Your Guide To Buying A Mini Wedding Dress Online

We live in an era where online shopping is the norm. You can buy anything online, from groceries and clothes to vehicles or your wedding gown. With the rise of online shopping, we've also witnessed an increase in shady websites, scams, misrepresented goods, and other harmful practices. So when it comes to shopping for something as important as wedding attire, especially knowing you'll spend hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars, what do you do to protect yourself? We've got some things you should remember when buying a wedding gown online, our processes, and what to expect. Let's get into it!

Tips When Wedding Dress Shopping Online

Where possible, go direct to the maker: if you've seen a gown by one of the bridal industry giants like Berta, Pallas Couture, or a similar brand, buying directly from the maker will always be the safest bet for you, and there are a few reasons why:

• You'll be in direct contact with the customer care team at that brand, giving you a direct line should any issues arise in your gown shopping journey. This means you won't have to worry about dealing with a middle-man brand, store, or reseller. (There are exceptions to this rule, such as buying off a wedding dress platform designed for brides themselves to resell gowns, such as StillWhite)
• Buying your gown from a reputable source is always critical, and who is more trustworthy than the brand themselves?
• If you love a gown and love a brand for their creation, shopping directly with them puts money back into their brand to continue doing what you love about them for other brands in the future.

Always do your due diligence on the brand(s): Sometimes, unfortunately, things can be too good to be true. When it comes to online shopping, there are a lot of misleading brands, scams, fakes, and everything in between, but it's not all doom and gloom. There are some genuinely fantastic bridal brands with impeccable quality, great prices, and everything you might be dreaming of that sell their garments online for brides worldwide. The trick, then, is to find the right one.

If you find a brand that has a dress you adore, take some time to do your research. Start with their Google reviews, the 'Tagged Photos' section of their Instagram, Googling their business name to see what else pops up, reading through their Instagram comments, and anything else that may apply to that brand and its reputation with other brides. Usually, if a brand isn't above board, you'll find nothing (of any sort) that can be a worrying sign, or you'll see red flags pointing you toward people's experiences with the brand.

Always ask questions: if you need clarification on a brand or something relating to purchasing your mini wedding dress online, take some time to email or DM the brand with your questions or curiosities to help you along in your gown-shopping journey.

Before you start shopping for a second wedding dress, it's always a good idea to know what your main gown will be and to have your wedding aesthetic fleshed out in advance. Once you envision how your wedding will look and play out, you can shop for a mini that works with your concept. You might want a plain Mikado-style gown as your main dress and a bling/glam vibe mini for your second dress to set a different tone between the wedding ceremony and reception. Or you might want to match the mini to your main dress and go for something that looks like you've cut your gown shorter, etc. 

The choices are infinite, so having a clear vision of what your other gown will look like and where both gowns will be worn will help you define what sort of second gown you'd like.

EUPHORIE STUDIOS: BUYING YOUR WEDDING DRESS ONLINE

As with all the tips we have for wedding dress shopping, we urge you to apply them to us, too:

• Ask questions.
• Review our past work for yourself to get an idea of the quality levels of our wedding gowns.
• Be sure you've found the dress you want before you commit any of your hard-earned money.

How can I trust you if I cannot try the gown on?

We are always open to questions, concerns, and complex projects. This is a valid question every bride should consider, no matter where they shop. With an unmatched commitment to quality, the Euphorie product guarantee requires you to contact us before buying your bridal mini. There are a few reasons for this, including;

• Confirmation of size: a team member will take you through our size guide and work with you to determine your ideal size. If you've recently had measurements taken for your main wedding dress or have chosen a specific size, we can also work with you to apply those to our size guide to find the best possible size option. This also includes the potential of opting for a 'split size'*
• To ensure you've had time to make an informed financial decision: sometimes we see things, and we think we want them, we hit that 'buy now' button and then start to regret our purchase because maybe we saw another item from that online store we hadn't seen before. Once your order is processed, our team goes to work cutting out fabric and hand-sewing your gown. To avoid being locked into a gown you cannot return without time to think about it, allowing time for our customer care team to get in touch lets you make a truly informed financial decision.
• To bring back the human element: Buying your wedding gown or bridal mini dress is a huge decision. It's a piece of a much larger, life-changing moment: your wedding, and with you inviting us to be part of that by wearing our designs, it's only fitting that you're helped through the process by an actual human, a member of our team, operating from our studio right here in Brisbane.

