If you’re a bride on the hunt for your dream dress or for the right gowns for your bridal party, deciding where to shop is one of the most important decisions you can make.
Whether you’re on a tight budget or are simply thrifty, chances are you’ve considered both David’s Bridal and Azazie. But which one is right for you?
If you need some help deciding between these two bridal behemoths, our guide can help. From convenience and price to styles and color selection, we have the low-down on both of these popular bridal retailers.
David’s Bridal vs Azazie: How to Decide Between Them When Shopping for a Wedding Dress
David’s Bridal and Azazie are both well-known retailers in the bridal realm. Great for any bride on a budget, both companies offer an array of styles and prices.
With that in mind, we’ve broken down each company into five sections to help you decide which retailer will best suit your individual needs.
Azazie Convenience
While it has no brick and mortar stores to frequent, this online company offers a program that enables brides to order up to three gowns to try on from the comfort of their own homes.
You can keep the dresses for one week from the date of delivery and then return them using the prepaid label included in your box. After returning the dresses, you can order more to try on or order your final dress.
At $15 per dress, the cost of the at-home try on program isn’t prohibitive, but it’s only available in its entirety to U.S. residents. Select styles are also available to Canadian customers.
David’s Bridal Convenience
As the largest bridal-store chain in the United States, David’s Bridal boasts 298 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. With so many stores, it’s not hard to find a shop near you.
While you can simply drop by, we recommend scheduling an appointment ahead of time. By making an appointment, you receive the undivided attention of a bridal expert for one hour to 90 minutes, depending on the location.
Your bridal expert will help you find a gown that suits your figure and coloring and will be able to take your measurements to determine the best size for you.
If you don’t want to go into a store, or live too far away to make a trip worthwhile, you can set up a virtual appointment with a stylist via Zoom.
Azazie Prices
Azazie’s prices typically range from $175 to just over $1,000. The average dress costs between $350 and $600.
David’s Bridal Prices
At David’s Bridal, you can get short dresses for just over $100. Traditional wedding dresses, however, start around $170 and can cost as much as $2,500 or more. The average dress costs $400-$500.
Azazie Style Selection
Azazie allows you to shop by silhouette, length, neckline, strap or sleeve style, and even fabric.
The site has a healthy selection of a-line, mermaid and trumpet style gowns, a moderate number of ball gowns and a small selection of tea-length dresses and sheaths. There are also a few jumpsuits and short dresses.
David’s Bridal Style Selection
Just like its competitor, the David’s Bridal site enables brides to search for dresses based on silhouette, length, neckline and strap or sleeve style.
David’s Bridal has an extensive selection of sheaths and a-line gowns and a smaller but still sizable number of mermaid, trumpet and ball gowns to choose from. It also has a small selection of bridal separates and jumpsuits.
Azazie Color Selection
Azazie has a wide selection of traditional wedding colors —white, cream, ivory and champagne — but also has some selections in light blue, blush, pink, lilac and black.
David’s Bridal Color Selection
Most dresses are available in white, beige and ivory but you can also find dresses in pink, grey, black, red, blue and yellow if you want a less-traditional wedding dress.
Azazie Fit
The online retailer offers dresses in sizes 0-30 but also offers the options for a custom-fit gown.
Simply click on Azazie’s custom-fit option to add your bust, waist, hips and hollow (collar bones) to floor measurements. You will also be asked for your height in bare feet and if you require extra length to accommodate high heels.
If you’re worried about ordering a standard size, many brides rave about the custom size option. While a custom dress can’t be returned, if it doesn’t fit quite right, Azazie offers an alterations reimbursement.
Dresses $99 or less have a $35 reimbursement limit, dresses $100-$199 have a $50 reimbursement limit while dresses that cost more than $200 have a $75 limit.
David’s Bridal Fit
Available in sizes 0-30W, David’s bridal offers five different size charts: regular (size 0-14) and plus (size 16-30) for women who are 5’4 to 5’8 and petites regular (size 0-14) and plus (size 16-30) for women under 5’4. Tall sizing is available in sizes 0-30W and offers a longer skirt for brides 5’9 and above.
Based off of real women’s measurements, David’s Bridal size charts are some of the more realistic in the bridal industry. In most cases, brides won’t need to go up more than one dress size.
