Mail-order brides have never been in style, but mail-order brides’ gowns? That sounds like something the 21st-century woman can get behind. To that end, meet Floravere, described as “a new bridal brand offering luxury wedding dresses to your door.” So don’t worry about braving the pressures of a boutique or the madness of a mall — instead, just get your options sent straight to you without ever having to make an appointment, or for that matter, put on makeup.
Floravere promises to deliver “beautifully designed, thoughtfully constructed luxury wedding gowns that are made in the same New York ateliers as runway designer gowns,” but all cost less than $4,000. As founder Molly Kang told Fashionista, she was initially inspired to create a direct-to-consumer wedding gown solution after realizing how painful “saying yes to the dress” in any traditional capacity could be. “We were in our early 20s, the sales people were a little snooty, nothing had prices, it took us weeks to get an appointment and [the sales associate] wouldn’t even let us touch the dresses, like she was scared we were going to do something to them, clearly,” she said in an interview. “I just remember thinking, ‘This is a weird way to shop.'”
Decidedly less weird is Floravere’s model, which lets you order up to three samples in either an XS/S size or M/L size, all for $45 per dress. These costs will ultimately be returned if and when you make your final gown selection. Along with the dresses come “bridal-themed ‘goodies,'” as Fashionista describes so that you do not miss out on the shopping experience, even if it does take place mostly online.
Floravere can even customize your dress. As Kang noted, “We’ll put your initials or wedding date or whatever you want stitched in blue to the inside of the bodice of your dress.” Once you do pick ‘the one,’ you can expect the finished custom gown at your door in three to four months. And again, it’s for under $4,000.
“The prices we’re offering are essentially wholesale prices,” Kang said. “But I like to tell a lot of people, ‘It’s sample sale prices without the sample sale.'”
So if your big day is coming up but you want to avoid a big headache, Floravere may be worth a peek.