Wedding Tips start here...

newbuilder

Hi everyone, me and the missus to be are starting to put things together for a 2010 wedding and are shocked already at the planning that has to be done so far.

We have agreed to keep communicating about budget but not necessarily about her dress and bits and bobs - want that bit to be a surprise.

The questions are:

To save on dresses we are considering one of three options (ranked in price)

1) Buy direct from China or other non EU country
2) Buy from UK company or Ebayer but it will be made and shipped from China etc
3) Buy in sales from UK shop on highstreet.

Can someone answer this:

A) If I go for option (1) and it gets "caught" by customs how much more am I likely to pay? I would love to hear specific examples including price you paid retailer, price customs charged you etc. % rate charged if you know.

If I go for option (2) will the above question (A) still apply? I don't know if it is shipped to UK store first but I doubt it.

As you can see we are extremely confused by the Governments Crystal Clear Policy and guidelines!

Thanks for all the help!

Horace

newbuilder wrote: »

Hi everyone, me and the missus to be are starting to put things together for a 2010 wedding and are shocked already at the planning that has to be done so far.

We have agreed to keep communicating about budget but not necessarily about her dress and bits and bobs - want that bit to be a surprise.

The questions are:

To save on dresses we are considering one of three options (ranked in price)

1) Buy direct from China or other non EU country
2) Buy from UK company or Ebayer but it will be made and shipped from China etc
3) Buy in sales from UK shop on highstreet.

Can someone answer this:

A) If I go for option (1) and it gets "caught" by customs how much more am I likely to pay? I would love to hear specific examples including price you paid retailer, price customs charged you etc. % rate charged if you know.

If I go for option (2) will the above question (A) still apply? I don't know if it is shipped to UK store first but I doubt it.

As you can see we are extremely confused by the Governments Crystal Clear Policy and guidelines!

Thanks for all the help!

Wait until March 09 when the bridal shops will be selling off their stock - this coincides with the Harrogate bridal trade show which takes place twice a year in March and again in September. You may also be able to buy sample dresses from the shops.

Personally, I would avoid chinese copycats like the plague. If you do choose to buy from a chinese copycat it won't be shipped to a UK shop and if there is something wrong with it then a UK shop won't touch it with a bargepole.

maccaandclaire

newbuilder wrote: »

Hi everyone, me and the missus to be are starting to put things together for a 2010 wedding and are shocked already at the planning that has to be done so far.

We have agreed to keep communicating about budget but not necessarily about her dress and bits and bobs - want that bit to be a surprise.

The questions are:

To save on dresses we are considering one of three options (ranked in price)

1) Buy direct from China or other non EU country
2) Buy from UK company or Ebayer but it will be made and shipped from China etc
3) Buy in sales from UK shop on highstreet.

Can someone answer this:

A) If I go for option (1) and it gets "caught" by customs how much more am I likely to pay? I would love to hear specific examples including price you paid retailer, price customs charged you etc. % rate charged if you know.

If I go for option (2) will the above question (A) still apply? I don't know if it is shipped to UK store first but I doubt it.

As you can see we are extremely confused by the Governments Crystal Clear Policy and guidelines!

Thanks for all the help!

Personally I would go with option 3. Tell the woman that you have seen one x amount cheaper and its between that one and the one your trying on. They will be desperate for your sale so they should negotiate you a price. I got my dress from £700 to £500 with a free dress for my daughter thrown in toO!

Minxy_Bella

Re Number 1 - Lots of people have bought fantastic dresses from China! I've just ordered one from Landy after doing a lot of research!

I would imagine that the majority of wedding dresses sold in the UK were actually manufactured in the Far East and only cost ten times as much due to the middlemen taking their cut and snob value.

newbuilder

Please please please let me know how you get on getting it through customs etc. Can you give me a link to this Landy thing?

Thanks.

Zannado

For wedding outfits including designer bridal gowns try out Barnardos charity - they have new things (ex samples end of line etc) all roughly half the rrp or less
See http://www.barnardos.org.uk/shop/shops/brides_by_appointment.htm there are 5 stores across the UK.

louisebbctlc

Hi i got my dress from china £75 postage and £4.99 for the dress its my dream weddin dress and its made 2 fit as well it was off of ebay, iam gettin married 4th july 2009 and cant wait 2 wear my £4.99 dress its stunning!!

Lou xx

louisebbctlc

Does any 1 know where i can get tall clear glass vases from cheap need them about 50-60cm tall??? They r 4 the centerpieces on my weddin tables.

Lou xx

VictoriaElaura

louisebbctlc wrote: »

Does any 1 know where i can get tall clear glass vases from cheap need them about 50-60cm tall??? They r 4 the centerpieces on my weddin tables.

Have you tried Ikea? I think they are having a 25% off Sale ether now or very soon.

I need about 10 clear square vases for my tables and was going to head down there.
If not I'd try shops like QD, or Poundshops.

Hope this helps.

VictoriaElaura

Zannado wrote: »

For wedding outfits including designer bridal gowns try out Barnardos charity - they have new things (ex samples end of line etc) all roughly half the rrp or less
See http://www.barnardos.org.uk/shop/shops/brides_by_appointment.htm there are 5 stores across the UK.

I cant recommend this enough, I went to the London one and the lady was lovely. She had more dresses than the wedding shops i had been to.
They were all beautiful and some were well under £100.

Mine is designer and worth nearly £8000 we got it for £600. (Mums a queen haggler:T )


I'm sure there are lovely dresses to suit ANY budget.:p