I’ve been on the dress hunt for about a month or two. Most places would tell me that I had plenty of time, maybe a couple months to order the dress. But I’d much rather get it done considering there is that 6 month delivery window plus the alteration time I have to allocate.
The funny thing is, I felt as though I was avoiding dress shopping like the plague. Why was I avoiding it? Honestly, it’s because I’m not as “fit” as I was when I first started dating Mr. CB. Mama CB likes to say he’s fattening me up good, so I was afraid of how awful the shopping experience might be. Anyhoot, the point of this is…. I went to several stores, and at most of them, I spent hours agonizing over “the dress” that I possibly fell in love with but was always out of my budget. The thing I should have done was stick to trying on dresses that I knew would fit my budget. 
It’s a good thing I like to agonize over making big decisions and drive everyone around me nuts.
I met a lot of great people at the salons that so graciously spent the time to help me into and out of so many dresses and, I’d feel bad that I was leaving empty handed. But people reassured me, not everyone that walks in buys a dress. 
I had to be realistic and sensible and just walk away. Step in …. le internet aka my best friend.
I knew of quite a few reputable websites that sell a large selection of wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses online. One of the big ones of course is Ebay, but that’s really hit and miss.
The first place I stopped was House of Brides. I found this site for my girlfriend a few years ago when she was getting married. She ended up ordering our bridesmaid dresses from there - it was a great buy and I plan on buying my BM dresses there as well. They offer a pretty large selection of bridal gowns and bridesmaid dress from big names like: After Six, Dessy, Bill Levkoff, Jasmine, and Watter and Watters. I tried to find specific dresses I liked on the site, got quotes, went to try them on at a salon and hoped they would offer it at the same price. But it’s amazing how much the mark up is.
My suggestion is, if you’ve found the dress that you love and it happens to be out of your budget at a salon, try to talk to them about your budget. Be honest (to them and yourself) and see if they can work with you and offer you a price that you both can agree on. I hate to stiff the salons and sales people that were so nice to me, but I can’t afford to go over budget either. So on a few occasions, I asked if the stores would offer to match the price I was quoted online. Unfortunately they said no, and reasonably so, because they have more overhead costs than online stores. But if they can offer a price close to your quote price, then you know you are getting a great deal for their service and yout peace of mind since you’re not “taking a chance” by ordering it online.
If you do plan to order your dress online, try googling it. You’ll probably get a lot of hits on places that offer your gown for purchase online, but not most major couture gowns though. When I googled my dress, I got to places like Jay’s Bridal.net and Pearl’s Place. Some websites like GeniuneGowns.com, offer to match a competitor’s price and beat them by 6%! Plus ordering online there’s often no sales tax, and many offer free or inexpensive shipping!
Now to best confirm your sense of security, try calling their 800 number and find out if they have an actual store location. When you have found the store name, try cross referencing it with the authorized retailers listed on the bridal gown’s website. For extra measure, you can always call the store and verify their website’s name again, so you know for sure that they are authorized to sell your gown. It’s always smart to read the reviews online to see what other brides’ experiences have been, and to check if they are listed with the BBB.
Good luck!
Are you planning to purchase your gown online? Or if you did, how did your experience go?
I bought my dress at a salon (I was unaware of the wonders of online bridal retailers at that time) but we ordered all the BM dresses from Netbride. Absolutely NO regrets–perfect dresses in perfect condition at a perfect price–$80-$100 below a salon. I’m afraid I’m spoiled now–if I’m a BM and the bride won’t let us order the dresses online I will be REALLY annoyed at having to pay $100 extra!
I shopped in stores first, found the dress that I wanted, and then I ordered from Netbride. They had the lowest price I could find online. Plus, they match any other offer online, so because House of Brides offers free shipping I got my dress shipped for free. HoB also had our bridesmaid dresses cheaper, so Netbride matched the price AND shipped them free! Plus, all dresses came in quicker than I was told they would, in perfect condition with all original tags and everything.
The only drawback to ordering online is that I had to pay separately for alterations and cleaning/pressing, and trust a regular alterations place to do it, instead of a bridal salon which specializes in bridal alterations. But the amount of money saved quickly balances out the money spent on an independent tailor/dry cleaner.
