Wedding dress advice

aoifeisabelle

Hi all,

I’m getting married next year and I’m starting to look for a wedding dress. I don’t want to spend a mad amount of money on it seeing as I’ll only be wearing it for one day but of course it has to be nice. I’ve been having a look on bridal shop websites and Instagram and that but everything I like is crazy money. I want a long sleeved gown with embellishment or lace that’s sort of fitted. Nothing merangue like!

I was thinking of checking out folkster in Kilkenny. Anyone have any must check out places? I’ve heard about places on Fashion City on Ballymount that you can get your dress for cheaper than in the other bridal shops? I wouldn’t be against ordering online either!

Thanks!!!

annoyedgal

Check out memories bridal boutique, previously worn dresses for great prices. Fab selection. Also smartbrides in portlaoise, all dresses under a grand and great selection also. Found my pure silk pronovias dress in memories for 700. More than enough to spend on a dress you'll wear once in my opinion!

Gatica

Unfortunately as soon as people hear "wedding" they also think $$$. Lace is also expensive, and would be more than plain dresses.
Would you consider getting it made? Find a seamstress with a good rep, buy the material and design it with her.

Maldesu

A friend of mine got hers for €500 when her local bridal store were clearing out for the new season. Worth keeping an eye on

aoifeisabelle

Has anybody here had their dress made from scratch by a seamstress? This is definitely something I'd be interested in but wouldn't have a clue how to go about it!

lazygal

I doubt a good seamstress would save you much money. I inquired about getting something made (not a wedding dress) and the cost was prohibitive, even though I was supplying the fabric.
I'd try on a few dresses in a few bridal shops to see what suits (I bought something totally different to what I thought I wanted) and either try to buy the sample or see if you can get it second hand. I stuck rigidly to my budget when trying on dresses and I had plenty of choice.

Neyite

aoifeisabelle wrote: »

Has anybody here had their dress made from scratch by a seamstress? This is definitely something I'd be interested in but wouldn't have a clue how to go about it!

It could very well work out more expensive.

A long lace dress could be upwards of 4m of lace, which often retails at about €40+ per metre. Then you've got the underfabric, which often costs a fair bit, lining, other notions such as zips buttons, lace trim, boning. Then you've got to get a pattern drafted, cut, altered and dress cut & sewn. So you are looking at a lot of hours of work involved by an experienced seamstress.

What I'd suggest is firstly do make appointments and try on lots of different dresses - even the ones you think are hideous. Find your style of dress and shade that suits you. Any bride I've known (myself included) had an idea of what we would like but that differed a lot from what actually looked great on us. Bring a friend who can covertly take details of the dress for googling or be able sneaky photos. My sister was a master of steath.

Once you know the style, and shade, you can then shop cleverly. You could source lace online a lot cheaper than bricks and mortar if you still want to make your dress but it's still a pricey option. Or you could hit the pre-owned websites or ex stock rails for a bargain.

gutenberg

I don't know what your budget is, but I found my dress at DePaor Designs in Kilcoole, and the lady there also makes the dresses once you select the design you want (all designs are by her). She can also modify the designs a bit too: with the one I chose, she is making the back slightly higher as I won't be wearing a veil, and also adding some lace edging to the train.

I'm getting married this year in the UK, and I found to my surprise that dresses tend to be a good bit cheaper over here than in Ireland, or at least there seems to be more of a range in the more 'budget' end of the market. I don't know if that's something you might consider: perhaps pop over for a weekend to one of the big cities and go to a few different shops. I don't know how it might work with fittings etc. but might be worth considering. I tried on lots of dresses that were in the £500-£900 range, which would work out at 1,000 euro or less, but again I don't know what kind of budget you're talking

Dee01

Try adverts and done deal and other selling sites. There are 1,000’s of dresses that have just been worn for a couple of hours. There are great deals to be had. Same goes for everything for your wedding.... the veil, hair clips etc., good luck with the search.

SheepGoHere

Try Barnardos in Dun Laoghaoire. They have loads of beautiful dresses, I saw sizes 8-18 when I was there. The dresses aren't brand new but they have never been worn down the aisle, the ones I tried on were in perfect condition with the boutique tags still on.

I went to Oxfam Bridal as well but the dresses weren't of the same quality, they are donations from brides and a lot of them seemed to be missing beading and they were all covered in tan. I'm sure if you looked hard enough and got them dry cleaned you could do well, but there was nothing for me there unfortunately.

MiliMe

I got my dress in Victoria's Bridal in Carlow. I had only gone in to try on styles so I could find one in sales. The dresses are all off the rack so what's there is what you get but they are not as expensive as ordering your dress. I got my dress, veil and underskirt (not sure what they as 're actually called) for 500 euro. That includes having the colour of the trim on the veil made to match my dress. The owner is lovely and so very helpful. She also sticks dresses in most sizes. I think up to size 24 tho I could be wrong about that. Definitely recommend her.