inweddingdress Review #23 and Anna Bridal Studio Review

Hi, I'm from Australia and your site has been so helpful with the pros and cons of buying online wedding dresses. Although many reviewers recommend choosing simpler styles, the wedding dress I bought has some detailing and therefore more things to go wrong, so hopefully this will be useful for people looking for something with a bit more embellishment.

My review is a mix of both inweddingdress and an ebay store called Anna Bridal Studio.

After reading a lot of reviews I originally decided to buy from inweddingdress. I found a dress I liked for $350 with $32 shipping but with less than a month to go I would have to pay another $70 for super rush order service. Their live support online chatting service is really good. They answered all my questions and were really friendly and professional. When I asked for a photo of their actual dress they didn't have one but they did send me a photo of another dress in their warehouse that I was interested in. I hated it. The similarities were there but it lacked the modern, chic feel of the original photo and conversely looked old fashioned and... cheap. Later when I searched for the code of the original dress I was interested in, the photo was of a totally different dress but with the exact same reviews. I had previously noticed some reviews on the website had questionable English (which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re fake) but didn't realise even the reviews that were real may not be written for the dress on offer.

I then found the dress on an ebay store called Anna Bridal Studio (ebay ID: bridalstudio). They were selling the same dress for $229 with free postage. I contacted them to ask if they have a rush order service and they said for an extra $30 they would express handle and ship the dress and I would receive it in 2 weeks. I didn't think there was any way that would actually happen. Note it says the item location is in Queensland, Australia but the parcel is actually posted from China (which I expected since they all are so it didn’t bother me). I also asked them to send me an actual picture of the dress in the warehouse which they didn't have but they did send me photos of 3 different dresses in their warehouse at that time. The quality and style of these dresses looked really good. I went to their feedback history and emailed the last 4 people who bought the same dress I was interested in, asking about their experience with the seller and whether they would mind sending me a picture of the actual dress. Two people responded with glowing reviews and one actually sent a photo of herself in the dress but because it was cut in a way so I couldn't see her face, I couldn't see much of the dress either. 

I went ahead with buying the dress. I put in a custom order for the same price and measured myself perfectly since I figured the corset back would compensate for any discrepancies. Exactly 14 days later I got a smallish parcel, opened it, freaked out that it was totally different before realising it was inside out (I'd read all these reviews too!) and tried it on. It was amazing. It fit perfectly. I was really happy with the quality and embroidery/beading. It was fully lined but not heavy. There was a built in bra which fit so well that when I clicked it in the dress would actually stay on me without having to tie the corset. There were 7 bones at the front: 2 on the side, 2 on the bust and 5 from the bust to the stomach which held the tummy shape in. I had bought a petticoat but didn't need it because there was one already built into the dress. This meant my dress had a lot more volume than the designer one in the photos which is a bonus or drawback depending on personal taste. There were plenty of layers in the organza so you couldn't just see through to the underlayer (like some other dresses I'd seen) and overall the dress had a lot of shape and a floaty kind of look. The train was shortened as I had requested (at no extra cost) and there was an embroidery pattern on the tip like in the photo. The material felt and looked like good quality. My dressmaker also said it was well made and done properly. The dress was a little too long (my fault, I wore different heels) so by the end of the night there were 2 small holes in the layers of organza. Other than that it was perfect. Does it look like the original? Not entirely, but I love it all the same. I would definitely recommend them to everyone but each person's expectations and tastes are different so hopefully the pictures will do the talking.

lightinthebox Review #1

lightinthebox.com

The dress is really very pretty. Order on the 31st of July and received on the 8th of Aug, now thats really quick delivery. The dress itself is very well structured, quality of the material is pretty good! Definitely worth the price. 2 or 3 sequins have come loose but I expect that out of any dress with sequins. I ordered the blushing pink one to go in with my wedding colour scheme.

It was about $198 USD plus shipping. 

Its super shiny and sparkly, looks great in pictures. I order a size 12 even though I can fit into a size 10, just in case it was tight, I could always tailor.

It’s a little too brightly coloured for me. (I was hoping for a more pastel or baby pink since there are no swatches for sequins), I think this dress looks better with dark colours. Overall, I have yet to decide whether I like the pink to wear it at my wedding but service and workmanship wise, Lightinthebox.com is pretty awesome. I never needed customer service to be honest, so I can't comment on that area. But they were fast!

xoxo,

Budget Barbie 

Netbride.com Review #1

This review may seem a little out-dated as I have now been married three years, but I recently was asked for help finding knock-off dresses by a friend and found your blog. I thought I’d contribute.

I ordered from netbride.com (formerly bridaldiscounters.com), mainly because they seemed to have what I wanted and were the only BBB accredited place I could find that did. I was still somewhat trepidatious. But for the quoted price of $450, I couldn’t help myself. Plus, I couldn’t have ordered this dress anywhere else because it had been recently discontinued.

The wedding was June 13^th, and I was told to order by January 15^th to get it in time. I don’t remember if they offered rush service, as I did not wish to pay extra for it anyway. I ordered a standard size, thinking that a lace-back style would give me some extra tightening (I’m pretty skinny) and that with heels, I shouldn’t have any extra length.

I ordered Bonny 661. These pics show the full dress. I chose the short-sleeve option.

This is the dress that arrived (two weeks later than expected, but still within an acceptable window). It was still a bit loose in the bust as you can see in the pic with my mom, but the detail was beautiful. I was comfortable and confident moving in it. I ended up wearing Chuck Taylors beneath the dress, so I did need to stop and adjust mid-aisle to avoid treading on my own hem, but that was my own no-heel choice that caused the problem.

Being a seamstress myself (almost made my own gown), I can say that they did a lovely job; the dress was well-built and of high-quality for the discounted price.

Leslie B.

married June 13, 2009