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bridesmaid dresses

Allison8879Allison8879 member
10 Comments
in Illinois-Chicago
where did everyone get their bridesmaid dresses? i am having the hardest time finding a starting point. i don't want to ask them to spend a ton of money on the dresses (hoping under $200, less if possible...) and my bridesmaids range from size zero / petite to larger and busty. i was hoping to find a brand/store that carries the same dress color and material but different styles. any help would be so appreciated!! also i'm in chicago (as are 2 of 4 bms, the others are out of state) - so ideally the store would be downtown.
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Re: bridesmaid dresses

  • SeaAggieAlliSeaAggieAlli member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011

    I was part of an out of state wedding and David's Bridal worked out really well.  We were designated a certain color and dress had to be long.  There were about 6 or 7 of us brides maids and I think only 2 girls had the same dress.  We were all relatively the same size so not sure there. Price was ok (can't remember exact number).


    I was also a BM in another wedding and we went dress shopping at the malls.  though this was a very inexpensive wedding and we pretty much wore dresses you would wear to a high school dance but that saved money big time.

    Hope this gives you a good starting point.  Good luck

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  • MrsPapsMrsPaps member
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    2nd rec for Davids. They have some really cute stuff now. My bmaids are in 2 states and range from a 2 to an 18...my girls have the same material and color but could pick the dress of their choice. all are under $140.

    Another place is JCrew, but they go up to size 16 so that depends on your bigger gal.
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  • mscramuzzomscramuzzo member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Find a designer you like. Many bridal shops carry the same designers and dresses. I have BMs in 3 states and me in another. I really like Bill Levkoff dresses, so I looked online. Then I used the designer's website to get the stores that carried the dress and let my girls known so they could see the dress and try it on, etc. I did do the leg work to call the places to make sure they had the dress, so if you don't want to do all that work, David's Bridal is probably your best bet. That was the first place we looked but nothing knocked my socks off.
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  • ltlavacltlavac
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Got mine at Ala'mour in Barrington, a 40 minute trek from the city but they had way better selection than David's in my opinion and I bought my dress at David's. Our were $150 which I thought was pretty reasonable :)
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  • MrsMLRBMrsMLRB
    1000 Comments Third Anniversary
    edited December 2011
    We got ours from Target. They didn't have as big a selection as Davids or a bridal salon but all the dresses were under $50.
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  • beautifulnryanbeautifulnryan
    500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    We went to House of Brides to look at dresses, but we ended up buying the dresses on their online site.  For some reason, it was cheaper that way.  The dress I picked out for my girls were $180+, but online, they were $140+.  

    Oh and on a weird note...their online prices could be different on each computer.  Two of my friends got $140+ while me and the rest of my bridesmaids were getting $163; we ordered off my friend's computer to get the cheaper price. 
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  • aimers1525aimers1525 member
    2500 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    We got ours at Bella Bridesmaid: http://www.bellabridesmaid.com/

     It's on Oak St. and Rush St. I think? The great thing about Bella Bridesmaid is that they have boutiques across the country so the two girls that live out of state were able to get fitted and try on dresses at different boutiques, but just faxed their orders to the Chicago store.  The dresses we got are by Lula Kate:

    http://lulakate.com/

    With all the dresses each girl can choose a different skirt style/neckline. Two of my girls chose one dress, and the two others each picked different ones. The styles are so cute and one of the girls already plans on wearing hers again to a different wedding :)  The dresses are a little pricey--$275 each I think, but if you have more BM'm than me (I have four), you receive a bigger discount.

    ETA: I felt bad about my girls paying more than $200, so I covered the difference.
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  • WinterWed17WinterWed17 member
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    For my best friend's wedding, we all bought our dresses from Nordstrom's dress department (not the wedding department).
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  • PenelopeSnuzPenelopeSnuz
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011
    I went through JCrew.  I have a horrible time fitting into bridesmaid dresses....I'm tall, and have boobs too big for my body, and JCrew dresses fit like normal dresses.

    They are fully returnable and exchangeable, made with quality fabric, and are in classic styles.

    I have 9 bridesmaids, and all but 2 of them chose different styles.  They all love their dresses because they got to choose what looks best on them.  They have been raving about how much they appreciated being able to exchange their dresses instead of spend money on alterations, and the dresses are of actual quality.

