Buying wedding dress online

big b

Hi

Does anyone have experience of buying their wedding dress online?

My girl wants to - saw the same dress €500 cheaper on an American website than a local shop- but she's a wee bit nervous about it - more quality & size issues than the actual online transaction thing.

Anyone out there put her mind at rest...........or indeed think it's a bad idea?

Thanks

olaola

Heya -

I was going to buy mine at a significant saving online. I rang them up and had it nearly good to go. But we decided that we really didn't have enough time (it would have arrived about 3 weeks before wedding) so we didn't risk it.
If I had more time, I would have defo done it.
One thing though - you have to consider, if you get stung for customs... is the deal still worth it?

There are loads of sellers on eBay that have great reviews and good ratings. I wouldn't think twice if I had the time!
Remember that you will have to wait the same amount of time as you would in a bridal shop. They won't (or rarely) have the dress in stock and they will have to order it in. Allow for that, plus the time it will take to get to you.
When you try on the dress in the shop - take CAREFUL note of the sizes (it should have all sizes on it - US, European etc...) for your order. Even take a pic of the label if you can and send it to the shop.

Good luck!

big b

Thanks Olaola!

Dress is approx half-price on the web -saving about €550

Kinda hoping customs wouldn't be close to that. Don't know if everyone gets stung with that anyway - do ya just have to be lucky? (in that case I'll be paying out, no doubt!)
Thanks for your help

Any other advice/experience out there?

olaola

I have to say - when I did contact the shops in the states, they did warn me that customs could be a problem. They said they would put the value of the goods on the customs declaration as low as possible and they would make the box look plain.
Do you have any friends/relations who would be coming home over the next few months? If you sent it to them and they brought it home with them, you would defo avoid it!

big b

Great idea, but sadly - no such luck!
Think me girl's going to call the shop over there shortly & hopefully they can advise her about likely customs duty.

Thanks for the help :-)

littlepinkposie

Hi there,

I bought a wedding dress from a chinese company on ebay, the picture on ebay looked beautiful and I was so excited thinking I was doing a great thing. The dress I recieved was similar to the picture but not the exact dress, it was easy to see that they were making their own repoductions of the dress, the material was lovely, the size was a bit off but it was easy and inexpensive to have altered.
I didn't get charged customs and the dress took about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
I was happy with it but not delighted and have since sold it on (for a nice profit i must say). I wouldn't say don't buy it online, just be sure about the dress you're buying, know that it might not look exactly like the picture and don't have your expectations too high. I would definitely try again, it wasn't a bad experience I just wasn't thrilled with dress! How fickle we ladies are!!!!

Hope that helped!

MarkR

We got our bridesmaids dresses online. Was able to find the same dresses locally to try on, then but it from the US in the correct sizes.

throwingmuses

I bought my wedding dress from the US. Didn't get charged anything from customs, and that was almost 2 years ago.

Also bought 3 bridesmaids dresses from another place in the US and didn't pay any customs on these either.

Bought a cake stand from yet another US website and didn't get charged anything either.

Wasn't sure whether I would or not, but figured I still would have saved a fortune. Anyway I reckon I saved around 1,700 euro or so. Made sure I measured myself properly before ordering and the staff in all places were unbelievably helpful. Still amazes me to see my friends paying over the odds for all of these things.

Maybe I was just lucky with the taxes strange.........

Aishling

Do a search on www.weddingsonline.ie for buying a wedding dress online. There is loads of topics on it, mostly in the fashion and beauty section.
The most reliable websites seem to be www.gownsales.com and www.rkbridals.com there is a third one too but I can't think of the name.
Im going to order my dress soon and will definitely order it from one of these websites.

I will try the dress on that i want in a shop here first and then I'll know that it suits, colour etc and also size wise.

Good luck to your fiancee.

jenie6

Hi guys I am new to this, so here goes. I am thinking about buying my wedding dress online and I have come across a website called tradetang.com. I found a lovely dress on it and was wondering if any of you have bought from it or know someone who has. It is unbelievable to see dresses in shops for 2000 plus; yet they're a few hundred online. Seems too good to be true.

Any thoughts

Thanks for you help

luppy

Hi everyone, just had a quick look online today was on a site called www.weddingdressonlineshop.co.uk it seems unbelievably cheap!! anyone have any ideas about this website?

wingnut4

hey, i recently bought my wedding dress online from China and I got it for an extremly cheap price. I had it custom made too. There are alot of China companies that Ive heard bad reviews about so you have to be careful. I know of two companies that have great feedback, one being millie bridal and the one I got my dress from but I cant remember the name off hand at the minute!

I would defently recommend it but I do suggest you research first and theres a forum somewhere that shows all the dresses people have got.

kc66

luppy wrote: »

Hi everyone, just had a quick look online today was on a site called www.weddingdressonlineshop.co.uk it seems unbelievably cheap!! anyone have any ideas about this website?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100304011002AATzrk4

RIRI

I had mine custom made by place in China, it was exactly what I ordered & it arrived in 5 weeks.
Quality & design were exactly the same as the version I had tried on in the bridal shop here(they wanted 3k & 6 months to make it!).
Total cost was €300 which included a couple of minor alterations.
One tip: get measured by a dressmaker, then you won;t need the alterations (a friend measured me after a couple of glasses of wine :rolleyes:). Also the dressmaker I used told me that the only difference is they don't do a lot of the hand stitching (ie hooks & eyes & so on) all very minor stuff which is very cheap & easy to have done. PM me if you want the website I used.

