Since around 2016, most stores have woken up to the fact that – hello – brides with budgets want to look gorgeous too! So, in case you didn’t know, here’s a list of 10 high street and online stores with wedding collections. This is just the tip of the iceberg. And also, even if some of the wedding collections aren’t located in Ireland, they still deliver to Ireland, either for free or for a tiny price (we checked them all). Ready? Enjoy!
Monsoon
They’ve had a wedding collection for a few years now, and if you’ve never shopped there or had the pleasure of owning something by Monsoon, then you’ll be positively surprised by their quality. The wedding section is right smack in the middle of the home page menu, and they get big kudos from us for that. They’ve got the bride, the bridesmaids, the mother-of-the-bride, the guests and the kids all covered, plus gorgeous accessories we are salivating over. Go have a browse.
Debenhams
A lovely large selection of every wedding essential is waiting at Debenhams, and it’s easy to find on their website too, as part of their main site menu, towards the right side. There’s an added convenience of shopping for all the key people for the wedding itself, plus honeymoon stuff and gifts too. You’ll find here one of the largest selections of bridal gowns, and all the most popular silhouettes. You can also book a free appointment with a personal shopper to take you around the store. Bonus!
French Connection
Dare we say, this is BHLDN’s more affordable little sister? The Wedding Collection was announced in 2017, and launched at the beginning of 2018. You’ll find the Wedding Shop under ‘woman’, and sections for bridal wear, bridesmaids and accessories. At the time of writing, the selection is small, but it covers literally every essential – simple, elaborate, short, long and there’s also a separates combo of lacy trousers and top (a trend that’s still going strong, a great alternative to a pantsuit). Also at the time of writing, the highest priced item cost €425 – a win for any small budget.
ASOS
The wedding section is slightly hidden on their website, but you can still get there in three clicks: first ‘women’, then ‘clothing’, and then ‘shop by occasion’ and wedding is the first option. You get a WHAMO of a result with over 2000 items, which you then have to narrow down by filtering, otherwise you’ll be scrolling through a mishmash of bridal dresses, bridesmaid dresses, shoes and accessories. But hey, that’s part of the fun, right? Again, we have to highlight the separates options here, because we’re fans of reducing the headache for the brides! Like the blue satin skirt you see above – you buy this and a simple top, the bridesmaids use some sparkly shoes they have, DONE!
H&M
The wedding section could be a little easier to find and better arranged, but once you find it, it has a lot of charming pieces. It’s listed under ‘ladies’, and then you have to look under ‘campaigns’ to find The Wedding Shop. When we browsed the site, there were no filters available, but the entire collection has only about 50 pieces, so it’s easy to scroll through them. While there are only three bridal gowns, there’s much more for bridesmaids, and even a few pieces for kids, with pink and blue dominating the selection in 2018. We saw quite a few pieces we loved.
Missguided.ie
We love that they make a little joke about their wedding collection, calling the page Missbrided! The wedding collection is mercifully easy to find towards the bottom of the main menu. When we browsed, there were seven wedding gowns and plenty more for bridesmaids, in total over 400 items (including shoes). This is a good place to shop for brides who have a budget, but aren’t very traditional.
Ted Baker London
Well, they’ve gone and launched a new section on their website called ‘Wedding: Tie the Knot‘. Just hover over ‘women’ and you’ll see it in the dropdown. The catchy slogan ‘get wed with Ted’ will stick in your mind while you browse, and there’s much to browse. Gowns, shoes, bridesmaids’ dresses, accessories… just over 200 products, all priced a little still friendly to small budgets, with not a single item over £1000. What caught our eye especially was the gorgeous fabrics. P.S. You can shop this gorgeous collection in Brown Thomas too!
Whistles
Their website says ‘made with the contemporary bride in mind’, and they sure deliver. Whistles have a solid wedding collection of 10 bridal gowns, and a few dozen bridesmaid gowns and dresses, plus essential accessories. In this 2018 collection, lace rules the look, and our particular favourite is a lace pantsuit with pockets! Pockets are everything. You’ll find all the dresses and other lovely things under ‘women’, where Whistles Wedding has its own section. Very nice indeed.
Coast
We love online stores who put their wedding section front and centre, and Coast is doing it right. They cover all the girls – the bride, her mother, the flower girls and the bridesmaids. They also threw in a honeymoon section for good measure, because hey, nothing is more efficient than shopping for everything at once. What we love most is the separates! There are quite a few fabulous jackets which are sleek and contemporary (psst, we’re showing you our fave above), just begging to be personalised with some fabulous touches. Go have a look.
Oasis
No bridal gowns, but bridesmaids’ gowns galore instead. You’ll find them all under ‘clothing’, then ‘shop by edit’ and look for ‘bridesmaids’. They say your girls will shine bright, and they sure will. In the 2018 collection, you’ll find all the super-flattering colours – a little pink, some peach, a gorgeous blue, plus some muted greys and blacks. There are shoes and bags to match everything, and even temporary tattoos and other fun stuff for a bit of humour. With this collection, none of your bridesmaids could possibly be grumpy about what they’re wearing.
