Sample Sale?

bridetobe9995

This weekend there is a sample sale happening at a local bridal boutique I had been interested in.  Can anyone share their experiences shopping during a bridal sample sale? Thank you!

Butterflyz419

I bought my wedding dress during a sample sale at my local boutique back in June. It was my first (and only) dress shopping experience and of course I'm sure all salons are a little different but at mine they had racks and racks of the sample dresses and we were allowed to just go in and look through them which I have to say was very difficult. They were all packed in and it's hard to get a feel for what something will look like, still I had a few things in mind that helped narrow down the selection such as no mermaid, and as close to white as possible; also fortunately they kept similar sizes together so that it was easier to only look at samples that were already close to my needed size. One of the employees pulled a few based on what things I was looking for and my family pulled a couple more. I ended up trying on 6 dresses total, but it was the second dress that made my mom cry and I loved it as well and for $250, it was the one. I felt leaving as if I could have kept looking (after all I only tried on 6 of hundreds of possibilities) but was glad to have just picked one because of the 6, only one did I truly dislike. I could have worn any of the others and felt beautiful, even one mermaid that got picked and I surprisingly loved on me. I knew that trying on more would only have made me more unsure about any decision so for the price and seeing my mom and other family's members reactions of me in the second dress that they didn't get for the other 5 was enough of a sign. It was a great day. Good luck to you!

ETA image (sorry it's so big). Also I splurged on the belt since the dress was so much under budget.

CMGragain

When daughter and I were shoppping for her dress, we found lots of samples at different shops.  She didn't choose one, but there were some very nice dresses available in her size.  (14)

atlastmrsg

There was a sample rack at the boutique where I bought my gown.  I only tried on one dress--I knew it was it--but I checked out the sample rack.  Many of the gowns looked really ragged.  The delicate fabrics were fraying, beads missing, make up stains.  Look any gowns you like over closely.  I'm all for getting a deal, but make sure everything is fixable.  A little spot or a fraying strap could easily be fixed.  Huge sections of beading that are coming off, lace with damaged edges...contemplate whether you're getting a deal or the cost to repair/replace will be greater.  A great tailor can do almost anything--replace/move lace appliques, etc.  But it comes at a price.  Gown cleaning is also very expensive.

marie2785

I tried on a few sample sale dresses at 2 stores. I'm a street size 6, and out of maybe a dozen dresses, only 1 was sized in a way that it could have worked. The other dresses required so much reworking to make them fit that buying a sample at 25%-30% off wouldn't have saved me money . 

And as others said, check the fabric for flaws. A few dresses were so ragged I wasn't sure they could be fixed.

carrie0924

I had a limited shopping experience for my dress. I went to the first store, which was a cute little boutique store, and had a wonderful experience. Then, I went to a store that specializes in samples. I did not enjoy that as much. You're limited to whatever they have on hand, and I felt it was more challenging to get a true feel for how the dress would look when perfect. A lot of the dresses had missing zipper pull tabs, loose beading, frays, smudges, makeup stains, etc. There was a lot of "Well if I just have this fixed and make this a half zip back and add a corset and get it cleaned and...." At the end of the day, I felt any deal I was getting wasn't worth it because I wasn't exactly sure how clean it was going to get, or how much it was going to cost to repair the beadwork, etc. For me, it was easier and a lot less of a mystery to just buy something new in my budget. However, this is my shopping style in everyday life, as well. I'm not big on thrift store shopping and hunting through racks of one off items to find something I love. So it depends on where you go, and what your usual style is. You can certainly get some fantastic deals if you are at the right place at the right time and have the time and energy to hunt a little more. I would certainly give it a try - you can always go to a regular dress store if you don't find anything. And as others said - just be certain to look over the entire dress very carefully.

augsum15

I didn't buy during a sample sale, but my dress was a "sample dress", and I highly recommend it if you can. You'll probably save yourself hundreds of dollars (mine was originally $1200 and I only paid $650, which she marked down even more from the original $800 sample price). 

But as above, inspect it! You might have to settle as is, or have a few things fixed (ie: my alterations will include fixing a tiny hole in the tulle, which no one would see unless you knew it was there, but I have OCD so I saw it). If you're lucky, they'll even dry-clean it for you post-alterations too (like mine are). I'd go with a smaller boutique too because they're able to give better pricing and incentives since the owner is usually around, as opposed to the big places who have set rules or discounts.