Wedding Dress Question...

EmilyL113 · April 2011

So speaking of SYTTD marathons, maybe some of you can help me on this since I'm not too far into my planning yet. What do you guys think is an average dress budget?? I started thinking about this last night when I was watching the marathon. Do most people spend around 5K, because that seems about average for the show, I think. I was really hoping I could stay under like $1500 ... is there anything decent out there for that price or am I gonna have to step it up?? I'm probably the only girl ever who has been engaged almost 5 months and hasn't even looked at dresses yet - LOL! I just don't even know what to expect and want to be realistic w/ my budget when I start looking around.

ms_teach · April 2011

I think you have to remember that the show is filmed at Kleinfield's in NYC and how that factors into the prices.

When I went dress shopping, I knew my parents were giving me $3,500 but I didn't want to spend all of that on my dress. My goal was to get out for $1,500 or less and use the difference on other wedding expenses. I ended up spending $1,000 including minimal alterations and love my dress.

There are several designers who carry less expensive dresses and I didn't have any trouble finding lots of dresses to pick from (Allure, Mori Lee, Alfred Angelo were a few I tried). And don't worry, I we got engaged in December and I didn't try on dresses until the summer.

tiffhiam · April 2011

My dress cost $600... If you want a famous designer dress than probably about that much. But I dont care if I wear a designer name as long as I love the dress and look fabulous in it!!!

waterous.m · April 2011

I think you can definately find something great for under $1500 no problem. My dress was $1200 plus alterations will be about $400. I set my budget at $1500 and everywhere I went had plenty of options in my price range.

EmilyL113 · April 2011

Couldn't agree more with ya girl! I could care less about the designer as long as I look FAB!

Thank you so much for the feedback. This is so refreshing to hear. I was starting to get worried!

sld0618 · April 2011

My dress was 660 and my veil was 89. I told myself the closest to 500, the better. But when I found my dress, I didn't care about the extra 160, it was worth it. I probably could have spent more, but I wanted to go the cheapest I could. So I started out going places saying 500 the max, then I would see what I could get, then go to another one and say another price, then when I found my dress, I was at 800. I'm a deal person, so saying my budget like that including the veil and tax helped with my sale.

Kayla&Brian412 · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://destination.weddings.com/Sites/weddings/Pages/main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_wedding-dress-question?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Theme BoardsForum:54Discussion:868ec00f-75f4-4a7a-866d-5b04b3fb3161Post:f19af793-39e6-4d9a-9361-5586746abf59">Re: Wedding Dress Question...</a>:
[QUOTE]My dress was 660 and my veil was 89. I told myself the closest to 500, the better. But when I found my dress, I didn't care about the extra 160, it was worth it. I probably could have spent more, but I wanted to go the cheapest I could. So I started out going places saying 500 the max, then I would see what I could get, then go to another one and say another price, then when I found my dress, I was at 800. I'm a deal person, so saying my budget like that including the veil and tax helped with my sale.
Posted by sld0618[/QUOTE]

I'm here! I didn't really want to spend more then $500, and felt that was a stretch for something I knew I'd wear for a few hours. Of course the designer dresses are amazing, but it just wasn't worth it to me. I paid for my own dress. I got it at Davids Bridal and fell in love with it. I tried on only 3 dresses, and the third one was it. I ordered it 2 weeks after getting engaged, no date or location set yet!

I paid about $449 (but lucked out because something ended up being jacked up with the DB credit card so in the end, I only paid $100 for the dress and the bag). This was perfect.

I think it all really depends on your budget, where you live, and exactly what you're looking for! I'm super cheap when it comes to clothes, I'm not someone to spend $50 on a pair of shoes even!

tiffhiam · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_wedding-dress-question?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Theme BoardsForum:54Discussion:868ec00f-75f4-4a7a-866d-5b04b3fb3161Post:37d19615-8562-4ce4-a28d-1109990cfd46">Re: Wedding Dress Question...</a>:
[QUOTE] This was perfect. I think it all really depends on your budget, where you live, and exactly what you're looking for! <strong> I'm super cheap when it comes to clothes, I'm not someone to spend $50 on a pair of shoes even!
</strong>Posted by Kayla&Brian412[/QUOTE]

This is me too!!!

breaness · April 2011

My dress was $499 and alterations won't be more than $100. Like PPs said, Alfred Angelo is a great place to shop and they have really beautiful dresses within your budget. That's where I got mine

And one of my friends got the Cinderella dress from the Disney line. I just LOVE the Disney line

sparklegirl84 · April 2011

Mine was from david's bridal and was $650 it was more than I wanted to spend but the dress fit well and looked the best out of the dozen i tried on. I'm really cheap (with everything) and didn't want to spend more than $200, lol..i was a little naive.

