prettypigpig

Michelle, Google Suzhou Monica, and click on the dhgate page. If you are located in North America, you should see the seller online during the night (They are located 1 hour away from Shanghai, so it is like 12 hours away from the Eastern Standard Time), and you can chat with her. You would need a dhgate account, it is like the chinese Ebay. You can browse their catalog or send the pics of ur dress, she will tell you if she can do it or not. If yes, what will be the differences. Some sellers mentioned on this thread only gave me quotes, but never went into details like how close the dress would look like the original or..if there will be differences..what will be the differences..etc.

Maggie, My sis would LOVE your monogram, she is a turtle lover! It is so cute. Nicola, What?! 6.99 pounds! OMG..I am flying to shop in London! What a Bargain! For US brides, Yes, Canucks are getting better prices, I've noticed that for a long time. I think it is because we have only 3 major airlines + a few tour operators here, they negociated the prices for us. Every big industry operates in an Oglipoly mode here. We have 6 big banks, 3 Telcos..etc..

Hahaha...well well well..kids..my mom said when it is mine, it will be different. You can see the album on my facebook and photobucket for pics of Royal and Gran Porto. The beach of the Gran Porto is a public beach..just like the Royal one. It is not the nicest one, if you want nice beach, Cozumel has better ones. But both hotels are located at 2 blocks away from the 5th Avenue, I walked around after dinner every night. There are a Mega (Mexican version of Target) and a Walmart near by, so it is very easy to get supplies for wedding favors or OOT bags stuffs. The Royal guests can use the Gran Porto's facilities, but there is no need, because the Royal is much nicer than the Gran Porto, more restos, more choices. The 2 restos (a mexican and an italian restos) at the Gran Porto are nice too, but can't compare to the Royal's restos. The Gran Porto's guests have to buy a day pass to access the Royal, but sometimes, they offer very good deal for Gran Porto's guests to upgrade to the Royal. I got offered at $30 per night/per room. The reception menu is the same for both resorts as well. You can PM me, I can send you the menus. Seriously, there are so many nice resorts in Mexico, you will have a hard time to choose the right one! Gran Porto Pros: Good location Kids friendly Good food Decent beach Gran Porto Cons: You can hear kids everywhere (if u go during summer /holidays) Hotel is a bit old, so...not so modern decor

My search was long...and some brides may not be agree with what I am going to say... When I first started my research, I went to a TA, she put a big cross on Azul Beach, she said it is a family resort, a bit old ..needed some reno. then also cross out the other Azul, because it is a family resort and not as nice as other newer resorts that she went to last fall in 2009. Therefore, I started without any Azul in consideration. After that, I was looking at the Dreams resorts (because some of my guests have kids...ugh..so I need to find a kid friendly resort), Dream Tulum is nice, but too far from the airport, I stayed at the Gran Principe Coba last fall which was very close to the Dreams Tulum, I pee 2 times during the transfer, got drunk and took a nap before arriving. Dreams Rivera is closer...but the kids are CRAZY there, and noise isolation is poor. Dreams Cancun got poor rating on tripadvisor. Air Transat offers wedding packages with Ocean Turquesa, but it is their first year, a lot of details weren't sorted out, the hotel doesn't allow beach reception during summer because turtles are clubbing on the beach. Tripadvisor said there are bed bugs! No thx, I don't wanna take chances... Barcelo Mayan Palace has a beautiful gazebo, but their WCs take forever to reply my emails, it drove me nuts...and I would probably go CRAZY before my wedding. I stayed at the Gran Porto Real with my mom in 2004, it was a nice place, very very nicely located, there is no need to take a cab to goto Playa Del Carmen. It is cheaper than the Royal and it is kids-friendly. Therefore, I picked the Royal Playa Del Carmen, because guests who are on tight budget /with kids can stay at the Gran Porto Real, and come over to the Royal on my wedding day. I don't have to be stuck with kids. I went there for 1 week this June, it was perfect.

Can we see ur dream dress? Because it is all depends on the dress. Some dresses are easy to replicated, others...not so easily. Therefore, it is all depend on how detailed are ur dress. You can see mine on the "show your dress" thread, I designed it with own vision and some inspiration from Enzoani's 2009 and 2010 collection.

ah...Sandy..I love you dress!

The thing is ...in order to return the dress, u need to ship with a tracking number. Therefore, sometimes, it is cheaper to get a discount and remake the dress than to ship it back. I am sure there are tons of good sellers on dhgate with excellent client service, I did my research and found Suzhou Monica Bridal. As long as the reviews are good, the chance of getting a nice dress is high. Luckily, my dress turned out to be my dream dress. I will order dresses for my FMIL from them later with my second dress.

