Best Dress Shops for My Budget?

msjd2010 · April 2010

My mom is coming into town towards the end of May and wants to go dress shopping. I'm pretty flexible on where we go - DC, Baltimore or NoVa are all fine.

My mom wants the "bridal experience." I want to make sure that we go to stores that have a decent selection of dresses in our price range (under $2,000).

I'm thinking David's Bridal, and perhaps Betsy Robinson's (in Baltimore). Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks!

princesscorpio · April 2010

Bridal Images in Rockville. Ask for an appointment with Jeanie. The 2011 dresses have not come in yet. All of them will not be in this store until September because the owner just went to market in New York.

LindsMullinix · April 2010

If your willing to drive to bmore perhaps you would be willing to do frederick or hagerstown? TLC in frederick has tons in your price range - actually all of their dresses may fit that range, and I have heard tons of good things about them. I personally LOVED Potomac Bridal in Hagerstown - Thais is who I worked with and I loved her - total bridal experience, the big mirror, the pedistool, the whole 9 - and my appointment was 2 hours long, so there was no rushing etc. Definately worth the drive, and again - most of their dresses should be in your price range.

msjd2010 · April 2010

Thanks! Those all look like great options!

Hulz2000 · April 2010

I second A Formal Affair (and Jenny as the consultant)! I visited about 6 shops total, and A Formal Affair was by far the best experience and was where I ended up getting my dress.

emisi · April 2010

I got my dress at Distinctive Designs in Rockville. The service was fantastic, they have a ton of samples for sale, and they work really hard to get you what you want. I ordered my dress last month, to be WORN in June, and they're working to make sure it comes in with time to do alterations.

SwizzleStiX · April 2010

To be honest, I wouldn't waste your time at David's Bridal - you will NOT get the bridal experience AT ALL. Basically, you get what you pay for there - cheap dresses = sh!tty service.

VickyFlor · April 2010

There are two small shops that I visited and recommend. I had a great experience and found reasonably priced dresses. And, funny enough, both are owned by a mother and daughter.

1. Occasions House of Bridal (www.marylandgowns.com) carries Mori Lee, Casablanca and Helen Kenner. This was one of the first shops I visited because my planner wanted me to have a good experience (I told her that I was wary of snarky salons) and I did. Tasha was wonderful and super sweet. They allow pictures.

2. Annapolis Formal (www.annapolisformal.com) carries Watters, Wtoo, Paloma Blanca, Private Label. I worked with both Flavia and Caroline. They were great. Caroline found a dress that I wouldn't have picked on my own and it was cheaper than I had picked out for my own (can you tell that I am still thinking about it ). They also allow pictures and cracked me up when I asked about their policy ("you can find pictures on the internet...so why should we prevent you from taking a reference picture").

Good luck.

VickyFlor · April 2010

Oh, one more thing...based on my experience, forego Jeanette's Bridal in Manassas, VA.

We called ahead--were told they could take me (2 associates were available they said), drove forever to get there AND they almost didn't help me because in the 45 minutes since my call the two associates became occupied. That sounded fishy. I pushed on because I wasn't going to have my effort wasted. The service I received improved to almost adequate when they saw that I was serious, but I wouldn't recommend Jeanette's to anyone. Also, they don't allow pictures.

2dBride · April 2010

I can strongly recommend La Bella Bridal Boutique in Occoquan, VA. It is a small store--on each of our visits there, we were the only customers. The owner, Ellalyne, gave us her full attention. She was first-rate at picking out dresses and veils that would work for our sizes, ages, body types, etc. The have both consignment and new dresses, and keeping to under $2,000 would not be an issue.

dawnmhayden · April 2010

I would also second TLC in Frederick and Distinctive Designs in Rockville-they are both great salons that have different price ranges. Definitely make appointments before you go!

SwizzleStiX · April 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_dc_dress-shops-budget?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:57Discussion:873c8c9e-bc7b-4edb-8e16-c21a66c46587Post:d1487e76-0433-4e50-881d-b245d5262158">Re: Best Dress Shops for My Budget?</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh, one more thing...based on my experience, forego Jeanette's Bridal in Manassas, VA. We called ahead--were told they could take me (2 associates were available they said), drove forever to get there AND they almost didn't help me because in the 45 minutes since my call the two associates became occupied. That sounded fishy. I pushed on because I wasn't going to have my effort wasted. The service I received improved to almost adequate when they saw that I was serious, but I wouldn't recommend Jeanette's to anyone. Also, they don't allow pictures.
Posted by VickyFlor[/QUOTE]

