As a newly engaged bride-to-be, you might be wondering where to shop for your wedding dress. Bridal dress shopping is not quite the same as a trip to your local mall, favorite department store or just about any other retail store where you like to shop for everyday clothes. You might not be sure where to start or know exactly what to look for when selecting bridal stores to begin your wedding dress search.
When considering what bridal stores to shop at for your wedding dress, brides should know there are two main types of wedding dresses. There are bridal gowns that are ordered from the designer and a brand new dress is created for that bride. There are also dresses that are sold off the rack as immediate purchases. One is not necessarily better or worse than the other and there are benefits to each type of bridal store. Today, we are giving our expert bridal stylist advice when it comes to the pros and cons of shopping bridal stores that only offer off the rack wedding dresses.
Video: Pros & Cons of Bridal Stores That Only Sell Dresses Off the Rack
When beginning to shop for your wedding dress, you might not be sure where to start looking or what type of bridal store is best for you. Before your next bridal appointment, tune in to our advice video sharing the pros and cons of bridal stores that sell off the rack wedding dresses.
Traditional Bridal Stores
Let’s start with how a traditional bridal store works. When you make an appointment to shop at a traditional bridal store that takes special orders for wedding dresses, you will be trying on the dresses in their inventory. These sample dresses are not going to fit you perfectly, they may be a little big or a little small, but they are going to be a size that’s in the middle of the designer’s size chart. If you find the dress you love, you will then order a brand new dress that is made specific to your order. Your wedding dress will be ordered in the size that most closely aligns with your body measurements. Your bridal consultant is going to measure your hips, your waist and your bust and align those numbers with the specific designer’s size chart to ensure the proper size is ordered for you.
Even aligning your body’s measurements with the size chart doesn’t mean the dress is going to fit you perfectly. That is what alterations are for, to make those final adjustments to ensure your dress fits you perfectly for wedding day. When you are ordering a brand new gown, it will typically take 6 to 9 months for production and shipping to the bridal store. You want to allow another 1 to 2 months for alterations and so we always recommend brides purchase their wedding dress about a year before their wedding date to allow for enough time and any unseen delays.
Ordering A New Wedding Dress
The benefits of ordering a new wedding dress is that you get it closest to your body size, it’s brand new so it’s never been tried on, and it's being made specially for you. Not only are you able to pick the size that you want but you are also able to change the color of the dress if you wish, and make minor changes that may suit your needs best.
We usually encourage brides to order their dress in the color that you see it in because it is very common for brides to change the dress color when they order it and then be disappointed when their order arrives in store because it looks so different than the photos they have been looking at for months while waiting on their order.
Off The Rack Bridal Stores
If you decide to shop at a bridal store that sells their wedding dresses off the rack, then you are going to be purchasing that exact wedding dress you try on. There are no special order dresses or waiting months, you get to take that very dress home with you the same day. Oftentimes these are bridal resale stores or consignment shops. These types of stores have not invested the funds required to purchase dresses directly from the designers to have in their inventory like traditional bridal stores like Lovella do.
When we talk about an off the rack wedding dress shop, we are talking about a brick and mortar in person dress shop that offers bridal dresses for sale that you can purchase on the spot and take home with you the same day. In addition to off the rack, sometimes this purchase process is called pre-made, cash and carry, off the shelf, or ready-made and more. Off the rack simply refers to the process where a bride will go into a bridal store, choose a dress from the the inventory of dresses available in the shop at that time, try it on and if she loves that wedding dress, she can purchase that exact dress and go home with it that day.
These stores may be getting their inventory from other bridal stores. For example, if we at Lovella have sample dresses we have not been able to sell, we may offer them on consignment to another bridal store. Many traditional bridal stores do also sell their sample gowns when they are making room for new inventory, but if certain dresses have not sold through a few sample sales, we may pass these dresses to a consignment shop in hopes of reaching the right bride.
Consignment shops also may get their inventory from brides who donate their dresses for a second life. Or perhaps never even wore their dress on wedding day. It’s possible to find a brand new, never worn, and never altered wedding dress at a consignment shop. The majority of their inventory may be lightly used though. At the very least, if they are getting sample dresses from other bridal stores, the dresses have been tried on during bridal appointments. They are still going to be in decent condition as bridal stores want to protect their investment and their inventory, but they may have trains that are a bit dirty or some beading that is loose.
