Essex Bridal Shops – Info and experiences

Hi Lanny,

Just wanted to say thanks for the post. I'm in Essex and Chelmsford is somewhere my mum suggested for dress shopping so will definitely be using this as a reference!

Thanks so much for this... I am due to visit Adore Brides next Saturday, this will be my first time so i am very excited now, especially after the good review! x

Avoid Confetti and Lace in Lakeside like the plague. The amount of stress they caused me in the run up to my wedding was incredible. Everything seems great when they are trying to sell you the dress and they make promises they cannot deliver. The alteration service is a joke. They basically farm out the work to supposed dressmakers, so the person altering has not even seen you in the dress. Two weeks before my wedding I had to make the decision to take the dress away after 3 shocking attempts to alter it. I found a lovely lady who was trained a couturier who had to take apart the whole dress and re sew it back together. She said she had never seem such poor work, with pins left in seams, seams sewed in wavy lines, it was a mess. They also insisted I needed a basque despite the dress being corseted which when I collected it had coffee stains all over it. They gave it to me in a blue plastic bag and when I took it out was not only covered in coffee stains but also blue dye from the carrier bag.

Thank god for the lovely dressmaker I found who managed to work miracles. I then had a fight to get my money back for the astronomical alteration fees. They charge a flat fee which was almost £200 and this is regardless of what actually needs altering.

This is a really good idea!

Trixylou, I went there for bridesmaids dresses and there was a lady in the service complaining about her dress alterations and about the service. The member of staff who spoke to her was so rude!! Didnt get my dress from there!

I lived in Colchester till 2 years ago, but moved to Hertfordshire. I know its not Essex, but avoid Morgan Davis in Hitchin! They are really rude and snoby!! I was asked what my budget was and I said up to £1500 at a push and she told me that they didnt sell many budget dresses there! I then picked up a dress, which she took out of my hand and said it was way out of my price range! I walked out and didnt try anything on!!

Serena bridal in Wickford. Large range of sample dress and sizes, 2 massive changing rooms with area for family/friends. Private appointments. Not pushy, truthful with how dress suit you (in a nice way). I think the dresses range from £400 to £1200.

Really recommend!

Grace & Lace in Colchester:

Didnt actually go there, but made a phone call to come in to buy a veil. I had bought a dress already, but obvioulsy wanted to try the dress on in their shop to get the correct length of veil & match the colour. They said I couldnt bring my dress in at all & certainly not try it on in 'their' shop as I didnt buy it there. I explained that I wouldnt be requiring 'their' staff to lace up the corset or dress me, I just wanted to purchase a veil- but they still said no.

I'm glad I didnt go there, as bought a fantastic one from Margaret online & it was much cheaper & better than anything in their shop.

Trixylou,

I had an appointment at c&l and I had to wait a hour to be seen then she was no help when picking dresses & the women kept having to go off while I was trying on dresses. In the end I tried on the dresses I like by myself & left.

Rubbish service.

Disgusting on any level and hardly DDA compliant I would suggest, if you wanted ot make a serious complaint.

I have it recorded and still haven't watched it!

Also the first time I tried on they gave me a hoop to put on myself first so I wasn't just standing in my underwear which was good!

Hi Lannb27, Will do! I really love the designer Lou Lou, I am hoping to try on 'Milly' and 'Elsie' I want something quite simple with a touch of lace, what styles are you looking for?

?

I went in there and they seemed nice enough, but there was something not quite right.

I went to the Bespoke Wardrobe in Ingatestone...lovely shop but dress are expensive (2k+). I really liked the ladies but they have annoyed me a bit. Basically they told me they'd hold a dress for me at the 'old' price (dress was increasing by £200 from October)...have since found out the designer is doing a 10% off offer anyway until end of October. Annoyed me that they made out they were doing me a massive favour, when they weren't.

Havent been to any other shops in Essex as yet

LannyB - You look fab in that style dress. How close are you to finding 'the one' do you think?

Here's my experience...

I've been to two shops in Colchester, one in Witham and a second hand place in Wakes Colne.

