House of Brides

[2Sulli5606]

I was wondering how many people have gone through House of Brides or know people who have. I'm really nervous about ordering a dress online. So what I was planning on doing was going to an authorized retailer to see if I can get a look at the dress first. I'm also nervous about sizes, how am I supposed to know if somethings gonna fit if I can't try it on!!! The thing is HOB has amazing prices, some of thier dress are 200 less than the standard dress retailer. It also makes me wonder why they can sell the same gown for so much less! I just don't know what to do!

[kg4eoh]

I was wondering how many people have gone through House of Brides or know people who have. I'm really nervous about ordering a dress online. So what I was planning on doing was going to an authorized retailer to see if I can get a look at the dress first. I'm also nervous about sizes, how am I supposed to know if somethings gonna fit if I can't try it on!!! The thing is HOB has amazing prices, some of thier dress are 200 less than the standard dress retailer. It also makes me wonder why they can sell the same gown for so much less! I just don't know what to do!

I didn't use house of brides, but I did use bridal mart. while I was able to go to the store because it was only 2 hours away, they are mostly an online retailer and I had a wonderful experience. Bridal mart was actually even less expensive then house of brides. These places can typically sell for less because their overhead is less and the volume of business they do alllows them some discounts. Also, most retail bridal shops have HUGE markups. The places that are selling for less are just not marking up their dresses as much because they make up for it in volume. Really just retail marketing at its best. I would not have a problem ordering either from house of brides or bridal mart. What I would do is go to a retail store and try on some of the dresses you like so you can get a good feel for what you like, then I would order online based on the measurements and the sizing charts of the manufacturer.

[ca_dawson]

Online retailers don't have to pay consultants commision, rent for the space they use, etc. They can sell dresses at fair market value. For your measurements they usually have a chart you order by. You can go to a seamstress and have them take your measurements and then order accordingly. As for trying on the dress, just go to a local salon that carries it and try it on there. Most of the online stores are reputable and actually have a real store somewhere. House of Brides has stores in Chicago I think. Also, online retailers are competitive so don't be afraid to shop around for the best prices. Also check pearlsplace, rkbridal, netbride, chrissyobridal, there are so many that are reputable. I know rkbridal will beat any quote by 5% so you can go to them last and see if they can get the lowest price. House of brides is one of the higher priced ones as is bridesave. I usually start with them so I can get a vague idea of what it costs and then go from there. I haven't ordered from any of these places yet, but I do plan on ordering my gown as well as my bridesmaids online. My gown is getting ordered from an online vendor in the UK because she has the lowest price on Maggie Sottero gowns that I have been able to find. Her prices plus shipping are about $50 lower than any online price(and $350 less than bridal salons!) I've found in the US. Alot of people have good things to say about these online vendors. Go to www.windsorpeak.com (http://www.windsorpeak.com/) and click on the bargain bridals icon. There is a message board there that has tons of reviews of each online vendor. Go save some money!

[kyth]

My gown is getting ordered from an online vendor in the UK because she has the lowest price on Maggie Sottero gowns that I have been able to find. Her prices plus shipping are about $50 lower than any online price(and $350 less than bridal salons!) I've found in the US.

What site are you ordering your Maggie gown from? I really like her and would love to know where you found the best deal.

[ca_dawson]

What site are you ordering your Maggie gown from? I really like her and would love to know where you found the best deal.
www.destinysbride.co.uk (http://www.destinysbride.co.uk)

You can also email her directly at emma_toomey@yahoo.co.uk she usually responds fairly quickly. She also has an advertisement up on ebay, but I found her before she had her website up so I just emailed her directly.

[kyth]

www.destinysbride.co.uk (http://www.destinysbride.co.uk)

You can also email her directly at emma_toomey@yahoo.co.uk she usually responds fairly quickly. She also has an advertisement up on ebay, but I found her before she had her website up so I just emailed her directly.

The only thing that concerns me about her site is that she charges a fee for the use of paypal, which is against the paypal user agreement. I even checked to make sure it was the same for users in the UK.

[ca_dawson]

The only thing that concerns me about her site is that she charges a fee for the use of paypal, which is against the paypal user agreement. I even checked to make sure it was the same for users in the UK.
That is against paypal user agreement? I've have other ebay vendors charge a fee for paypal. I thought that was normal! I wasn't planning on paying throught paypal anyway, but I didn't know it was against paypal policies.

[2Sulli5606]

Thank you ladies so much. With such a small budget I want to be able to find my gown for the best deal I can. I'm definatly going to the local shops to see if they have the dresses so I can check them out. THe problem is there usally isn't many dresses I can actually try on cuz I'm a size 20 and they usually only have 1 or 2 dresses in my size. Oh well..... I'll try my best

[kyth]

That is against paypal user agreement? I've have other ebay vendors charge a fee for paypal. I thought that was normal! I wasn't planning on paying throught paypal anyway, but I didn't know it was against paypal policies.

Yep, its against the user agreement. And if you are buying through ebay, its against ebay's rules as well. Paypal fees are to be paid by the seller, not the buyer. By itself, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but sometimes it can be a sign that the person making the sell is doing other things to bring the price up. Of course, other times they just don't know they aren't supposed to do that.