DenyseS · April 2011

When I started looking I was just looking at pics on the net and everything I liked ended up being dresses by ellas bridals. SO I looked up a place near me that carries them and went. I tried on 8 dresses (nothing was over 1500)...narrowed it down to 3 (all for under 1000), thought about it, went back to choose my dress and ended up with an AMAZING dress for 900. Luckily I need no alterations to it. Even 900 to me I had to kinda suck it up. I am just fairly cheap so even the 900 kinda scared me a bit lol. I would pass out if I spent 5k on a dress.

aukelly · April 2011

I set a budget of $500.00. I'm not sure FI really cared what I spent, within reason, but I felt that should be enough to get a nice dress. MIne is not a designer I'd heard of and it was 575.00 so only a little over. It also didn't need much altering and that was 50.00 so all in all I think I did good.

I think you should be able to find a great dress for 1500.00 or less.

ridgebackbride · April 2011

I am cheap.

I was looking at buying a white bridesmaid dress and going that route. I had heard that Jcrew was carrying dresses and fell in love with one from there. It was under $500, but that was still too much for me to pay for a dress that I was going to be wearing once, so I went poking around on eBay. Found my Jcrew dress, unworn with tags, for $100. Score.

There are great dresses out there, all price points. You just need to decide what you feel comfortable spending and go from there. I also love Watters dresses. I probably would have gone with one of their BM dresses had I not found my Jcrew one.

tiffhiam · April 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_wedding-dress-question?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Theme%20BoardsForum:54Discussion:868ec00f-75f4-4a7a-866d-5b04b3fb3161Post:7219be78-9b10-4f6a-a25e-63dfa343ac06">Re: Wedding Dress Question...</a>:
[QUOTE]I am cheap. =) I was looking at buying a white bridesmaid dress and going that route. I had heard that Jcrew was carrying dresses and fell in love with one from there. It was under $500, but that was still too much for me to pay for a dress that I was going to be wearing once, so I went poking around on eBay. <strong>Found my Jcrew dress, unworn with tags, for $100. Score.</strong> There are great dresses out there, all price points. You just need to decide what you feel comfortable spending and go from there. I also love Watters dresses. I probably would have gone with one of their BM dresses had I not found my Jcrew one.
Posted by ridgebackbride[/QUOTE]

<div>I was going to buy off of Ebay too but I couldnt find the dress I wanted on there or anything similar. But my dad ended up paying for my dress as a gift to me!!! Otherwise I wouldnt have even spend 600... I would have searched till I found one around 200!!!</div>

kimmykupcakes · April 2011

I wasn't really sure about a dress budget either. Originally, my mom was going to make my dress, but decided against it because I thought it would cause too much stress between us. I ended up going to a little shop in my area and told them $2000 was my top range because I wanted to be able to compare what there was in different price ranges. After trying on a few dresses I fell in love with how Maggie Sottero dresses fit. Seriously, amazing! Many of the other ladies on here will say the same! The bridal consultant started bringing me just Maggie dresses to try on after that. The three I had in narrowed down to where all Maggie dresses. One was just over $1000, one was just under $800 and the last one was just under $700. They were having a trunk sale while I was there so all dresses in the store were $75 off. I got the dress that was just under $700 so with the discount it ended up being $600. Since I'm tall, I did have to have 3 extra inches added to the dress for an additional $50 making the dress $650. I also pre-ordered my bra, under slip, storage fee and dress cleaning and preservation. All of it together was under $1000. I'll get the storage fee refunded when I pick up my dress as long as they don't have to hold on to it for more than 30 days. I love my dress and I'm really happy with everything else. Getting everything for under $1000 was great for me. Luckily, my mom will be doing any alterations I may need and make my veil, too. Alterations can cost a lot, so make sure you factor that in, too.

rmc353stl · April 2011

Just ordered mine, it was $1285, and with taxes and shipping came to about $1400. I think that with my custom alterations (I am changing the top from straight across to sweetheart) it will come to around $1500. That is $500 over what I wanted to spend, but I fell in love with it and had a dress "moment" when I tried it on. Plus I just used my tax return so I didn't really lose money. :-)

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