Colchester
Abigail's Collection - Appointment only and only one dressing room upstairs for brides so you get full attention. Coffe given too. You're given 5 little discs to put on hangers of the one you want to try although I tried on a few more anyway. Don't know the average price of gowns as they weren't written down and I was trying on anything to see what style suited me so wasn't asking price of every gown. The Alfred Angelo 2136 I liked was £1280 I think. If we bought it that same day they said they'd give 10% off bridesmaid dresses and £100 towards accessories. (But as the tiara I tried on was £125 and the veil was £85 I'm not sure it would go far).
No photos allowed.

The Wedding shop - Larger store with a huge upstairs area for several brides to change. Made to stand on a box which I hated but the staff were lovely. Even though I don't fit in all the dresses properly wasn't hinted at that I was too fat. By this point I'd almost overcome my little fear of being in my undies in front of a stranger. Dresses I'd picked out for a range of styles seemed more pricy than the previous shop, I tried on gowns from £1000 - £1500. Didn't ask to take a photo as nothing compared to the Alfred Angelo at the other shop at this point.

Witham
Blushing Brides - The store is small an old but they have a lovely selection of gowns. The dressing area was ok when it was just me (My mum was on a chair just outside) but when another bride wanted to try on, my mum was put in the changing room with me behind the curtain so the other bride had some space by her changing room. Dresses were cheaper than Colchester. I saw £700 and am torn between similar dresses - one at £899 and the other two at £999. Again, didn't ask for photos (Duh!) but they were up front with the style name, price and said pics were on their website of each gown. (The first shop didn't tell me the dresses names btw, I had to google it). I was impressed by the styles that suited me so will be going back tomorrow to pick 'The one!'

Wakes Colne
Re-Dress Bridal - Bit of a wild card, but I just had to check out a pre-loved place, just in case. This shop buys and sells gowns and give half to charity. It's actually an out building on the premises of the owner of the farm house. Beautifully done, white walls, restful music. She took my height and approx dress size when i booked my appointment so the stock she had would be appropriate. Well. Most of the rack were outdated designs that did nothing for me but I tried them on just in case. The whole room was the dressing room! Think of a dance studio with two wall sized mirrors with a sofa to one side for my mum to sit on. I had to stand in the middle of the huge room and strip to my smalls. Felt very intimidating. The last dress I tried I had picked out from the 14-16 section but as I'm losing weight should be ok. It was. It was lovely. It was from a shop in Chelmford that went bust so was a current design. They hadn't knocked much off it though. Was £1250 but they wanted £1000. My mum liked it the best of all I had tried on but I didn't get the feeling. She emailed me some photos of me in the dress.

Can you remember how much it was priced at? So many dresses to choose from, this was the first dress i come across when i started looking so i think i need to try it on, knowing my luck i wont like it on!

Can't fault the price at all, I really like the Pronovias collection 'Dalia' but i know it will be over my budget! Yeah i'm not sure whether it is 'bridey' enough, wont know until i try it on... will defiantly try on other styles too, so looking forward to trying them all on! Thanks again for the advice, good luck with your search!

Another vote for serena bridal. Fab service, lovely shop. Liked them so much that I asked them to order a dress they didn't stock just so I could buy it from them No pictures allowed - this is quite annoying. In my experience you need to see photos of you in the dress to see what it looks like. I thought I looked lovely in some I tried until I looked back on the photos!

Boulevard bridal - earls colne. Fab service, large changing room. Only one there so you get full attention. Really nice lady - would have loved to have given her my business but not quite the right dress found. Pics allowed.

Belisimma bridal south woodham ferrers - heard so many glowing reports I had to go. Maybe I had built up my expectations too much as did not find the experience enjoyable. Could be that it was the first shop I went to so I was a bit overwhelmed. Lovely shop, the largest amount of dresses to try on that I have ever seen. I picked 7 dresses but tried on 3 as the lady decided third one was 'my dress' so was quite pushy in selling it to me. It wasn't the one and to be honest this experience left me heart broken as thought dress shopping was meant to be fun! don't be put of by my report as have heard so many ppl say great things but it wasn't the shop for me. I found the smaller stores are the ones i felt happiest in. pics allowed.

