Wow, I think Im going to get a 2nd hand dress!

Me!

I got mine from a shop called 'Dress for less'. It sells second hand designer wear.

My is a pronovias dress and cost £400! Bargin. It was dry cleaned and there isnt a mark on it. U wouldnt know it wasnt knew!

I love it and love it more knowing it didnt break the bank, I know i will enjoy wearing it, not worrying about it getting dirty etc. Like u I couldnt justify paying £1000+ for a dress.

Mine was everything i wanted and couldnt afford in bridal shops.

No 1 will ever know it is pre loved unless u choose to tell them! I'm not telling people until after the wedding. My Mum and OH know.

In 'real life' i struggle to spend £10 on myself without feeling bad!

x

I saw a dress that I loved but it was £1200! I arent a tight person but i really could not justify spending that on a dress I would wear for 12 hours...thats £100 per hour, and I knew that I would be thinking that all day! I typed in the dress name and number on the bay of e, and lo and behold, there was one for sale at a shop that was closing down...so I bid on it.....it was in my size as well and i got it for a bargain price of......£77! Best bargain ever! Im over the moon, and am quite sad to say that I try it on at least once a week!!!! Heehee! Go for it! Grab a bargain! x

I know what you mean MrsRainbowtobe about the cost of dresses....

My first attempt at dress shopping was disatrous, and ended up coming home feeling totally downheartened....

I had seen the designer I wanted.... Essence.... however none of our local dress shops would order in "the" dress, and with a price tag of £1295, which would have been 1/4 of my budget.... sat there and pondered....

Thanks to good old google.... I purchased my dream dress..... was brand new and cost me £425 inc courier..... so Essence D989 is lovingly awaiting my wedding day..... fits beautifully, no adjustments needed as it is a corset back....

However, either way, if it was THE dress.... it wouldn't have bothered me if it had been worn before.... afterall.... our dresses are only on for a few hours!!

Good luck in your dress hunt x

Dont know if your interested but i have a benjamin roberts 2058a ive paid £1200 for it and will be wearing it for my wedding in march. Im going to be hiring it out to other brides after my wedding but want to keep it so dont really want to sell it. I would be looking for around £200 to hire it its a size 10/12

I know this is a totally typical guy thing to say but I see nothing wrong with a used or hired dress.

So many brides I speak to a few months down the road seem to be moving their dress all over the place, in a great big cardboard box.

I bought my dress from preloved and am more than happy with it. Our wedding isn't on a small budget but I still could not justify blowing a fortune on a dress so found one I love for a 1/3 of the RRP and it was dry cleaned and within a short driving distance for collection ?

I see absolutely nothing wrong with wearing a second hand dress and in the current climate of money saving it makes perfect sense. Most second hand dresses are in such good condition you would never know that they had been worn anyway!

*shameless plug alert*

If you are interested, I am selling my couture dress - RRP £1,800 for £650 (about a third of the price) including the Jupon hoop... ?

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/104086706/jonathan-james-couture-wedding-dress-1012.html

A buy and sell section on the forum would be a cool idea.

There is one, but a £50 limit.

We tried asking for the powers to be to allow established hitchers to advertise their dresses but we got no answer!

We could try the Preloved thread again... worth a try?

This is a genius idea!

As for 2nd hand or hired dresses, absolutely nothing wrong with it. If I'd have found my dress preloved I would have snapped it up in an instant but nothing came up. Even now I feel pretty guilty about spending what I did on a dress! (Don't regret buying it though hehe).

Im loving all these replies ladies and gents! Think Im definately going to go and view one that is not far from me.

Laynarose, I love your dress, it is very similar to a Justin Alexander dress I have seen on pre-loved! I will definately bear you in mind if this one doesn't work out!

Yes we so need to a forum setting up where people can add their dresses, that is such a good idea!

Im really getting excited about my pre-loved designer dress!

You can email me on ******************.****@*****.*** if you want more details of the dress your obviously welcome to try it on etc

Ill join that march brides thread too

I don't think there is anything wrong with sample or preloved dresses. If mine had been more than my budget I would have tried tracking down a sample or preloved dress myself.

I bought a sample wedding dress from a bridal store last year as I needed a back up dress (long story). Turns out I don't need it anymore, so I'll be selling it shortly if anyone is interested. It hasn't been worn. Only tried on in the bridal shop. It's a standard sample size 14, which is actually more like a size 12. It's by Watters in style Genova:

Yes mine has in internal corset to ! i love it

It is a beauty! I love the lace train.