*a split-size gown is when you may, for example, measure a size 12 up top but a ten on the bottom, or vice versa. This allows you to order your bridal mini closer to your body's true size, reducing the cost and extent of possible alterations you might need.

The Process: Euphorie Studios Mini Dresses

Knowing how our process works is essential if you've considered buying a bridal mini from our team here at Euphorie Studios. As a paying customer, it's your right to have transparent insight into how things work and where your gown is made.

Step1: Contact

After you've contacted us, a member of our customer care team will respond to you as soon as possible to answer any questions or concerns you may have. As we mentioned previously, we do require purchases to be made after contact has been made to ensure you get the right size and choose the dress you genuinely want without fear or regret.

Step2: Creation

After you've confirmed your gown with us and made payment, your project is sent into production at our Brisbane studio. The team member who processes your order with you will take that order into the workroom here and ensure the team members involved in your dress have all of the relevant info, such as sizing or any special requests you may have discussed with the team.

Step3: Quality Check + Order Sent

After your dress has been handcrafted, it is thoroughly checked by 3 team members, separately from each other. While it may seem overkill to have three individuals check a gown, our commitment to perfection and couture quality means we want to be sure everything is sent out smoothly, maintaining our 100% customer satisfaction rate.

After your gown has been checked, it is sent out via AusPost Express and on its way to you!

Frequently Asked Questions: Get All Of The Info

You might have so many questions about mini wedding dresses if you're shopping around for one online, so we've compiled some of the common questions we hear from brides when they're on the gown-buying journey.

Are short wedding dresses popular?

Short wedding dresses are the most significant bridal trend for 2023 and beyond. From Sofia Ritchie to Kourtney Kardashian, plus many Euphorie brides, short wedding dresses have become increasingly more in demand as the year progresses.

One beautiful thing about short wedding dresses is they typically have much less turn-around time to be crafted, so even if you've already organised your main wedding dress, there's likely still plenty of time to get a second dress for your wedding.

How short is too short for a dress?

The general rule of thumb for everyone's dress length is that it should be no more than two inches, or roughly 5cm, above the knee. Some say anything past that 5cm mark may be too short for a wedding.

Are short dresses okay for weddings?

As a guest at a wedding, short dresses or minis are appropriate if the wedding theme is casual, cocktail, or something semi-formal. However, if the wedding theme is white tie, black tie, or formal dress code, ditch the mini and go for a floor-length dress to stay safe.

Short Wedding Dresses: What Our Brides Say About Them

"I wore the Nikita dress by Euphorie Studios to my hen party and then wore the 'Trish' dress at my wedding reception, so I can tell you with double the passion that you need a short wedding dress or two. I loved my designer short wedding dress for my hens; it made me feel like 'the bride,' or in plain terms, the center of attention, which I wanted most. Not to brag, but it's my day, after all.

As far as my wedding reception goes, I wanted a short wedding dress that was fun, playful, and flirty, so I went with the Trish dress at the last minute. (Literally!! I opted for it a week before my custom wedding dress pick-up appointment with Euphorie, and they came in clutch with a huge favour by rush-making the dress for me. Ty again, team!!)

Having a dress-change moment and going from something very modest to playful and sexy set the tone for a night of drinks, dancing, and laughter with my gals at the reception."

• Jana Whitley

"I knew from the day I started my wedding planning journey that I wanted to have three looks; 

The 'getting ready' look, with a robe, some slippers, and my PJs—I'd seen many brides do this on Pinterest when searching for inspo for a friend's wedding long before mine. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I just felt like it was such a cute, memorable thing to do, and I went into my wedding under the mantra of 'Take everything to the maximum and make it perfect; you'll only do this once!' So, I wanted my wedding morning to be as unique as any other aspect.

For the second look, it was my main wedding dress, an iconic part of every wedding day.

But my third option was a lot of fun because I wanted a party dress for my wedding reception. I wanted it to be a short dress, and I wanted it to be super beaded and sparkly because I went with a plain, subtle wedding dress to match the aesthetic of our ceremony. I went with the 'Lucy' mini, which was everything I wanted. When I went from my Mariana Hardwick gown during my wedding ceremony to the 'Lucy' by Euphorie at my wedding reception, I felt like I was changing modes, I was going from romantic wedding, to glitzy party, and that's what I was looking for from the start!"

• Wendy Ngo