Twf, Bluewater, & other Kent/South East Hitchers - Dress shopping Q!

My geography is shocking... but I have just got my dress from Amante in Reigate and they are AMAZING!!! Is Sussex too far from Kent? Really nice staff and free alterations and not at all pushy. And they let you take photos as you can see from my thread which i'm just about to write x

Hiya

I went to this place http://www.signature-brides.com/ it's in Hythe so it may be bit of a trek but don't let that put you off, they are fantastic. I'm not a skinny minny by a long long shot but they had lot's of plus dresses, but it's the owners Jackie and Zowie that are just exceptional. They know their stuff and don't bull you about whether a dress suits or not.

Seriously consider them !!

Jm xx

Altohugh i live in hertfordshire ive bought my dress in kent as thats where i am rom and my family still live there. we went to 3 bridal shops in maidstone. would recommend 2 of those - alta costura down gabirles hill. loads of dresses, all under £700 and very nice people in the shop. we were there about 2 hours tried on at least 10 here, probably more. all the dresses were very nice and pretty, and if i hadnt of found my dress in one of the other shops we went to i wouldve gone back there in a few months when they had new stock to look again. the only problem is that they only ever have 1 of each design, so if you see one and you really like it be mindful of this. there were 2 i really liked in the shop, went back at the end of the day to try them on again after finding the dress i have now bought, and one of the dresses had sold!

other shop is yours truly, in pudding lane which is where i got my dress from. they do have dresses i think from £600 all the way up to £1300. not as much choice as alta costura, but lovely dresses all the same. very friendly people in there as well, and again tried on lots with no problems. the dress i got is actually one that the lady picked out, not me!!they also made sure that the dresses fitted me nicely, bu pinning in where needed etc to show what the shape of the dress would look like.

I wouldnt recommend bertex brides in maidstone, royal star arcade. this is because the woman told us off for choosing too many different styles - i thought the idea was to try on lots of different styles to see what suits etc-and she ushered me away saying she was going to show me how different the 3 dresses where that i had chosen, only for me to be lead into the changing room and told to strip as we were going to try these dresses on. my mum, aunt and sister were in the shop wondering where i had gone!! plus they were all expensive and compared to the quality/styles of the other dresses we had seen werent necessarily worth the money. dont think it helped that a lot of the dresses to try on had dirty marks on the bottom etc.

there are a few more in maidstone, and also lots in rochester but havent been to these.

Hi

Elizabeth King in Hildenborough (near Tonbridge) is fab, one lady, excellent friendly service, lots to try on, she does alterations, jewellery, bridesmaids dresses and also custom makes outfits for mothers of bride/groom.

Enjoy your planning

x

Thanks all for your replies - sorry for the late one myself, posted just before I left the office and forgot all about it then!

Bridget Victoria - my geography is also shocking so not sure if Sussex is a possibility, I'll ask OH how far it is! ?

Vickyc2711 - thanks for your long reply, Maidstone would be fine for me to get to and I'll definitely avoid Berketex if they don't like you trying on lots of different styles - this is exactly what I've got to do as I've got no real idea of what style I want.

Oh, and Hythe isn't too far either, think it's only about a 45 min drive or something so will look into that too!

Thanks all for your replies - sorry for the late one myself, posted just before I left the office and forgot all about it then!

Bridget Victoria - my geography is also shocking so not sure if Sussex is a possibility, I'll ask OH how far it is! ?

Vickyc2711 - thanks for your long reply, Maidstone would be fine for me to get to and I'll definitely avoid Berketex if they don't like you trying on lots of different styles - this is exactly what I've got to do as I've got no real idea of what style I want.

Oh, and Hythe isn't too far either, think it's only about a 45 min drive or something so will look into that too!