Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading my last post about The Watering Can Flower Market, and before that, Cambridge Wedding Week and their annual bridal fashion show. I still can’t get over how much fun that fashion show was – it was so inspiring seeing all of the gorgeous designs from talented local designers and shops. Us Southern Ontario brides are lucky to have so many fabulous bridal boutiques right at our fingertips… but there are truly so many options that it can also feel a bit daunting! Add to that the general “mystique” (i.e. lack of transparency) in the wedding dress industry, and it’s easy to feel a bit like a fish out of water. So today, I thought I’d share my own dress shopping experience, in the hopes that it’s helpful to my fellow Toronto/Ontario brides-to-be! I’ll walk you through the seven (yes, seven!) local bridal boutiques I visited – and provide my honest reviews of each.
If you’ve never shopped for a wedding dress before, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed at how or where to start. That was me just a few months ago! There are a few key differences that make shopping for a wedding dress different than shopping for any other formal gown…
- You can’t just walk in. Unless you go to a more casual store like David’s Bridal, most bridal boutiques require you to book an appointment in advance.
- You might have to pay to shop. Some bridal stores charge an appointment fee (usually anywhere from $25-$50) to book a shopping session. Typically, they’ll credit it back if you end up ordering one of their dresses. It’s usually the higher-end boutiques that charge these fees, and they’ll often include little niceties like champagne, petits fours or even charcuterie boards! This may be a controversial opinion, but unless there’s a store you really want to visit, I just don’t think appointment fees are worth it. Finding your dream dress can be a process (hey, I visited seven shops!) and all those fees can add up quickly. Plus, you don’t want to feel pressured to pick a dress just because you paid a fee! The good news: none of the shops featured in this post charge appointment fees. My advice? Save your money, and once you find your dream dress, buy your own champagne and celebrate with your bridesmaids (plus, you won’t have to worry about spilling anything on a multi-thousand-dollar gown!)
- You’ll have a limited amount of time to shop. Unlike most clothing stores, who’d love customers to spend as long as possible browsing their collections, most bridal boutiques assign a specified time window to each appointment. The standard is 1 1/2 hours. It may sound long, but trust me, the time can go by really quickly! (Later on, I’ll share my best tips for making your appointment as efficient as possible.)
- You can’t just “browse the rack”. There are a few exceptions to this, but most bridal stores won’t just give you free reign in the store. They’ll show you a few options, ask questions about your style and budget, and pull a curated selection of options for you. Some shops won’t even let you touch the dresses! I’m the kind of person who scrolls through every single page of a website before making a purchase – I want to be sure I’ve seen absolutely everything – so this was easily the most frustrating part of dress shopping for this self-confessed control freak! But relax and learn to trust the process: your sales associate knows their dresses better than anyone else, and they know what they’re doing.
- There’s a lack of pricing transparency. Forget what I just said… this was definitely the most frustrating part of wedding dress shopping! In fact, it’s one of my least favourite parts of the entire wedding industry. I’m a big believer in pricing transparency, for the sake of customers and businesses alike (and I work in sales!) I know they have their reasons, but I can’t tell you how much wasted time would have been saved – on both sides – if vendors would simply provide their pricing upfront. (No more half-hour meetings with florists before learning their minimum spend is $10k… just saying!) Some bridal shops are very hush-hush about the prices of specific dresses, but it’s important that you’re both on the same page about budget. So before even booking an appointment, call or email the store and make sure they offer dresses in your price range. In full transparency: my budget was $1500-$2000, and while they varied in price range, every shop featured in this post had plenty of styles within my budget.
- Good things come to those who wait. Unless you go to an off-the-rack shop (like the fabulous Kiki McDonald Bridal) or shop a sample sale, you’ll usually have to wait several months between purchasing your dress and actually receiving it. The general rule of thumb is to order your dress at least 8-10 months before your wedding. Keep in mind that’s when you actually place the order, so you’ll want to start shopping sooner: 10-12 months before your wedding is the typical recommendation.
Now that you have a better idea of what to expect when wedding dress shopping, I’m going to share the seven bridal shops I visited – all located in or close to the Greater Toronto Area – and my reviews of each.
