Venue and other factors

Senecaf

How much did your venue and other things like season and overall budget influence your dress decsision. For example wearing a $3000 dress for a 10k total wedding budget seems like a lot but if you love the dress do you buy it?

I'm not terribly fashion foward so I cant really figure out what would go well with my modern and urban venue. Think exposed ceilings and concrete floors. Warehouse style.

manateehugger

For budget, I think it really depends on your priorities. Though I personally would rather have an amazing venue than designer gown (our venue costs more than 3x what my dress did) because I think people tend to remember and appreciate setting and atmosphere more than the bride's dress. Same for food/drink. Our reception is about 80% of our budget.

I also realized when dress shopping that you don't have to spend $2000+ to find a well-made, beautiful gown. I think Say Yes to the Dress and other shows would like us to believe otherwise, but it's simply not true. 

I don't think you should stress overmuch about the dress fitting the venue. Find what makes you feel beautiful. If a dress suits you and your personality, it will suit your wedding. 

What kind of silhouette do you like best? Have you tried dresses on yet?

Maggie0829

I never considered my venue when shopping for my gown.  I bought what I loved and I really think that is the way you should do it.  No one is going to look at your dress and say "it is pretty but is so does not go with the venue."

As for budget, how much you spend really depends, as PDKH said, on your priorities.  If buying a $3000 dress meant that I couldn't host my guests as well as I would like to then I wouldn't be buying a $3000 dress.

emmyg65

I guess I kind of considered my venue, because I chose a less elaborate dress. But both the venue and the dress fit into the larger idea that I had for my wedding (casual, simple), so they naturally went together. Budget was more important. I spent way less on my dress than most websites would suggest, but I wanted to put more money toward photography. There are tons of dresses out there and you don't have to spend a lot to get something pretty. Plus, my husband bought a made-to-measure suit, so that ate most of our "attire" budget. It's also much more useful!

JennyColada

As I explained it: I don't want someone to look at my wedding as whole and think "that bride belongs at a different wedding!"

So yes, I did take it into account, but mainly because as a whole I enjoy casual and understaffed rather than huge and glamorous and in-your-face.

Maggie0829

Jennycolada said:

As I explained it: I don't want someone to look at my wedding as whole and think "that bride belongs at a different wedding!" So yes, I did take it into account, but mainly because as a whole I enjoy casual and understaffed rather than huge and glamorous and in-your-face.

But then you wouldn't be buying a huge elaborate ballgown if your tastes are more casual and understated just like you wouldn't book an ornate ballroom with crystal chandeliers and huge ceilings for your venue.

This is why I never understood taking your venue into account when buying your wedding dress. Typically you have a style you like and most times everything you pick for the wedding will fit in that style.  I mean if you like over the top things you certainly aren't going to buy a simple sheath wedding dress while you booked the Four Seasons as your venue.  While if you like more causal things you aren't going to buy a huge blinged out Pnina Tornai wedding dress and are having a beach side wedding.

Senecaf

I myself could never imagine spending $3000 on a dress I just wondered what others thought. I'm having a hard time narrowing down what I like. Chances are I won't spend over $500

Jennycolada said:

As I explained it: I don't want someone to look at my wedding as whole and think "that bride belongs at a different wedding!"

This was kind of my thought too. I don't want to look out of place or that I made my dress a priority over my guests.

@PDKH I tried on dresses sunday. I like most silhouettes not hard contrast mermaids but everything else pretty much.

manateehugger

Oh that's right! I forgot. How did it go? Liking most silhouettes was tricky - I was in the same boat. 

I agree with Maggie though; you can't really look like you belong at a different wedding, because it's YOUR wedding, you know? Presumably, the wedding will be your taste and so will your dress.

I will say though, there was one dress I tried on that was beautiful, but I could feel it wasn't right for the wedding. It was very ballgowny, and I'm not really a ballgown girl. 

Did you find any you didn't want to take off? Or one you felt like your body looked amazing in?

Senecaf

I didn't find anything I felt amazing in. They were all pretty! I don't like lace and sparkes. I'm pretty simple. I am afraid a ball gown may be too much for my venue so maybe an a line or trumpet. I don't want to settle but I also dont want to be the girl that tries on a millinon dresses looking for or the one. Im not be ure I belive in "the one"

doeydo

My budget is $1,500 for the dress and our wedding budget is about $10,000.  The majority of the budget will go to the venue (food, drink, etc.).  The other "big" things would be photography, flowers, and decor.  The season and stuff won't really influence my decision because it should be warm but not too hot around that time of year. 

Cookie Pusher

My venue played a part in picking my dress in that since I'm having a completely outdoor wedding in the summer, I didn't want a dress with a train or in a heavy fabric. I had set budget number in my head for the dress (other than "reasonable" and "I don't faint when I see the price tag"), but I fell in love with a dress on eBay that was under $100 so I got very lucky.

Maggie0829

Senecaf said:

I didn't find anything I felt amazing in. They were all pretty! I don't like lace and sparkes. I'm pretty simple. I am afraid a ball gown may be too much for my venue so maybe an a line or trumpet. I don't want to settle but I also dont want to be the girl that tries on a millinon dresses looking for or the one. Im not be ure I belive in "the one"

@Senecaf - did any of the shapes you tried on jump out at you?  Like did you like yourself in a ballgown or a trumpet shape more then say a mermaid of modified a-line?  I would start with finding a shape that looks good on your body and moving forward from there.

Also, there are many types of ballgowns.  There are the "heavy" and very embellished ballgowns but then you can also go with the "lighter" (chiffon/tulle) and more simple (no embellishment) ballgowns that may still work with your venue.

SmileDamnit

Cookie Pusher said: My venue played a part in picking my dress in that since I'm having a completely outdoor wedding in the summer, I didn't want a dress with a train or in a heavy fabric.  I definitely factored in venue & season (backyard, on a lake, in the summer) to help determine what I didn't want in a dress, much like @CookiePusher.

[Deleted User]

I would probably take the venue into consideration and the time of year. I had a late fall wedding in a church so I felt fine doing a satin ball gown. But had I had a summer wedding, I would have gone for a much lighter weight dress (probably similiar style, just different fabric) for my own comfort. I think season & temps is probably a bigger factor then venue location. OK, I probably wouldn't wear a huge princess gown with tons of tulle for a beach wedding, but that's me.

For cost, I figure out what was important to me and figure out how much I could afford to spend for different things (not easy to do) and I stuck to it. Unfortunately I didn't account room for alterations, but luckily my parents decided to gift me my dress so I ended up ok with the cost of the alterations.