Wedding Dress shops

sayseeboots · 31-03-2014 9:27pm

Hi All,
I'm from Ireland, living in Spain and eloping in Gibraltar in May.
I need your help for a few reasons, shopping where I live is chronic, no department stores, the spanish don't really do registry weddings or vintage shops, and I cant ask any of my friends in Ireland for help as we are eloping to avoid a big wedding.
I'm looking for a short white dress top get married in (not tea dress style or strapless or too Bride-y) but I would like to wear white. My mum is scouting BT's, TK Maxx, Debenhams etc in Ireland but is having no joy as she says winter stuff is still in.
Does anyone know of small boutiques, designers or shops that may have something suitable?
Thank You

Toots · 01-04-2014 2:51am

What county is she in? There's a nice vintage shop in Dublin City Centre near George's arcade. My friend bought a lovely vintage dress for her wedding there, not really bride-y, but just a really lovely, elegant dress.

strarc · 01-04-2014 10:42am

I think you should try to choose your wedding dresses online, as there are many sites running online and offering lots of beautiful product collections.

sayseeboots · 01-04-2014 9:03pm

shes in Galway, but she can go anywhere, Mayop, ennis, Limerick, sligo.. I have messaged The dress bar in Cork to see do they have anything suitable.

focusowner · 10-04-2014 10:08pm

Guys could someone please help me

Ive just heard today with only 3 months to go that the bridal store where my fiancée is buying her dress is gone bankrupt apparantly but when my better half contacted the owner she said it was just closed due to deciding on a career break but that existing customers would be sorted out

Please help me out here

Has anyone heard anything ?

From googling the name online it looks bad with one bride complaining in febuary that it was gone and deposits lost ! We have €1000 with her so far as you can imagine herself is pretty upset at the moment

Toots · 12-04-2014 2:00am

Did you pay by credit card? If they've gone out of business you might have some comeback through the credit card company.

focusowner · 12-04-2014 9:46am

Toots* wrote: »

Did you pay by credit card? If they've gone out of business you might have some comeback through the credit card company.

Paid by cheque unfortunately

Faith · 25-04-2014 7:34pm

Just wanted to give some feedback on my dress shopping experience in Cork in case it's of any help to others.

First, I went to Cinderella's Closet in Blackpool. They carry the Alfred Angelo Disney collection, and had assured me on the phone that they had the dress I wanted to try on. My appointment was for 4pm. We arrived, were let in and were completely ignored for 5 minutes. The woman came out and gave me a form to fill out and then disappeared again for another 10 minutes. Finally, we were brought in and I was given 3 tags to put on dresses. The woman disappeared again.

When I'd picked out dresses, we went through to the changing area, which was about the size of a normal shop changing room. There was barely enough room for me and a dress in there, and I kept almost falling through the curtain! The dresses were FILTHY. I found the assistant to be fairly disinterested and she failed to grasp what I was looking for, I felt. Towards the end, it was obvious she wanted us to leave and started rushing us through the last few bits. After 45 minutes in there and repeatedly saying "We're just getting that Alfred Angelo dress for you now", she confessed they'd sold the sample. Grand, it happens, but still a bit annoying not to be told earlier. Overall, it wasn't a great experience.

Next, I went to Say I Do in Midleton. It was a totally different experience. It's quite a small shop with a limited number of dresses, but Ria was SO helpful. She asked me what style I wanted and started pulling dresses out immediately for me. The changing room was amply sized and she was in there helping me in and out of dresses. She got me and my style immediately and had great ideas and suggestions. Because there wasn't a huge range, we were in and out within 45 minutes, but we had 100% of her attention and felt she couldn't do enough for us. We left thinking we'd definitely found a promising dress. The experience was brilliant, but the smaller range was the only downside.

Finally (I'd decided I was only going to look in 3 shops in Cork), we went to Rice N Roses in Frankfield. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it's gorgeous inside. I was given 5 tags, and had barely looked at a quarter of the dresses before I'd assigned all the tags! They have a HUGE range. Michelle was helping us and she was amazing. She knew exactly what would suit me and convinced me to try on dresses I hadn't considered. The changing room was huge and she helped me in and out of every dress. When I tried on The One, she got as excited as my bridesmaid! Anything I wanted was possible, whether it was adding beading, removing frills, anything. She couldn't do enough for us and just kept bringing in dress after dress. We were there for an hour and a half without even realising it. There was no rushing and she kept me in the loop about prices along the way, advising when I could buy off the rail or things that I could get elsewhere (like a belt/sash for the dress). I really can't recommend them highly enough

.