Azazie Quality
One of the best quality control services Azazie offers is its color swatch packs. Each swatch pack comes with a sample of every fabric — with the exception of lace — in the color you’ve chosen.
The swatches measure roughly 5×7 inches and cost $1-$2, depending on type. A swatch booklet can also be ordered for $5-$10.
Common fabrics used in Azazie dresses are lace, tulle, chiffon, crepe, mesh and stretch satin.
David’s Bridal Quality
David’s Bridal has five exclusive labels, each with its own look: Galina Signature, Melissa Sweet, Oleg Cassini, DB Studio and Fifteen Roses. The bridal retailer’s site boasts that each one of its wedding dresses takes up to 120 hours to craft by hand.
Polyester is a widely used fabric in David’s Bridal dresses as is tulle, chiffon, mesh, lace and charmeuse. Beading, appliques and other embellishments are used to make the gowns look higher-end despite the low price point.
Azazie Production
According to Azazie’s blog, its dresses are made-to-order and take approximately three to four weeks for production at its China warehouse. They must pass a quality control inspection before being shipped to Azazie’s California office. From there, your dress is shipped directly to you.
David’s Bridal Production
While the company is somewhat vague about where its dresses are made, at least half of its factories are in China.
How to Decide Between David’s Bridal and Azazie When Shopping for Bridesmaid Dresses
Finding the right gowns for your wedding party at the right price is almost as important as finding the perfect wedding dress. If you’re torn between Azazie and David’s Bridal, our breakdown of what each company has to offer can help.
In this part of the roundup, we’ll include convenience, price, style and color. Fit, quality and production of bridesmaid gowns is identical to the information we cited above for wedding dresses.
Azazie Convenience
If you opt to use the company’s at-home try on program mentioned above, you can order three bridesmaid dresses at a time for $10 per dress. You’ll have one week to try them on before returning them.
David’s Bridal Convenience
Whether you opt to shop in person or online, making an appointment with your nearest store’s bridal expert can be a huge help in choosing correct sizing and styles that work for each one of the ladies in your bridal party.
If you choose a Zoom appointment with a David’s Bridal stylist, you can share the link with all of your bridesmaids so they can be part of the 30-minute consultation.
Azazie Price
Azazie’s bridesmaid dresses start around $70 and can cost up to $220, although separates can be had for less. To shop according to your budget, you can use the price filter to set your maximum budget.
David’s Bridal Price
With some styles on sale for as low as $35, most dresses on the site can be had for $200 or less. David’s Bridal allows you to shop by price and also features a sale section of its best bargains.
Azazie Style Selection
Just like with its bridal dresses, you can shop by silhouette, length, neckline and strap or sleeve style to find the perfect bridesmaid frock. You can also use its filters to shop for maternity dresses, junior bridesmaid dresses and modest looks.
The retailer’s knee-length and above-the-knee options fall far short of its extensive long dress selection, however, so if you’re looking for a short dress you won’t have nearly as many choices.
David’s Bridal Style Selection
To help you narrow down your choices, the David’s Bridal site filters enable you to choose your preferred length as well as the neckline, strap and sleeve style. You can also choose if you’re looking for a romantic, modern, vintage, formal, sexy or glamorous dress to name a few.
Like Azazie, David’s Bridal has significantly more long dresses to choose from. It’s selection of short, midi and tea-length gowns is much more modest.
Azazie Color Selection
Azazie offers a rainbow of 70-plus colors to choose from. You can browse all colors or click on specific shades that pique your interest.
If you’re having a hard time settling on a hue, you have the option of ordering single color swatches for $2-$3 or a booklet for either $7 or $15 depending on the fabric.
David’s Bridal Color Selection
David’s Bridal has a wide-ranging selection of colors and under each color category, you can pick specific hues. Under green, for instance, you can choose from clover, dark green, dusty sage, emerald, forest, gem, juniper, olive, meadow, mint and teal blue.
The site also offers a color chart to help brides select the perfect palette for their big day. You can click on an actual color selection or the theme you’re going for. The ‘enchanted’ theme for instance brings up shades of blue, green, purple and burgundy while the ‘promise’ theme is soft pinks, mauves and beiges.
