Designer Wedding dress purchase USA /PARIS / UK???

jh2004

Please help if you can, all advice would be great.

With my upcoming wedding, my main thought at the moment is my dress.

However, Im going to new york, and Paris in the coming year

Ive tried a couple of dresses that i like here from "CYMBELINE" (paris designer). Having looked on the website, they have shops in Paris and New York.

Has anyone out there had experience of buying a dress abroad, and if so is it cheaper???
Is is worth it, or just a lot of hassle???

Thanks in advance

J

ka7e

The NY one may be cheaper, but you would have to pay import duty and (I'm assuming) VAT, as well. There would be no duty to pay on a French dress - it might be worth your while checking thier prices against UK ones. Could you email the Paris branch and ask for a price list in euros?

cha97michelle

I saw some articles in wedding magazines when i was planning my wedding, where people who bought in the EU managed to do it cheaper. I suppose it depends on what style of dress you want. If you might need repeat fittings (i had 3) take into account repeat journeys, unless you know someone who can do minor adjustments for you.

nej

My wife bought hers when we were on holiday in Kuala Lumpur. Cost was only £120 or so for a very nice dress that would have cost several times that here.
As long as you can get it properly fitted it could be a good moneysaver.

Doozergirl

I used the forums on https://www.confetti.co.uk and https://www.hitched.co.uk when I was getting married and there were lots of ladies on those sites who found and tried on the dress they liked here and then ordered the dress from the US. Even with duty, the dresses were cheaper than they are here.

I would have done the same, but I found mine as an ex-sample it cost £300 instead of nearly £1000. My best friend did the same and got hers for £150 instead of over £2000!

jh2004

Doozergirl wrote:

I used the forums on https://www.confetti.co.uk and https://www.hitched.co.uk when I was getting married and there were lots of ladies on those sites who found and tried on the dress they liked here and then ordered the dress from the US. Even with duty, the dresses were cheaper than they are here.

I would have done the same, but I found mine as an ex-sample it cost £300 instead of nearly £1000. My best friend did the same and got hers for £150 instead of over £2000!

thanks for the quick replies,

Where did you get the samples from???
was it during sale times / or did you catch it at the right time???

i dont know if this will be more stressful than just buying in the UK!

J

Doozergirl

jh2004 wrote:

thanks for the quick replies,

Where did you get the samples from???
was it during sale times / or did you catch it at the right time???

i dont know if this will be more stressful than just buying in the UK!

J

I bought mine in a local dress shop; they always seems to have a sale rail. It was a bit big, but I had it altered at the grand cost of £35 and it was perfect! Of course, depending on when you're planning to get married, sales are fantastic. My friend bought hers after seeing it on the designer's website.

If you look hard enough, they're all over the place. I noticed there's a designer dress sale this weekend in a hotel near me. Also, if you ask on the other forums I mentioned, I'm sure there's a place north of London that's a permanent wedding and bridesmaid dress sale. I bet they'll know there.

Best of Luck! Dress shopping is the best bit

jh2004

thanks for those 2 websites,
i hadnt come across them at all.

think we will try to ring shops in usa and france,
which should be interesting!!!
thanks again

j