Would you get your wedding dress from an outlet store?

Yes and it was rubbish. But loads have done really well. When I was there I saw three girls get gorgeous dresses. I would say give it a go as you never know. Just be prepared for it to be a little like a cattle market. Xx

Yes i did and got my dress from there I definitely recommend the one i went to in Bolton i dont know if thats anywhere near yourself but i do know there are a few of them up and down the UK xxx

I went to plenty of bridal shops and finally got my dress from the factory outlet in burbage, leics. It was the best dress experience I had. My dress should have been just under £1000 but got it for £399!!

Here is a pic. The quality is fantastic x

Absolutely, planning a visit to the Leicester one later this year!

No but thats because im having a custom made dress

but am I against them?... no

factory shops can be great so its at least worth a try and if I didnt know I want a specific dress that needs making then I would probably try outlets

good luck

Hi! My experience at an factory outlet was a negative one, but think that maybe it's because I'm plus sized hardly anything there for me and I found the staff very uninterested in their job, instead of helping me into my dress the girl helping was too busy talking too another girl who worked there about this other girl they don't like! I felt so uncomfortable and couldn't wait too get out! Also I noticed a massive difference in quality from outlet too boutique. If your a smaller size and on a budget there was so much more too chose from. It just wasn't for me ? Good luck Xx

I went to an outlet twice and the experience was rubbish. I did however, find a dress that I loved and was ready to buy until I went to a bridal shop...........

I got given a £50 off a dress voucher at a wedding fair if I booked an appointment at David's Bridal in Westfield so I decided to pop in there for a look and fell in love. I got a brand new dress, better than the outlet one at a cheaper price and the experience was amazing. I've been there twice now and have been treated like royalty both times. I highly recommend them. The factory outlet stank a bit and the customer service and choice was rubbish x

By the way, if you are looking at outlets purely because of budget.........my dress was about £300 total including accessories and was brand new, plus I got the bridal shop experience. Good luck finding something x

Ooh emabee that's good to know! I'm going for my first appointment at Davids bridal in Westfield in a few weeks. It'll also be my first wedding dress shopping and I can't wait. I don't know anyone who's been there though so had no idea what to expect. Nice to know you had a lovely experience with them! X

I am going to keep an eye on this thread, I never thought of a outlet store, when my daughter told me the price of a dress she was looking at my eyes started to water??.

Also my son has just announced he is getting married in April 2015 and his wife to be does not want a proper wedding dress, what ever that means and I'm not sure if its a money matter but if she can get one from a outlet store cheaper then all is good.?

Not from an outlet but I got mine in a sample sale, it was a couple of season old (2011) for some reason never made it to the shop floor so its pristine and was £300

I would yes ? The bridal boutique I went to last week also has a warehouse nearby where you can get cheaper dresses if you're on a budget. I haven't visited it yet but I will go and look for my bridesmaids dresses there

I have to say I didn't really enjoy the outlet shopping experience. I went to the one in Bromley on a Saturday morning. It was heaving. you can choose up to four dresses to try on, and they go on a queuing rail. It was over two hours by the time I got to try on the dresses I had picked out, and they all looked pretty terrible on me. Because of the number of people waiting behind me, there was no opportunity to try on anything else, so it just felt like a completely wasted day. All was not lost, however, as we decided to pop into a bridal shop very near by on our way past afterwards and I picked up a dress in their sample sale for £345 (was £900). Was over the moon with it, and it felt so much more 'expensive' than the ones I'd tried on in the outlet.

That said, I did see some other ladies trying on dresses in there and they looked gorgeous - I guess I'd just chosen the wrong ones!

Hi,

I only had 15 weeks to get my dress, so was going to have to buy off the peg, so I tried both bridal shop and factory outlet. I went to the bridal shop first and it was an amazing experience, really helpful, advising which styles suited me and which didn't. I was expecting them to be really pushy, but I could not have been more wrong! I found the dress I fell in love with and it was only £500 off the peg. Then I went to the factory outlet, just to check that I wasn't missing out, well it was not great! The girls (yes I say girls) were more interested in discussing their nights out than helping with your dress. When I was being laced into the dress, she didn't say a word, told me I looked lovely in dresses I knew didn't suit me and at one point she stuck a tiara on my head to try to persuade me to buy a dress that really didn't suit me. Then there was the dress that really smelled of fish, I could go on! I'm not trying to put you off, but if you're going to buy from an outlet, I would suggest going to bridal shops first to get honest advice on what suits you and then see what they can do for you buying off the peg.