Abigails Colchester- lovely store, felt very hurried though! Had to pay a booking deposit which was refunded when I arrived. Saturday appointment so do get why they do this. The lady insisted on me not looking in the mirror when she did dress up, had to let her lace it all up, put tiara and veil on then she let me have a look. Waste of time in my opinion and I was fed up after an hour as got to try 4 dresses then my time was up and was practically kicked out! I know just from putting a dress on and holding it up before doing it up whether it is worth the bother of continuing! I had tried enough on to know what I was looking for-lady did not listen. No pics

Divine bride/divine gowns Chelmsford - fab shop, on your own, large mirrors, large changing room, pics allowed. Have a lot of dresses with no trains so if u r looking for a simpler dress well worth a try! Also have proper dresses and Disney dresses. Pics allowed. Bridesmaid dresses - tons of them! Pics allowed.

Confetti and lace - nice and helpful, dresses very expensive! One I liked was £4300!!!! Ouch. Gd experience but can't comment on after sales experience as didn't buy from them.

Grace and lace Chelmsford - dirty, cramped, crap service! Get there at 8:55am, appointment 9am - not even open. Lady turns up at 9;10, let's us in at 20 past 9, assistant arrives at 9:40 for my appointment! Poor girl having her first fitting with me trying on dresses in a tiny area. Her dress had been altered wrong and seamstress sounded incompetent IMO! Not great, the worst experience I have had. didn't bother with pics as no way I was buying a dress from them!

I am not a shopaholic, I get bored very easily. Wedding dress shopping was stressful for me but serena bridal, boulevard bridal and divine brides gave me hope and I really enjoyed myself. I think we all have different expectations and working in retail I know personalities can clash so please try all stores as like me you will feel happy in the choice you have made as you have tried all possibilities.

The shop is gorgeous!

They let me take photos but i was pretty sure i'd be buying the dress there so maybe thats why?

I visited 5 shops in Essex agree with some of the above disagree with others.

Was warned off confetti and lace in Lakeside as I am larger and they called a size 12 friend fat when she was shopping.

Divine brides was fab, so helpful, let me pop in when I was trying to decide between two in different shops. Not pushy at all, really helped me to make up my mind without pushing their sale. Fab for bridesmaids as well but quite pricey.

Grace and Lace brilliant service, had place to myself but didn't go at weekend so this is maybe why. Again let me pop in to help decison making with no pushing. Found shop lovely and not at all dirty or cramped. Fab service since as well, no problems with ordering or fittings so far.

New Beginnings - worst dress shopping experience - tried to drag a size 10 on to me even though I kept saying I can hear ripping. I am a size 18/20. Didn't listen or advise much. This place felt like it needed a good clean, felt we were shoved Ian back room.

Belissima I was told fabulous things about this shop by a larger lady as well, but hated the experience, whatever dresses I said I liked was told that won't suit, was given a small section of the shop to look at as these were the plus size ones. Got me in to the dress and then gave me the hard sell - what shocked me was the callous way in which she had picked up I didn't have my mum still and said I could switch her discount to my partners mum. Really hard sell and felt like I was trapped in the dress till I handed over my credit card.

Serena Bridal went here for bridesmaids dresses and they were fab, have been ever since. Only negative is they don't do fittings for bridesmaids but not a major issue as none of them live close anyway.

I visited 2 shops in Essex and ended up getting my dress from Grace & Lace in Chelmsford. The first shop I visited was Blushing Brides in Witham. I went on a Saturday afternoon (appointment pre-booked of course) and there were no other customers in the shop - I received great service. My mum and sister came with me and there was plenty of room for us all, along with the 2 ladies working in the shop. They were really nice, not at all pushy, had a great selection of dresses in all price ranges and were honest (in a good way) about whether dresses suited me or not. They also gave us a list of the dresses I liked along with the prices to take home. I was there for about an hour and would recommend this shop.

