If any of you are part of any wedding advice blogs you may have seen the term 'China Dress' being used and wondered what it means. Well it is exactly what it sounds like - a dress from China.
Bride-to-be Donna-Marie Whatnall (pictured below) explained: 'A China dress is simply one that was made there. I chose a dress from China because that gave me money to spend on other things.'
As we all know does, at times, result in a few horror stories. When you press that button to complete your order you may be counting the seconds till the parcel arrives at your door to check it is how you pictured it.
We spoke to a number of brides to find out their experiences with online wedding purchases
Donna-Marie Whatnall, 31, said: "I was hesitant as I have seen the horror stories. I sent my measurements over and added a couple of inches to every measurement. I ordered a lace up back because that way it could be pulled in. I would recommend ordering online definitely but I would always order bigger in case you need adjustments. "
Another positive experience came from Jade Brooks, 26 (below)."I bought my dress about 3 years ago. I ordered via eBay. It fit perfectly and the material was beautiful."
Some of you may be thinking that for such a good price and with good reviews what else could go wrong. However, not everyone had a good experience with their online orders.
Samantha Rayworth, 29, describes her experience as the 'worst ever horror story'.
She went on to say: "I decided online is the way forward plus I had seen some good feedback from China suppliers. I fell in love with a white and pink dress for my bridesmaids. As you can see from the pictures below I will definitely not be ordering online again."
The dress Samantha ordered:
And the dress she received:
Lynne Humphrey, 63, owner of dress shop Special occasions in Sunderland said: "I would never suggest anybody ordered online. Ever. The quality just isn't there. It's never like the photograph that you're shown because they just use cheaper fabrics."
So ordering online can go one of the two ways. However, Mother-of-the-groom Mandy Jane Kincade, 53, gave us an alternative way of thinking about China dresses.
She said: "As Mother-of-the-groom I spent a fortune on a dress (pictured below) for my son’s wedding. It was a John Charles designer outfit and cost me £1,400. When I was trying it on I looked at the label inside, and was horrified to find in small print Made in China. Just goes to show you it doesn’t matter how much you pay many fine quality items are produced in China".
So even if you decide against ordering online due to quality an in-store purchase could be from the same place.
So, what should you do?
Here at Forever&Always we recommend that if you are tight on budget and have plenty of time then why not order online and if you do have a bad experience you have plenty of time to send it back.
Have you had an experience with ordering online you want to tell us about?
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