A few short weeks ago, I had the pleasure of getting to test out Berta Bridal’s new sister brand, Jolie. Jolie Bridal is an iteration of some of Berta’s best and most iconic designs, made slightly more affordable and accessible for luxury bridal lovers. So I sought to answer the question: How do these dresses compare when it comes to Berta’s signature style and quality? Spoiler alert: they’re good!
NYBFW 2019
Let’s start with the back story. I met Nir Moscovich, the business director behind Berta Bridal, in October 2019. At the time, I flew to New York from Miami to work as a showroom assistant for New York Bridal Fashion Week. It is a brief, yet extremely busy weekend where bridal shop buyers from around the country fly in to make their purchases for the upcoming season. As a showroom assistant, my job was to keep the models prepped at all times to show dresses at the buyer’s request.
While I had been familiar with Berta’s designs for years (my personal favorite has always been their Tuscany Collection from Spring 2015), I had yet to experience these gowns in person in any capacity. In coming to their SoHo showroom, I learned a few things:
- Their dresses are of immaculate quality
- The ball gowns are HEAVY
- God, I want one.
This is neither an exhaustive list nor a particularly descriptive one. That is because these gowns genuinely speak for themselves. They don’t need me to vouch for them in any way. The moment you see and feel one in person for yourself, you’ll be at a loss for words, too.
After this fabulous weekend, I never stopped wondering how I could work with Berta further, or potentially wear one of their gowns for my own wedding someday. The only problem is, many of these gowns start at around $6,000 and can go up to around $13,000. Between $8-10k is around the average price you’ll end up spending to snag one of these beauties for yourself.
What is Jolie Bridal?
While Berta has been wildly successful in catering to a market of women that can afford these dresses, that are many women, such as myself, that this simply isn’t feasible for. Enter: Jolie.
Jolie’s entire concept is that it is constructing replicas of many of their iconic designs, but at a more affordable price point than the traditional Berta line. I would like to clarify here that “affordable” is one of the most subjective words imaginable. Please let it be known that these prices will never compare to gowns at say, David’s Bridal. While David’s Bridal has an excellent and beautiful selection of gowns for nearly every bride’s need, Berta and Jolie are providing a product specifically geared towards a luxury audience. With that said, you can expect gowns from Jolie Bridal to run somewhere between $3,000-$5,000.
The At-Home Try-On
In August, I reached out to Nir via email asking if he would be willing to send me their at-home try-on box to try out for myself. Nir very graciously and generously sent me this box of 3 gowns to try on, free of charge. Please note: this review is in no way paid for/sponsored. All opinions are my own, and I did not get to keep these gowns in exchange for a review. Phew! Now that that’s out of the way, let me break down the program for you and how you can try on wedding dresses at home.
This at-home try-on program allows you to select 3 gowns of your choice from Jolie Bridal’s collection, and keep them at home for 3 days. The cost of this service is $300. Should you end falling in love with the wedding dress of your dreams and making a purchase, the $300 will be credited to the cost of your dress.
The Review of Jolie Bridal
The dresses that I selected to try on were the following: Style 21-J03, Style 21-J11, and Style 21-J12. My thought process in my selections was that these dresses varied widely enough that they would appeal to a variety of brides with different tastes and preferences. While still sticking to Berta’s signature look, of course.
The Package Arrives
The box arrived within a few short days, taped up securely in a branded box. If you plan to try this on with your fiancée at home, tell them to stay FAR AWAY from this package! (Ya know, unless you don’t mind)! Once you open the package, laying on top will be a folder with pertinent information, such as how to measure yourself, how to try on the dresses, and how to ship it back.
Beneath that are the crown jewels. I know you’ve been DYING to try on wedding dresses at home for a while now! Each dress is packed neatly in individual garment bags and hung on wooden hangers. The bags are white and a little sheer, so again, if you’re planning to keep this from your future spouse’s eyes, let it be known that the dresses are semi-visible from the outside of these garment bags.
Finally…the dresses!
Okay, NOW is the part we’ve all been waiting for: the actual dress review! In terms of quality, I thought these held up great. They did not feel cheaply made, and the designs were beautiful in person. I certainly didn’t feel catfished from the photos online. With the said, there are still some aspects that are not 100% perfect, so let’s get those out of the way first. Here are some basic things that you can expect from your Jolie Bridal dress:
- For dresses with glitter, they will shed. Not in any way that physically removes glitter from the dresses. Just expect to find glitter on your floors for a couple of days.
- The dresses may be sheer in some parts. Typically, you can add a lining of fabric to spots that you feel are showing a bit too much skin. These can easily be rectified by either the designer or, in the worst case, in alterations. So if you see the dress unlined in some parts – don’t freak out or rule it out as your potential dream dress!
- After a while, the unlined fabrics with glitter can feel a tad itchy. This certainly isn’t the end of the world and can also be fixed with a lining, but it’s nice to get a fair warning.
As I touched on at the beginning of this post, little nuances as I described above are simply to be expected. At the end of the day, you’re saving around $5,000 on a dress that’s near-identical to the original Berta design, while also knowing that you’re not buying a poorly made knock-off. In my personal opinion, the pros far outweigh the cons. And ultimately, I pinky promise you that no one at your wedding is going to think twice about it. I swear.
Closing Thoughts: Comparing Jolie Bridal with Berta
I love these dresses. Visually, they are incredibly similar to their Berta counterparts. And as far as practicality goes, these dresses look amazing, even if you’re not a model!
I have to say, getting to spend several days in these dresses filled me with a lot of joy, Not only because I hadn’t tried on dresses in about a year since leaving my job as a bridal stylist, but also because they were just. so. pretty. I swear it gave my boyfriend the butterflies a couple of times (Shoutout to him for being my photographer and not getting scared off LOL).
While I never officially tried on an original Berta, I spent a good amount of time looking at and feeling them. For the difference in price, I think you’re getting a perfect dupe! There are designs for every bride, whether your style is flirty, demure, romantic, or straight-up sexy.
The at-home try-on experience was also seamless and fun. Having instructions guiding brides on how to try on dresses, as well as how to measure their sizes, was a really welcome touch! For $300, I think it’s definitely worth it, especially if you’re confident that one of the dresses you saw online is ‘the one’!
Jolie Bridal is an excellent, affordable, and stunning alternative to Berta Bridal. If their collection interests you, do yourself a favor and order their try-on box to see for yourself!
Special thanks to Nir and the team at Berta for graciously allowing me to review their collection!