Grace & Lace - this shop seems to have recieved mixed reviews on this thread. I will probably be a bit biased as this is where I'm getting my dress from, but even if I wasn't I would still recommend this shop. They were really friendly when I turned up along with my mum, sister and nan in tow. They gave us time to look at the dresses and select the ones I wanted to try on without being pushy. One bride was just finishing when I turned up, but by the time I was ready to start trying on my dresses she had left and we had the place to ourselves. There was plenty of room for my family to sit down and get a good view of all the dresses I was trying on. They didn't rush us at all and were happy for me to spend time in each dress and even added accessories etc so I could get more of an idea how things looked together. I ended up finding my dress in this shop and once we had confirmed that I wanted it, they were happy for my family to take pictures of me in it. I had actually changed back into my normal clothes and was getting ready to go when I remembered that I hadn't got any pictures of it! They were more than happy for me to put it back on and for my sister to take some photos of me in it. The staff were really helpful and nice. I've since spoken to staff on the phone and popped back into the shop to pay off some of the outstanding balance on the dress and each person I have spoken to has always been polite and helpful. On the day they did want a 50% deposit to secure the dress, which we thought was quite high. My mum asked if they would consider lowering this as I really wanted the dress and 50% was quite a lot to put down initially (dress is costing £1125) - they ended up lowering the deposit for us.

Hope this helps x

Maybe changing my view on one following delivery of bridesmaids dresses. Very poor after service currently.

Nicola

Your dress is beautiful

I'm not in Essex but I had a bad experience Saturday morning in the first shop I went into but within the second shop I found the one

Off out to The Wedding Shop in Colchester today - bumping the post so I can find this thread easily to review on my return x

So my first wedding shop experience is complete! And I really enjoyed it... phew!

The Wedding Shop Colchester

Price of dresses i tried : £1099-£2450

favourite dresses - Benjamin Roberts 2392

Appointment was a generous hour and 30 minutes... offered bucks fizz when we got there. told to,browse the rails and pick out what i wanted to try - moh straight in there being very helpful and picking out dresses on my behalf as i started to feel a bit out of my depth and i decisive not wanting to criticsise the dresses in front of the lady! i joked to the lady to tell us when to stop after about the 5th dress and she said that no one ever says that normally they want more and laughed which broke the ice! there was no mention of budget i could have been touching ridiculous prices but had no idea - only the brand name on the straps for guidance. Will admit I didn't think the selection was that amazing, as it was my first visit i wanted to try a bit of everything so was easy to pick out 6/7 but once i have a real idea of style i would have struggled to find more than two the same style. Didnt notice a single pronovias dress on the rail even though i know they are stockists.

had about six or seven dresses picked out - was taken to a small drssing room with the friendly mumsy like lady and told to strip to my underwear. was not made to feel uncomfortable at all. she helped me into the first dress, strapped me up and told me to turn and face her, said it was beautiful and lead me out to where my friend was sitting. she burst into tears (shes a softie!) and then i stood on a wooden platform and tirned to the mirror for the full wow effect. dress was gorgeous good start! as i was taking it off the lady told me it was her favourite dress in the shop, Jenny Packham Nerine £1800. slightly over budget then. next dress was by far my favorite, Benjamin Roberts 2392, got a veil and belt too and it was beautiful.

none of the others compared so she went and got me another dress similiar style to the one i liked which again made me think 'this is definitely the style i want'! she then offered me to try on the benjamin roberts dress once again to compare it and it dazzled the second time too.

the lady was very friendly i had two ladies was very well looked after. no time pressure we ran slighty over. i quite liked the 'box' as it really made the dresses look beautiful and made me feel so tall! photography was not mentioned but guessed it wasmt allowed but my friend got ten sneaky photos whilst the lady ran off to get something from the store. they were happy to tell me the designers and names and gave me a card at the end with all the details of the dress.

i would recommend this store without hesitation for customer service and feeling at ease even if the prices are steep so far so good!

This has been really helpful, thank you all for taking the time to do it. I'm busy looking for shops to go and visit in April. I have been in mili mili in Colchester, roughly 8 months ago, and this was the first shop that didn't tell me it was too early and me trying on dresses was a waste of their time, so will definitely be going back there. Thanks again!

Hi, I've only just started looking at the Hitched forums as I only got engaged this January, but thought I'd use my first post to say thanks so much for starting this thread! I'm an Essex bride and starting to look at wedding dress shops is a very daunting task (as is everything wedding related at the moment!) so it's really good to have an idea of what local ones are like and what to expect! I have my first trying on dresses experience in a couple of weeks at Grace and Lace in Chelmsford so I'll add once I've been!

