UK Wedding Dress Shops and Bridal Boutiques

Shopping for the wedding dress is a highlight of the planning process and our bridal boutiques are ready to help! Before you contact them, it is useful to gauge an idea of your perfect dress and have your wedding venue booked. This helps you know what style you are looking for and ensures that you look the best in your wedding photos. The trickiest part is knowing where to start when choosing your wedding dress. It is very important to work out your personal bridal style and then it will be easy from there.

Gather inspiration and read our essential guide to bridal wear to understand more about wedding dress styles, shapes and more. Once you've done your research and refined your ideal bridal style, you can consider wedding dress designers you may want to look into and decide on your budget for the outfit. This will help you to identify which bridal shops will be the best placed to help you.

You can also search for shoes, accessories and wedding jewellery to complete your bridal look. Bridal boutiques choose the next season's gowns that they'd like to feature in their collections at a trade exhibition in Harrogate. Wedding magazines report on the new styles which hit the catwalks every 6 months. This falls generally in September for Spring / Summer collections and March for Autumn / Winter looks, and arrives in wedding dress shops a few months after. So, if you are wanting the latest styles, ask your boutique when their latest wedding dresses will arrive in their boutiques.

Designer Wedding Dresses

Ever wondered what the term ‘designer' actually means? The majority of bridal boutiques will have a collection of wedding dresses made up from their own "in-house" designer and from a number of "famous name" designers. The more famous the name, the easier it is to sell the dress after the wedding.

There are around a dozen "big name" designers in Britain for whose bridal gowns you can expect to pay between £2000 and £6000 (and sometimes more). Each has their own unique style, so if you like one bridal gown from a particular designer you may find that their entire collection will appeal. Rather than using stockists these big designers tend to have their own boutiques selling just their own range or a few key names.

If you are considering selling a designer wedding dress after the wedding be prepared to part with it almost immediately. So, make sure you get it cleaned and checked over for damage before you list it on a second-hand wedding dress website or sell it to a shop that specialises in pre-loved gowns. It is worth bearing in mind, designer gowns lose value as soon as they are no longer this season's design, so time is of the essence when it comes to selling them on.

'Off the peg' Wedding Dresses

The majority of bridal gowns bought in the UK are classed as "off the peg" - these are the wedding gowns that you might have seen in a bridal magazine along with a list of stockists, or at a local or chain bridal boutique.

You try on a sample of the gown in the shop; they take your measurements and order the most appropriate size for you which is then delivered to the bridal shop for alterations to fit your exact shape.

These boutiques often have a wide range of gowns available for you to choose from, so you will have the flexibility to try on many different styles and designers to find your ideal look.

Off the peg wedding dresses tend to range from £500 to £3500 depending on the designer, the fabric and the details.

Guides for Brides team member, Nikita Thorne, recently bought an off the peg gown for her wedding, here's her advice for fellow brides: “My biggest tip for brides shopping for an off the peg gown is to keep an open mind, but visit the boutique knowing both your budget and the styles you like. This helps your stylist to match your style with a gown that is in your price range. It makes the process so much more efficient and enjoyable as it means every dress you try on is affordable to you as well as increasing your chances of finding the gown during that appointment”.

Made to Measure Bridal Gowns

If you are planning to have your gown made for you, it's still a good idea to spend some time trying on different styles to get an idea of what suits you. You never know, you might find the perfect dress with the perfect fit and can save yourself the time involved in a bespoke, made to measure dress.

Choosing from a picture or paper pattern won't give you a clear idea of what bridal gown actually looks good on you. However, remember that dress designs are protected by copyright law and you are not allowed to recreate an exact copy of someone else's wedding dress.

Think about combining different aspects of different wedding dresses, perhaps the neckline of one, the skirt of another and the train of a third. Allow at least six months for a wedding dress to be made, and check for last minute alteration costs in case your body changes shape before the wedding.

How to Shop For a Wedding Dress on a Tight Budget

It is absolutely possible to find cheap wedding dresses these days! If you are looking for sale opportunities or the opportunity to get a really good deal on your wedding dress, January is also a great time to pick up a cheap bridal gown sample. At this time of the year, the last season's stock is put into a Sale to clear space for the new styles.

You can also find bridal boutiques that specialise in pre-loved or second-hand wedding dresses, which is a really great option if you want to save money, as the majority of these dresses have only been worn once and have been professionally cleaned to so often look brand new.

Wedding Dress Samples

At the end of each season bridal shops tend to sell the end-of-line samples at discounted prices. Any discontinued lines will be included in these sales along with popular designs that have become too marked or damaged. Don't expect to find a spotless sample of a popular design though; the popular dresses aren't discontinued and the samples will be kept until they are too damaged to use.

If you choose to buy a sample then be sure to thoroughly check that you are happy to accept any damage it may have sustained while being tried on in the shop.

Do not go to sample sales if you want the full "bridal boutique" experience. The gowns tend to be sold at cost price and there is no profit margin for sales consultants to spend hours with you. It is usual to have to pay for and collect the dress on the day you purchase it.

Top tip: If you are shopping for sample gowns, be prepared for higher than average alterations costs. Sometimes, brides need to pick up a sample that is a couple of sizes larger or smaller than their own, which will require more significant alterations. Remember, it's harder to make a dress bigger than making a dress smaller, so sizing up is more sensible than sizing down.

Second-hand Wedding Dresses

There are several sites where it is possible to buy once-worn dresses. Generally they are designer gowns and you have the confidence that you are buying from a business with a reputation to consider, not an individual, so the gown will be exactly as advertised.

If you are feeling brave then you might like to bid for a dress on one of the online auction sites such as Still White. Some of the dresses have never been worn, and may be a style that you have tried on in a bridal boutique but can't quite afford. The named designers sell best - largely for that reason.

If you are planning to sell your gown on eBay or a similar site, prepare the listing before your wedding day so that it is ready to upload straight after the wedding. You may need to add photos, if for example the dress has got a bit damaged.

This is a great way to find a designer dress at a bargain price but if the dress has been altered, pay attention to the height and shape of the bride who is selling the dress! It may have started out as a standard size 12, but then had several inches taken off the hem or waist.

Wedding Accessories

Your dress is a masterpiece, but the finishing touches, like jewellery, can turn it into a work of art! There are many different types and styles of wedding accessories to choose from but be patient. It is worth the wait and finding something which complements your dress beautifully then rushing in and buying the first pair of shoes you try on!