The price of the dress is going to reflect the condition of the dress. We always recommend budgeting for a wedding dress cleaning before the wedding if you are buying a sample gown so it may be easy to remove any stains. And a skilled seamstress can likely fix any loose beading or embellishments during the alterations process. If you can find a sample dress in a size that is close to your body measurements, you may be able to save money on your wedding dress and just make some minor fixes. You might even be able to afford a sample dress of a designer that would otherwise be out of budget when shopping brand new.
Benefits Of An Off The Rack Wedding Dress
A major benefit of buying an off the rack wedding dress or a sample sale bridal dress is that you get the dress immediately. This can be especially helpful if you don’t have the time to special order a wedding dress based on your wedding date. Maybe you are getting married in 4 or 6 months and don’t have the ability to special order a new dress, even with a rush fee applied. An off the rack dress can go home with you same day and you can begin alterations right away so you don’t have to stress about a tight timeline.
Saving money on your wedding dress is also another major benefit to an off the rack wedding dress. As we mentioned before, shopping at a bridal consignment store may allow you to purchase a designer dress that would otherwise be out of your bridal fashion budget.
Cons Of Off The Rack Wedding Dresses
As with everything, when there are positives, there are also some negatives when it comes to shopping bridal consignment. While you might luck out finding a brand new, unaltered wedding dress in your perfect size, you will likely also see many “used dresses”. These gowns were worn on a wedding day and the bride has donated or sold their dress to the consignment shop. There is nothing wrong with wearing a loved dress, you just need to be aware of the sizing.
When shopping off the rack bridal dresses, sizing is going to be the most important component to pay attention to. If a dress has been worn, then it’s likely been altered. Even if a dress wasn’t worn on wedding day, it may have had some alterations already so it may not exactly match the size on the tag. You will want to actually try on a dress before buying to make sure the size works with your body. You don’t want to find out you bought a dress that is too short or can’t zip. Bridal seamstresses can work magic in some cases, but they can’t create things out of thin air, so you want to start with a dress that is generally the right proportions and close to your size.
Another negative is these stores will not be able to order you a dress. So if you fall in love with a certain dress, it’s likely the only one of that particular dress this store will have in their inventory. If the size doesn’t match your body, they can’t special order the right size for you like a traditional bridal store would be able to do. It’s not a dealbreaker per se, but it important to keep in mind when shopping at a bridal consignment store. You never know when you could find a gem that ends up working out perfectly for you.
More Helpful Wedding Dress Shopping Advice
We hope you have found this advice helpful when it comes to knowing what to expect if you are shopping at a bridal store that only sells off the rack wedding dresses. For even more helpful advice when it comes to shopping for your dream wedding dress and finding your bridal style, be sure to check out our past posts:
- The Difference Between Wedding Dress Sample Sales & Trunk Shows
- How to Buy Your Wedding Dress & Accessories
- How To Measure For Your Wedding Dress
- How Long Does It Take To Order A Wedding Dress?
About Lovella
If you're shopping for your perfect wedding dress, come visit us at Lovella Bridal in Glendale, CA. We carry wedding dresses in all sizes and styles, including plus-size bridal gowns and a full selection of veils and accessories. Lovella Bridal is the premier, luxury bridal wedding dress shopping boutique located in Los Angeles, California. Lovella features couture, feminine, modern and chic bridal gowns in all sizes from the best wedding dress designers. Schedule an appointment to find the wedding dress of your dreams at Lovella Bridal. We can't wait to help you!
About Wedding Fashion Expert
Our wedding dress shopping tips and advice are from Nayri, Lovella's own, in-house wedding fashion expert. Nayri is truly the expert when it comes to bridal fashion and wedding style. As the Wedding Fashion Expert, Nayri is the top bridal fashion stylist and the best-selling author of the book "I'm Getting Married And I Have Nothing To Wear," the ultimate guide to helping brides find their wedding day style and their perfect wedding dress. You can subscribe to her YouTube channel or listen to her podcast for more helpful and practical advice on wedding dress shopping.
