Wedding Dress Hire

belleva

Just wondering if anyone has info on wedding dress hire, we are trying to keep costs down for our wedding so I think to hire a dress that I will only wear once would make better sense.
Anyone know who does this (preferably in the Munster area)?
Is it altered to suit you?

if anyone has done this can you tell me if you feel like you are minding the dress all night, are you worried it will get dirty walking from the car/someone will spill wine on it etc etc. I would hate to spend my day worrying about the dress.

or if anyone has any other alternatives, sample sales - are these usually big sizes?? second hand dresses etc. Please, tell me all :D

XMASSmrstobe

Hi,

I don't know much about rental as I never looked into it as I know I'd have worried about dry cleaning etc. all day (type or person I am) but I do know that the barnardos bridal and oxfam bridal shops are worth a look (Dunlaoghaire and Dublin city centre). Memories bridal is also great.

I'm 5.7., I like my high heals and would be shapely but thin - normally max a size ten. To be fair, I sometimes had issue with the height of dresses but I always found that sale/sample rails had something - if not lots - that I could try on (in fact my dress is a sample!) most were perfect and under €500. The selection was brilliant with range of sizes, shapes and dress condition. Some perfect, others may have needed a wash. Some boutiques included the final dry clean in their sample price, others ask you to cover it.

There are some permanent sample sale rails in shops, I found that once I rang ahead mid-week, not at lunchtime and asked could I pop in to have a look people were really helpful and kind. Most shops still took the time to pin each dress - if needed - and were happy to hold something while I went away to think. Very few put pressure on me to try full price dresses (my fear was i'd fall in love with something I just could never afford - once I told them that, no pressure came!). I did find that one friend in particular who was great at 'non'sample shopping was not fantastic for sample sale rails as she couldn't imagine them altered, or washed or say, with a little lace added here or a belt there etc. But with the right friend, underwear and attitude I loved it.

Have a fab amazing dress that fits me like a glove, bought my veil and belt online and will look great on the day. For a price that I'm happy with. All that I wanted was a dress I could wear with confidence. A 3000 frock and I'd be terrified about something happening. Mine - bring on the red wine...

Hope this helps. xx

Dolbert

The Ivory Closet in Limerick hire evening gowns, some of them are quite bridal. Though as XMasMrstobe said, you'd have to be very careful with tan stains, dirt on the train etc. I bought my dress online for €350 from a reputable company so I had that peace of mind, in the end a soak in the bath with some handwash powder left it good as new. Barnardos/ Oxfam bridal are also well worth a look.

solerina

don't bother hiring, you would be stressed all day that something would happen to the dress. Most of the shops have sale rails and there are some amazing dresses on them, in fairness I found they were mostly too small for me so you should have no problem... they were usually quite inexpensive too.. otherwise buy online, I have 2 friends that did, both paid approx. 300 with shipping, taxes etc and both dresses were amazing on them !!!:)
Monsoon do a line of wedding dresses which are under 300...just ask in the shop as they may not be on display !!
Debenhams have a range too...also not too dear !!

pwurple

I saw some designers I liked in shops, and looked up the dresses online second-hand. It took 3 weeks of searching every night, and bidding, but I eventually bought the dress second hand on ebay. Altered it slightly to fit me better, dry-cleaned it, and sold it a few months after the wedding.

Cost 315 euro to buy, 50 euro to alter, 130 to dry clean.
Sold for 350 afterwards on ebay again.

Total cost: 145.


I can't think of a cheaper way to do it, unless you can get a friend or relatives dress for free.

Moonbeam

I found the samples were usually an 10/12 (actual sizes not the size printed on them)
It would probably cost you more to hire then buying a clearance or sample dress,also look on adverts.ie etc.

belleva

Thanks for all the tips, I will defintely be taking all your advice on board. Thanks girls :D