I just recieved my dress on Monday through netbride - I LOVE it and the netbride experience 
http://boards.weddingbells.ca/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=2337172&page=0&v
Thanks to my sister, I got my dress from http://www.thejohnsonestate.com/ at a reasonable and decent price. Mon Cheri 25288 at bridal salon=$800. Mon Cheri from JE=$599 with alterations. They cut and hem to your size and height. I just have one complaint that they were missing my optional straps. And, when we asked for it, they shipped a different color than that of my dress. Whatever. I’m still happy.
I found a dress i loved and then called boutiques in several states who all quoted me similar prices. There were a few offered 10% off the gown if you bought other things from them, but it was still over my budget. So that was when i turned to the internet rather than give up on my dream dress. After weeks of searching I happened upon ValCollections.com…and they had my dress for $500+ cheaper!!
I tried the dress on twice at the closest boutique and made sure I had the right size, color and style name before ordering online. I was nervous about buying something like my wedding gown online, but I was able to pay using PayPal and that made me feel a little better about it and I was also able to pay in two payments- half when I placed the order and half when the dress was ready to be shipped.
Val Collections has a store in California, but I live in the east so I wouldn’t have been able to visit the store front itself. Val herself called me when the dress was ready to be shipped and she was friendly and helpful. The gown arrived in the time promised and the whole experience went really smoothly. And I LOVE my gown!!
I also happened to be packing to move when the gown arrived so i didn’t notice at first that my roommate had put the package on my bed… my fiance was over helping me moved boxes when i figured out what it was.. so i had to kick him out so i could try it on immediately! 
I found my dress at RK Bridal for $750 and scoured the web until I found it online for $500 plus $18 shipping. I had a great experience and recommend searching for the best price on your dress.
From the very beginning I knew I was going to try on dresses at salons and buy on the internet. Leave it to me, though, to find a designer that none of the online stores carry. I emailed all the usual suspects and none of them had it. I’m bummed I can’t buy online and the designer only sells to six stores total in the U.S. I wish I liked something that was more common.
Am I being too hopeful to imagine a dress I bought from an eBay shop (www.bridalgown.net) way back last September will eventually get to me!? Fair play they have responded to every email politely and explained they’ve had problems with their Pronovias manufacturers in China and that they hope to be able to ship the dress out to me in the next few weeks, but it just seems mad to have to wait over a year for it to get to me when they have always claimed an estimated delivery time of 22 weeks. I’m just hoping I havent lost £430 ($800?) because of reckless eBaying!!
Roughly how much has your alterations toyour bridal gown cost? From my research, they seem to vary QUITE a lot!
I want a specific Reem Acra gown but online stores don’t carry it nor do the preowned dresses websites out there 
ffiffi: Are you sure you’re getting a real Pronovias, or is it a knock-off made to look like a Pronovias? If it’s been a year, I’d say you got screwed. I hope not, but that’s my gut feeling.
I was resigned to the fact that my dream dress was out of my budget, and for months I tried to find something else I loved just as much. Then I discovered that Pearl’s Place quoted me my dress for $1000 LESS than the retail stores had been quoting me. So I bought it through them. Not only did it arrive in perfect condition, but it arrived a month earlier than they had told me!
I think buying online works great for those of us who didn’t feel the need to have the “bridal salon experience”. I did go to stores to try on stuff, but for me it was more of a hunt for a good bargain than looking for personal attention. I’m comfortable shopping around and going for the best deal. I didn’t really mind not giving a brick & mortar store my business in exchange for fawning and personal service. JMHO.
Where have you been looking in the DC area? My favorite experience thus far, based both on the way the salon was run and on prices (very reasonable!) has been at Ellie’s in Old Town.
I also used Pearls Place and was very happy. I saved about 35% off the quote from the salon and the dress arrived earlier than expected!
I talked to the owners of the bridal shop where I found my dream dress. It was about $1000 outside of my budget. However, they were willing to knock $500 off for me. Sometimes all you have to do is be honest and ask.
