Wedding dress shopping advice

minxystar

Hi All,

I am a very old poster who lurks more than she reads! We got engaged last weekend and are hoping to get married Sept/Oct next year.

I'm based in Bristol and went to a little wedding boutique in the suburbs yesterday for a look. To be honest I found the whole experience a little depressing although the ladies in the shop were lovely. All the dresses were just so huge and heavy, very ornate and fancy and just a million miles away from what i am looking for. Even those in the style I wanted (mermaid/fit and flair/empire line with a floaty/pretty feel) were just very heavy and I felt like the dresses were wearing me! I'm not very tall and around a 8/10 and I just felt overwhelmed and hot in everything I tried.

So now I'm wondering if this is just what all wedding dresses are like or whether this particular shop (the dresses I chose were all around £1k) just has expensive, beautiful but very heavy, elaborate dresses and that I need to look elsewhere!

Would I be better getting something more lightweight and floaty from the high street or maybe Milly Bridal / Light in the box?

Or does anyone know of a Bristol / SW shop that has more dresses in the styles I want that aren't so huge and heavy (and expensive!)? I have looked on the high street and seen some nice dresses so maybe I need to go and try some on!

With thanks,

Minxystar

PS Fiance pointed out last night that we went to 8 shops looking for my engagement ring so maybe I just need to try lots of different bridal shops!! :-)

Poetry

Definately try different shops and mabye find a designer you love online then look for stockists? The first one I tried was a very popular place that people at work raved about and the dresses were beautiful but sooo heavy and awkward to move in! I ended up going to a little place I saw in the free news paper that was having a sale and they had the most wonderful range of very different dresses. I got my dream LouLou dress that I'd been oggling online but didn't think I could afford for only £750

Sagaris

Have you looked at Monsoon wedding dresses? I would have got mine from there, but found what I wanted in Marks and Spencer instead - I don't think they do wedding dresses now.

74jax

Mine was a Benjamin Roberts 5501 and as it was satin was very very light and easy to move about in.

Have the ones you've tried had lots of layers?

JoolzS

I would second the recommendation for Monsoon. I found my perfect wedding dress in there 20 years ago - about eight weeks after I got married! I've just had a quick look at their website and there are some really pretty dresses there.

mountainofdebt

tbh when you see THE dress you will know it immediately.

I always remember I was just walking past a bridal shop when I did a double take, walked past the shop again and just stood in front of the window knowing that was the dress for me.

Didn't try on any apart from that one.

minerva_windsong

I was going to say look at designers that do more of the kind of dresses you're after and then see who stocks them in your area. Or would it be worth looking into local dressmakers to see if they could make you something in the style you want?

hamsterfan1

there are a couple in debenhams in bristol that may suit your needs

Pinzy

The only thing about order from one of the Chinese places is that they may have a pre-conceived idea of how much fabric is 'meant' to be in a dress, so you could still end up with something heavy.

It may be an idea to look for outlet stores, where they mass produce off-the-peg dresses. They're cheaper (bonus) which often means less fabric (double bonus).

gaynormurray

My daughter also wanted a very plain simple dress, in the 60s/70s style with sleeves,and the first shop we went to only had huge meringues and strapless dresses that she hated. So I googled all our local wedding dress stockists, describing the dress style that she was after, and one replied saying she thought she had exactly what she wanted, one dress in particular was on her mind and sure enough when she tried this dress on, she cried, it was THE Dress! Just to make sure she tried on several other dresses in a similar style, but ended up buying the first dress. I would email the local stockists to see if they stock the style you are after, then make an appointment to visit. Good luck hun xx

NoelleV

I had exactly the same problem, and almost felt claustrophobic in some of the dresses and could hardly move my legs, let alone think of dancing!
I just tried lots of styles on till I found what I felt comfortable in.
I tried on some lovely dresses in monsoon (but they were all too long in me), but found the ONE in an oxfam bridal shop ( which I would very much recommend)! Good luck