Good Luck

Hi,

I only had 15 weeks to get my dress, so was going to have to buy off the peg, so I tried both bridal shop and factory outlet. I went to the bridal shop first and it was an amazing experience, really helpful, advising which styles suited me and which didn't. I was expecting them to be really pushy, but I could not have been more wrong! I found the dress I fell in love with and it was only £500 off the peg. Then I went to the factory outlet, just to check that I wasn't missing out, well it was not great! The girls (yes I say girls) were more interested in discussing their nights out than helping with your dress. When I was being laced into the dress, she didn't say a word, told me I looked lovely in dresses I knew didn't suit me and at one point she stuck a tiara on my head to try to persuade me to buy a dress that really didn't suit me. Then there was the dress that really smelled of fish, I could go on! I'm not trying to put you off, but if you're going to buy from an outlet, I would suggest going to bridal shops first to get honest advice on what suits you and then see what they can do for you buying off the peg.

Good Luck

I went to an outlet a couple of times and my experience was good, apart from the 'hard sell'. That's to be expected though as they want to sell their dresses as soon as possible to save wear and tear from people trying them on all the time. I would have bought my dress there if they'd had 'the' dress. The only thing I would say is to make sure that you have a very good close up look at a dress before you buy. When I was trying on they were cleaning dresses with baby wipes and an iron, because they were marked with make up and fake tan.

I have a feeling I'll have to get my dress from an outlet (all the dresses I like are about double my budget lol). I'm a little disappointed that I won't get the private bridal shop experience, though.

It depends which one you go to...

I went to the Bolton wedding dress factory outlet and found the following:

- ridiculously busy

- over an hour wait to try on (brides were sitting on the floor in a queue waiting, I didn't bother waiting and so didn't try on)

- Selection was good but only had a certain amount of each size so in my size 12-14 i had only 30 or so dresses to pick from

- very impersonal

- more like a 'Primark' or 'Next sale' experience rather than shopping for the most important dress of your life

Then I went to the Wedding dress and Prom outlet in Stockport and had the following experience:

- much bigger selection

- each Bride had their own 'helper' so although there was more than one bride in the store (around 3 including me) we all had separate changing rooms and a member of staff to help

- Gowns were in a better condition and looked 'newer'

- I found my perfect dress for £450 and that included a free veil

- Staff were all friendly and I was still made to feel special

I also went into a few bridal shops and yes you do get the 'it's all about me' feeling, however I felt less pressure to buy from the outlet as people weren't waiting on my decision.

I would try a few different ones and try and avoid weekends if you are going to one of the big outlets as they are just too busy to enjoy the experience.

x

My experience was completely different! I first went to the Wedding Dresses & Prom Dresses Bridal Factory Outlet in Stockport (which to me seems like a rip off from the original Wedding Dress Factory Outlet) and it was an absolute nightmare.

- The dresses were okay at the most, but no where near as much choice as the Bolton outlet.

- Rude rude rude staff. It was made clear that I was not welcome there. I'm a size 10 and brought two other friends with me, but as soon as I asked a member of staff a question, she made it clear she was not interested in helping us, she muttered something rude and in the end we just left. We then on a whim went to the Wedding Dress Factory Outlet in Bolton. What a difference!

- The Bridal Factory Outlet in stockport is a lot smaller, I noticed a few other brides also leaving because of rude staff.

The Wedding Dress Factory Outlet

- They have 3 outlets across the country. But we went to the one in Bolton. Amazing choice, great quality dresses and the prices are way cheaper than the other one!

- Such friendly staff. We didn't even mention our first experience at the previous one, but they were just so friendly. Even when we turned up a little later, they still welcomed us in.

- The dresses are simply beautiful. I think they even have a range of designers that are exclusive to them, which the other did not.

I would always recommend going to the Wedding Dress Factory Outlet. I just wish we had more time there! They have a better reputation than the other one, I'm constantly hearing terrible reviews about their customer service, and the Wedding Dress Factory seem a lot more established and professional.

Sorry for the rant, but truly did not enjoy my experience at the Wedding Dress and Prom Dress Bridal Factory Outlet.

I posted earlier about my experience at an outlet place and it was also the Stockport one which I thought was terrible! Glad it wasn't just me, someone said I was 'Stuck up' as the reason why I didn't like it. Just the unhelpful staff and very limited selection of low quality dresses in my size. Xx

It was the first place I went to in Bolton...I walked in and walked back out. It just wasn't for me. As someone else has said, it felt like a cattle market. A bunch of strangers watching you try your dress on, there was no feeling of being "special"...not that I was particularly after that, but it will probably be the most important and memorable outfit you will ever wear! I went to a boutique in Burnley and I felt like a princess and the attention was totally on me and what I wanted. But each to their own! Definitely worth a try because the prices are amazing

We have heard various tales of outlets and the fact that the brides are in our shop to buy a dress from a boutique tells us all we need to know about them.