No, I got a pair of gloves to complet my Sailor Moon look! LMAO I told them I have invisible bras already, that is why they sent me a pair of gloves.

ah..where did u order the dress again? I know it is the same dress as Michelle's BM dress. I love the color..maybe I can order one for myself! heehee

Quote: Originally Posted by RunningBride24 Ahh thanks Prettypigpig. You look AMAZING in your dress by the way!!!! :) I'll be sure to post pictures once mine arrives. Thx! Can't wait to see your dress!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lindobride14 We are leaving for our site visit tomorrow morning! At this time tomorrow, we'll be in sunny Mexico! I am going to feel so much better after seeing the resort and getting a lot of the wedding plans accomplished! Wish me luck . . . I'll be sure to post some pics when we return! Good luck! and take tons of pics!

So can we choose between 2 entrees or not? some WC said YES, some..said NO..

Quote: Originally Posted by Lolita29 Ha,ha,ha, I LOVE THAT SHOW! And still watch it. The FI always says, Why are you watching this, don't you have your dress already? And i do but i love to see everyone's different experiences and see some of those pretty dresses they try on and some of them are not so pretty lol. O and tgallo, who helped you with your dress? hahaha I love that show too! But only watch on the TLC marathon weekends! some of the dress are very pretty, and some aren't so pretty indeed! My FI is always like "are u sure these chicks aren't just there..not even engaged and just trying the dresses?!" or " WOW...are u kidding me?! $10000 for an ugly dress?!" or "OMG, look at the mom, so this chick will turn into smth like that in 20 yrs?!" We shared so much laugh!

Quote: Originally Posted by vacationsrthebest Thank you so much! I wanted something different and fun for a beach wedding and my friends and Mom loved the mermaid style on my body so that's what I went with I am so jealous that you have a body for the mermaid style! Your dress is gorgeous.

Quote: Originally Posted by JennandMike08 I saw yours, its gorgeous! I learned at the last minute that an empire waist isn't very flattering on my body type. Thats the type i got with my knock off. I mean for some people it works, just not for me. Thanks, yours is gorgeous too! Simple and elegant. I don't have much "assets"/"curve" to show it off in a simple mermaid/trumpet...heehee...I would look like a squid so I added the tulle on top.

Quote: Originally Posted by JennandMike08 I had a bad experience with the knock off. I originally wanted a Romona Keveza dress but after seeing the tag of 3k I thought going the knock off route would be good. The dress cost less than $300 but when I got it I didn't like it that much. After leaving it with my mom for two months I got it back and tried it on again and realized how much I hated it. I ended up shopping at the last minute for a dress and ended up with an Alfred Angelo that I loved much better...and the complete opposite of what I thought I wanted. For my body type I really needed to try on the dress to make sure it complimented me. Here's mine: Totally agree, you need to try diff style to see which one fits u the best. A knock off is risky, as you dunno the quality and how it will fit on you. Some dresses are hard to duplicate, so it is hard to be satisfied with the end result. I tried on so many (more than 100 in 3 months), and finally I decided to get a custom made one with my own design (an empire waist mermaid with an A-line tulle) instead of a generic one from a bridal shop.

Quote: Originally Posted by RunningBride24 I'm TOTALLY with you! When I first started reading this thread I was heated over this debate. It's how any business works. I say if we can get it for cheaper WHY NOT Totally with you! Sooooooo my dress was shipped TODAY!!! I'm so excited!!! I just had them add some silver beading to the straps. For those of you who already received your dress, how did it arrive? I'm worried about it being wrinkled or smashed during the shipping process. What did they ship it in? Ah...must be so exciting for you! heehee....get your tripod ready for pics in 1 week! The reason why most of the brides buy their dresses from bridal shops is they can see and touch the actual dress, and usually there is a minimum quality control on their products. Of course, this "reasurance" comes with a price tag of $1000 and up, plus the $500+ alter fees after (because bridal shops only order in standard sizes, and want squeeze more profits out from the brides). Profit margins are usually 70% and up, some items like the veils, the margin is 90% and up. Again, if you already got squeezed out $3000 for a dress, a $300 veil seems marginal. Ordering a dress online is more risky, and some brides are risk averse when it comes to their dress. Other perception is online dresses look cheap and poor in quality, that again..can be true sometimes, but there are a lot of good quality sellers out there. I picked this route, after going to all the bridal shops in Montreal, and got discouraged by those old style/ugly/expensive dresses in size 10. Also tried Davids Bridal too, but their materials are really average. Furthermore, 99% of the dresses that I tried on were MADE in CHINA. That is when I started to do my own research and locate those chinese manufacturers and exporters. My dress was shipped with 2 BM dresses and 1 veil, and not a lot wrinkle at all on the three dresses. If you hang yours straight, it will get straigten over time.

