What to Know About Buying Wedding Dresses Online
Buying your wedding dress online is the perfect way to streamline your shopping experience during a time in your life when your schedule is already filled to the brim with planning and excitement. But, like many brides, you may be facing many of the same fears regarding the authenticity, reliability, and quality of online wedding dresses, so it’s key to find trusted online wedding dress sites before you can even begin to shop confidently. Thankfully, Avery Austin has been in the bridal business for over 30 years, so we’re ready to share all you need to know about buying wedding dresses online. With this knowledge at hand, shopping for wedding dresses online will feel like an easy and enjoyable walk in the park! Let’s start by exploring some of the most common worries about online wedding dress shopping and how Avery Austin can help.
6 Common Online Wedding Dress Shopping Concerns
From wondering if online wedding dress shopping is safe to worries about sizing, brides often need reassurance about the online bridal experience—that’s totally normal! So that’s where we’ll begin. Here are six common online wedding dress shopping fears and how to conquer them with six tips for buying wedding dresses online successfully. Don’t skip the first tip—it’s the cornerstone for all of the other tips since you must have a trusted online wedding dress site first in order for everything else to fall into place.
#1 Is it Safe to Buy Wedding Dresses Online?
In short, yes, it can be safe to buy wedding dresses online when you shop smart. Honestly, any type of online dress shopping, from prom and pageant gowns to bridesmaid and wedding dresses, faces its fair share of consumer concerns. You want to know that you can entrust your personal information with the company and that they will deliver on the promise of your chosen special-occasion gown as advertised. So how can you tell if you’ve landed on a trusted online wedding dress site or a scam? You’ll want to learn everything you can about the online bridal shop, from where the company is based and how the customer service team communicates with customers to the policies and real customer reviews. If everything is pointing to it being a legitimate company with local representatives that you can speak with over the phone and positive off-site customer reviews, then chances are you’re making a solid decision to buy your wedding dress online there.
Let’s take a look at Avery Austin as an example. There’s a Contact Us page with multiple ways to reach out, including email and phone, designated hours, and an address located within the US. It’s easy to find Avery Austin’s business beliefs and history, as well as the company policies, so you can see for yourself that we’re a reputable, trustworthy online wedding dress retailer that has always put our brides first. You can see what our beautiful brides are saying about Avery Austin wedding dresses too by taking a scroll down our main page. That’s right—we put their experiences front and center!
But you don’t just have to take our word for it! Explore Avery Austin from top to bottom, give us a call to discuss all of your questions and concerns, and search review sites for additional customer feedback, then you’ll see the difference we try to make for our brides everyday. And of course, be sure to check out Avery Austin’s blog on how to safely buy a wedding dress online for more ways to test an online bridal shop’s trustworthiness.
#2 Will My Wedding Dress Look Like the Picture Online?
While there is always the chance for some slight color variations from how a dress is pictured online—things just look different on screens!—when you shop from a trusted online wedding dress site, your wedding dress should absolutely look as pictured. From images and descriptions to size listings and chart measurements, all of the information provided for your chosen online wedding dress should be accurate, which is why it’s so important to find a safe online bridal shop (go back to tip #1 as often as needed to make sure you’ve found a trustworthy one).
Did you know that at Avery Austin, we design, create, and photograph all of our wedding dresses in-house? This means that all of our wedding dress images look exactly like the real thing! Worried about those visual color variations that happen with screens sometimes? You can always order our swatches to see the exact color and feel the fabric in person. Whether you prefer to have swatches on hand or not, you can be confident that Avery Austin wedding dresses will look like the pictures on our site.
#3 How Do I Know My Wedding Dress Fits If I Buy It Online?
There are several ways to successfully find the right wedding dress size for your chosen gown when you shop online. For starters, you’ll need to figure out your “wedding dress size.” It’s no secret—bridal gown sizing is simply not the same as the sizing for our everyday clothes. Whatever number you have in your head for your size, just toss it right out the door now! Bridal sizing actually comes from European size charts from the 19040s, so expect your dream gown to be anywhere from two to four sizes larger than what you would normally wear (since they run so much smaller). With that in mind, let’s consider how you can go about finding the right wedding dress size for you.
- Measure yourself to use the provided size charts. Even if you’re prepared to wear a larger size than normal as your “wedding dress size,” that number is going to vary by designer! This means you might be a size 12 in one dress and a size 14 in another, but you have probably experienced this phenomenon with other clothing items over the years—different brands, different fits. This makes it crucial, especially when shopping for wedding dresses online, to measure yourself carefully and to use the specific size chart provided for the gown you are considering. Here’s an Avery Austin sizing video with step-by-step visual instructions on how to get the best bust, waist, and hip measurements.