    They are around $200-250, but IMO you really get what you pay for here.  I had to pay for a HORRIBLE Bill Levkoff dress for a friends wedding that was made of the worst, cheap fabric.....it was $300, then another $150+ in alterations to fix it because bridal shops purposely order you sizes too large so you come to them for alterations.  It's insane.  HOB in Orland Park does this as well....but we didn't give them the business.
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  • lmg1115lmg1115 member
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_bridesmaid-dresses-4?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:4fa9d0a0-8b2e-4d67-8117-d5557ecb75b1Post:378f51ea-cef6-43a7-bbe1-695265e593b9">Re: bridesmaid dresses</a>:
    [QUOTE]Got mine at Ala'mour in Barrington, a 40 minute trek from the city but they had way better selection than David's in my opinion and I bought my dress at David's. Our were $150 which I thought was pretty reasonable :)
    Posted by ltlavac[/QUOTE]
    Me too! I also got my wedding dress there! Emme was my consultant and she NAILED the style i wanted within the first 3 dresses I tried on!
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  • lkeefnerlkeefner
    100 Comments
    edited December 2011

    I went to a few different bridal salons with my bms until they found a dress that they liked (my two OOT bms happened to be in town that weekend). The dress they liked is by Impression. They found it at HOB. I ended up searching the dress online to see if I could find it for less money. I came across Pearl's Place. It is in Loisiana but they will ship to you. I ened up getting their dressed for $110 each (which included shipping). That was $50+ less than anywhere I had found it here.

    Check out Pearl's Place before you buy your dresses anywhere else if you are looking to save your BMs some money
    www.pearlsplace.com

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  • aimers1525aimers1525 member
    2500 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_illinois-chicago_bridesmaid-dresses-4?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:72Discussion:4fa9d0a0-8b2e-4d67-8117-d5557ecb75b1Post:b1b06aea-815a-4469-94e8-7e5cbbe72e14">Re: bridesmaid dresses</a>:
    [QUOTE]I went through JCrew.  I have a horrible time fitting into bridesmaid dresses....I'm tall, and have boobs too big for my body, and JCrew dresses fit like normal dresses. They are fully returnable and exchangeable, made with quality fabric, and are in classic styles. I have 9 bridesmaids, and all but 2 of them chose different styles.  They all love their dresses because they got to choose what looks best on them.  They have been raving about how much they appreciated being able to exchange their dresses instead of spend money on alterations, and the dresses are of actual quality. They are around $200-250, but IMO you really get what you pay for here.  I<strong> had to pay for a HORRIBLE Bill Levkoff dress for a friends wedding that was made of the worst, cheap fabric</strong>.....it was $300, then another $150+ in alterations to fix it because<strong> bridal shops purposely order you sizes too large so you come to them for alterations.  It's insane.  HOB in Orland Park does this as wel</strong>l....but we didn't give them the business.
    Posted by PenelopeSnuz[/QUOTE]
    Ditto this! I had to get a Bill Levkoff dress from HOB in Orland. They convinced me I needed to get a size 18 (I'm normally a 12), so I had to pay extra for a larger size. Thankfully I went elsewhere for alterations, but then I had to have the dress taken in which cost me more $$
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  • joo6758joo6758 member
    Sixth Anniversary 10 Comments
    edited December 2011

    I got the most beautiful bridesmaid dresses for only $100! The store is called Belmont Boutique on the West side of Chicago at 5710 W. Belmont Ave. It's a bit of a hike, but it's a gem of a store will great dresses with extremly affordable prices. The dresses can come in any color and size. The owner of the store is a wonderful lady, and will most likely give you discounts if you're buying several dresses! Also, the store has a relationship with a tailor just down the street that will tailor the dress for $10-$20 bucks if need be. Good luck!

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  • HandBananaHandBanana member
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Comments
    edited December 2011
    My bridesmaids dresses are from Banana Republic.  I actually chose my colors based on the dress because I fell in love with it.




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  • SoonToBeMrsDiSoonToBeMrsDi
    10 Comments
    edited December 2011
    J Crew as well. They were so easy to work with.
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  • abcjppabcjpp member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I found ours through etsy.com
    I wanted convertible dresses that they could wear differently and again if they like and originally found the dress for 225(OUCH!) but my MOH found a designer that did them for 85! PM for details if you like.
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