I posted about my dress(es) before, but I bought both off of eBay, and even ended up selling the first one to a happy bride in Australia, via eBay. Both were Romona Keveza gowns. The first was a mikado silk gown with detachable obi train that was worn once before, got it for $1250 w/shipping, retails for $4500. While I loved it, I couldn’t resist going to a Romona trunk show at a local bridal shop and I ended up falling in love with another dress (which my mom, MIL, and aunt all confirmed by crying when I put it on). Luck would have it, the dress I loved at the shop was on eBay a few months before. I was able to track down the seller (with some major photo forensics) who was actually a bridal shop in MN. The dress was ordered for another bride, with my near exact measurements, but came in the wrong color for her (diamond white, she wanted ivory.) It was perfect for me and still available…I ended up settling the deal outside of eBay and got my gorgeous silk crepe Romona Keveza gown with detachable shrug for an unheard of $950 (retail was $3500)! My advice is go to the salons, try on all the dresses you are interested in. In the meantime, setup an eBay Notification for your dress designer. Don’t be too specific with a style number because some people won’t include/won’t know that information. It’ll email you everytime a “Vera Wang” or “Melissa Sweet” item has been listed. It worked out great for me, and the email helped me track down the seller long after the auction ended. And the number one rule of eBay–Be careful! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
Bought a Reem Acra, an Azalea gown from her rose line in ivory, from a two dress bride on Ebay for $1000 - retail about $3000. The only problem was, the measurements for that didn’t quite fit me. I had more going on up top than the dress really had room for. It was NOT the auctioner’s fault - it was a case of the way the dress was made simply not allowing for any give in the bodice area. For anyone with less to put in the dress front it would have been fine.
So before we took the dress bodice apart and altered it to fit (ahhh not to the Reem Acra!!!), I shopped more and found my dream (angels sing and weep, etc.) dress, also by Reem Acra, also on Ebay for $750 - retail quoted to me was about $7500. I have to it taken in at the waist and bust a little, and hemmed, but other than that - it’s perfect. It’s really the most perfect dress ever.
I’ve also bought two J Crew wedding dresses on Ebay for about 75% less than their retail. Those were intended for wedding event dresses. One I am wearing to a shower and the other just didn’t work (halter dresses and my chest just don’t coexist well), but I am wearing a J Crew wedding dress (which I bought retail) for the rehearsal dinner.
The Reem Acra Azalea and the J Crew halter Dress will go back to Ebay for someone else to enjoy and for me to finance my Ebay addiction.
i love pearl’s place!!! i got my dress there for almost half the price; $819 vs. $1500 at the salon! and shipping was a whopping $12! i did do my research, found the gown i wanted and tried it on at the salon to determine what size to order. ordering was simple and easy at pearl’s place and i received my gown shipped to my house after only 3 weeks!
i did have to do alterations outside of a salon of course, but i was planning to do this anyway.
I purchased my gown online through Julius Bridal. They replicated a Jim Hjelm and Lazaro combo and it turned out beautifully - for $500! The fabric is great quality and I am super happy that I bought through them.
I basically got my designer dream dress for less than a quarter of the cost.
PS - very little alterations were needed, as the dress was sewed to my measurements, but my seamstress is taking in the hips a little. She mentioned how nice the quality was, also!!
[...] Quoted from: Miss Cherry Blossom on http://www.weddingbee.com [...]
I bought a Reem Acra dress in Kleinfield sample sale for $3500, retail is about 6K. Should look at EBAY instead. But i was afraid it didnt fit me and end up spending more at the end since you can’t return them.
@Ffiffi: What happenned? Did you receive your dress from Bridalgown.net? I’m looking to see if I should buy from them…
Mrs. Cherry Blossom, San Francisco
Age and Occupation: 27, Administrative Asst.
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, District Sales Manager
Engagement Date: December 23, 2006
Wedding Date: May 3, 2008
Venue: Zen Garden in the East Bay w/ reception in a floor-to-ceiling window Atrium with views of the Zen Garden
About Me: After 5 years of dating, we're finally ready to get hitched! I am a lovah of all things wedding, creative, crafty, and definitely DIY bc I love to add a personal touch to everything I gift or make. In my free time, I like to bake, spend time with our family, friends, and my doggies, read my guilty pleasure celebrity gossip and catch up on TV shows.
I shopped online, tried on a dress at a real store, and bought from an eBay store called Just Pretty Bridals. I admit, when the box arrived, it looked pretty beat up, and the dress needed a seriously intensive steaming, but it was half the retail price. Once you’ve saved $500 on the dress, paying $40 to have it steamed is no biggie.