BRIDE|STORE|INFO
Buying Online - The Good
IS SHOPPING ONLINE SAFE?
YES - IF YOU FOLLOW BASIC GUIDES AND SHOP WITH CAUTION
Not all online stores are the same. With years of experience and "insider knowledge", we offer advice and comments plus a list of sites not based in China. There are some excellent suppliers in China and not all are out to "take your money and run" but there are thousands to "avoid at all costs" and we aim to help you avoid the pitfalls that have ruined many wedding dreams.
Buy wedding dress online or not? If you buy from a Chinese site, problems are almost impossible to resolve. Thousands of quality products incl. iPhone and many leading fashion brands are made in China, exceptional quality is possible. But not on scam sites. Our recommendations are based on our experiences, professional knowledge and extensive research into the companies and their customer service offering.
Click the links for independent review sites below to read the experiences of others and help you make up your mind! If there's no link, it means we didn't find any reviews for that site. In this section we deal with sites that sell online and some also have high street store. We hope this helps.
"ONLINE ONLY" STORES
If you want to buy wedding dress online, the sites below sell "online only". There are thousands of sites but most are in China and to be avoided at all costs. The sites below are the few we found that are based in the USA or Europe and as a result, they offer a better degree of security and trust.
Based in Ireland, with free shipping worldwide and all dresses custom made to size, incl. plus sizes. Wide range of own brand styles but they can customize a dress if you sends pictures of the dress you like. Nice touch. We like this company because they are different and seem to have a customer first policy. Like New York based edressme.com (see below) they prove that bridal gowns don't need to cost a fortune and you don't need to risk Chinese rip off sites in search of good value. Easy to contact and our feedback suggests they are very helpful with some excellent verifiable reviews. See below. They operate a FULL REFUND policy. Good news we think if you want to buy wedding dress online!
Reviews:
Based in USA, Igigi ships to over 70 countries. Specialist for plus size garments including bridal gowns and we like this a lot. However, there is a limited range of styles in standard plus sizes only. Despite this, we like this site and worth checking out. Can't find anything negative. Thumbs up!
We love this company but mostly for non bridal dresses. Sell many top brands and are good company but only "standard" sizes. As above, many of the brand names they sell are made in Chinese factories and the quality is excellent. Shipping is extra on many items. Not so strong on bridal dresses. Easy to contact, they carry large stocks and prices are quite high but generally quality is high.
Reviews:
Sell top brand dresses in "standard" sizes. The quality is as you would expect from big big brand names. However, some less than flattering reviews can be found on a number of sites for simplydresses.com and for www.promgirl.com is part of the same company so the Pissed Consumer link below relates to them. As they are linked, we suggest to check both sites.
Reviews:
They sell their own brand dresses only but only offer standard sizes and don't have a "custom" dress service. As the name suggests, they stock a wide range of dresses including bridal, proms, cocktail etc. Seems to be a very good company and no negative reports. Charge extra for shipping so bear this in mind.
Reviews:
Good company selling multiple brand names in standard sizes only. Limited range of bridal gowns and long lead in time if size is not in stock. However, this is another of those companies (like Laila Monroe) who prove that good quality bridal gowns don't need to cost a fortune and you don't need to risk Chinese rip off sites in search of good value. Free ground shipping in USA on orders over $150. Expect to pay for international shipping and prices are as would be expected for designer prom and evening dresses. We could find no independent reviews which surprised us.
ONLINE SITES
WITH
"BRICKS & MORTAR" STORES
The sites below sell online and in their own stores.
Wedding and Bridal party dresses, standard sizes only. Very limited wedding gown selection but superb range of bridal party dresses. Charge extra for shipping. They supply thousands of stores globally so prices are higher than a dedicated online store. Good company with excellent reputation and to date, haven't heard anything negative.
Based in USA and available in a number of high street outlets. They have a nice but small selection of bridal gown designs but we really like their bridesmaids dresses. They sell online but also at a large number of outlets in various parts of the USA. Everything positive and nothing negative so big thumbs up.
Their physical store is in Alton, IL (USA) but you can also buy wedding dress online. They sell a wide range of expensive brand names. Shipping to the USA or Canada is not a problem but expensive if you live outside these areas. Despite the name, they also sell Proms and other dresses. Only standard sizes. Web site is over 10 years old and is safe to use but we did also notice that on the sites listed below, there are some very poor reviews.
Reviews:
Also known as Amanda-Lina's Sposa Boutique is based in Woodridge, ON, Canada. They sell a range of big brands in-store and online so expect high prices and expensive shipping depending on where you live. Standard sizes only.
A well established "bricks and mortar" with a store store in St Paul, MN, USA. Expect to pay top dollar as they sell many leading "designer" names. It's difficult to find reviews for companies with "complicated" names but we did find some reviews on Yelp. Charge for shipping.
Reviews:
As a long established "bricks and mortar" stores with about 300 outlets, they have high overheads. Sell many big brand names. Some of their dresses are reasonably low prices but the quality of these is not nearly as good as the more expensive dresses. Usually much lighter. Limited online shopping and they charge extra for international shipping. We are amazed that for such a big company we can't find any reviews on Trust Pilot and very few on Site Jabber and we wonder why? But on Pissed Consumer there have been more than 280 complaints and on Yelp, where it's more high street reviews, for just two of their stores there about 300 reviews and these seem to be a 50/50 split so be warned. Maybe not to everybody's taste.
Reviews:
With about 10 store in and around Chicago, IL, USA, House of Brides was established in 1929 and has a strong online presence. Don't confuse with other similar names. On first viewing, would appear to be ok but when we checked the reviews, we were surprised to read negative comments from a large number of customers on Yelp saying that when they entered the store, they were asked to provide their personal information and many advise that if you give your email or cell number, you will be inundated with unwanted contacts. Read the reviews below.
Reviews:
