Where Can I Shop For My Wedding Dress?
Shopping for a wedding dress is a unique experience, and most women find it extremely enjoyable, as it should be. After all, how many other times in your life are you likely to spend as much money for one ensemble, or to receive such special, undivided attention while doing it?
There are many ways to find the dress of your dreams, and you should think about these various avenues carefully before you start to shop so you know what to expect from each source. The horror stories everybody hears are born out of consumer ignorance; they don't have to happen to you.
The full-service bridal retailer:
If you want quality, attention, and expertise, this is the way to go. Indeed, many leading manufacturers are very choosy about the stores they will allow to carry their lines, so that the appearance of a retailer's name in a manufacturer's ad is generally an indication of some reputation and reliability.
A full-service retailer handles everything: consultation and advice, customizing and modification of design, fittings and alterations, accessories and coordination, and the ordering and fitting of attendants' attire. Those that have been around awhile and have a reputation to protect will do whatever they can to ensure a happy bride. In fact, sometimes a consultant in one of these salons will voluntarily oversee floral bouquets or male attire, or even show up before the ceremony to be sure every last detail is in place!
Full service, of course, means full price, unless you are lucky enough to be a sample size and manage to find the gown you love at one of the sample sales retailers hold once or twice a year. Sales at reputable salons can save you 40 to 50% of the full retail price, yet the store will still provide all its usual services because you have purchased the gown from them. If you can afford to wait for a sale, it is worth considering.
Very large bridal retail establishments:
In more and more major cities, the specialty bridal retailer can offer you the same gown you've seen elsewhere for
as much as 10% less. Often, these stores offer one-stop shopping with a complete range of wedding products and services, as well as attire for the bride, groom, and entire bridal party. Prices are not discounted; rather, they are based on the tremendous sales volume of the store or chain. The trade-off may be an atmosphere that is a little less intimate and personalized, although a full range of customer services will still be available.
Department stores:
Major department stores that still have bridal salons are limited. What most still do have, however, are evening wear salons. Some brides, particularly those planning less formal weddings, will find the dress of their dreams there, charge it to their store credit card, and live happily ever after.
Discounters:
This group includes stores that advertise as discounters, so-called bridal closeout sales at hotels, sales out of the homes of discount representatives, and telephone orders placed to bridal brokers that claim to buy directly from manufacturers. Can you save 20 to 40% by going this route? It's possible.
Are you sure to save by going this route? Not necessarily. Closeout sales are exactly that - closeouts. Gowns sold this way have probably been languishing in store-rooms or tried on as samples a hundred times before they ever show up on racks in front of you. So, these sales are a strictly cash-and-carry operation. There are usually no identifying labels or tags, no way to be absolutely sure of what you are buying and what the true retail value ever was, and no recourse whatsoever should you get the gown home and find that it is damaged, imperfect, or a knock-off of what you thought was "the real ting." Finding someone to do alterations and fittings is our problem, and the better business bureaus and consumer protection laws can't redress grievances, since these dealers do not take credit cards or even have permanent addresses.