So happy that someone else loved The Wedding Shop. I ended up buying my dress from there. The staff were so friendly and I didn't feel pressured at any time. I had another appointment later that day in another shop in town and just couldn't compare to that shop. They had an amazing selection. When I asked to try on 'Durban' they only had it on a mannequin and didn't think twice about taking it down and letting me try it on.

When I came back to have a second look, I was helped back in to my dress and as soon as the deposit was paid I was allowed to take photos and keep it on as long as I wanted (even though the shop was shut). Can't wait to go back for my fitting in August.

Would definitely recommend it!

Me again - fresh from a dress shopping afternoon in Abigails Collection Colchester - Had an appointment at 2pm (on a thursday) and ended up staying for two whole hours!! The lady was super friendly and asking lots of questions about the wedding to put me at ease while i'm stood practially starkers in front of her. I was offered a drink (tea, wine etc) and asked a bit about what style i might like. then i was shown four seperate rails of dresses, one 'princessy' one satin classic, one organza and chiffon and one lace. I really loved this idea as I straight away knew the lace and organza rails were my favourite materials just from looking at them. I was given four tags so we started talking throught the dresses and picked four out. Tried on the four dresses and one was already my favourite so far. Then after feedback from the dresses she then picked out another FIVE dresses for me to try! I was very impressed and will be doing midweek shops from now on! The five dresses i tried were lovely but didnt auite compare to the first so she let me put that one back on. Given veil, tiara, shoes, belt and bouquet and the dress looked even better the second time. She then revealed e dress was UNDER BUDGET woop woop! The dress is gorgeous and my new idea is to carry on checking out the shops, then when i have a favourite from each spend an entire day trying them all on again in one day to pick my favourite... i really have the memory of a sieve!

So Abigails dresses were £600-£1600 dresses and photography was not allowed.

My favourite dress of the day is White Rose R524 (£899) - once again it looks sooooo boring on the model pic! I now have a mermaid lace dress and a flowy plain organza dress as my faves.... so different from each other!

On a postive note my mum was fab today... honest and brutal at times but I agreed with her every time! She cant wait for the next one which is great news. Next up is Serenity Brides colchester on the 2nd april... will report back then x

My two faves so far.... very different!!!! (top one no straps, bottom one no brooch)

I also used Serena bridal in Wickford. It was the first and only bridal shop I went in! They were really helpful and friendly and not at all pushy. I tried on about 6 dresses and really loved one of them but was a bit worried about going for it as it was the first shop I'd been in. So I went away and thought about it, and I just thought how upset I'd be if they discontinued that dress... so I went back later that day and bought it ?

Hi girls - this is so helpful as I am off to Matchmaker in a few weeks!

I have only been to 1 shop so far....plush couture in Chingford (although think that may come under London) I am from Bukhurst Hill.

This shop was lovely - there was another bride who was late for her appointment which meant they were running late. I could wait and have the nice changing room or just get changed and use the mirror in the main part of the shop, I opted to use the mirror in the shop. I liked that they gave me the option for both though.

I tried on so many dresses, each one with me saying 'ooooo I like this one' they were fabulous, very honest about which styles suited me. They were honest about price, asked me my budget and just showed the ones I could afford (save getting my hopes up) she then said that a veil and tiara AND alterations come included in the price which I thought was good. I tried on shoes, veils - the lot! They were really good, made me walk towards the mirror and move about to see if the dress was comfortable.

I did fall in love with one dress but said I wanted to go to a few shops and enjoy the moment, they suggested it was a good idea anyway to be sure on my decision (no pushy sales) they then wrote down the details of the dress I liked and I left.

Overall a great experience.

After reading your notes ladies - they didn't offer me a drink and I didn't ask about photos x

So another shop visited, this time Serenity Brides in Colchester.

Designers included Ellis bridal and Sophia Tolli, dresses priced from £600-£1600

Had another midweek appoimtment, given time to browse the rails and pick out as many dresses as i wanted to try - think i did about 8 in 45 mins (i was feeling cut-throat)

Girl was friendly and not pushy at all which i liked - didnt like the lighting in there made eveything look a bit off yellow and grubby. wasnt offered anything to drink either so less service than other stores i have been to. wasnt given the extras like veil/bouquet/ belt to add he finshing touches which i think made a difference.

to be fair the dresses i tried on were lovely just none were to my taste so dont want this review to put anyone off as the selction was fine.

