The best places to rent designer wedding dresses online

published 21 August 2020

Wedding dress hire has never been so popular, especially so in recent months. This is due in no small parts to the pandemic, which has accelerated the trend for circular fashion as well as wanting to save money.

With fewer reasons to go out, customers would rather pay less to rent their designer clothes online, than spend on a dress they will only wear once or twice. The same goes for their weddings, even more so now that everything is being scaled back due to social distancing rules.

Even Princess Beatrice borrowed her Norman Hartnell wedding dress from her grandmother the Queen when she married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a secret ceremony at Windsor Castle last month.

MY WARDROBE HQ's CEO Jane Shepherdson explains that brides no longer want to spend hundreds or even thousands on wedding dresses, 'The world is changing, weddings have now been down-sized to small gatherings. Renting a gown will appeal to brides as it significantly reduces the cost of the overall wedding day.'

She adds, 'The wedding dress will become significantly more important to the bride. With less guests, brides will be looking for the best dresses for the wedding photos. With more consumers being more mindful to sustainability. The traditional marketing concept of investing thousands into a wedding dress for one day may have to change, brides may view this concept as outdated and not environmentally friendly.'

As well as being a cheaper way to wear a designer wedding dress, it also means you don't need to worry about dry cleaning costs, as this is all part of the rental charges. With this in mind, here are the best wedding dress hire websites for you to find your dream dress on.

MY WARDROBE HQ wedding dress hire

What: The rental and resale service now offers brides the chance to borrow a wedding gown and rent for the day from luxury bridal brands and bridesmaid dresses from Amanda Wakeley, Savannah Miller Anna Georgina and Charlie Brear.

How much: It varies per dress, but as an example, the Amanda Wakeley UMA dress normally costs £5,995 and can be hired for a daily rate of £89.50.

By Rotation wedding dress hire

What: Although not dedicated to wedding dresses, the rental app has added a line of wedding dresses to its offering. These include high street and designers styles from Ghost, Oleg Cassini, Madeline Gardner, Rosa Clara and Carolina Herrera.

How much: Around 5% of the retail price. For example, you can rent a £8,000 Carolina Herrera wedding dress for £375 a day.

The Bridal Gallery wedding dress hire

What: The Ealing-based bridal store is one of few that also offer wedding dresses for hire, meaning that if you fall in love with a dress there, you can probably hire it instead of buying it, for a fraction of the price. They have 100s to choose from, from traditional wedding dress designers.

How much: Prices are from £200-£800, which includes a £150 booking fee, and any alterations that may need to be made. Note that at the moment they run by appointment only.

Girl Meets Dress

What: If you're after a more glamourous dress, then you'll be pleased with the selection of red carpet style gowns embellished with sequins or lace, from the likes of Amanda Wakeley, Adrianna Papell, Marchesa Notte.

How much: From £59 per day for the cheaper wedding dresses.

Our Closet

What: Our Closet gives women the chance to rent designer wardrobes for a fraction of the cost, and this includes a small selection of couture wedding gowns, including a Maggie Soretto lace fishtail, Jenny Packham sequin dress and Martina Liana ballgown. You can also hire accessories such as Chanel clutch bags and crystal leaf slippers.

How much: From around £400 for a 4 day rental for a floor-length wedding dress.

HURR

What: HURR is a great platform for renting mid to high end designer dresses from the likes of Rejina Pyo, Ganni, RIXO and more. There are some lovely contemporary white gowns from the likes of TH&TH, Cecilie Bahnsen and Self-Portrait, which will look great on any bride.

How much: It depends on the item, but usually around 20% of the RRP, and the shortest rental is for 7 days. For both renters and lenders, HURR takes a 15% commission.

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.