The situation I found myself in very recently was the increasly popular debate as to whether or not to splash out nearly a grand on a wedding dress for my 'big day'.
Right from the offset I decided that I was to either hire a wedding dress or buy a cheaper alternative from the Internet. But as usually my mind wandered further a field and I decided that I should really go and try on a few dresses in a bridal shop, just to see which styles suited me and which to avoid like the plague.
As soon as I had made the appointment I instantly felt a little guilty, knowing full well that I wasn't intending on buying any of their dresses but instead to use their dresses as some sort of template for my budgeting ways.
My mum convinced me to keep the appointment and cherished the thought of sharing this new experience with her eldest daughter! I have to admit, I was more then a little excited too!
As soon as we entered the shop I felt instantly welcomed and relaxed. We were told to pick out a few dresses I liked the look of. My mother was somewhat more enthusiastic then I was, with every dress she picked up came an 'ooohhh' or an 'ahhh' as she made comments about how lovely (and heavy) every single dress was.
I on the the other hand was a little harder to please but all the same found a selection of dresses I was vaguely interested in trying on. The service was friendly and as I suspected I quickly fell in love with one particular dress as soon as I saw my shapely silhouette highlighted in the beautiful embellished taffeta gown.
Unfortunately I didn't fall in love with the price tag...£795.00!
This may be reasonable for some brides with a big budget wedding but for little old me this was simply not 'do-able' or reasonable. I could not justify spending nearly £800.00 on a dress that I would only wear for one day, well to be precise to wear for one half of a day! Plus I knew my husband-to-be would be very uncomfortable with the fact that 'a dress' had cost just a little less then he had earned in a whole month!
Then it came...the 'what ifs' and 'maybes' that I started to generate in my mind. My mother didn't exactly help as she too fell in love with the dress and even told me she would help pay for it if I really wanted it.
I soon found myself in debate against the supposed 'right' and 'wrong'.
Should I buy new and risk getting myself into debt that I really can't afford or do I look for another, cheaper, option?
The pro's and con's of each drew to a tie. I had no idea where to go for help or advice as I didn't know anyone that was in a similar budgeting bridal situation.
After much thought and a nudge from my sensible husband-to-be, I decided that the shop dress was a no-no. Even spending half that amount on one dress was, to me, unreasonable and selfish.
Which brings me to explain the reasoning behind this blog.
A while back I joined a bridal forum. After just a day or so of searching the threads and posts I noticed a few people talking about a cheap bridal shop online.
Now, I as well as many other ladies, have heard the horror stories about brides-to-be ordering their dresses from far flung continents such as China and America only to be either scammed with no dress ever turning up or the dress being of a very inferior quality. Both which would surely lead to absolute disappoint and complete upset, something no bride should encounter whilst planning the most important day of their life.
However the online bridal shop I had read about seemed different. There were tons of positive reviews and happy endings and although I tried very hard to find some bad press about this site and service, I really couldn't!
I scoured the site and almost immediately came across a dress I just fell completely and utterly in love with. I had no idea if I would look any good in it but I knew it was the dress I wanted.
After I had visited the bridal shop I discovered that the very same £800.00 dress I had tried on was in fact nearly identical to the dress I has spotted on the said website.
With that my mind was made up and I decided, whole heartedly, that I was going to order my dress from the Internet at a bargain price of £165.00.
This blog is to help people make their own decisions as to which bridal route they travel. Throughout the next few weeks I will be writing my experiences (good and bad) on my personal progression of buying my dress with a slight risk attached to it.
The taboo of 'buying your dress from the internet'!
No comments:
Post a Comment