Good luck

hazeler

I bought mine online... was a steal. Got measured by a dressmaker and then went with the custom option and had it made to my size. I had no charge with customs but mine was a small package. My sister got hers online also, she got married the weekend just gone. Dress was stunning on her, she was charged €80 extra at customs through fedex, but other than that no hassle. Full ballgown with all the trimmings and still came in at less than €300!

If your fiancé has tried on the dress here and knows her size then she should have no problem buying it online. You won't pay a crazy amount at customs so long as they put a realistic price on your box for the dress... Good luck with it!

cowhands

Hi I bought my dress on line too. I tried the dress on in a bridal shop here a hundred times and made sure I was certain it was the one. The shop here wanted €1200 way above my budget
So I did some research and found it at www.jaysbrdial.com they are a real bridal shop in Florida in the states selling genuine designer dresses. I got the same dress, shoes, hair pins, bra thing and zippy bag for €750.
I am getting it shipped to my aunt in New York who is going to repack it for me and make sure everything is ok. She is then going to post it back to me.
I calculated even if I do get caught by customs I will be charged roughly €200 which is still a great price for what I will get. I got the info from here:

An Example of how this might work out: - A wonderful Ball Gown costs $150 from Sydney's Closet. You choose insurance at $15 and there is a $35 airmail freight charge. Total cost for Customs Duties purposes is $200. Customs duty will be $24 - 12% of cost, making $224.
V.A.T. is now charged by Customs on the $224 @ 21% = $47.04.
The extra charges in total are $24 + $47.04 = $71.04, which is then changed to Euro at the central exchange rate of the day. In many cases the delivery company used will ask for payment of the customs duties before releasing the clothing to you.

http://www.clothing.ie/customs-duties-clothing-imports.html

As for sizes, I checked the inside of the dress I tried on in the shop it was a 14 and too big on me so I looked up the designers website and checked her sizing guide and ended up ordering a size 12. It will probably have to be let out in places and taken in at others but sure I would have to get that done if I bought from a shop here anyway.

I got an email the other day saying the had started making my dress and that they expect it to be finished 21st of Dec. So I probably wont have my dress till the new year. Im glad I ordered early.

jinghong

this is the one herself got
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JESSICABRIDES-Wedding-Dress-Fancy-Prom-Gown-sz-14-8251-/140457055524?pt=UK_Wedding_Clothing&hash=item20b3e49524#ht_6388wt_930
did the measurements ourselves
took 4 weeks
need shortening (20 quid) think they send them a little long
all in all excellent experience
about 180 quid all in, not bad at all..
dress was beautiful

saz1mccourt

Heya, I am planning my wedding for next yr. I am planning to buy my dress online off a US site www.lightinthebox.com just wondering if anyone has ever bought their wedding dress online? any problems with customs, time of waiting on order, size or quality??

Bookkeeper09

Hi there,
Not sure about light in the box but I bought my wedding dress fron DHgate. I ordered it the first week in September and received it last week ...so was about 5&1/2 weeks.
Its absolutely fab! Couldnt be happier!
Only thing I would say is, I purchased a standard size dress, the length might be an issue for someone tall. Im only 5ft 1 and thought I would need to get a fair amount taken off the length but will only need a couple of inchs off it!

kc66

saz1mccourt wrote: »

Heya, I am planning my wedding for next yr. I am planning to buy my dress online off a US site www.lightinthebox.com just wondering if anyone has ever bought their wedding dress online? any problems with customs, time of waiting on order, size or quality??

FYI this is a Chinese site. I believe it is reputable enough. There is mention of it on here somewhere.

hazeler

kc66 wrote: »

FYI this is a Chinese site. I believe it is reputable enough. There is mention of it on here somewhere.

Yep its a chinese site...

saz1mccourt wrote: »

Heya, I am planning my wedding for next yr. I am planning to buy my dress online off a US site www.lightinthebox.com just wondering if anyone has ever bought their wedding dress online? any problems with customs, time of waiting on order, size or quality??

I bought mine from this website.. and its so pretty. Its exactly what it was in the picture. No problems with customs or timing. I did pay the extra €10, or whatever it was, to have it custom fit. I had a seamstress measure me up so it was exact and then asked for those. It fits like a glove and Im thrilled. It is a tea-length dress in silk with a chiffon overlay and a tulle skirt underneath. Made and delivered to my door for just less than €80. I'm thrilled...

girl24

Check the designers own websites for list of stockists they use, I wouldn't buy from an online company unless they are listed as a reputable stockist. It is well know in the industry that these chinese companies are making the dresses themselves, they are not coming direct from the designer and that is why they are so cheap, they are copies not the real thing and often the material they use is of cheaper quality.

yvonkey

I bought my wedding dress online. Tried it on in town and ordered it from RK Bridal... unfortunately I was stung with customs when it arrived and when it arrived it was far to big for me. I called a few dressmakers who wouldnt go near it because of the detail on the bodice, I finally did find a dressmaker who quite frankly ruined it. I had no comeback as I did not purchase the dress from them.

For piece of mind I personally would order from a Bridal store in Ireland, at least then you are guaranteed.