Melbourne Bride Wedding Expo Jun 2010 and Brides of Melbourne Bridal Gown Sale

Bride Magazine organises the Melbourne Bride Wedding Expo once a year around the 3rd week of June. The event runs for two days at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Having won a pair of tickets from a facebook competition, it was such a bonus to go in free last week on Sat the 19th of Jun. Cousin Kayla and Ammie joined us as well - just to see what a wedding expo was all about.

We actually attend their expo back in 2007 as well when I was still working for Victorian American Imports - a car conversion company which imports amercian vehicles and converts them to right-hand drive. It was just early browsing that time and more research of the hummers used as wedding transport. But this time we had a better reason for going! ;)

Here are some snaps from that day:

The rest of the photos can be found at
http://picasaweb.google.com/melchenyi/MelbourneBrideWeddingExpoJun2010#

We found that there were less retailers as compared to the Ultimate Bridal Event expo which we attended last month and some of them were those that we had already visited at the other event. They also had Fashion parades from Bridal Retailers in Melbourne, showcasing bridal gowns and men's suits.

There were however, have a few more retailers that were more specific to Melbourne and those that weren't too high end. One exquisite worth mentioning was the Sisko decorative chocolate displays. And I also liked it that the Photo Booth company were there for people to take some crazy shots! But if you're really looking for an expo with lots more retailers and cheaper by $5, Australia Bridal Service's Ultimate Bridal Event seems the better one.

Yesterday, Darling and I also popped by Melbourne's GPO in the morning for the Brides of Melbourne Bridal Gown Sale. I knew right before hand that this shop's pricing were more on the higher end, but I just wanted to check it out anyway.

Some snaps from the shop exterior:

I didn't really have a good impression of this bridal shop. Firstly, you were made to line up and take a ticket before they let you in. And then you were assigned an assistant which gave you only like 15 minutes to pick a few gowns to try on. Can you tell me how can someone made such an important decision in such a short time frame?! It was like they expected huge crowds to flock in and grab all their gowns on sale and so only gave you about half and hour there including trying and picking out your gown.

I would never make such an important decision and spend a few thousand dollars in an impulse. Even on sale, their gowns were at least $1000 and above. And so as you can guess, in normal periods, gown prices are about $2000 and above. And photo-taking wasn't allowed too. So how can you go home and ponder about whether the gown suits you? As much as I didn't really like this shop, I hate that I actually found a gown design that I like on their website. Let's hoping I have some luck with a similar design somewhere else. :p

Gown Try-outs: Spurling Bridal (Glen Waverley) and Raffaele Ciuca (Brunswick)

Since the Spurling and Ferrari Bridal Sale went for a week, I decided to quickly make a dash to the Spurling Bridal, Glen Waverley branch on Monday to see if they had anything worth looking at during lunch time. It was such a rush but I did managed to try on about 3-4 gowns that were on sale.

The shop assistant here was also friendly and much nicer. They also had more variety, in my size. I still didn't get into an impulsive buy. I did however found one which I kept in mind for the actual day. But it's not posted up here just in case I do decide to get it, I don't want to show it until the actual day itself. ;)

White strapless gown with small flower embroidery on top right and flowing organza covering from waist down. Price: $400	Simple white halter-neck gown with embroidery around neck, small diamonte in centre and front split. Price: $350
I almost bought this gown for the pre-shoot actually. If it wasn't that it was a little too tight at the stomach area! It's white with sort of a blue-ish feel to it with its blue embroidery.	Back view of the gown on the left. It actually fitted quite nicely at a size 8 - just crimps a bit at the stomach area arggh! I love the overlapping puffs at the train. Price: $500.

Shop name: Raffaele Ciuca
Branch: Brunswick
Website: http://www.raffaeleciuca.com.au/

This bridal and formal wear shop was also having a mid-year 1-day sale. I was initially hesistant and lazy to go because one, it was on a Sunday and two, the shop was all the way in Brunswick.

But the thought of not checking out a sale changed my mind and nice Ammie came along with me again this time. We saw this asian girl there who was getting married in a month's time and was there to buy a gown there and then.

And guess what, she took the only two gowns that I really liked - in my size, and I didn't even get to try one of them cause she bought it! The shop assistant recommended others but I didn't like them and prices here were really more upmarket! Even on sale they were more that $1000!

Ivory coloured gown with ruffle designs on chest and some shiny embroidery around. Made of quality silk material and yet another size too big for me.	Back view of gown on left. It was too big and they used this big pegs to clip the back so you can see how it looks like fitted. Price: Can't quite remember, think it was over $1800.

Photo taking at this shop were a "no-no". And so I only managed to get Ammie to snap a couple of pics when the girl wasn't around. They really catered more for brides who want expensive couture gowns! I don't think I'll ever check them out again! :s