Buying your dress online? UAE Wedding Dress Horror Stories and how to avoid them!

There’s an ENTIRE facebook group with 20,000 followers dedicated to the horror stories of brides ordering their wedding dresses online. This means one thing – that it’s a REAL issue facing brides today. And we understand why.

Wedding dresses are a big investment, probably the single most valuable dress you’ve ever even thought about purchasing. Shopping for an imitation dress online can seem like a great idea, it’s quick, and the images look equally as gorgeous on screen for a fraction of the cost. However, the reality can often be quite the opposite – here’s some of the reasons why you might want to re-think it…

1. Ill-fitting and Off Color – Nothing is Quite What it Seems

Rachel Meuleman, a Dubai based bride had her destination wedding planned in Thailand in 2015. She had ticked ‘Wedding Dress’ off her to-do list after ordering it online until the delivery arrived looked more like Big Bird than the dream dress she had ordered.

“I ordered my wedding dress online and when it arrived to the UAE I was angry and heartbroken. The hem was wrong, the fabric and feathers were garish and cheap and the color was bright YELLOW. I got in touch with the supplier to arrange a refund but it turned out to be more expensive to return the dress by post than the original cost of the dress. So in the end I bought a replacement dress from a boutique in Dubai and had to write off the expense and chalk it all up to experience. I hope other brides can learn from what I went though.”

2. The Time Crunch

Delivery schedules for online shopping can often be a mess. Add to this the road and address system (or lack there of) in the UAE and you can have an anxiety attack on your hands. Rachel Meuleman says “I was waiting by the phone for weeks for news on the delivery, had endless follow up calls to couriers and manufacturer… it definitely added to stress in the lead up to my wedding.”

Photo via Knock Off Nightmares

3. Feel Like a Princess for a Day, Not an Angry Bride

An appointment at one of the UAE’s leading wedding boutiques can be an experience not to forget. A memorable time with your most loved – moms and bridesmaids can ooh and aaah over you looking your best (just like the cult TV show Say Yes To The Dress) but when you order online you miss out on this lovely wedding planning milestone. Bridal Boutiques are the professionals and they have countless years of experience knowing which cut and style will work best on you. Katerina at Vanila Studio has this bit of advice about shopping online:

“If you still have decided to try your luck online, the best piece of advice we can give you is to have a second option in case it goes wrong. Also find a local tailor and ask if they can help you with the dress. Ask for the price, as this will be an additional cost to the online price. Please remember, most wedding boutiques do not take any dresses for fittings if the dress was purchased elsewhere.” For more information on Katerina K and Vanila Studio, pop over to their website here.

Photo via Vanila Studio

4. Is it Really That Cheap in the End?

With the rise of International credit card and phishing scams in the online environment, giving your financial information to a company in a far away country may not be the safest way to ensure you’re protected from Consumer Laws.

If the dress does arrive and it’s not quite right, or doesn’t fit, the cost of tailoring and/or replacing the dress altogether may make you wish you’d paid that little bit extra for piece of mind.

We wish you all the best with your Wedding Dress search, and while some brides have great experiences shopping online remember ‘Buyer Beware’ and make sure you leave yourself enough time to ensure a stress-free build up to your dream wedding day.

Vanila Studio are running a competition with us this month to win Wedding Jewelry worth AED 2000 – Enter Here for your chance to WIN, competition closes Valentine’s Day 2016.

Main photo via Knock Off Nightmares