[ca_dawson]

Yep, its against the user agreement. And if you are buying through ebay, its against ebay's rules as well. Paypal fees are to be paid by the seller, not the buyer. By itself, it doesn't seem like a big deal, but sometimes it can be a sign that the person making the sell is doing other things to bring the price up. Of course, other times they just don't know they aren't supposed to do that.
I think in this case the lady just doesn't know. She doesn't up the price if you are paying by check or bank transfer or even credit card I believe only paypal and when I emailed her she said she does it to help cover the fees she has to pay for paypal. I'm pretty sure I will be paying with credit card so if things don't go smoothly I can always dispute the charges. Thanks for the heads up on the paypal info. I didn't know that. Now I know if I am getting s***med!

[Lee'sSweetie]

I would check Ebay if you are on a tight budget. That is where I got my dress and it is gorgous. The seller was Kanaccaca or soemthing like that. I paid get this 100.00 for my dress. Custom made to fit me. Its an awesome deal, and I already received my dress, and it is just as it appeared on the pictures. I was a little worried at first but when I received my dress all my fears were put aside. I am very very pleased with my dress. It probably goes for close to 1000.00 if I had bought it somewhere else. LEt me know if you want me to figure out who the seller was on Ebay. (BTW I am a size 18) so I know how difficult it is to find a dress in a store.

[reecey]

I was wondering how many people have gone through House of Brides or know people who have. I'm really nervous about ordering a dress online. So what I was planning on doing was going to an authorized retailer to see if I can get a look at the dress first. I'm also nervous about sizes, how am I supposed to know if somethings gonna fit if I can't try it on!!! The thing is HOB has amazing prices, some of thier dress are 200 less than the standard dress retailer. It also makes me wonder why they can sell the same gown for so much less! I just don't know what to do!


I ordered my dress from www.discountbridals.com - they have an actual store in Minnesota as well - they're wonderful. They keep you up to date on everything, offer rush shipping from most bridal manufacturers and will give you an outside date your dress will arrive by - they contact you if there's any questions, etc. Paula and Andy take good are of you :) I'm so glad I found them! I paid 395 for my dress, I didn't find it anywhere in a bridal shoppe for less than 700. I'm absolutely thrilled with these people.

[badger610cfbd]

I did some searching before getting married and decided against using an online service given one online account I heard of. Bridesave, the apparent oldest and largest bridal apparel store up until August of this year, closed and left all of their customers without dresses and any other course of action other than to contact the manufacturers who had never heard of the order. I figure a store can't move that quickly and can legally be prosecuted if they don't deliver the service you paid for so I chose to use an actual store that can't pick up and move as easy and leave me stranded when I got married. Here is the story I found posted on www.vows.com that detered me:

Hello
My name is Renata and my wedding has turned out to be nothing but a nightmare. I am not sure if you can help me but I am just praying that you can or direct me to someone who can. My fiancee returned home from Iraq in July 2005 (for the second time) and we were engaged to be married. Up until this point we had been through so much and knew that we wanted to be together the rest of our lives. Our wedding was scheduled for Sept 29 and made plans and arraangements for this day. We knew that because we are military we are on a tight budget mixed with the fact that we have 2 children we don\'t have money to just waste. So a couple of people suggested that I go to bridesave.com because of their good deals. So I visited there. All their prices were very reasonable and I couldn\'t have been happier. I ordered my wedding dress(it was put out by Mary\'s), bridesmaids dresses(put out by Alfred Angelo), garment bags, shoes, and just about everything that we would need there. They assured me that the dresses would arrive about 2 weeks before the wedding in case any alterations needed to be made. I was very content with finding all the items there. I spent close to 2,000.00 with them. Well after a little while had passed I started to get agitated because I didn\'t hear anything from them. After calling and calling they finally got in contact with me. They stated that everything was ok with the order that it was just taking a little longer than expected. Two more weeks passed and I received the shoes in the mail. So I was thrilled that I got those and assumed that the dresses were on the way. Sadly no such luck. After two more weeks I tried contacting them. The 800 number stayed busy and when I tried calling another number it ***e up disconnected! After I was not able to call them or get any returns from my emails I started searching online to find out what was going on. Come to find out the business closed down without sending the dresses or the first bit of a refund! We had to cancel the wedding because
all the money I had saved up was sent to them to pay for this order! Now I have no wedding dress and no wedding in the near future either. They have ruined everything for me, my family, and my fiancee. All we wanted was to have a beautiful wedding and finally be at peace with everything that had went on the past 2 years. I have had so many sleepless nights about this and I have no clue what to do anymore. Can you please help me or help with getting me in contact with someone that can?

Thank you so much

I hope no one else faces this situation. That poor woman!

-Shannon

[lhall426bfcf]

I didn't use House of Brides. When I was checking out prices on-line their main page had one price for the dress I was looking for but when you clicked on it the inside page (the one where you order it) had a higher price. I wrote them and they said the higher price was the correct price. Not cool!

Anyway, I found another place called Something Special Bridal
www.somethingspecialbridal.com. You only had to pay 1/2 upfront, not all until the dresses were shipped. The Bmaids dresses ***e in last week, 2 weeks earlier than the ship date and they look awesome.

[lhall426bfcf]

I forgot to mention, I wouldn't order on-line unless you have a while until your wedding. I still have 5 months to go so I knew I had a backup plan if there was a problem.