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Shopping for your wedding dress is a highlight of your wedding planning journey. Finding a bridal boutique near you is the first step in searching for your dream wedding dress. There are wedding dress shops all over the country that are dedicated to helping brides find their ideal outfit for the big day. Filter bridal shops by location, designer and more, here.

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Ellie Sanderson Bridal Boutique

Luxurious, relaxed and stylish wedding dresses for todays modern Bride in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

205 reviews

Oxfordshire, Woodstock

£1,950 - £4,750

Bridal Wear

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Ellie Sanderson Bridal Boutique

Luxurious, relaxed and stylish wedding dresses for the modern Bride in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

326 reviews

Buckinghamshire, Beaconsfield Old Town

£1,950 - £4,500

Bridal Wear

Sophie Grace Bridal

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Sophie Grace Bridal

Bridal Boutique situated in Berkshire.

227 reviews

Berkshire, Wokingham

£1,400 - £2,700

Bridal Wear

Ali

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Ali

Ali's experience and knowledge of the bridal industry allows her to provide expert advice on how you can find your perfect wedding dress.

Windsor & Eton Brides Bridal Wear in Berkshire

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Windsor & Eton Brides top Berkshire bridal wear shop

Our aim is for a bride to feel amazing & confident, Windsor & Eton Brides Berkshire

18 reviews

Berkshire, Eton

£1,100 - £3,000

Bridal Wear

Bicester Bridal Wedding Dress boutique Bicester Oxfordshire

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Bicester Bridal

Largest award-winning bridal boutiques in Bicester.

130 reviews

Oxfordshire, Bicester

£900 - £2,100

Bridal Wear

TDR Bridal Birmingham - The Dressing Rooms Bridal Wear in West Midlands

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TDR Bridal Birmingham - The Dressing Rooms

West Midlands Largest Bridal Boutique - Choose from 400+ wedding dress styles

364 reviews

West Midlands, Birmingham

£700 - £4,500

Bridal Wear

Dont forget to mention Guides for Brides
Boa Boutique wedding dress stockist for Adriana Alier, Rosa Clara, Alma Novia

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Boa Boutique - Platinum stockists for Alma Novia, Rosa Clara & more

Boa bridal boutique, now in Great Bookham, Surrey bridal shop

16 reviews

Surrey, Leatherhead

£980 - £3,500

Bridal Wear

Proposals of Witney

Exclusive Offer

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Proposals of Witney

Wide range of wedding dresses & bridesmaids dresses

222 reviews

Oxfordshire, Witney

£635 - £2,500

Bridal Wear

Butterfly Bridal Boutique Ltd, Bridal Wear in Oxfordshire

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Butterfly Bridal Boutique

Brides arrive as strangers & leave as friends

442 reviews

Oxfordshire, Bicester

£950 - £1,900

Bridal Wear

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Shopping for the wedding dress is a highlight of the planning process and our bridal boutiques are ready to help! Before you contact them, it is useful to gauge an idea of your perfect dress and have your wedding venue booked. This helps you know what style you are looking for. The trickiest part is knowing where to start when choosing your wedding dress. It is very important to work out your personal bridal style and then it will be easy from there.

Gather inspiration and read our essential guide to bridal wear to understand more about wedding dress styles, shapes and more. Once you've done your research and refined your ideal bridal style, you can consider wedding dress designers you may want to look into and decide on your budget for the outfit. This will help you to identify which bridal shops will be the best placed to help you.

You can also search for shoes, accessories and wedding jewellery to complete your bridal look. Bridal boutiques choose the next season's gowns that they'd like to feature in their collections at a trade exhibition in Harrogate. Wedding magazines report on the new styles which hit the catwalks every 6 months. This falls generally in September for Spring / Summer collections and March for Autumn / Winter looks, and arrives in wedding dress shops a few months after. So, if you are wanting the latest styles, ask your boutique when their latest wedding dresses will arrive in their boutiques.

Designer Wedding Dresses

Ever wondered what the term ‘designer' actually means? The majority of bridal boutiques will have a collection of wedding dresses made up from their own "in-house" designer and from a number of "famous name" designers. The more famous the name, the easier it is to sell the dress after the wedding.

There are around a dozen "big name" designers in Britain for whose bridal gowns you can expect to pay between £2000 and £6000 (and sometimes more). Each has their own unique style, so if you like one bridal gown from a particular designer you may find that their entire collection will appeal. Rather than using stockists these big designers tend to have their own boutiques selling just their own range or a few key names.

If you are considering selling a designer wedding dress after the wedding be prepared to part with it almost immediately. So, make sure you get it cleaned and checked over for damage before you list it on a second-hand wedding dress website or sell it to a shop that specialises in pre-loved gowns. It is worth bearing in mind, designer gowns lose value as soon as they are no longer this season's design, so time is of the essence when it comes to selling them on.

'Off the peg' Wedding Dresses

The majority of bridal gowns bought in the UK are classed as "off the peg" - these are the wedding gowns that you might have seen in a bridal magazine along with a list of stockists, or at a local or chain bridal boutique.

You try on a sample of the gown in the shop; they take your measurements and order the most appropriate size for you which is then delivered to the bridal shop for alterations to fit your exact shape.

These boutiques often have a wide range of gowns available for you to choose from, so you will have the flexibility to try on many different styles and designers to find your ideal look.

Off the peg wedding dresses tend to range from £500 to £3500 depending on the designer, the fabric and the details.

