Looking for a Wedding Dress When You Have a Short Lead Time
Helen on Weddings is back! After 20 years in the bridal business fitting thousands of brides personally, Helen Rodrigues certainly knows a thing or two about weddings. Follow our Helen on Weddings (HOW) blog series as Helen shares her knowledge and stories to help make your big day as beautiful and memorable as possible.
As the first article back in our HOW blog series, Helen shares her top tips for finding a wedding dress with a short lead time.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the wedding industry at the moment thanks to coronavirus restrictions what are the options if you decided you want to elope or get married in the next few months?
An appealing option is buying a sample gown off the rack. We always strive to make finding your dream designer dress as easy as possible which is why we created our boutique Luxe Bridal Samples. Sample gowns are a perfect option for brides who are getting married with a short planning time, brides who wish to purchase a second dress or brides just wanting to secure an incredible wedding gown at an incredible price.
Trying to plan a wedding during COVID-19 has been near on impossible. To list just a few challenges... our wedding date has changed 3 times, money has been lost on deposits and our honeymoon now looks like it will be within NSW. Surprisingly, the least stressful task of all has been shopping for my wedding dress. After rescheduling my appointment 4 times because of lockdown measures, I finally got the opportunity to visit Helen at Luxe Bridal Samples - a reassuringly very COVID-safe business. With mum and sister by my side on a sunny winter Saturday morning, we donned our face masks, sanitised our hands 5x over, took temperature checks, then entered Helen’s Neutral Bay haven of glamour and beautiful lace. The range of stunning designer bridal dresses is enough to keep a girl busy in the change room for a couple of hours. We tried everything; from lace to beads to sequins, from backless numbers to plunging necklines, from champagne to ivory colour schemes, all Helen’s dresses got a workout and many in fact, received the nod of approval from my trusty ladies in the corner (even with mask accessory). That was until I tried on my Alon Livne gown... at which point, all prior nods of approval were off the table and this classy number became our number one ranking again. Like my fiancé, I knew immediately that this was the one! Real Bride Tara
Luxe Bridal Samples currently holds a stunning array of designer sample gowns by our trusted designers including Monique Lhuillier, Inbal Dror, Lee Grebenau and Elie Saab. When you buy a sample gown there is no production time so you can have the peace of mind that you can fall in love with your gown and take it home with you that day if need be. Due to being ‘samples’ the designer gowns are also a fraction of their original costs allowing brides, if lucky, to secure their dream gown with a significant cost savings.
Each sample in Luxe Bridal Samples has been carefully examined to ensure they are in excellent condition. Every piece is unique and the condition varies pending whether it has been previously used in a bridal boutique, worn in a photo shoot or is now a discontinued design. All our sample gowns can be altered to fit perfectly so you don’t have to compromise on quality or design.
Thank you to Helen from Luxe Bridal Samples for helping me find my dream wedding dress! I walked away with the most stunning high - end designer dress by Lee Petra Grebenau for less than half the retail price. Helen & her seamstress also helped me custom design the back of the dress to best suit my figure. The best thing is it will be uniquely fitted to me & ready to wear in only a matter of days , compared to the many months that are often required from purchasing at conventional bridal shops. Due to all the uncertainty around planning an international wedding, my Fiance I decided to do a small elopement style wedding before we organise the "big one" with all our family & friends. Helen said that they can help with storage & cleaning of dress in between the events. If you are planning something similar I would highly recommend paying them a visit! Real Bride Emma
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