I think Jeanette's went out of business some time last year. I had a similar experience there after being about a half hour late due to traffic. They were rude and refused to even let me into "the other room" because it was "clearly over my budget".

essian · April 2010

Try Rosalin's Bridal in Falls Church. They carry a lot of beautiful dresses in your price range.Good Luck and have fun shopping!

katemvirginia · April 2010

I loved my experience at TLC Bridal in Frederick MD. Penny helped me try on dresses & you can take pictures. It was a great experience compared to the other store I went to!

msjd2010 · April 2010

Thanks everyone! Now I just have to narrow down the list.

beachk · April 2010

i agree with everyone on tlc bridal in frederick - best dress shopping experience

kjane12 · April 2010

I'm going to say NO to Rosalin's Bridal. Their prices are good, but they don't deliver on their promises. My dress was due February. They forgot to order the dress, and now it's due in June.

undertheseabride · April 2010

I went to quite a few shops and have a whole list of where not to go. I got my gown at Blush in Gainesville, and, by far had the best experience there. They have a big selection of gowns under $2k.

razdazzle · April 2010

I had a good experience at Distinctive Designs in Rockville - went during the week so it was less crowded. All of the dresses I tried on were under 2K.

Bought my dress at Terri Lynn Bridal, it is under 2K. The dresses I tried on at Terri were a bit higher in price - no dress was above 3K.

Good luck, and have fun!

VickyFlor · April 2010

There is one more place I want to mention-- Chevy Chase Bridal. I went in this weekend for a Romona Keveza trunk show (still undecided about what I want). This was my second time visiting and it was fab. Leeza, the manager, is a sweetheart and believes in good customer service. The RK rep was cool. I could have just sat there and talked her to about life. The dresses I saw were over $2000 but under $3K (with the trunk show incentive). It is a small shop, but the people have been great, so I thought I would say something.

MRGJPK 2008 · April 2010

Hmmm....Such a difficult subject (at least for me).
I got married in Sept 2008...After visiting & trying on a number of dresses at the area's top shops/boutiques, I finally purchased my Alvina Valenta gown from Jeanette's in Manassas. I went to a ton of stores and finally decided to go with Jeanette's b/c so many brides rave about them, however that was the biggest mistake I made regarding our "big day"....I thought my AV dress was gorgeous & totally worth every penny we spent on it up until a couple of weeks before my wedding.
When ordering my dress, Jeanette's had said that I did not need to order my dropped waist AV gown with the hollow-hem measurement (which we were fine paying the additional cost for). When my dress came in & I had my first fitting, the proportions of the gown were all wrong (due to the boutique's failure to order the dress hollow-hem as requested). I had no other option then to add a large amount/additional layers of tulle to the under-skirt of my dress in order to maintain the proportions/style of the dress I had purchased. Needless to say, when you add so much underlay fabric to a strapless satin gown, it's rediculously heavy & extremely hot (not in a good way - temperature wise).
Not only did I still trip over the hem when I was walking down the aisle with my dad and throught the reception (mind you, I'm 5'6" without the 3-4" heels I was wearing at the wedding), I literally thought I was going to die from the weight of the gown halfway through our reception.
My mom & I knew that I would have problems with that dress when it came in and last minute, decided to go to Blush Bridal in Gainesville (less than a month before my wedding) in search of a second dress option...We found the PERFECT dress there for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately due to my poor timing, I was not able to get my dream dress. We worked with the owner of Blush boutique and she did everything in her power to try to get me the dress, however it was just too close to our date and there was no way the for them to get the gown I wanted, in my size, with such a short amount of time (I wish I fit into the sample sizes, b/c they had an amazing sale, but unfortunately I do not).
Anyways - moral of the story - when I was planning my wedding I wish I had listened to some of the knotties that had recommended Blush Bridal Boutique. If I hadn't of disregarded them I would have not only saved my parents a good amount of $$$, but also saved myself a ton of stress & discomfort on our wedding day.

The dress I wanted from Blush was around $1,500.00 (alterations not included, but with them it would have still been well under $2,000.00). Blush's selection was so different from what your average DC, MD, VA bridal boutique's offer and the prices were very reasonable as well. If I could do it over again, I would definitly get my dress from Blush...Even if you go and they don't have "your dream dress" & you end up purchasing yours at another store, as I did, definitely take comfort into consideration.

GL!!!

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