David's Bridal or go boutique?

ladyinthewhitedress · August 2015

I have a four girls coming in from out of town(ish) for the weekend to go BM dress shopping. Does anybody have expereience with David's Bridal? I have an appointment with another shop who says their dresses range between $135-400. The prices on the DB website look comparable but I'm not sure about the quality. I want nice dresses w/o asking my BMs to spend a fortune. It looks like we may have to be around $100-150?

Maggie0829 · August 2015

Well you should first ask your BMs what their budgets are individually. Their answers will probably help you to determine where to look for dresses.

The one very big upside about David's is that since it seems like your girls are from all over they can easily order at a local to them David's, rather then having to order at a boutique in your town. That way they don't have to worry about coming back to get the dress and such.

[Deleted User] · August 2015

My girls are all out of town, and they ordered theirs from Davids. I believe they were $120 each. David's also has a wide color selection. They told us the dresses would take a few months to get in, but they were there in two weeks. Make sure you make an appointment ahead of time. Ours will not allow you to shop without an appointment. I don't particularly like our David's as much because the customer service there isn't the greatest. I would think that it would be different and hopefully better at another location.

CMGragain · August 2015

Is there an Alfred Angelo's near you ? My daughter felt that their prices weren't much higher, and they had a great selection.
33% of brides in the USA buy from David's. They must be doing something right.

climbingsingle · August 2015

I've had to wear DB dresses a few times for a wedding. Honestly, each time I was really disappointed. They were a pain the ass to deal with, and the quality of the dress and the alterations were very poor.

[Deleted User] · August 2015

We ended up ordering from David's because it was within the price range of my girls and available all across the country (my girls are from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and California). We also ordered from David's for my sister's wedding because the prices were much better than the local boutique with similar styles. The quality also wasn't too different.

Sidenote: I also considered Alfred Angelo, but the sales associates at my local Alfred's were incredibly rude. I'm sure it's not like that everywhere, but that was my experience.

labro · August 2015

I'd definitely check out AA as well just as an option.

Have you considered just giving your girls a color/length/fabric and telling them they are free to pick out their own dress wherever? Ann Taylor has gorgeous bridesmaids dresses, so does Macy's, Nordstroms, and traditional wedding boutiques all across the country.

I have to say, I've worn both David's and bridesmaids dresses from other brands you find at a boutique and I like the boutique dresses a lot more than the DB dress. However, the DB dress was probably....$70 cheaper than the boutique dresses. The most important thing to take in to account first and foremost are your bridesmaids budgets, if they are ok with the $160 to $225 price range then you're probably safe with a boutique, but if it's in the $160 or less range, then I'd stick with AA or DB or with the choose your own dress in x color option.

lildropofsunshine · August 2015

I think on average Alfred Angelo dresses are a lot more. The one I'm wearing for my brother's wedding is well over $200!

hyechica81 · August 2015

my bm lived all over the place i went to a local salon where i had gotten my wedding gown, me and the in state maids went tried on dresses found one in the price range sent photos to the other maids everyone loved it plus everyone was very close in size so i knew it would look good on everyone. they got measured and called it in we did jasming L3001 long in sea glass

blabla89 · August 2015

DB dresses are okay. Just okay. Let's be real - your BMs are probably only going to wear these dresses once, so quality isn't a huge issue. Ask each BM individually what her budget is, and go with the lowest one.

If you don't want to ask your BMs to spend a lot of money, there are other options that are cheaper than DB. Target and New York & Company carry BM dresses online, or you could have them pick out whatever dresses they want in a certain color.

Knottie59783736 · August 2015

I know I have posted this before, but if you go with Pearlsplace.com or Netbride, you can get dresses for way less from good designers. Such as Bill Levkoff, Alfred Angelo, Dessy and others and they ship everywhere and they are way, way less money. Just a suggestion as I have been in a number of weddings that have used Pearl's Place and Netbride.

kvruns · August 2015

I'd care more about price than quality as a BM because I doubt I'm wearing it again (especially if we get matching dresses) and I'd much rather waste $100 at DB (especially since they often have $20 off coupons) than $200 at a boutique.

[Deleted User] · August 2015

My girls went to David's Bridal because for us, they had the biggest selection in the price range they were looking at. I also had told my girls that they could pick out any dress style they wanted as long as it was a specific color & long. They were all easily able to find dresses that they felt good in & the prices fit. Also they were great about getting the dresses in quickly. They were in within 2-3 weeks. Were I know some other brands can take several months. And if your girls are from out of town, once they know their size & the dress info, they can easily go online & order the dress to be shipped directly to them, making it easy to get alterations done. They are good quality. Now I will say this, once the girls settle on their dresses, before ordering them, have them go online to ebay & do a search for "David's Bridal Bridesmaid Dress and the color you picked" some of their styles and colors are very popular and can be found easily on e-bay for a fraction of the cost. The dress my girls picked out was $140.00, I got their sizes, went on e-bay and was able to get 3 out of four dresses for about $40.00 & then had them dry cleaned to make sure they were clean so for a total cost of $75.00 per dress, I got my girls dressed.

KnottieBride61710 · August 2015

First, talk to your bridesmaids about their budget. I have worn both David's Bridal bridesmaid gowns and boutique gowns and in ALL honesty the boutique gowns I've worn have been more comfortable and have a better overall fit. The brides also asked us how comfortable we would feel in the dresses they picked out. Not that you HAVE to go with what your bridal party wants but I found that to be extremely considerate of them for asking us before picking a gown. I have already picked my bridesmaids gowns for my girls who are all shapes and sizes and asked them how comfortable they would feel in that type of gown. Just an idea.

klk111415 · August 2015

I've worn bridesmaid dresses from both a boutique and DB. DB was way easier to order from and I like that they will allow you return the dress for a different size. I found the dress to be comfortable. I went with them for my bridesmaid dresses and found a beautiful full length that was perfect on all the different shapes and sizes of my girls and they LOVE it. I even have my MOH who found out she was pregnant after buying her dress and they have been nice enough to allow her to exchange the dress for a similar dress from their maternity options.

primafaba15 · August 2015

I'd also mention Alfred Angelo as an alternate option. They have a pretty wide range of prices -- the dresses my girls chose were closer to $200, but they advertise dresses as low as $75. My advice would be to ASK for those up front if you want to see them! They had a good selection of styles and colors, but we did run into some issues customer service wise with them. This was mostly around fitting time, so I'd recommend going somewhere else for that.

We went to DB right before AA. The price range you cited sounds about right. My associate at David's was really salesy and wasn't doing a good job of picking BM dresses that flattered everyone. I didn't get up close to too many of the BM dresses except the ones we got (I let my maids run the appointment and tried to step back), but the quality looked okay. It was just a matter of preference.

ladyinthewhitedress · August 2015

Thanks ladies! Looks like we're going with a girls trip to David's Bridal.

David's Bridal or go boutique?

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