Location: Cambridge
Average Price Range: $800-$4000
If you read my post about Cambridge Wedding Week, you’re already familiar with Bridal Boutique and their stunning designs! Located in the historic Galt area of downtown Cambridge (very fitting for me!) they’ve been in business for over 18 years and offer bridal gowns, bridesmaid dresses, veils and accessories. They also provide in-house alterations. I really loved Bridal Boutique: it’s a gorgeous store with a large but well-curated selection. While I didn’t end up saying yes to the dress here, I was very close with that mermaid-style lace gown! Miranda was the sales associate who assisted me, and she was so sweet, down-to-earth and helpful. I had a great experience here!
Location: Cambridge
Average Price Range: $1000-$3500
Readers of my Cambridge Wedding Week post also saw some of Kiki’s gorgeous gowns! Kiki specializes in ethically-made, off-the-rack styles that make the dress shopping process so much easier. Instead of waiting months on end for your dress to arrive, you can take it home that same day! Kiki offers both new and pre-loved dresses, available in a broad range of sizes from 2-22. Kiki herself led my appointment, and she’s absolutely lovely! I had a great time chatting with her and trying on dresses in her charming historic boutique. If you want a dress you can fall in love with and take home right away, this is the store for you!
Locations: Kitchener, Mississauga, London & Windsor (I went to their Kitchener store)
Average Price Range: $500-$4000
Sophie’s is a more casual, laid-back bridal shop that also sells evening gowns, bridesmaid and prom dresses. Couple Sophie and John Stronski founded the shop in London in 1948, and over 75 years later, it’s still proudly family-owned and operated. The vibe is more department store than bougie bridal boutique, so if you’re looking for the white-glove, champagne-sipping experience, you won’t find it here – but they have lots of styles at really great prices!
This is a HUGE store with tons of dresses, which can be a blessing and a curse: great to have ample selection, but can also feel a bit daunting. Luckily, the sales associates at Sophie’s have a great knack for figuring out your style quickly and showing you dresses that fit the bill. Olivia helped me out, and she was wonderful. Sophie’s has a wide price range, but I tried on lots of beautiful dresses in the $1000-$1500 range. With such a huge selection, they’re bound to have something in your budget and style.
Location: Mississauga
Average Price Range: $1500-$5000
This shop is on the smaller side and has an intimate, boutique feel. They only have room to accommodate 2-3 brides at a time, so you’ll enjoy a more private and personalized experience. I went with my best friend (who was also on the hunt for her own wedding dress) and our moms, and we had the entire place to ourselves, which was so nice! While Lavande’s dresses range in price from $1500-$5000, the majority are between $2000-$3000. They also offer huge discounts on off-the-rack dresses – as much as 70% off! The dressing rooms are beautiful and spacious, and the associates were very helpful.
The majority of styles at Lavande are more “princess-y” (think long trains, lots of sequins and lace, ballgown silhouettes, etc.) That wasn’t really my dress vibe, so I didn’t end up finding my dress here (even though there were a couple I really liked!) but if it’s yours, you should definitely check them out. Bonus points: if you find a dress you love that’s a little over budget, they do have some wiggle room on pricing, which isn’t the case everywhere.
Location: Waterdown (Hamilton)
Average Price Range: $1400-2600
This charming shop is easily one of the prettiest bridal boutiques I visited, both inside and out! It’s run by a mother-daughter team (Angie and the eponymous Michelle) who couldn’t be lovelier. Their selection is on the smaller side, but very well-curated, with beautiful yet affordable options. And as if their shop wasn’t cute enough, they also sell a line of doggie wedding dresses and tuxedos… how pawsitively adorable is that!?
Unfortunately I don’t have any try-on photos from this store – I came with a friend after a coffee date at nearby Peach Coffee Co., and we were in and out pretty quickly (admittedly, I also looked terrible that day and was rocking a wicked sunburn, so I wasn’t exactly in the photo-taking mood!) I tried on just a few dresses and they were lovely, but as you start your own dress shopping journey, you’ll quickly get a feel for which styles are “say yes to the dress” contenders, and which ones looked better on the mannequin! What I loved about Angie and Michelle is that they’re both super down-to-earth and honest: they only showed me dresses in my style and price range, and didn’t try to “sell” me on anything I didn’t immediately love. Honesty and transparency in the wedding industry? I’ll toast to that!
