Dress guilt?

hikebikebemerry

I got my dress on Saturday.  I was so happy with my decision, and I couldn't get this one dress out of my head- and the boutique did an amazing job with my sister's dress.  My mom had already told me that she would be putting $X toward the gown, and my sister gave me $Y toward the gown- and my FMIL paid the rest!  I am overwhelmed with how generous they were, and can't thank them enough.  Looking back, I'm shocked that I even spent that much on ONE DRESS.  

Did anyone else go through this?  If you did, how did you justify it to yourself? Oi!

Blergbot

I'm having a bit of photographer guilt, if it makes you feel any better. We are spending sooo much on photography!

hikebikebemerry

I'm starting to have everything guilt.  Especially because our guest list is expanding.  It's like... WHY ARE WE WILLINGLY PAYING $500 FOR CHEESE?!?!?!

@Blergbot- Justification for a higher priced photographer... http://youarenotaphotographer.com/

Blergbot

Hilarious. Agree about the cheese. WTF?

hikebikebemerry

Luckily I will be around for the cocktail hour, so I can really push people to eat ALL of the available cheese.

HikeBandit

Don't feel guilty. It's for your wedding, and you'll look back on this for the rest of your life as an absolutely amazing, amazing day! Every wedding you go to from now forward, you'll be comparing to your own and thinking, "My <cheese/wedding dress> was so much better..."

Senecaf

I feel the same and I have not purchased one yet. If they didn't want to spend the money they wouldn't have though. It clearly was perfect for you. That website is hilarious!

sder0320

I feel the same way! My brother and sister-in-law offered to pitch in a set amount for my dress. I fell in love with a dress that was WAY over what they offered to pitch it, but they saw how much I loved it and are paying for the entire thing. I feel almost selfish because I feel like that money could have gone towards something for the guests, like better food or such. Blah. But you've gotta remember that they did it willingly and that's what THEY want for you! It makes them happy to do that for you! You're not being selfish, but I totally can understand the guilt.

jenna8984

I paid for my own dress and went over my own budget haha. I don't feel guity because it's MY money but I could see feeling that if my mom had paid. When I chose the one a little over my budget I just kept telling myself "Do you really want to look back in 10, 25 years and say gee I wish I had spent that extra $500?" Like I'll end up spending/wasting the money anyways so might as well be on something amazing!

hikebikebemerry

Thanks, everyone! I do feel a bit better.

rakkaya87

I paid for my own dress and still feel guilty haha.. when you and FI are paying for every single detail of the wedding alone, every $1 makes you feel guilty!

JennyColada

I haven't yet bought my dress, but for what I'm looking for, all dresses seem right in my budget (the lower end even!). We'll see though...

We are having a tiny wedding (10 people), and I'd happily spend $500 on cheese. Mmmmm.

Dignity100

I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger on a dress because I do feel that there are other things I could be spending/saving for (like a new house).

cmiles89

I'll be the same way, I know it. I haven't started buying anything but I'm such a bargain shopper. And I'm scared my FI will just say, "Baby, buy it if you want, it's worth it" and suddenly the budget is scary blown...

Just remember they are adults, they know what they can afford and if they couldn't afford/were unwilling to spend that money, they wouldn't have offered. So thank them profusely, thank your lucky stars you have generous family, and keep on trucking with spending more money =P

hikebikebemerry

I think the dress is the first thing I haven't gotten on sale, in a long, long time.  The bargain hunter in the back of my head is like, "You could toooootally have searched around for a trunk show, or some other type of sale!!!".

We already have what we want to spend on the wedding saved up, so we won't be going into debt.  And it's really not going to be that lavish of an affair- but feeding/ providing drinks for that many people adds up.  My FMIL keeps saying, "You can't take the money to your grave"... so I'm just going to go with that.

ElcaB

The dress I'm most likely going to get is more than I ever wanted to pay, but I can't get it out of my head. Honestly though, no matter what I pay I'll feel guilty about spending it on something I will wear once. 

CaliMel11

I think it's okay! It's a wedding dress, it's special. If you genuinely LOVE and Adore your dress, then it's fine! You being happy in it will show in how you move and just are that day and it's super important.

I feel guilty spending how much I spent as well, but when I tell people they are like OMG you got a great deal, that's so cheap! But I feel like I splurged by getting the 3 veils to layer, the jewelry I got and the hairpiece/comb as well.

I feel this way about the whole wedding, but at the same time, we want everyone to have a great time.

kittypolishnbags

I feel that way for my dress. I was so excited that DB has several dresses below the $300 range and figured I'd stay in there. I went to the store and tried on 5 dresses, 2 I picked out and one my man and his mom did (they both saw it on the mannequin and thought I'd look good in it). I was thinking, oh great.....the one on the mannequin is not gonna be below $300! I ended up with that dress because it's the one that felt right and everyone said I looked best in. I was hesitatnt still with the $678 + tax price but my man offered to pay for it. Something clicked and I said no, it's fine. I'm waiting on it to come in now but never have I thought I'd spend that much on my wedding dress!

vmj23

I'm feeling big time guilt! I loove love love my dress its exactly what I pictured. I put it on and had to have it - but was double what i thought I'd spend. I paid for it myself but feel so guilty I spent so much for something ill wear for a few hours. But at the same time the other dresses I tried on, that where more in line with my target price didn't come close to comparing. At least well have our pictures to look at agree the dress is packed away!