High street wedding dresses- value for money?

Petite_Anglaise

Just been looking at the Phase Eight website wedding dresses...some of them look amazing!

Also, the Monsoon dresses look great.

Did anyone buy a high street wedding dress in the end?
Initially I presumed I'd be getting a dress from a bridal shop but realistically the prices are way beyond what I can/want to afford.

The Phase Eight dresses in particular, I think I'd definitely consider buying and then getting adjusted e.g. length

I know that it's kind of like the sky's the limit when it comes to the cost of wedding dresses.
Have any of you gone for a Monsoon or Phase Eight wedding dress...did it still feel special enough for the big day?

Here's two I have my eye on, sorry I am unable to link as I'm a new user...
The Camelia dress and Mariette dress

tillyenna

I would say that the money doesn't matter - in as much as, you don't need to have an expensive wedding dress for it to be special. Seriously, if you LIKE a dress, get it! Don't feel pressured by society to pay thousands of pounds on a dress you'll wear once. If you're doing it right you'll feel special because of what you're doing that day, not what you're wearing.

terra_ferma

If it was me I would get something I really like, and feels special, but that can also be adapted/modified to be used on other occasions.
Personally it would feel odd to have such a special dress gathering dust in my wardrobe, or having to sell it. But everybody is different

DomRavioli

I got a dress off amazon, that wasn't "technically" a wedding dress. Grecian style, white, floaty, just what I wanted.

If its what you want, then go for it. I'd try it on in store first, some monsoon branches have a specific wedding department. (the one in Manchester Arndale does but I don't know where you are - give your local store a call)

Petite_Anglaise

I'm pretty certain that I know a high street wedding dress will be right for me...started feeling this way after visiting a few bridal shops and being rather shocked when adding up the price of a dress and the adjustments, accessories etc. :eek:

Like to think of myself as fairly down to earth, one thing I've learnt from wedding planning is that you really need to do your own thing, the wedding industry makes you feel as if you need a million and one details for the big day plus spend an arm & a leg on your wedding dress!

debsy42

I bought a wedding dress from Phase Eight last week, I'm having to return it as it wasn't quite what I wanted, service and delivery from Phase Eight was great so give it a go. They have got a sale on at the moment as well

Chrishazle

Wish my daughter was as sensible - my wife has quite a few dresses from Phase Eight, we have a shop and an outlet shop close to us, their clothes are really good quality but their prices are pretty good - and even better in their frequent sales and at the outlet shop.

Unfortunately dear daughter went the wedding dress shop route - ouch!!! Thankfully I only have 1 daughter!

terra_ferma

Petite_Anglaise wrote: »

I'm pretty certain that I know a high street wedding dress will be right for me...started feeling this way after visiting a few bridal shops and being rather shocked when adding up the price of a dress and the adjustments, accessories etc. :eek:

Like to think of myself as fairly down to earth, one thing I've learnt from wedding planning is that you really need to do your own thing, the wedding industry makes you feel as if you need a million and one details for the big day plus spend an arm & a leg on your wedding dress!

The whole idea of a wedding done in a certain way, expensive dress, bridesmaids dresses etc etc is just being conventional in my opinion, we tend to do it because that's what everybody else is doing, but one can be more imaginative and do something different.
For example wedding dresses are expensive because they are called just that, something that is not meant to be a wedding dress but can be adjusted to be a bit more original, is bound to cost less.

Bean83

Whilst I obviously agree that you should buy the dress you like, no matter where it's from, I also wanted to point out that it is possible to get a dress from a 'proper' wedding shop for cheaper than the ones in Phase Eight! Some of them are £750, and I paid less than that for my traditional dress. Admittedly, I bought mine in a sample sale, but there are plenty of places that sell dresses for £500-600, or sometimes even less. I don't think it matters where you buy your dress as long as you are happy with it, but don't feel that you can't look at more traditional dresses if you want to.

Thrifty_Fashionista

Also try Coast.

They do bridal as well as accessories

Tf x

ellesbellesxxx

I almost bought a dress from Monsoon, I loved the Rosella. However, I found another in the sale at a dress shop which I loved more. There was such a beautiful selection in Monsoon so definitely for for it!