Weddingbee Blog

In the two bridal salons I visited, the sales associates made sure to tell my mom and me that even if we didn’t buy a dress from their salon, we should NEVER purchase a gown online.

“You will get a ‘dress’ made out of cheap polyester with sequins instead of rhinestones, and it will be shipped in an envelope as big as your laptop. It will be hideous.”

“You get what you pay for online! CHEAP DRESSES!”

“Those dresses are tacky, cheap, and horribly ugly. They are horrific.”

I’ve heard it all. The scare tactics worked pretty well on my mom, but the fact that both of the bridal salons made a point of saying this to me made me wonder: What are they scared of? If I order a dress online and the dress is as horribly tacky and ugly as they say, I’d have to come back to their store and purchase a rush-order dress anyway. This would therefore generate them more income…so why do they care? Are there online dresses that could rival the quality of the bridal-salon dresses? What are they afraid of?

I’m not looking to get into the debate of whether creating a replica dress is “ripping off” the original creator’s design. But I’ve done some research and these dresses are the “ugly and tacky” replica dresses I was so strongly warned against.

Photos by Jasmine’s Bridal Shop / Images via Jasmine’s Bridal Shop Facebook

And they are fan-freaking-tastic if you ask me.

Jasmine’s Bridal Shop is one of the more expensive replica dressmakers online. They aren’t advertising $5,000 dresses for $99 on eBay, and they certainly don’t try to make you think that they AREN’T a replica company. They offer the option to upgrade dress fabric to “designer fabric,” meaning the same type of fabric that would be used in the original dress (e.g., real Chantilly lace), and also the option to use a more experienced seamstress to ensure a better replication of the pictured dress. You’re charged 50% of the price upfront, and you pay the balance at the end when you give them permission to ship. They send you photographs during the two or so months they take to make the dress, working with you to make sure that the dress is what you wanted.

And if all of that isn’t good enough, they offer a full refund prior to shipping out the dress if you’re not liking what you see in the progress photos. They also post pictures of their ACTUAL work, and not just stolen designer photographs. There is also the plus of a seven to nine week construction time (depending on the level of seamstress you use), which soundly beats the bridal salon’s six to seven month timeline for ordering a dress. All of their policies and procedures sound VERY good to me.

I’m very strongly considering ordering a dress from Jasmine’s Bridal Shop. The only thing that holds me back from clicking the “BUY NOW!” button is not being able to try on the style of dress I want in store. I haven’t been able to find a lace/tulle gown in stores that I can even just try on to “get the idea.” What if I spend around $800 on a replica lace/tulle gown…only to hate it, and the have to spend around $2,000 on a dress in store?

The risk when purchasing a dress online is just that: I may hate it. But, I also may love it and save a buttload of money while doing it. I know I want a lace/tulle gown…and I know I’m not going to be able to find one in stores for under $2,000. Alterations will be $500, and a veil will be $500. The most I’d pay at Jasmine’s is $1,000 including a matching lace-edged cathedral-length veil. AND the dress would be made to my exact measurements, hopefully avoiding alterations. Do I take the risk that I may hate it and spend $1,000, possibly saving $2,000? Or do I play it safe and “waste” $2,000 for my own sanity?

On most of the “care tags” inside of the dresses I was trying on during my dress-shopping experience, I looked to see if I could find where it was made. “MADE IN CHINA” was stamped on every.single.one. Every last dress. It makes me feel like bridal salons are truly ripping people off, and high-quality replica companies like Jasmine’s Bridal are offering a very lucrative alternative: get the “same” dress at half the price and have it made to your size. All of these dresses are being made in China. What’s the difference in the long run? Was this what the bridal salons were afraid of? Could I really get a high-quality replica? I think it’s a possibility!

I’m clearly still quite torn on the issue, and I think that my mom would be more comfortable with me ordering a dress through a bridal salon, even if I can’t see what the dress looks like on and the cost is tripled. She thinks that there is just too great of a chance that I could get burned by buying online. I’m trying to get her to come around to the idea, and I’m giving myself until the end of January to make a decision. I’m also on the hunt to find a lace/tulle dress in store that I love…that I could either buy outright or get a replica of it made. If anything, I just want to be able to try on the style of dress I love, whether I buy in store or online. Is that too much to ask, wedding-dress gods?!

Did you order (or consider ordering) a replica dress online? What company did you use and what was your experience with them?