Sample sales: What Brides Paid

What brides paid

Every row is one bride: what she paid for the gown, what the tailoring came to when she reported it, and the year.

What brides recommend it for

• Prices ran 200 to 2000 by style and the Privee collection was included; plenty of stock but sizes only 38-40. She bought a Desert collection 'Georgia' as a reception dress
• After an underwhelming David's appointment with an unhelpful stylist, she tried salon sample dresses and bought a $900 designer sample - best value for money in her view.
• Her local shops run these several times a year; gowns come off the rack so expect alterations, but the saving on designer styles is large. Many stores also price match.
• Took one friend instead of family, bought the first dress she tried on for $300 at the outlet, and uses it as proof that nobody needs a family entourage to pick a gown.
• Paid 800 for the shop sample and took it home the same day; saw a nearly 2000 gown at 100 for the same reason. Check for dirt and damage since dry cleaning is on you.
• No sales associates and no pressure, so she used it first to try every shape and fabric on the racks and work out what suited her before booking real appointments.
• Shopped bridal stores running 75 percent off events and paid around 700; says trying many styles changed which cuts she liked, but never try anything above budget
• Bought a brand-new 2026 satin A-line with pockets, lace straps and a long train off the rack for 699; the gown had arrived from the main store a week earlier
• On Hastings in Vancouver BC, all prices negotiable; sister store Lace Couture in New Westminster always has sales, and US buyers gain on the exchange rate.
• Sells discontinued samples from the parent salon at about a third of the original price; full try-on experience and she took the dress home the same day.

What brides warn about

• Went to last year's sample sale and saw many gowns by this designer under 1500; nearly bought one at 900 but left because the designer himself was pushy, though her stylist was excellent
• Bought off the rack at a sample sale in a size below her usual; the saving was real but she got a gown that is not the style she wanted and reads short at 5ft 9in
• As a plus-size bride in what a consultant called one of the most common sizes, she found thin stock and sample gowns still starting around $750, none she loved.
• Bought the Lucia gown at a sample sale and regretted it because she preferred the Duke; the dress is unworn and untailored and she is trying to pass it on.
• Much cheaper than full price, but expect tears, discolouration and sample wear; hers had a torn seam and looked new after dry cleaning and alterations.
• $1,300 for a gown that sells new near $3,500, with most of the rail at $800-900; alterations then pushed her past $2,000.
• Good price on a designer gown but it is roughly eight sizes too big and she was told to budget $500-$700 to bring it in.
• Discontinued sample at 650, but every sample was a size 8-10 and taking it to a 2 with new sleeves cost 700 on top.

How it compares

The median across every route in this dataset is $850, a bridal salon runs $1,900, and secondhand sits lower again. A shop is worth judging against the route it belongs to rather than against the whole market, which is what the where-to-buy page sets out.

Sources

Price reports on this page come from 6 public discussions where brides answered in their own words. Each comment that stated an amount became one row; notes are paraphrased, never quoted.