As we are exclusively 16+ we only deal with fuller figured ladies and a lot of them who have visited outlets comment on them being very impersonal, and I believe there are even communal changing rooms at some of them. Although the gowns are usually a good price, they are often stock that has been bought up from various locations. We often have different companies contact us to ask if there is anything we are "desperate" to get rid of because it is in bad condition, outdated or not fit for purpose and my answer is always no because I dont buy from designers who's gowns dont stand the test of time. That makes me think that these outlets stock gowns that nobody else wants and thats not a good recipe for buying the most important gown you will ever wear.

You dont have to go to outlets to buy an inexpensive wedding dress. There are designers who specialise in gowns at the cheaper end of the market and there are also a great deal of sample sales on at boutiques throughout the country. A dress that originally cost £1500 from a boutique but is reduced to £750 (for example) is always going to be better quality than one that was only around £750 in the first place.

Shop around and you can often get something locally, cutting down on travelling times and costs for fittings whilst supporting local business.

We have heard various tales of outlets and the fact that the brides are in our shop to buy a dress from a boutique tells us all we need to know about them.

As we are exclusively 16+ we only deal with fuller figured ladies and a lot of them who have visited outlets comment on them being very impersonal, and I believe there are even communal changing rooms at some of them. Although the gowns are usually a good price, they are often stock that has been bought up from various locations. We often have different companies contact us to ask if there is anything we are "desperate" to get rid of because it is in bad condition, outdated or not fit for purpose and my answer is always no because I dont buy from designers who's gowns dont stand the test of time. That makes me think that these outlets stock gowns that nobody else wants and thats not a good recipe for buying the most important gown you will ever wear.

You dont have to go to outlets to buy an inexpensive wedding dress. There are designers who specialise in gowns at the cheaper end of the market and there are also a great deal of sample sales on at boutiques throughout the country. A dress that originally cost £1500 from a boutique but is reduced to £750 (for example) is always going to be better quality than one that was only around £750 in the first place.

Shop around and you can often get something locally, cutting down on travelling times and costs for fittings whilst supporting local business.

This is the first I have heard of these shops!!

If my dream dress was in one, I would get it from there. From the sounds of it, they seems like a mental place to go, so perhaps if you arranged to go on a weekday at 9am where it would be quite quiet, you may not feel so rushed and shoved aside. Also, do you have to wait for a salesperson to help you into the dress? Or could you bring a friend to help you in it instead I wonder?

I think my nearest one is Bristol, and I am actually quite curious - especially if there is a bargain involved. I am getting mine custom-made, but still a shop full of wedding dresses - why the hell not!!! Hehehe!

i don't know about the others, but the one in Bromley is only open on three days a week (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday). with the amount of business they are obviously doing I don't know why they don't open every day (although I guess number of people there doesn't necessarily equate to lots of sales). There would simply be no way of anyone else helping you to try the dress to avoid the queues - there were four or five cubicles, and half the shop floor was taken up with people sitting on the floor queuing.

I think I would regret it if I didn't experience one! The Wedding Dress Factory Outlet sounds more promising than others. I'll keep you all posted!

I would definitely recommend the outlet in burbage, leics if its anywhere near to you. I had a 45 minute drive there and well worth it. There were hundreds of dresses there all in size sections. You pick 4 dresses and wait to try them on. I got there at opening time at 10am. It was pretty quiet. Waited about 10 mins to try them. The girls are lovely couldn't praise it high enough. If you find a dress but dont have full cash, you pay a 50 deposit and need to pay balance in 2 weeks however they let us do a payment plan so its not set in stone x x good luck x

SophieJens, a friend of mine has also been to the Wedding Dresses & Prom Dresses Bridal Factory Outlet and had a similar experience- so it's not a place I'll be visiting on my Wedding Dress hunt!!

I've looked at the Wedding Dress Factory Outlet website and they have some simply beautiful dresses on there- particularly like the ones by designer Anna Sorrano. Absolutely stunning and so reasonably priced, so I'm planning on a trip with a couple of girlfriends to the London outlet- really excited!!

Smilesjp - if you are near Bolton maybe try and pop down to Nancy Jane bridal in Stretford or Melanie James in Chorlton. Nancy Jane had an awesome collection, lovely owner, really helpful. Melanie James is an independent designer so everything is one off and gorgeous and she is really warm and welcoming

I didn't go to an outlet store, simply because we don't have one near us. But if there was one, I would have gone for a look, I'm sure.

One thing to remember, is that you will get good and bad experiences with outlet stores, of course - but you also get good and bad experiences with boutiques - one boutique I went to had me in tears, another didn't listen to what I wanted or actually looked at my shape to work out what suited, but one was amazing and made me feel fantastic and I ended up buying my perfect dress from there.

So, whatever your budget, whatever the choice of stores - boutique or outlet - there will always be those with good tales to tell and those with horror stories.

Keep an open mind wherever you shop!