Where should I look for a wedding dress for under£500

[Ohladedah]

What high street stores have bridal ranges I should check out? And are there any good wedding dress designers/brands I should look out for?

Try Wed2B

I got mine in Monsoon and my sister got hers in Coast. Not all branches do the bridal ranges though.

Dorothy Perkins does wedding dresses, just seen them online, but looks nice .

Next has a new range.

ASOS have quite a few, MissGuided and Bohoo have some too

If the Dorothy Perkins ones are the same as what used to be the BHS wedding dresses then I found the quality surprisingly good for the price.

I don't know if they are but they look similar and iirc BHS was owned by the same people as DP?

Phase Eight make them too.

You could also look out for vintage.

Look out for sample sales being held near you

I quite like the look of Ted Baker dresses for a modern style (slightly over budget, but look out for regular promotions)

Have a browse on department store websites like John Lewis, just looking for long, white / neutral dresses. If you are a smallish size, try theoutnet.com for designer at lower prices

Avoid Chinese dresses off eBay, unless you are prepared to potentialy wait and wait and then have to go to a seamstress to get fixed

It is worth trying bridal shops in your area and asking if they have any samples for sale.

Oxfam wedding dresses
www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/bridal/wedding-dresses

Quiz clothing x

Self Portrait. Needle and Thread if you can afford more. Stunning gowns at not vast sums. Phase 8 ones look very wearable.

Most high street retailers with bridal ranges just tend to sell very beautiful white or cream dresses. These can be utterly gorgeous of course but it you want a wedding wedding dress you will have very few options on the high street.

If you want something that is definitively distinctly a wedding dress, for example a long train or a ballgown-style wide skirt, maybe corset back, then the high street is unlikely to satisfy you. For those types, the best choices are either second-hand or risk investing some budget in a cheap Easyjet to a major continental city where you can find cheap bridal shops that sell off-the-peg - when I lived in France a brand called Tati Mariage was a big one but there are lots of others. They will definitely be more polyester than the finest silk but they will have the sweeping trains and lace-up backs and petticoats etc that are distinctively "wedding" dress.

A lot of people sell their dresses on eBay - only used once and selling for a fraction of the retail cost! Might be a good place to look but if you're wanting something new I would agree with PPs that Monsoon and ASOS dresses are lovely.

John Lewis in the sale, Monsoon.

Ghost

Thanks for all the recommendations. There are a few that I need to go and try on now, lucky I live in London so they'll all have stores with wedding dresses in somewhere nearby.

We're having a registry office wedding in the summer but I want a dress that looks right for such a special occasion, but not too evening-y and not to traditional bridal. But bridal enough.....

What size are you?
I have a beautiful unworn one in size 12. Caroline Castigliano.
I purchased for £899 in sale.

Would be happy to sell for £200 as moving and don’t want to take to new place!

Debenhams! I got dragged in thinking it would be a waste of time but had the “this is my dress moment” that I hadn’t had in any of the specialist bridal shops. Congratulations btw!

eBay. I got the most beautiful one from a well known US designer (forget name now) for £80. It was a second but was new.

I bought online from kitty and dulcie. They have some really nice dresses. I did need to get a clever friend to alter it. I'm a bit pear shaped and often a size bigger in trousers than tops. This isn't usually a problem with dresses but it really was a problem as my wedding dress was so structured.