Hiring a wedding dress

[Lizslo1]

Hello ladies,
I recently got engaged and have been looking at wedding dresses, I have seen a few I like but they are quite expensive, as me and my fiancé want a short engagement I don't think we can save that much for one.
I am tempted to get a second hand one off eBay, but as I was looking I thought about hiring, has anyone done this, would you do it? Any experiences good or bad?
I have been thinking that it would be stressful trying not to damage it but if it's a quarter of the price should I worry?
Thanks in advance :-)
Lizzie
Xxx

[whattoWHO]

Have you checked out monsoon, coast, phase eight etc. They have some lovely dresses.
Or charity shops - oxfam for instance have a special shop just for bridal wear.
I've never hired but it might make good sense. I'd guess that you'd take out some sort of insurance in case of damage to the dress.

[AcaciaBeez]

Here's the oxfam site, there is sosme lovely stuff on it probably cheaper than hiring www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/bridal/wedding-dresses

[MogwaiTheGremlin]

I looked into hiring but couldn't find any decent options.
Monsoon have gorgeous dresses but I am too tall (5ft 8") as they only come in one length.
In the end I bought a bridesmaid dress from Dessy (bespoke bridal company with a huge selection - google them). I ordered it in ivory and extra long length then had it professionally fitted/altered at the bridal shop.
Everyone thought it was a designer dress but inc alterations it cost less than £100!

[MogwaiTheGremlin]

Ps congratulations!

[HomeIsWhereTheHeartIs]

The only place I saw doing this was in a branch of Greenwoods when we got the mens' suits for hire.
Not sure if they do it in every branch.

[Lizslo1]

Hello everyone,
Thank you for your messages, I think I need to do some more research but will definately look in monsoon all the other places you all suggest.
Thank you so much :)
x

[RevealTheHiddenBeach]

congratulations OP! I would def recommend looking online (you can sort ebay listings by distance nearest to your postcode), gumtree can also be good as you can try things on before you buy them. I think with hiring I would be stressed out about making sure there weren't any marks etc on the dress for taking it back (white and ivory aren't exactly easy to keep clean!) and so If you can do second hand that might be a better option. And if charity, even better, everyone wins!

[MsAspreyDiamonds]

m-uk.monsoon.co.uk/uk/wedding-boutique/wedding-dresses?redirected;jsessionid=CEEA9399425D428B5B45E8E344D8185C.app2

[[http://m.phase-eight.co.uk/fcp/departmenthome/wedding/weddingboutique]]

m.bhs.co.uk/mt/www.bhs.co.uk/en/bhuk/category/wedding-1020484/the-bride-1020511/CatalogNavigationSearchResultCmd?pageSize=24&catalogId=34096&viewAllFlag=false&sort_field=Relevance&beginIndex=1&categoryId=471149&langId=-1&storeId=13077&parent_categoryId=471109&un_jtt_redirect

[[http://m.debenhams.com/sale/women/dresses/wedding-dresses?m-referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den
-GB%26redir_esc%3D%26client%3Dms-android-hms-vf-gb%26source%3Dandroid-browser-type%26v%3D133247963%26qsubts%3D1392689793170%26q%3Ddebenhams%2Bwedding%2Bdresses%26v%3D133247963]]

[ammature]

Hey, there is a woman in cardiff who hires designer dresses. Jenny packham etc. To have and to hire I think it's called.

[BlueChampagne]

I got mine in Oxfam - and gave it back to them afterwards.

[2minds]

I recently got married and bought my dress from Debenhams. It was a lovely slim fitting dress covered in pretty beads, and was reduced from £260 - £59 in the sale! I had so many people tell me on the day how much they loved the dress, including the wedding planner, who told me it was exactly the dress she would choose if she was marrying again. You don't have to pay thousands for a lovely dress.