- Try wedding dresses on at home. Much like you would do at a bridal salon appointment, you can try on wedding dresses in person, but from the comfort of your own home, when you use Avery Austin’s Try at Home Program. It’s still important to have your measurements in mind when selecting sizes to try on, and sometimes samples may require pinning for you to get the best idea of how a style in the right size looks on your figure. Check out Avery Austin’s blog about trying on wedding dresses at home—it includes pro tips for making the most of your time, money, and experience!
Finding a wedding dress online that fits you well doesn’t have to be stressful or expensive. Using the tips above can go a long way to helping you navigate bridal sizing, and you can find even more advice in Avery Austin’s blog about choosing the right wedding dress size for you.
#4 How Do I Know My Online Wedding Dress Will Arrive?
This is pretty high up on the list of a bride’s worst nightmares…a purchased wedding dress that’s never received or not delivered until after the wedding day. In the first case, it might be a matter of a scam website or a package lost in transit. In the second instance, there could have been production delays or some confusion regarding the availability of a specialty made-to-order gown. Here are a couple ways you can make sure that your wedding dress will arrive in time for your special day:
- Shop on trusted online wedding dress sites only. Yep, we’re going back to our first tip again! You can see how important it is at this point, right? By using a trustworthy, safe site, you won’t have to worry about a scam company taking your money (and personal info) and never sending your bridal gown. A trusted site will also provide you with immediate support if something goes wrong with a shipment (missing package, damaged package, etc.).
- Check customer reviews for information about shipping and deliveries. Reviews will tell you if customers are consistently receiving the correct wedding dresses as purchased online, if their wedding dresses are arriving on time, and if customer service is providing appropriate support if there are shipping mishaps.
- Read up on all of the company’s FAQs, especially ones about placing orders and shipping policies. Here you can find everything you need to know regarding how long it might take a company to prepare your new order, make the wedding dress (if it’s a special made-to-order item), and ship your bridal gown. Explore Avery Austin’s Frequently Asked Questions page and you’ll see just what we mean!
- Find out if the exact color and size of the online wedding dress you’ve chosen is in stock or a special order. This information makes a huge difference in when you can expect your bridal gown to arrive. In-stock wedding dresses (like in this collection of ready-to-ship bridal dresses at Avery Austin) are already made and can be shipped out quickly. On the other hand, special-order bridal dresses are not made until you place your order, so these gowns will not be shipped out until several weeks after you’ve placed your order. For more information on the timing and availability of wedding gowns, check out Avery Austin’s blog about when you should buy your wedding dress.
Following this advice means that you can be confident that your wedding dress will arrive, and on time too! You should always expect to receive tracking information when you buy wedding dresses online so that you can keep a careful eye on your precious order. If you’ve ordered an Avery Austin wedding dress, you’ll receive tracking details and top-notch customer support if you have questions or concerns at any point in your online shopping experience!
#5 Does Buying a Wedding Dress Online Mean I Won’t Get My “Say Yes” Moment?
Almost every bride imagines that moment in the bridal salon when she finds her dream dress and is ready to say “YES” to her gathered family and friends, and there’s no reason to give up that feeling just because you’re buying your wedding dress online! Maybe you won’t be in a bridal salon, but thanks to Avery Austin’s Try at Home Program, you can absolutely organize your own gathering at home or at a family member or friend’s house.
Honestly, many brides prefer the intimacy and privacy of this kind of gathering, and there’s no need to go traveling to multiple boutiques either! All you need to do is build your Try at Home box with up to three Avery Austin wedding dresses you want to try on, then plan your gathering for just after you’ve received your box. Gather the snacks, pop the bubbly, and put on a fashion show with your online wedding dresses! If you’ve found “the one,” then have your “say yes” moment right then and there! If you’re not quite ready yet, don’t stress! Use what you’ve learned about your style preferences this time, return your samples, and order a new Try at Home box with new styles that will better suit you.
Who said you can only have one “try at home” party? Certainly not us! Get together with your favorite people each time you’re ready to try on wedding dresses at home, and maybe even plan a gathering or two for your bridesmaids with the try at home bridesmaid dresses from Avery Austin too!
#6 Does Shopping Wedding Dresses Online Mean I Don’t Get Expert Help?
There’s no reason to compromise when it comes to getting expert help from a bridal stylist, so you should expect it even when shopping for wedding dresses online. As luck would have it, Avery Austin always has bridal experts ready to help you find your dream wedding dress! Whether you need someone to walk you through the Try at Home Program and online ordering process or you want to learn more about different wedding dress features, fabrics, and styles, our bridal stylists are here to help! Contact us during business hours by phone, email, or chat and you’ll get all the personalized help you need, just like you would if you stepped into a bridal boutique.
Now that we’ve covered the most common concerns and tips for buying wedding dresses online, you’re all set to shop! Remember the most important tip: Shop on trusted online wedding dress sites only. From there, all the other tips will help you make the most of your online wedding dress shopping experience. Jump right in and get started by exploring all of Avery Austin’s wedding dresses and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you have along the way. We can’t wait to help you discover your dream wedding dress online!