Reality of Wedding Dresses

leia1979

My dress budget was $600. My actual dress came to $550 with tax and shipping. I'll probably have to spend another $150 in alterations.

Shoes $100 (spent $97)
Jewelry $100 (spent about $40 so far)
Veil $0

I just really couldn't see spending $1k for something I'd wear for one day. I'd just rather use that money elsewhere.

On the plus side, I over budgeted for FI's tuxedo and shoes. He got a total of $300 ($200 for tux, $100 for shoes) and is spending $140. So overall, we should be under budget on attire.

PaigeMcC

I wanted to get it for under 1K.  Taxes in it was $560 and mom surprised me by paying for it at the last minute (I love you mom!!!!!).

TheMutleys

I got my dress as a sample for 1/4th the price (for a total $750.)  Thank you ebay and being sample size.  Alterations were $120. 

Since I found my dress as a steal and thought that I was going to have to pay full price, I got a 2nd dress as well.  That one was only $100 at BCBG outlet.

I also had two pairs of shoes for a total of $150.  Jewelry was about $100.  My mom made my veil and I am not sure how much the materials totaled.  I know the lace was very expensive but it matched my dress perfectly and was still less expensive than any cathedral length veils with alencon lace. 

About $1200 for 2 dress, 2 pairs of shoes, jewelry and alterations.  Not bad.    And it was all much less than my total dress budget. 

I will say that I do hope that a female in future generations wears my dress and/or veil.  I believe that I have a more classic style dress that is timeless. 

peekaboo2011

Lauren, right back at ya!

marleylikeair

I put up to $1K. That's if I buy a dress. And hopefully I'd find myself a sample sale. I'm all about finding deals.

I might not do that, though. I'm lucky enough to have a good friend who is a professional designer. She's offered to design and make a pattern for me when the time comes. How awesome is that?! She refuses to do the sewing, though, because she doesn't want any of her friends mad at her if something goes wrong. Haha. So if I go this route, I plan to take the pattern to my grandmother, who loves to sew things for her grandkids! I know she would love to sew my wedding dress.

I can see spending a fair amount on materials, though, and of course I'd want to do something really nice for both of them, gift-wise, to say thanks, so I wouldn't be surprised if I crept up around the $1K mark anyway. Hmm.

tafft1

When it came to the dress my husband told me get what I wanted - I told him that was silly and if he wanted a budget I would stay under 1k - my plan was to stay WELL BELOW that - and I was so lucky with David's Bridal I did ! I got a clearance dress off the floor in my size amazingly enough ( 22W) for only 399. I actually have my MOH to thank because she saw it and I passed it but it turned out to be THE ONE

Dress - 399.00
Alterations to inclue corset back - 129.00
Veil -    189.00
Shoes - 39.99
Wedding Jewelry - 60.00 - for bracelt and necklace which I wear weekly.

Total : Still under 1k for EVERYTHING. It was well worth it for us and I am so happy we spent so little on this. I felt beautiful and amazing in my dress and I wore it for nearly 16 hours from getting ready until after the ceemony and recepton even to the casinos in Tahoe and Reno to celebrate. I got my money's worth I'm just so happy we were able to save on this so we had more money for food and photos - we still came under budget

k+nickers

I'm in love with a $5500 Priscilla of Boston dress...it's not going to happen, and ya know what...that's okay.  In the end I will still be married.

purplelace

My budget is $2000, but that is with everything included. My dress ended up being $950, and I haven't had alterations done yet or gotten a veil, but I'm sure that I'll be under budget for them all. Though I wish I could have gotten some awesome deals like other ladies here.

Goldlie11

Well, my mom gave me $800 for the dress.  The dress was $550 after taxes, before alterations.  I really don't have a clue about the cost of alterations.  To the best of my knowledge, not too much needs to be done to the dress.  So, I'm hoping it will be no more than $150.

katanne9

My budget was $500-800.

I spent:

Dress: $99
Veil: $75
Fascinator: $50
Shoes: $25
Jewelry: $50
Alterations: $400

FWIW, buying a cheaper dress was totally worth it. It opened up $$ for a lot of other things.

rickylee244

My budget was $2000 for the dress (including alterations), which my parents paid for, and we took care of the rest, which was a $200 budget. 

I would have loved to gone way below that, and I did go to davids bridal first, but for what I wanted (straps) thier 5 options were horrible on me, however this is how it went:

Dress - $2020 - including the $200 extra to order the top in a D cup rather than the standard size B
Alterations - $600 (set price no matter what need to be done) I was actually EXTREMELY happy for this, because it may have cost me more elsewhere - they had to completely reconstruct the top of the dress on top of the additional cup size because it was still too small for my boobs - I also had to get the waist taken in about 3 sizes + hem + bustle
Bra - $200 welcome to a 32G
Shoes - $100
Jewelry - $100

I wouldnt change a thing, I loved how I looked, I loved my dress and I have no regrets about it.  Had a settled for something that I didn't love just because it was cheaper I would have looked back with regret. 

SassyFlats

Dang, Ricky... you've got some serious boobs!