Guides for Brides team member, Nikita Thorne, recently bought an off the peg gown for her wedding, here's her advice for fellow brides: “My biggest tip for brides shopping for an off the peg gown is to keep an open mind, but visit the boutique knowing both your budget and the styles you like. This helps your stylist to match your style with a gown that is in your price range. It makes the process so much more efficient and enjoyable as it means every dress you try on is affordable to you as well as increasing your chances of finding the gown during that appointment”.

Made to Measure Bridal Gowns

If you are planning to have your gown made for you, it's still a good idea to spend some time trying on different styles to get an idea of what suits you. You never know, you might find the perfect dress with the perfect fit and can save yourself the time involved in a bespoke, made to measure dress.

Choosing from a picture or paper pattern won't give you a clear idea of what bridal gown actually looks good on you. However, remember that dress designs are protected by copyright law and you are not allowed to recreate an exact copy of someone else's wedding dress.

Think about combining different aspects of different wedding dresses, perhaps the neckline of one, the skirt of another and the train of a third. Allow at least six months for a wedding dress to be made, and check for last minute alteration costs in case your body changes shape before the wedding.

How to Shop For a Wedding Dress on a Tight Budget

It is absolutely possible to find cheap wedding dresses these days! If you are looking for sale opportunities or the opportunity to get a really good deal on your wedding dress, January is also a great time to pick up a cheap bridal gown sample. At this time of the year, the last season's stock is put into a Sale to clear space for the new styles.

You can also find bridal boutiques that specialise in pre-loved or second-hand wedding dresses, which is a really great option if you want to save money, as the majority of these dresses have only been worn once and have been professionally cleaned to so often look brand new.

Wedding Dress Samples

At the end of each season bridal shops tend to sell the end-of-line samples at discounted prices. Any discontinued lines will be included in these sales along with popular designs that have become too marked or damaged. Don't expect to find a spotless sample of a popular design though; the popular dresses aren't discontinued and the samples will be kept until they are too damaged to use.

If you choose to buy a sample then be sure to thoroughly check that you are happy to accept any damage it may have sustained while being tried on in the shop.

Do not go to sample sales if you want the full "bridal boutique" experience. The gowns tend to be sold at cost price and there is no profit margin for sales consultants to spend hours with you. It is usual to have to pay for and collect the dress on the day you purchase it.

Top tip: If you are shopping for sample gowns, be prepared for higher than average alterations costs. Sometimes, brides need to pick up a sample that is a couple of sizes larger or smaller than their own, which will require more significant alterations. Remember, it's harder to make a dress bigger than making a dress smaller, so sizing up is more sensible than sizing down.

Second-hand Wedding Dresses

There are several sites where it is possible to buy once-worn dresses. Generally they are designer gowns and you have the confidence that you are buying from a business with a reputation to consider, not an individual, so the gown will be exactly as advertised.

If you are feeling brave then you might like to bid for a dress on one of the online auction sites such as Still White. Some of the dresses have never been worn, and may be a style that you have tried on in a bridal boutique but can't quite afford. The named designers sell best - largely for that reason.

If you are planning to sell your gown on eBay or a similar site, prepare the listing before your wedding day so that it is ready to upload straight after the wedding. You may need to add photos, if for example the dress has got a bit damaged.

This is a great way to find a designer dress at a bargain price but if the dress has been altered, pay attention to the height and shape of the bride who is selling the dress! It may have started out as a standard size 12, but then had several inches taken off the hem or waist.

Wedding Accessories

You may have found the perfect dress, but it is how you frame your dress that makes it special. There are many different types and styles of wedding accessories to choose from but be patient. It is worth the wait and finding something which complements your dress beautifully then rushing in and buying the first pair of shoes you try on!

Bridal Boutique FAQs

We recommend starting to shop for your wedding dress around 12 months before the big day. Going shopping around a year before the wedding is also a good idea as you’ll be shopping in the same season as your wedding. Designer wedding dresses can take up to six months to be ordered and arrive into the bridal boutique, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time. If you’re getting married in 6 months or less, then you can always buy a wedding dress off the peg and take it away that day.

Many people recommend taking your mother or bridesmaids, but the key is to take someone whose opinion you trust. While tradition dictates that your partner isn’t supposed to see the wedding dress, if you want your fiance’s opinion on the bridal gown, there’s no rule saying you can’t bring them! Another top tip is to keep your entourage small, otherwise you’ll be overwhelmed with opinions and may feel too confused to make a decision. Bridal boutiques tend to advise 2 people as being the perfect number with 4 being suggested as the most you should bring to avoid opinion overload.

If you’re ordering a wedding dress from the designer (as most brides do), then you’ll put down a deposit at your bridal boutique and then pay the remaining balance on collection from the bridal boutique. Often you can expect to pay up to 50% as a deposit, so be prepared for this when you’re wedding dress shopping! If you buy a sample gown, or off the rack, then you’ll pay for the wedding dress in full and take it away that day.

Before wedding dress shopping, we recommend spending some time on Pinterest to look at the different styles available, and to decide what styles, fabrics and silhouettes you like (and more importantly, what you don’t!). That way you’ll have a clearer idea of what you’re looking for in your bridal boutique. Once you’ve made an appointment, take a look at the designers and styles that your boutique stocks, so you have an idea of what sort of thing you’d like to try on there. Finally, make sure you have a rough idea of your wedding dress budget. The last thing you want to do is fall in love with a dress that’s far more expensive than you expect, as this will throw out your entire wedding budget.