Typer Monkey · 25-04-2014 8:48pm

Had a text from the bridal corner in Glasnevin where I got my dress saying they had opened a 'sale shop' with prices starting at €400. Might be of interest to someone. Staff are very helpful too

January · 25-04-2014 9:04pm

Typer Monkey wrote: »

Had a text from the bridal corner in Glasnevin where I got my dress saying they had opened a 'sale shop' with prices starting at €400. Might be of interest to someone. Staff are very helpful too

Ohhh thanks for this!

Sala · 26-04-2014 8:49pm

I don't see any references in here to the shop here, so I'll post that I got my dress in O'Brien's Bridal Couture in Rathnew, Wicklow. http://www.obriensbridalcouture.com
The owner is really lovely and replies to all queries promptly. There was a great selection of dresses and accessories and I was delighted to find mine here.

Bosley1421 · 27-04-2014 10:16am

sayseeboots wrote: »

Hi All,
I'm from Ireland, living in Spain and eloping in Gibraltar in May.
I need your help for a few reasons, shopping where I live is chronic, no department stores, the spanish don't really do registry weddings or vintage shops, and I cant ask any of my friends in Ireland for help as we are eloping to avoid a big wedding.
I'm looking for a short white dress top get married in (not tea dress style or strapless or too Bride-y) but I would like to wear white. My mum is scouting BT's, TK Maxx, Debenhams etc in Ireland but is having no joy as she says winter stuff is still in.
Does anyone know of small boutiques, designers or shops that may have something suitable?
Thank You

There's a beautiful Vivienne Westwood Anglomania white dress on Netaporter.com, sorry I can't post links until I get to 50 posts, but if you go to clothing, then weddings and dresses you'll find it (among other amazing ones…)

Netaporter can ship to Spain and returns are free if you need to change a size or don't like it. I wore a short white DVF dress for my wedding, I understand not wanting to look too bride-y!
I bought from here and had my dress sorted in about a week. Change from 600 and all.

Gatica · 28-04-2014 10:57am

I would encourage people to be sure to have wedding insurance. It should cover things such as shops closing down. We found it gave us peace of mind and though we had no occasion to claim, there may be situation for others by the looks of it where it would've been handy to have.
For bride looking for dress in Galway, I found Belladonna to be great to deal with. They've a lovely selection, including some shorter styles.

Ihatecuddles · 05-05-2014 4:41pm

I'm picking my dress up tomorrow, got it in Berketex Bride in Jervis St Dublin.

I love the staff, they're all great and so helpful!

focusowner · 24-06-2014 11:22pm

Turns out from previous posts that we were right to be concerned finally meant to go for trial fitting tonight with only 4 weeks to go and the b!t€h never ordered the dresses ! Rightly screwed now dont know what to do my fiance is very distraught i feel soo sorry for her ive been telling her for weeks she was going to be let down but the owner kept saying that she would have it and finally on saturday just gone she said it was in stock and to come tonight - what sort of a person would lie so blatantly

January · 25-06-2014 12:17pm

If you have the money you need to get into all the dress shops you can and try on the dresses they have to buy off the rack in her size. It will require minimal alterations. I know it's not the dress she loves but she might find something even better. Sort that out first and then tackle the first shop for a refund. If she does not give you one launch legal proceedings, do not let this drop, imagine how many brides she's duped.

Can you PM me the name of the shop if it's in Dublin so I stay well away from it.

focusowner · 25-06-2014 12:41pm

January wrote: »

If you have the money you need to get into all the dress shops you can and try on the dresses they have to buy off the rack in her size. It will require minimal alterations. I know it's not the dress she loves but she might find something even better. Sort that out first and then tackle the first shop for a refund. If she does not give you one launch legal proceedings, do not let this drop, imagine how many brides she's duped.

Can you PM me the name of the shop if it's in Dublin so I stay well away from it.

Its in cavan - virginia god knows how many others are in same boat

annoyedgal · 25-06-2014 4:24pm

Smartbrides in portlaois sell off the rack samples all under a grand. Also memories in parliament Street Temple Bar sell fabulous preworn dresses. Good luck with search and hope it works out. You should put a warning on the wedding websites too, what a terrible stress at an already stressful time.

annoyedgal · 25-06-2014 4:50pm

Smartbrides in portlaois sell off the rack samples all under a grand. Also memories in parliament Street Temple Bar sell fabulous preworn dresses. Good luck with search and hope it works out. You should put a warning on the wedding websites too, what a terrible stress at an already stressful time.

focusowner · 25-06-2014 5:19pm

annoyedgal wrote: »

Smartbrides in portlaois sell off the rack samples all under a grand. Also memories in parliament Street Temple Bar sell fabulous preworn dresses. Good luck with search and hope it works out. You should put a warning on the wedding websites too, what a terrible stress at an already stressful time.

