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Buying a wedding dress online is not as popular in South Africa as it is overseas, and I think part of the reason for that, is people are scared, and rightfully so.
Wedding dresses from untrustworthy places can add a tremendous amount of stress to a bride-to-be, but it really doesn’t need to be that way.
With online purchasing becoming more popular by the minute, why not purchase a dress online, well, I have a couple of basic Do's and Don’ts lined up for you and then you can at least broaden your horizons on this new venture and who knows, you might just find your dream dress in the most unlikely of places... The big, bad www.
Let’s get started!
Don’ts
Don’t always trust the image
Most reputable online wedding dress stores will have more than one picture of their dress and if they don’t, once you make contact with them via email or instant chat, they should be able to send you more.
With these additional pics you will at least be able to assess the quality and validity of the dress that they are selling.
If they aren’t able to, warning lights should immediately go off It’s likely that they might have just put up someone else’s professional pics up whilst trying to mimic or make that dress without the actual accuracy or detail that you see on the picture taken.
Don’t be fooled
If the price is unbelievable, the dress is likely to be as well (not in a good way). Bearing the first Don’t in mind, the price of a dress is indicative of the work done on it, the quality of the fabric, the detail, the beading etc.
So I’m really talking about gowns priced super low as a regular offering from a specific online service provider.
Most people find out a little too late and these types of risks are really not worth taking, not unless you have tons of extra cash and are buying for fun with the intention of throwing it out if it’s horrendous(but let’s be honest, a majority of us can’t afford to this).
Don’t be tempted
Be cautious of sites that have EVERYTHING ON SALE. This is often an indicator of people who copy dresses with the lowest quality materials in mass production out to get whoever they can to buy from them.
(Usually the people who have reputable companies pictures on their site, essentially, stolen pics).
Do’s
Do try and find an online store in your country
The pressures of buying online is drastically reduced if you find an online store in the country you live in. This way you are able to make email contact with the option of them calling you, and giving you the ability to chat about any enquiries you might have.
Do your research
Browse other sites from the country that you are wanting to purchase from, if you find too many duplicates, re-think your purchase.
Do your measurements correctly
This is especially true if you have a zip up dress as these can impact drastically on the size that you buy.
Most online stores will have measurements of the dress and the sizes they carry. If they don’t make contact to find out exact measurements by the cm.
Do a lace-up
If you are concerned about sizes but like the dress, lace-ups are usually the best way to go as they can be easily adjusted to deal with fluctuating weight trials during the build up to a wedding.
Do try dresses on
Going to actual retail stores to try on dresses is fun, go for it, have fun finding out what type of dress suits you best, remember though, that you’re likely to find better prices online.
Dresses that are R10000 online are priced at R15000 in retail stores, something to think about. There are many more tips and tons of treasures that can be found online, so the least you can you can to is go ahead…
Have a little look EliteBridalBoutique.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Wedding dresses from untrustworthy places can add a tremendous amount of stress to a bride-to-be, but it really doesn’t need to be that way.
With online purchasing becoming more popular by the minute, why not purchase a dress online, well, I have a couple of basic Do's and Don’ts lined up for you and then you can at least broaden your horizons on this new venture and who knows, you might just find your dream dress in the most unlikely of places... The big, bad www.
Let’s get started!
Don’ts
Don’t always trust the image
Most reputable online wedding dress stores will have more than one picture of their dress and if they don’t, once you make contact with them via email or instant chat, they should be able to send you more.
With these additional pics you will at least be able to assess the quality and validity of the dress that they are selling.
If they aren’t able to, warning lights should immediately go off It’s likely that they might have just put up someone else’s professional pics up whilst trying to mimic or make that dress without the actual accuracy or detail that you see on the picture taken.
Don’t be fooled
If the price is unbelievable, the dress is likely to be as well (not in a good way). Bearing the first Don’t in mind, the price of a dress is indicative of the work done on it, the quality of the fabric, the detail, the beading etc.
So I’m really talking about gowns priced super low as a regular offering from a specific online service provider.
Most people find out a little too late and these types of risks are really not worth taking, not unless you have tons of extra cash and are buying for fun with the intention of throwing it out if it’s horrendous(but let’s be honest, a majority of us can’t afford to this).
Don’t be tempted
Be cautious of sites that have EVERYTHING ON SALE. This is often an indicator of people who copy dresses with the lowest quality materials in mass production out to get whoever they can to buy from them.
(Usually the people who have reputable companies pictures on their site, essentially, stolen pics).
Do’s
Do try and find an online store in your country
The pressures of buying online is drastically reduced if you find an online store in the country you live in. This way you are able to make email contact with the option of them calling you, and giving you the ability to chat about any enquiries you might have.
Do your research
Browse other sites from the country that you are wanting to purchase from, if you find too many duplicates, re-think your purchase.
Do your measurements correctly
This is especially true if you have a zip up dress as these can impact drastically on the size that you buy.
Most online stores will have measurements of the dress and the sizes they carry. If they don’t make contact to find out exact measurements by the cm.
Do a lace-up
If you are concerned about sizes but like the dress, lace-ups are usually the best way to go as they can be easily adjusted to deal with fluctuating weight trials during the build up to a wedding.
Do try dresses on
Going to actual retail stores to try on dresses is fun, go for it, have fun finding out what type of dress suits you best, remember though, that you’re likely to find better prices online.
Dresses that are R10000 online are priced at R15000 in retail stores, something to think about. There are many more tips and tons of treasures that can be found online, so the least you can you can to is go ahead…
Have a little look EliteBridalBoutique.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
