Dress Shopping

Believeinlove817

Okay ladies. I've been engaged a week and we are getting married 9 MONTHS from today! I am looking for suggestions of bridal salons in the Chicago, northwest and western suburbs. I've heard of a few places in Elmhurst, A Joyful Occasion in Naperville, and one in Barrington. Also Saran Bridal in Park Ridge (my sister got her dress there).

I would really like to stay at $600 or under for the dress AND alterations. I also want a place that isn't going to be super pushy or screw up the alterations (I watched my sister-in-law get sewn into her dress on her wedding day when the zipper broke).

Any suggestions??

mbf124

check out wedding belles in barrington and white chicago.  Both sell once worn dresses so the prices are lower, but the quality is still good!

I know David's Bridal sometimes gets a bad rep on here, but I got a bridesmaid dress from them with absolutely no problems and the quality is great.  My friend bought her wedding gown there and said the same thing.  no issues at all.

ewenner

Congrats and welcome to the boards!  My budget was the same as yours, and what I ended up doing was trying on dresses at a variety of salons and then ordering the one I decided on from Pearls Place (a real store in Louisiana that does a large mail-order business).  As long as you know the exact designer, style number, and size that you need, it will save you a lot of money. 

Once my dress arrived, I took it to an independent seamstress for alterations.  Total cost for dress, shipping and alterations = $541!  And I was thrilled with it!  Best wishes to you!

AlannaF

I shopped at David's, but I admit I wasn't thrilled with the quality of all the dresses.  I did like the Oleg Cassini and Galina lines.

If you find a designer you like, and you don't mind a used dress, try preownedweddingdresses.com.  I found some great dresses on there.

I can also vouch for Pearl's Place, I used to live nearby and shopped there too.

princesscz

I loved The Crystal Bride in Geneva.  They weren't at all pushy and they worked in my price range.

nikikarabetsos

Shop around, you can't beat the service you'll get at a real store.. I STRONGLYYYY Discourage buying online ( I work for a bridal manufacturer and  we hear about nightmares from brides daily calling us thinking they are getting one of our authentic gowns that they bought online and end up with a dimestore version)

the people who have had luck online are very lucky,, its a big gamble!

Most stores can work with a $600 budget, there are bridal lines at all price points.. just do yourself a favor and go into a store.

charshman

I got my dress from Bridal Mansion in Lisle http://bridalmansionoflisle.com/ They have very affordable dresses. My dress was $650 and they charge less than $250 for alterations no matter what. Usually stores will want to order a size bigger just to be safe but then you are stuck with the alteration charges. I like this place because you know what you will pay right off the bat and they stay within your budget when looking at dresses. They also have all their dresses in the front of the store so you can look through the racks yourself as well as get recomendations from your dress consultant as well.

No matter where you go I would ask about alteration prices before you purchase the dress.