Buy a dress online

My dress chain of events....


Got engaged Purchased a dress online-love at 1st sightTried on the dress- love at 1st siteWent to DB for my bridesmaids Felt like I was missing that special moment with trying on dresses. So I did it. Liked another dress. Tried my dress on again. Love at 1st site
I am so happy with my online purchase!

View Quoted Comment A sister, aSIL, and a bride I was MOH for last year all were very pleased with their Beholden/BHLDN dresses. Not like many online that show a picture of a designer's dress then make a bad copy. What you see is what you get. And the quality workmanship on their lower end dresses was better than comparable priced David's.

To be honest LuLus has added some stunning wedding dress options that are extremely affordable!

You've gotten a ton of good advice on this thread but I wanted to chime in anyway...

Short version: if I were in your shoes, I would buy a secondhand designer dress from a reputable used dress site - StillWhite, OnceWed, PreOwnedWeddingDresses, Nearly Newlywed (which offers returns), even Poshmark.

Long version: I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a dress either and I pretty much had my heart set on a Mori Lee that was very popular a few years back, which means there were a lot of them for sale on various secondhand sites. I actually bought the dress (retail price $1100) for a little over $500 from Nearly Newlywed, but I ended up returning it because it didn't end up looking the way I hoped it would. I went to lots of different shops and ended up buying a Casablanca dress for a little over $1,000. I also bought a tea-length Stella York dress on StillWhite for $250 for the reception.

What I learned from going to lots of different shops, including DB, is that there is definitely a difference in quality between a $100 dress at Macy's, a $700 dress at DB, and an $1100 designer dress (Mori Lee, Casablanca, Stella York, etc.) I say this because you mention that the expensive and less-expensive dresses you see online all look like they're the same. In my experience, there is definitely a difference in the quality of the materials and the workmanship - they are definitely not the same.

Me personally, I wanted the best dress my money could buy - so if I had $500, I would find a used designer dress that I liked OR an off-the-rack designer sample as opposed to a new dress from an online place. No shade to anyone who bought their dresses there! It just would not be for me.

Davids Bridal had a $99 wedding gown sale and I lucked up and was able to find one I liked

I got my dress for 600$ at a resale place Cherie Amour Bridal Resale and it was perfect

View Quoted Comment I couldn’t agree...thanks for sharing ! That’s why I’m so torn . A lot to consider and ASAP.

I tired dresses on at davids bridal then bought an amazing dress for $178 from JJs house! It turned out great!

I bought a Morilee dress for 500 plus tax and the original price was 1400. You just have to look you will find what your looking for.

View Quoted Comment Th was his Elena do you have a pic

At davids bridal my dress was $800 I waited about 3 months before but keep looking online at davids bridal like I did cuz I caught a sale where my dress was $200 in store. You will find a good deal just stay patient

My dress........

I found a dress for $400 at David’s bridal. Their prices are very fair. You could get a size and then go to a different store

I went to Davids bridal today and got a BEAUTIFUL DRESS for $400
but i would absolutely go try some on, but don’t go out of your price range when trying them on just incase you fall in love and get your hopes set high and can’t top it!

As a bridal consultant, please tell the shop your intentions upfront. Don't let them think you're going to purchase from there if you know you won't, but also, you may find something really cheap in an off the rack sale. I have sold a dress under $500 more than once in my shop.

View Quoted Comment My dress that I’m second guessing is too plain, Has anybody added sleeves or altered a gown to embellish?

View Quoted Comment Absolutely! It all depends on the tailor. I’m actually adding sleeves to my dress!

I get why you should try on dresses at an actual dress store, you should know the style you want. but the problem with that is that you might end up falling in love with a dress that is way over priced. Then you have to make a hard decision to either go over budget and get the dress or let your dream dress go. If you do buy a dress online check reviews not only on their website but also on social media. Check first to see if you can make a review on their actual website. Maybe even search Google to see if anyone has anything to say about the company. And definitely see where they are sending the dress from and their return policy. I bought my first dress offline and it turned out to be a scam. I checked the reviews on the website and they were all good. Then after purchasing the dress and finding out they are a scam I went to their website to put a review and realized that a real customer can't put reviews on their website. So that's when I found all these horrible reviews on their Facebook page. So just be very cautious and do plenty of research before buying online. And if you have PayPal I suggest using that. Thanks to PayPal I was able to get my money back easily.

Yes, I completely agree with you. I went to a bridal salon to try on styles, get sizing, etc., then ordered online. Much cheaper.

I got my dress on clearance at David’s bridal (in person) for $550 😄