Think she may have hopefully found one today fingers crossed - mcelhinneys in athboy in meath were more than helpful given the circumstances

Cant post any warnings etc until after the solicitor has done his bit

Thanks guys

Toots · 27-06-2014 11:09pm

focusowner wrote: »

Turns out from previous posts that we were right to be concerned finally meant to go for trial fitting tonight with only 4 weeks to go and the b!t€h never ordered the dresses ! Rightly screwed now dont know what to do my fiance is very distraught i feel soo sorry for her ive been telling her for weeks she was going to be let down but the owner kept saying that she would have it and finally on saturday just gone she said it was in stock and to come tonight - what sort of a person would lie so blatantly

Oh my god, that's horrible! What happened when your fiancee went for her fitting, did she just go 'oh yeah, I never ordered that, sorry'? That's just mind boggling!

FWIW a friend of mine bought her dress in mcilhennys and she was delighted with the dress and service. If that falls through, give a ring around other shops and explain the situation, at least then you'll know if they can help you rather than going all the way to a shop to find out there's nothing they can do. I hope you get sorted out.

focusowner · 27-06-2014 11:17pm

Toots* wrote: »

Oh my god, that's horrible! What happened when your fiancee went for her fitting, did she just go 'oh yeah, I never ordered that, sorry'? That's just mind boggling!

FWIW a friend of mine bought her dress in mcilhennys and she was delighted with the dress and service. If that falls through, give a ring around other shops and explain the situation, at least then you'll know if they can help you rather than going all the way to a shop to find out there's nothing they can do. I hope you get sorted out.[/quote

When she went for the fitting the owner was gone her partner came out and said it had never been ordered

A shop in carrickmacross has come to the rescue and have sourced the dress she had originally wanted from the states and it will be here in a week will update later the name of the shop but if it all works out we will be giving it one hell of a review

Also the owners "sister" rang last night to apologise that we wouldnt have the dress as the owner had taken a stroke - we had very little sympathy given the circumstances and the amount of lies we had heard so far and by the end of the conversation she had changed the story to her having had a mental breakdown - we now think it was the owner herself that placed the call - what a weirdo

perfectblue · 30-06-2014 7:16pm

sayseeboots wrote: »

Hi All,
I'm from Ireland, living in Spain and eloping in Gibraltar in May.
I need your help for a few reasons, shopping where I live is chronic, no department stores, the spanish don't really do registry weddings or vintage shops, and I cant ask any of my friends in Ireland for help as we are eloping to avoid a big wedding.
I'm looking for a short white dress top get married in (not tea dress style or strapless or too Bride-y) but I would like to wear white. My mum is scouting BT's, TK Maxx, Debenhams etc in Ireland but is having no joy as she says winter stuff is still in.
Does anyone know of small boutiques, designers or shops that may have something suitable?
Thank You

winter stuff in in?? i'm still seeing summer dresses in the shops. have you checked the websites of some of these shops? debenhams do bridal on their website. monsoon is another one - nice dresses, not just bridal. what about zara? since you are in spain after all.

i saw a new vintage place in temple bar that does online orders called folkster. there's also dirty fabulous. and i've seem some lovely short dresses at ted baker...

Fiona44 · 06-07-2014 9:44am

I've just finished shopping for my dress! Here's my experience of the shops I visited -

1. O'Briens Bridal Couture, Rathnew -

Pros: The woman who runs it is really lovely and helpful in picking out dresses to suit you. She also stuck strictly to my budget and didn't push any of the more expensive dresses on me.
You have a 1.5 hour slot and have the place to yourself so didn't feel rushed in any way.
The dresses are kept in very good condition and the shop is lovely and spacious.

Cons: I found the selection to be quite limited and not to my taste. Most of the dresses were of a similar style - quite heavy, a lot of lace, full skirt. I'm getting married in Spain in May so I was looking for something light and Summery which she didn't have.
Also, she didn't give me a chance to look around myself and pick out dresses. She picked them all out herself.

Overall: Apart from the dress selection, which wasn't to my taste, nice experience.

2. The White Room, Mullingar:

Pros: This is a lovely, spacious, clean shop with a big selection of dresses & styles to suit everyone. I was here on a Saturday but didn't feel rushed at all. Was given a chance to look around and pick out a few dresses to try on & the shop assistant also picked out a couple she thought would suit me.
There was one other bride here at the same time as me but plenty of space for it not to feel cramped.
The staff here are just really pleasant and professional, and they make it a really enjoyable experience.
Found an amazing dress here but as it was only the second place I had looked I decided to look at a few more before making a final decision.
Came back for a second visit yesterday to try it on again and decided it was the one! Was great because I was able to try on a similar dress by the same designer in a size 10 which is my size so it gave me an idea of how the dress would fit and feel without having to be clipped into it.
Every other place I went to only had size 12 or 14 dresses to try on which can make it difficult to imagine what the dress will look like.

