ethicalweddings.com

One day back in April, a couple of months after that eventful day my partner and I decided to get married, I found myself bidding on a pink vintage dress on Ebay to wear at a friend’s wedding.

A bit broke and stuck for ideas, E-bay was really a last resort. Despite being a fervent charity shop rummager, I’d never before bought clothes on E-bay. However, when the dress arrived in the post, I was overjoyed. It fitted perfectly, was in great condition and, best of all, the chances of someone else wearing the same dress at the wedding are minimal (I’m careful now since a friend told me the horror story of when she turned up to a wedding in the same Coast outfit as another wedding-goer).

My dress - made by a well-known 70s high street store - still looks as good as it did back then and I was the happy recipient of lots of compliments on the day of the wedding.

Give a wedding dress a second chance

After my friend’s wedding, I casually started browsing E-bay to look at wedding dresses for my big day in 2009. Again, keen to save money if I can, I also loved the idea of giving someone’s dress another go - a new chance to shine, rather than creating a new once only to be hidden away in a cupboard somewhere.

Naturally there are 1,000s of bridal dresses on E-bay, many of which are shipped from Hong Kong and China. There were still plenty to choose from in the UK from brides who wanted to pass on their dress to a new owner. I did start to ponder why they came to the decision to sell, and some even told me it could be bad luck to buy off someone whose marriage ended in tears.

Staying open minded, I spotted a dress that I liked and got excited by its very low bidding (£50). I joined the bidding war only to lose at the last minute. The dress went for £150. Still a bargain in comparison to the usual hundreds or even thousands of pounds brides fork out for their dress.

Finding ‘the one’

A bit disheartened by the defeat, I continued browsing the dresses until I spotted another one. I almost fell off my chair when I read that the bride originally paid £3000 for the Italian-designed dress she bought for her wedding. It was made with pure silk and gorgeous lace and no one had taken up the starting bid of £200. Looking at the dress in finer detail only made me love it even more. And finally I took the plunge and placed my bid by which point the auction was coming to an end. The confirmation email told me that I was the new proud owner of a wedding dress!

All manner of emotions kicked in, none of which I could share with my husband to be. Instead I called my mum in a bit of a panic - what if it’s a hoax?! What if it doesn’t fit?! Luckily I calmed down and decided to send the seller an email trying hard to hide my concerns. Her reply was reassuring as she wished me well with her dress which had helped make her day memorable. She was pleased it was going to an excited new owner.

The big day! (the dress arrives…)

After a week or so the dress arrived in the post. Apparently Royal Mail refused to send it in its large original box, so the seller had to repackage, so it eventually arrived in a bin liner! Not quite the entrance it deserved, but exciting nonetheless.

I pulled the dress out and tentatively tried it on when H2B was out at work. It fitted like a glove! The relief was immense. And it’s a truly beautiful dress. It needs a bit of an iron after its encounter with the postal service, and needs to be taken up a little, but other than that, I can’t wait to wear it next year!

TOP TIPS for buying a bridal dress on E-Bay

• look for dresses shipped from the UK (not Asia which aren’t always second hand)
• always ask the seller questions to be sure you’re getting what’s described
• ask for detailed measurements - and don’t forget to measure yourself first!
• remember that many brides have a reserve price, so it may take a few goes at bidding before you hit this
• ask if there are any marks from where it’s dragged on the ground
• remember that if it doesn’t fit, you can always resell