Didnt ask about photos as didnt like any dresses.

Came out feeling a bit deflated so mum suggested we go back to abigails and put the white rose on again... put it on and felt a million dollars again. got two more appointments in the next week which i am going to keep and also an appointment to try the white rose on (for the 4th time!) with my moh instead so feel like i will have made a decisiom soon enough either way! friday is hilary b and next weds is milli milli then i dont think i will bother looking further afield as the dress is so nice i would hate for it to be discontinued while i faff around! x

Thought I'd add my reviews to this in case it helps anyone as it really helped me to know what to expect and find what shops had what!! Have now ordered my dress with Belissima and couldn't be more pleased! Overall though all three of the shops I visited were a really positive experience. Reviews below:

Grace and Lace, Chelmsford

Prices of the dresses I tried on: from £300 to £1200

Sizes of the dresses I tried on: Not sure (didn’t really notice this)!

Length of appointment: 1 hr (but went over a bit and they didn’t mind)

Photography allowed: Yes but not officially

Other bits: This was my first wedding dress shop experience and it was fantastic. The girl that helped me was fantastic. I got to pick out lots of dresses then she picked a couple from what she thought I’d like. She picked some really good dresses for me.

The shop itself is very small and there’s not room for many guests but they do warn you of this. You’re in with another bride which I quite liked because if you spot a nice dress they’re trying on you can try it too!!

All the staff were really lovely and they also had lots of choice under £1000.

Adore Brides, Chelmsford

Prices of the dresses I tried on: from £900 to £2000ish

Sizes of the dresses I tried on: Not sure!

Length of appointment: 1 hr

Photography allowed: Didn’t ask so not sure

Other bits: This was the second shop in one day and although the assistant was really lovely, she wasn’t as helpful as in Grace and Lace. They left me alone to pick dresses then help you get in the dresses without saying too much but didn’t really give opninions/recommendations. I’m not a very girly girl so like having second opinions and recommendations so preferred the other shops, but know that some people would quite like to be left alone.

They had a good selection of dresses and let me choose loads and didn’t make me feel rushed. The fitting room is huge so plenty of room for lots of people and a nice setting. They offered us a drink on arrival too.

I could find hardly any dresses under £1000 which was a shame.

Belissima, South Woodham Ferrers

Prices of the dresses I tried on: Not sure…but all under budget

Sizes of the dresses I tried on: Not sure!

Length of appointment: 1 and 1/2 hrs

Photography allowed: They let me take photos but I knew I was buying it so not sure otherwise

Other bits: I went to this shop to try on some more dresses and use the one I really liked already as a comparison. I was there for nearly two hours in total and they were very relaxed with me, despite it being a Saturday. They were really helpful and let me try on loads of styles. I told them my budget and if there were any dresses I picked out of it, they tried to swap it for a similar style within budget which was really good.

There were tons of dresses to try on and they tried on shoes/accessories for me too. They were also really knowledgeable about alterations – what I’d need/wouldn’t etc. Even after I bought my dress I had a panic and they let me go back and try it on and spend almost 45minutes there again just so I could be sure of my decision. They have so far been brilliant and I’ve now ordered my dress with them and can’t wait for it to arrive!!!

Hope this helps someone as much as the other reviews here helped me!

I am yet to hear anyone say anything positive about Confetti & Lace in Lakeside!

Anyway....Special Occasions in Stanford le Hope is always a winner for me. https://www.essexwedding.org/

They're the biggest shop in Essex, have been open over 25 years and are run by mother and daughter team, Sandra & Michelle. They are lovely!!! I can not fault them and the service they give. They got my sister's wedding dress and *everyone* where I live goes there. They also have an area where there is a photographer and a jeweller on display too, so you can get whatever you want in there.

When they very first opened they needed a child to model bridesmaids dresses for their first photoshoots. Yep, I was that child! And yes....there is still one photo of me in there as an 8 year old :-) bonus points to whoever spots it! Ha ha ha!