Cons: None really apart from it being in Mullingar and me living in Dublin!

Overall: Would really recommend this place, definitely worth a visit! It has such a big variety of dresses

The Bridal Outlet, Baldoyle:

1. Pros: Again I found the staff here to be very pleasant and professional. It's similar in size to the White Room so nice and spacious and has a huge range of dresses. The dresses are kept in very good condition and are really great value - lots below €1k.

Cons: I found a couple of nice dresses here but nothing stood out for me. I personally felt that the collection here is ok, and definitely worth a visit if you are on a tight budget but nothing here for me.

Overall: I would only recommend if you have a tight budget as it is really good value. Otherwise, there are better selections of dresses elsewhere.

The Courtyard Prive, Kinsealy:

Pros: Really gorgeous shop and the woman who runs the place is so lovely to deal with. The shop is decorated really nicely, with nice lighting and music playing. The collection of dresses is quite small but every single dress is stunning and there is such a variety of styles that there is something to suit everyone.
I came in to try on a specific dress I had seen online, and the shop assistant also picked out a few very different styles for me to try which turned out to really look great when I tried them on.
Had a 1.5 hour slot here so wasn't rushed at all.

Cons: None, would really recommend a visit. I didn't find my dress here but they have such a gorgeous selection and lovely to deal with!

De Stafford Bridal, Exchequer Street:

Pros: None.

Cons: I was really disappointed with this place as I had heard good things about it. We visited on a Saturday and I felt so rushed. The shop assistant kept looking at her watch for the whole appointment and I just felt really under pressure to rush through trying on the dresses.
The shop is really cramped and you're right in the window so anyone walking past can see you!
The dresses are not in great condition, lots of make up stains and they just generally look tired and worn.
I told the shop assistant my budget but she insisted I try on a Kathy De Stafford dress that was twice my budget.

Overall: Wouldn't recommend this place. I didn't have an enjoyable experience here and just felt really rushed. Might be better to visit mid week.

franpod · 19-08-2014 7:22pm

Hi all,
First wedding post!

I just noticed something while in contact with wedding dress shops. I was wondering if anyone else would know. I have been asked twice by 2 different shops where my wedding is. Both times I replied with the church thinking that they might be thinking about matching the setting/surrounding with the type of dress but both times they went on to ask me where my reception was going to be held. I'm just wondering why they would care where the reception is? Are they scoping out how much to quote me for dresses or am I just being a paranoid bride??

Gatica · 19-08-2014 8:17pm

franpod wrote: »

Hi all,
First wedding post!

I just noticed something while in contact with wedding dress shops. I was wondering if anyone else would know. I have been asked twice by 2 different shops where my wedding is. Both times I replied with the church thinking that they might be thinking about matching the setting/surrounding with the type of dress but both times they went on to ask me where my reception was going to be held. I'm just wondering why they would care where the reception is? Are they scoping out how much to quote me for dresses or am I just being a paranoid bride??

Most of the time they're just bring friendly and taking an interest. If you're worried though just say you're still looking

tbeans · 15-09-2014 3:14pm

Anyone any feedback on Dublin stores? Thinking of visiting - Aspirations Bridal, Ciara Bridal and Anabel Rose and any help is welcome

Redser87 · 16-09-2014 7:43pm

I would stay well away from Ciara if I were you. I'm on the taller end of petite and the lady in there was making snide remarks about my height. Also, didn't listen to the opinions of myself or my bridal party in terms of shape, colour, detail etc. It was a busy Saturday, two of us in trying on dresses in a small changing area, and the people with the two brides had hardly anywhere to sit. Avoid at all costs, but I found the Town Bride to be a very nice place to shop with a good variety of dresses!

Liam McPoyle · 17-09-2014 7:51am

My o/h got hers in Town Bride.

She couldn't speak highly enough about the staff. She dealt with a guy there so I dunno if that would be an issue. She said he was really nice, not at all pushy and told her when he didn't think something suited her.

lovelystuff · 20-09-2014 4:45pm

Was in Oxfam bridal with my maid of honour recently and didn't like it all. I know it's a charity shop but even so it was all very shabby. Also it wasn't professionally run at all in my opinion,my friend was doing all the doing up and undoing of dresses and hanging them back up for me. There were also a few comments about the fact they catered for "real women" which she said were size 16 whereas I'm a 10. Even if I had loved a dress (which I didn't) they were all stained etc so I wouldn't bother going back. The woman also talked about being hungover. Avoid!

Wedding Dress shops

Comments