Wholesale Wedding Dresses from China
The gap between a $120 gown and a $300 gown from the same district is usually one thing: labor hours in the beadwork and the lace. A heavily beaded bodice can carry 50-200 hours of hand work, and factories cut that number quietly when buyers push the unit price down, first by gluing beads instead of sewing them, then by swapping French lace for a domestic copy that photographs similarly and feels cheaper in hand. The gown still looks right in the carton photo. It does not survive a fitting room.
The second buyer-side mistake is treating sizing as the factory’s problem. Wedding gowns are built to a size chart, and every factory’s chart differs. Order against a generic US size 8 and you will receive a gown that fits a different 8, because grade rules vary between workshops. Made-to-measure solves this, and the process is cheap relative to what it protects.
Select Trade has worked with bridal workshops in Suzhou’s Huqiu district and evening-wear factories in Chaozhou for five years, including lace verification and pre-shipment checks on beaded lines. Below is the cluster geography, the realistic price bands, and how the customization process actually runs.
Where the factories are
Two districts dominate, with different specialties.
| Cluster | City | Strengths | Typical MOQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huqiu wedding dress town | Suzhou, Jiangsu | Wedding gowns at every price tier, lace work, made-to-measure workshops, the largest bridal cluster in China | 1 pc made-to-order, 20-50 pcs stock |
| Chaozhou evening wear belt | Chaozhou, Guangdong | Evening gowns, heavy hand beadwork and embroidery, cheongsam-influenced detailing | 1 pc made-to-order, 30-50 pcs stock |
| Guangzhou bridal row | Guangzhou, Guangdong | Fast sample runs, e-commerce bridal, mix-and-match separates | 10-30 pcs |
| Chaozhou lace mills | Chaozhou, Guangdong | Domestic lace production feeding both clusters | By the roll |
Send made-to-measure work to Huqiu or Chaozhou; buy stock gowns for online resale where the price tier matters more than the fit. The industries page maps our other category clusters.
Price ranges you should expect
Indicative ex-works bands; beadwork density and lace origin drive most of the spread.
| Product type | Factory price range | MOQ | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock wedding gown, simple | $60-140 per pc | 20-50 pcs | 20-30 days |
| Lace wedding gown, semi-custom | $120-250 per pc | 10-30 pcs | 30-40 days |
| Heavily beaded gown | $180-450 per pc | 1-20 pcs | 40-60 days |
| Made-to-measure gown | $150-400 per pc | 1 pc | 30-45 days |
| Evening dress, beaded | $40-120 per pc | 30-50 pcs | 25-40 days |
Fabric markets move with cotton, silk and lace import costs, so confirm each style against a live quotation before you publish retail prices.
Price the beadwork by counting it, not by feeling it
Ask the factory to quote beadwork as hours per panel or beads per square decimeter, and to state whether beads are sewn or glued. Sewn seed beadwork survives wear and dry cleaning; glued beadwork sheds in the box. Run a shake test at inspection: ten firm shakes over a white sheet tells you what the customer’s first wear will look like.
Run the made-to-measure process in this order
First, get the factory’s measurement sheet, a serious one lists 15-25 points including hollow-to-hem, and fill it with a professional tailor rather than a tape measure at home. Second, pay for a fit sample in cheap fabric (usually $30-60 extra) before the lace version is cut. Third, confirm the grade rules if you plan repeated sizes. The whole process adds one to two weeks and prevents the return scenario that costs far more.
Name the lace in the purchase order
Lace substitution is the most common way a confirmed sample becomes a disappointing bulk order. Specify lace type and origin (for example French lace versus domestic soft tulle lace) in the PO, keep a signed swatch from the approved sample, and check the bulk against the swatch at mid-production, when there is still time to stop the line.
Quality risks specific to this category
Bead loss in transit (insist on individual garment bags and tissue padding, not folded-at-the-bodice bulk cartons), missing or thin linings that show seam allowances through the skirt, boning that snaps or pokes, zippers that blow at the seam because a generic zipper replaced the specified one, and glue odor from over-fused appliques. Add a lining-presence check and a zipper pull test to pre-shipment inspection; both take minutes and both fail more often than buyers expect. The full sourcing walkthrough is in our wedding and evening dress guide, and our services page details the inspection stages included in a managed order.
Product lines in this category
One page per product we source here, with its own specifications, minimums and inspection points.
- Stock wedding gowns, simple: size sets in named fabrics, linings and zippers checked against the sample
- Lace wedding gowns, semi-custom: named lace types, pattern matching at the seams, applique density verified
- Heavily beaded gowns: motif density measured against the sample, bead shedding tested per lot
- Made-to-measure gowns: cut to the buyer’s measurement sheet, verified against it piece by piece
- Beaded evening dresses: bead density measured per panel, stretch seams and closures tested
Frequently asked questions
What measurements does a factory need for made-to-measure?
At minimum: bust, underbust, waist, hips, hollow-to-hem, shoulder width, sleeve length, bicep, back length and total height, taken with shoes on if the hem depends on heel height. A 15-25 point sheet filled by a tailor is the standard; two or three measurements taken at home produce refits.
What MOQ works for a bridal shop owner?
One made-to-measure gown per client order, or 20-50 pieces of stock styles if you run a boutique collection. Many shops start with 5-10 made-to-measure gowns for fittings plus a small stock line for walk-in sales.
How is beading quality checked before shipment?
Count bead density on a marked square against the approved sample, run the shake test over white paper, pull-test a sample of sewn beads, and inspect the inside of the bodice for knot security and thread tails. An AQL-style inspection with these four steps catches most beadwork problems.
Why is the second order of the same gown a different shade?
Tulle and lace dye lots vary between fabric rolls, and no factory holds fabric for your reorders unless the PO says so. Either reserve the fabric roll against future orders, or accept a tolerance in writing and tell customers that ivory varies slightly between gowns.
Get a live quotation
Select Trade is a Guangzhou-based sourcing agent with five years of category sourcing work behind these notes. Quotations are free. Our service fee starts at 5% of order value, and it covers supplier screening, sample coordination, factory audits, inline and pre-shipment inspection, and consolidation at our Guangzhou warehouse before container loading. Send your specification sheet, target price and destination market to vivianpi@gzstrade.com, or message WhatsApp +86 13202073761. You can also reach us through the contact page and we will reply within one business day.
Request a quotation
Tell us the product, the target quantity and the port you ship to. Our minimum order is 1 piece, and mixed models are welcome. We come back with factory options, real prices and MOQs within two business days.
