Alternative Wedding Dress Shops
I decided to put together a little post about alternative places to get a wedding dress, other than a traditional bridal boutique. I feel like there are more options than ever and with the astronomical expense of weddings, it can’t hurt to cut costs where you can. For those of you who don’t know I am currently engaged and planning my wedding. I have considered all of these options but have decided to design my dress myself. I just can’t seem to find the perfect dress at an acceptable cost. Everything that I really like, i’d still have to put more money into to make it cooler and i’d have to do alterations. When you went to school for fashion design it just makes sense to design it yourself.
I seriously considered getting my dress from here. They have some really pretty and whimsical dresses at relatively affordable prices. I’ve shopped on the website several times and have been to the boutique in Chicago twice. One visit was for a sample sale and the second time I made an appointment. My experience at the boutique was really great. You get to go through and pick out the dresses you like. Then you try them on in your own secluded room. They also give you complementary wine. I wouldn’t recommend going to the sample sale because it was super crowded and they didn’t have many dresses. The boutique in Chicago is the only store specifically dedicated to BHLDN Bridal. To try dresses on in other cities, you have to go to an Anthropologie store. If I hadn’t decided to make my dress, I’d probably be getting it from BHLDN.
T.J.Maxx now sells wedding dresses online. Although I don’t especially like any at the moment, they get new ones pretty often. They never really have a huge selection but if you are on a tight budget it may be a good option.
I absolutely love Needle & Thread dresses. They recently started a bridal collection. This first dress is my favorite. I think it is so beautiful. I love the level of detail that these dresses have. They are a bit difficult to get your hands on in the U.S. but many department stores sell them online.
Asos recently started doing bridal as well. Most of the dresses are pretty casual for my taste but if you are having a simple wedding and are just looking for a white dress, you should check it out.
I am new to this shop but I think a lot of the dresses are really pretty. The price range is a little higher but they look like really good quality.
Shopbop is a good place to shop for dresses from different brands. They usually have some good options of Marchesa Notte and other designers that you may have not heard of.
Another brand that is new to bridal is Ted Baker. I think they are only for sale in the UK so far but perhaps you can get them shipped to the United States. If the website doesn’t do it, I know there are companies that will ship things that are only for sale in other countries to your country. Sorry, I don’t remember any of the company names.
Etsy is always a fun place to look for dresses. It’s good to support small designers and there are some really pretty dresses. It’s also a good place to get very unique or custom dresses.
Shopstyle is a really good place to shop for anything but it’s especially good for bridal because you can compare several different online stores with one search. If you are looking for a specific style or item, you can just search it and it will bring up that item from different stores.