Definitely nothing wrong with Preloved dresses.... I did scour the internet for mine and saw one preloved, and was more than I paid for it with Courier from Cornwall....

There should be a wedding dress hire and a Wedding dress selling section on here.....

Although it may cause some serious dress wobbles lol...

I did buy 2 before this one.... as I didn't think I'd get the one!! Sold them on, so, at least they have gone to a good home....

x x x

I am totally with you and will be getting a 2nd hand dress for our wedding. We have a tiny budget and as my H2B is hiring his suit I felt it would not be fair to blow half a months wages on one dress.

The dress I want is Charlotte Balbiers 'Amira' and when I saw it in the shop I was so over awed I couldn't even touch it - after all what if I got it dirty?!!!! Oh btw when I say 'I want it' I really mean I am desperately in love with it and would probably resort to contract killing to pay for it if necessary

So I will be scoruing preloved and other such reputable sites for my dream dress and smile all day long once I have it on in 151 days time :-)

That is amazing!!! It was obviously meant to be, it practically found you!

Right im setting searches up now for ebay and dress for less!! And you know what, I think Im going to be proud to own a 2nd hand dress, after all vintage is on trend at the moment ?

I am relieved that its not just me, as Lucielou said, it doesn't sit right with me speding so much on 1 dress for 1 day. I could never spend that much on a bag even that I would use EVERY day! I would be constantly thinkiing what else I could have bought with the money.

I am overwhelmed with the support for pre-loved dresses, i never knew it was so popular!

x

@ Baroness - dress is stunning! Such a shame it'snot my size though at it would be a contender ☹️

x

This is a great thread! I have been considering getting a sample as I also think I would resent paying over £1k on a dress I'll wear once. I also think if I spend less on a dress I'll be possibly more inclined to sell it on too.

When I was planning my wedding there was no way I would consider getting a second hand dress.

I wore my £1k dress for less than 12 hours and its now sitting in its dress bag in my loft. I wish I had gone second hand! Hind sight is a wonderful thing.

Thanks. I'm a little sad I won't get to wear it! That is a shame Mrs R.

Ladies, I'll also be selling this Justin Alexander after 14th July this year. Colour is ivory (rather than white) and in a size 10:

I have to admit, yes, mine was

It wasn't brand new, and will need to be cleaned in plenty of time, but as I had tried it on in a bridal store and loved it, I knew I wanted it when I saw it for sale, previously owned, at a bargain price of £300. I'd say go for it, it leaves money for other important things that way. But do try dresses on in that style somewhere first to check what suits you.

Aww this is lovely!

Everyone supportive and helping each other out!

Nice that No one is judging 'pre loved' brides as being 'cheap'.

Vintage is fashionable now a days and thanks to places like ebay, second hand is becoming more acceptable!

someone that is good with computers (NOT ME) should set up a website where brides can advertise their wedding dresses to hire out or sell. Not a business as such, coz we would make our own money out it. But if there is a site where there is lots of dresses in various sizes and colours and in different areas then we'd all be more likely to get them sold or hired out rather as trying to do it with just 1 dress.

I'm not making much sence but i know what i mean. HAHA.

X

That's exactly what it was.

I have mine listed on Preloved, Gumtree and a few other bridal forums that allow advertising of dresses!

RB - beautiful dresses! If they are still for sale when I'm looking, I might be interested.

I'm definitely going to be looking for a preloved or sample dress when I get round to looking. Nothing wrong with it at all.

Pretty much all of them!!! Not sure if I am allowed to say but I have mine listed on YAYW and C*nfetti.

I just want mine to go to another home now, I find it really sad seeing in just hanging in its bag ?

Id have got a second hand dress i was very close to getting one then all of a sudden i found another dress that i fell in love with and fit in more with my theme and venue.

it didnt bother me if it was second hand either ..... thing is they have only worn it once outside prob a few times inside for dress fittings but thing is i say if its cheaper then go for it....a good dry clean will sort any marks.

my engagement ring is second hand and it didnt bother me at all meant i could get the ring i loved for a fraction of the price.

you go girl

I was totally geared up for buying a second hand dress from preloved or sellmyweddingdress.

However the dress I decided on was actually being sold as a sample so I manged to get it new, but for £450 less than ordering a brand new one.

Go for it ! i got mine at a fraction of the price when the shop where i had seen the one , wanted £1600. i checked out ebay that night and got it for £200.

Its worth looking around i think

good luck x

Thank you!

The first one (Watters 'Genova') will be available for purchase in the next 2-3 months, when I've had a chance to retrieve it from my parents' house.