Locations: Etobicoke, Barrie & Hamilton (I visited the Etobicoke store)
Average Price Range: $899-$3999
Founded in 2005, this bridal store has three locations in the GTA, and is definitely the most affordable of all the stores I visited – I found several dresses around the $1000 price point! Now, I’ll be honest: if you’re expecting a bougie “boutique” experience, this isn’t the store for you. It feels more like going to a regular clothing store or a David’s Bridal (though you still have to make an appointment.) On the other hand, if you’re a bride who finds the “bridal boutique experience” intimidating or overwhelming (I won’t lie, I certainly did at times!) then Best For Bride may be the right choice for you.
It’s very casual, and it’s also the only store where I was “left to my own devices.” The sales associates will lead you in the right direction and may pull some items for you, but it’s really up to the customer to go through the racks and pull out their own dresses to try on. I will say, I thought I would enjoy that aspect more than I did (my mother can confirm, I always think I know best) but it actually just made me more overwhelmed! There were so many dresses, all wrapped in plastic and hard to see, and I had no idea where to start. Adding to the pressure was that their appointments are only 60 minutes long (the standard time is 90 minutes, which was the case for every other store on this list) and that doesn’t leave very much time to both find and try on dresses! Towards the end of my appointment, I started to feel very rushed, as the associates kept reminding me of the ticking clock.
Needless to say, I didn’t end up finding my dress here. The Best For Bride experience certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you’re looking for a more casual/DIY shopping trip, you may want to check it out! One thing I will say: their prices truly can’t be beat.
Location: Guelph
Average Price Range: $1200-$5000
Well, it took me seven different stops… but I finally said yes to the dress at Crème Couture! Located in the Old Quebec Street Shoppes in downtown Guelph, this gorgeous boutique provides the best of both worlds: it’s huge with an extensive selection of gowns, but it’s also a very personalized experience. You’ll have a dedicated sales associate (shoutout to the wonderful Heather!) helping you every step of the way. Below are photos of some different styles I tried on here, but I’m not going to share photos of my actual dress – I’ll save that reveal for the wedding!
I know it sounds so cliché to say you’ll know when you find “the one”, but you really will. I knew because it was the first dress I tried on where I couldn’t think of anything I’d change. I’d tried on lots of beautiful dresses up until that point, but there was always something I didn’t love: the fabric was itchy, or it was too sparkly, or I loved the top but not the skirt or vice versa… but as soon as I put this dress on, I had my Cinderella moment – I knew it was perfectly “me”!
One thing to know about Crème Couture is that of all these stores, they’re definitely the most “protective” over their gowns. With the exception of Best For Bride, all the shops mentioned above follow a similar process: the dresses you’ll try on are mainly the ones pulled for you by the sales associate, but they’ll usually let you browse the racks a little and see if she missed anything you like. Then, they’ll place the dresses in your private fitting room and shut the door, you’ll step into the dress and zip it up partially, and your sales associate will come in to assist you with zipping it the rest of the way and clipping it to fit your body. At Crème Couture, it’s different: customers aren’t allowed to browse or touch any of the dresses on their own, and you won’t be in the fitting room alone: you go in and undress first, then your sales associate will come in with the dress and fully put it on for you. Of course, they’re super discreet and professional about it (they do this all day every day!) and I’m no prude, but it’s definitely a different experience and something to know before booking an appointment – or at the very least, to be mentally prepared for!
My favourite thing about Crème Couture, and Heather in particular: out of all the stores I visited, she had the best knack for knowing exactly which styles I loved and would look good in. And she found me my dream dress in less than an hour… so clearly she’s great at what she does!
The day I came back to place my order and officially said “yes to the dress”!
If you’re a GTA bride shopping for your own wedding dress, I hope this post was helpful! If you have questions about any of these shops, feel free to leave a comment or email me privately – I’d be happy to provide my honest feedback and tips. And if you’re reading this and starting to feel overwhelmed by the entire process: A) I get it, and B) don’t worry, because next week, I’m going to do another post with absolutely everything I learned during my own dress shopping experience, and share all my best tips to help my fellow brides out. Until then, thanks for reading and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend!
Leave a Reply