Things to watch out for

There are companies out there who are not as they appear to be, I heard of one recently that advertises itself as a wholesale wedding supplier who sells to the general public. The problem being is that if you order something from them - they have a nasty habit of taking your money and not sending your goods. The bride concerned was understandably upset and has tried to contact this firm but their phone disconnects on the fhird ring and the address they have listed on their site is false. I think that if the offer is too good to be true - then go with your gut instinct and not buy from them (this goes for the wholesaleweddingsupplier and for any other business). Just beware.

The other trend to watch for is the chinese fakes - you may have wondered why, when you visit your local bridal shop, they don't allow you to take photographs of the dresses, this is to stop you from going to one of the chinese firms such as Landy, Milly, etc and buying a cutprice fake. I have witnessed with my own eyes brides who have returned to the shop where they saw theoriginal Alfred Sung dress, crying and deeply distraught because the copy they purchased from China is faulty. Very often these dresses have terrible stitching, the hems can be wonky and basically they just don't fit. You may think that you can get them taken in or let them out but they're not like the originals as they only have single seams and there isnt the excess material to allow alterations to be made. The shopkeepers quite rightly refuse to make amendments to the dress and in some cases will sieze a fake dress.

Rather than turning to China for your dress, why not try a local dressmaker or couture shop (couture is just a posh way of saying that the dress can be made for you and it isnt necessarily an expensive exercise). Some of the dressmakers have experience in making wedding and prom dresses because before they set up their own businesses they worked for one of the larger outlets such as Pronuptia or even Hardy Amies. Wouldnt it be better to have a lovely dress made for you and only you? Such a dress needn't cost the earth and you will not only have the joy of choosing the material, the colour, trying it on but you will get old-fashioned customer service and we all like to be made to feel a bit special.

I guess what I am trying to say is - just beware of fakes and scammers.