Should You Buy Your Wedding Dress Online?

If you're thinking of buying your wedding dress online then it's important to do your research. Over the years we've heard dozens if not a hundred tales of poor workmanship, ill fitting dresses or simply receiving the wrong design. Below are a few tips that might help, as well as a link to another article with some great information.

1/ Know whether the dress you're buying is used, off-the-shelf or custom made and try to buy a style where it won't matter too much if your measurements aren't exact. (Basically, the more fitted the dress, the more exact the measures needed.)

2/ Make sure you know where the dress is being shipped from. Some sites that appear to be Australian or US based are Chinese companies. Take particular caution if buying on eBay, where this information can be even harder to ascertain.

3/ If buying from overseas, make sure you know the drill when it comes to refund or fix-it policies. You won't be protected under Australian (or United States or other country as applicable) consumer law if you buy from off-shore.

4/ Try to find out where the dress is made. Many Australian based retailers are just reselling Chinese made dresses. At least though, you'll have the protection of Aussie consumer law and the seller will presumably have checked the dress for quality before offering it for sale.

5/ Have realistic expectations. When you buy locally in person, you have several fittings for the dress to ensure it's comfortable and hangs properly. You miss out on this when you buy online and the maker has to simply go by the measurements you provide.

6/ Talk to others or read online about other people's experiences with buying dresses online. You'll gain valuable insight into the process and may save yourself money and more importantly, heartache.

7/ Read this article on HubPages. It has some real-life examples and generally more depth of information than what I've provided here.

_{Photo courtesy sotteroandmidgley.com}

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Garry Peck