and have some health issues which all posed issues for what I went for. Under no circumstances was in intending to ever buy from the shop..... The assistant agreed that a first visit should be about styles and fabrics and at no point tried making a sale. She let me select a few dresses and the first one my sister spotted, which was the second one I tried on, is now in a garment bag with my name on it!!!! Could not believe I got a brand new, perfectly fitting, absolutely so 'me' Maggie Sottero Teracina dress for 380 in the sale. Yeah, it was a little more than I had intended, but hey, what's 80 quid when you know you have found 'the one '? In short, I'd defo look at sample sales, bargains to be had and at least you know it's going to be a quality garment AND you'll have the staff support. Also, my friend went to a wedding fair to look at suits for her h2b and a guy was selling his dresses for 50 quid each!!!! Good luck with the search... Don't get stressed over it cos I'm a firm believer that fate will intervene and the right dress will find you xxx