Guide - How to Buy A Wedding Dress Online

Posted by Smite Frand on November 9th, 2020

Buying your wedding dress in general is an overwhelming task, let alone buying the most important dress of your life online! For the better part of the last decade it has been our mission to make online bridal shopping a simple, fuss-free and unforgettable experience. Follow our top online dress shopping tips, and you’ll have your dream gown in your hands faster than you can say, “I do!”

Get to Know Your Silhouettes

Searching for your lace wedding dress online is such a big part of the planning process and knowing where to start can be tricky. By focusing on what features to highlight, you can narrow down your search early on. Think about your body shape and establish what features you want to show off, and what you’d prefer to hide –  after all, you know your personal style and what flatters your figure best!

Consider which fabrics you prefer to wear – would you be comfortable wearing bias cut silk draping over your curves, or would you feel more comfortable in a thick supportive crepe or lace fabric? Not sure? We feel you! We offer complimentary fabric swatches that can be delivered to you so you can compare fabrics on multiple gowns. You can order a swatch on each product page or by filling out our contact form.

Read Online Reviews

It always helps reading the opinion of REAL brides who have actually worn a particular gown on their special day. You can visit our online testimonials page, Facebook, Yelp or Google pages to find genuine reviews from past GRACE brides. If you want to read more about of our favorite GRACE brides, we have a real weddings blog where you can dive deep into the details and see any particular gown in action.

You can even up your online sleuthing and search through the tagged page on our Instagram – it’s the best place to find recent photos of previous GRACE brides wearing the gown you might have your eye on!

Get All the Details

Our dress descriptions for each style on our website help you understand exactly what you’re buying and ensure that you know all the facts. This will give you a clear understanding of what fabrics are used, how the dress is lined and give an indication as to how it fits.

We’ve also created informative videos diving into every stitch and seam of your dream-gown with Founder and Creative Director Megan Ziems, and Head Designer Rosie Keating. You can watch these either on our IGTV or on our blog.

Traditional gowns made from rigid fabrics, boning, and structure are high-risk purchases because they have no give if the sizing isn’t spot on. We create our gowns specifically to feel like a second skin and a stretch material, like a stretch lace, is the best way to ensure a good fit. Let’s be honest, you won’t want to take your GRACE gown off!

Know How to Take Your Measurements

This part of the process is key to ensuring a beautiful fit. Find a friend or family member to help you, grab a tape measure, and follow our measurements tutorial to make sure you’re measuring exactly the right areas.

Our online stylists are available around the clock to assist you with determining your measurements via email, live or video chat if you need any help!

Understand How the Sizing Works

When ordering your GRACE gown, you will be able to purchase either a ‘Ready-to-Wear’ gown (this is a standard size) or you can have our expert seamstresses hand make your gown to your size range and height; we call these ‘Made-to-Order’ gowns. The size ranges we offer are XXS to 5XL in most of our styles.

Our size ranges are applied to four, different parts of your body – your bust, under bust, waist and hip. This means that you can fall within multiple size ranges depending on your measurements. For example, a bride may measure an XL bust, L under bust, XL waist and a M hip – it really does vary from woman to woman!

We need your measurements to determine the size ranges you fit into. You’ll have an opportunity closer to your lock-in date to send us over updated measurements, so we can ensure your gown fits as close to your sizing as possible – we understand things can change closer to your wedding day! Our size ranges also all have a 5cm (~2 inch) variation so alterations might be a part of your journey and all our gowns are designed to allow this.

Our process was designed for brides ordering online without visiting a showroom, which is why it remains so simple.  Your gown will be made with your very own pattern and made to your exact height, inclusive of your heels!