Quote: Originally Posted by Lindobride14 Hi Linhy, good to see my date twin back ! :-) How has all your planning been going? Anything new to tell us about? In other news, I just did some damage at the BCBG outlet store tonight! I was looking around the store for a dress to wear to the rehearsal dinner when I spotted a really pretty dress on the rack. Now, it wasn't LOVE at first sight, but when I put this dress on, let me tell you, it was like va-va-voom, you couldn't tell me I was not dead sexy! It's a short, clingy dress in a bright aqua/robin's egg color. It has a really pretty low beaded neckline -- def sexier than I planned for our rehearsal dinner, but what the hell! If not at my wedding, then when else, right?! (to quote the salesgirl) I will have to bust out the tripod and snap some pics to post :-) Hahaha..you can show us your bathroom in case your tripod doesn't want to work! BCBG always got nice dresses, some not WOW on the rack, but hard to put it back on the rack after you tried them on....heehee

Quote: Originally Posted by Linhy wow Bonnie!! like the picture!! where did you get this taken at? Oh I missed you! The pics were taken in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

cjb0arder13, You are not weird! In fact, I always find Serenity doesn't deserve Darien! He is too good for her! mouhahaha Rosie, Yeah..Totoro and Laputa are classic movies! Vistaprint is so addictive, I haven't order anything from them yet..but very very tempting. Murmel, Thx for your kind compliments. LOL, I knew I was alone doing the tripod thingy while FI was away...kekeke.

Crystal, very nice dress! It is perfect for beach wedding! I love the way it flows, it feels so light.

Quote: Originally Posted by Melaina Yeah, I'm too chicken to purchase a dress online (heck, I'm even nervous about buying my BM's dresses online!). It was just such a huge eye-opener to see that the same dress was available for the fraction of what I paid. I'd love to see what one of those knock-offs really look like.... Sigh. Melaina, When u try on the dress, u would know if it is the ONE! Don't second guess! I did my own drawings, so I knew that is what I want. I tried on so many dresses, and they were a bit weird, maybe they were too big for me. Some knock-offs are very bad. Asymetric bust, pin marks, weird proportion and scarce beadings ( I ve seen it on different websites and on this forum). Some are very nice with nice imported materials and true to the original, my guess is that the dressmaker did get the original pattern of the original Maggie or Pronovias/LaSposa/San Patrick dress since these brands are..manufactured in China.

Quote: Originally Posted by jszy10 ooooh ladies those links scare me!!! A maggie for less than $400.. that spells disaster!! Be careful of deep discounted dresses!!!! They are NOT true designer dresses, they are mock-ups and almost never match the dress design OR quality!! This is your wedding dress ladies, not the place in the budget to cut corners :oP well well well, I ve seen a real 100% authentic Maggie in Hong Kong for $200USD...fyi, all Maggie and most of the Pronovias are made in china (Amsale, Vera Wang, Monique Thuiller are 100% made in USA), so you can find them in HK for much much less. Of course, if $1000 can buy the insurance for sleeping in peace, it is a decent price to pay. I believe it is the girl who makes the dress, not the dress that makes the girl. As long as it fits perfectly, and it makes the bride feels beautiful, then it is the perfect dress (designer or not designer).

Quote: Originally Posted by Eden Hello, everyone.. Thank you for posting your experiences with Gianinar! I was skeptical about them after I read so many bad reviews about Weddingo, Peridress, and such, but I'm happy to see that Gianinar is the real thing. Anyway, are there any other eBay sellers that are trusted and inexpensive? I saw a couple people mention Cloudshow, and say that apparently they're a bit quicker. When I order my dress (I have well over a year before my wedding, so it'll be awhile), I'll only have a drawing for reference, so I'm still a little worried. I had a drawing, plus some pics to show the details that I want to the dressmaker. If you wanna work with ur own vision, you need to be very clear and precise, otherwise ...they may not come up with smth you like/want.

My sister said my dress looks like the Sailormoon dress without sleeves! No wonder I love it, I was a big Sailor Moon's fan!