Wedding dress shopping experience was bad.

BHS? They sometimes have very pretty plain ones!

Aww, sorry to hear it wasn't as good as it might have been ☹️

Have a look in other shops. The one I went into has an outlet rail, and I saw some dresses that were a couple of hundred on there. They didn't have anything I liked in my size so we tried the main rails. Asked to buy the sample I tried on and they're selling it to me for half price.

Debenhams, BHS, Monsoon all have wedding sections. Probably plenty of other high street places too that might work if you only want something simple, and would work out a lot cheaper than a bridal shop.

Invite your MoH round for the evening, get a bottle of wine in and scour the internet as I've found the actual shops won't have much in them compared to online

Happy hunting ?

Aww, bless you, shame it wasn't quite the experience your MOH had hoped for! Try monsoon, Debenhams, and particularly bhs, they have some gorgeous dresses at the moment. You'll find it!

Deffo head over to Monsoon - they have some stunners that match what you've outlined. It's such a shame when it's not the experience you're hoping for. TBH the store should have listened more closely to what you said you wanted. We always say to bride here to go with an open mind and be prepared to be surprised with what draws you, but to have nothing like what you wanted isn't great.

Phase Eight do some lovely dresses to as do Coast. They all have bridal sections so well worth checking out.

Bridal outlets can be good but my experience there was awful so if you don't mind a bit of a scrum and not having a "private" shopping session then they are deffo worth exploring.

I think it was really sweet of you to indulge her by trying the dresses! id be terrified in a room full'o bling. for £400 you are very likely to find what you want. high street as others suggested, or even try a local seamstress who may be able to knock up exactly what you want.

As others have said the high st is great ! I think you will defo get something in your price range. I went to a wedding outlet & found my dress. Not sure where you are in the country but if in North West there's one in Bolton & one in Stockport. Dont let this one experience put you off, you will find something that you are happy with. I too would be horrified by an over-blinged dress !!

So sorry you had a pants time shopping ! There are discount places out there - whereabouts are you? I would highly recommend the shop in Liverpool where I got mine, Copplestones Bridal. They sell brand new designer dresses at massively reduced prices, only stipulation is you buy them "off the peg". They also have an in-house seamstress though if you need any alterations.

I've also seen this place advertised quite a bit - https://www.wed2b.com/ looks like they have outlets in the North West, Midlands and London.

Also keep an eye out on eBay and Preloved for people who change their minds or cancel weddings etc

Been to the wedding dress shop outlet in Bolton and there were loads of options - max price £500

Didnt get mine from there but only as i'd already found the one