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How much did you pay for your dress?

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Here's my rundown:

Dress: $212 (after tax)
Shoes: $26
Bra: $30
Veil: $48
Alterations: $160
Rhinestone headband: $8

I LOVED my dress, it was exactly what I was looking for. It wasnt the fanciest or anything, but I felt even better on my "steal" when my veteran seamstress said she was impressed with the quality and that she couldnt even get the material for what I paid for the whole thing :)
 
My dress was $500 from David''s Bridal. The alterations are $175. If you absolutely love the dress and have the means to buy it, go for it!
 
Mine was $3600, which is insanity I know, but I felt it was 100% the right dress for me. I tried on many dresses, and when i put that one on my eyes welled up and i said "i finally feel like a bride." I just got my portraits done, and i''ll have those pictures with me in that dress for the rest of my life, although i''ll only wear the dress one more time, it was worth it to me. AND we are doing a barefoot beach wedding for about $15,000 all in, so it isn''t like we''re having this big crazy wedding, it was just the one thing that was most important to me, and I wanted to feel like a bride, and for me that dress was it! I was never planning to spend that kind of money for a dress, but i wouldn''t change it for anything! :)
 
Date: 4/4/2006 11:02:58 PM
Author: royalasschergirl
Mine was $3600, which is insanity I know, but I felt it was 100% the right dress for me. I tried on many dresses, and when i put that one on my eyes welled up and i said 'i finally feel like a bride.' I just got my portraits done, and i'll have those pictures with me in that dress for the rest of my life, although i'll only wear the dress one more time, it was worth it to me. AND we are doing a barefoot beach wedding for about $15,000 all in, so it isn't like we're having this big crazy wedding, it was just the one thing that was most important to me, and I wanted to feel like a bride, and for me that dress was it! I was never planning to spend that kind of money for a dress, but i wouldn't change it for anything! :)
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Don't feel bad at all, RoyalAsscher...how often do you get to dress up like a princess? I've got my heart set on an Amsale or a Reem Acra (Amsale makes very few dresses I dislike), and since they're so expensive new, I'll probably have to buy a sample (which will cost anywhere from $1200-$2500). No worries, though, I plan on selling it after the wedding. I want to look at my pictures and remember how good I felt in my dream dress.

Oh, and Snow_Happy, if it's perfect and you can wear it again and again, I think you should buy it!
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Mine was 2700 Because I got it preowned. If it had been new, it would have been 7000 with tax.
 
It''s been a few years, but I think I paid between $1600-$1800 for my gown that was done in silk satin. I ordered through a discounter though so that saved me some money. I think it retailed for around $2400-$2600.

Snow bunny--Please be careful about assuming the dress can be dyed. Can you get a sample of the fabric and get a test dye job done? Also factor in the cost for getting the dress professionally dyed. Certain components may not take the dye well and will need to be replaced (like zippers). Also, be careful about any embellishments. Do you have any photos of your dream dress?
 
I haven''t bought my dress yet, but my original budget was 1500 for my all of my attire (dress, veil, shoes, jewelry). I went to about 5 dress shops with dresses in that price range, and even though I liked a lot of the dresses, I didn''t find anything that I loved.

After that, I decided to start trying on dresses in the 2-3K range, and I haven''t found anything I loved in that range either! I''ve tried on a ton of Vera Wangs, Lazaros, Watters, etc dresses, and although I don''t think any of the dresses looked bad, I definitely haven''t found my dress yet.

Please tell me I''ll find it soon! I''ve tried on about 40 dresses and I''m already sick of dress shopping, hehe! Funny thing is, I''m looking for what I believe to be a pretty popular style of dress (strapless, poufy, with a lot of beading).
 
Too much...$4200.00 for the dress.

I''m tough to fit, when I found something that looked great and made me feel good, the price didn''t matter.
 
cpster -- the store sells the same dress in several colors so I assumed it could be easily dyed but I will definitely ask the next time I am there :) Thanks for bringing up that point and the cost too!

peonygirl -- don''t worry there will be a dress out there for you :) Have you tried going to an event like "brides against breast cancer" or looking online? Maybe the dress you are looking for came out last year or last season... but keep looking because new dresses come out all the time! At the place where I found my dress, Morgane LeFay, the have a corset organza covered strapless top with a puffy but not too puffy organza skirt (i mean it''s all one dress - sorry for the horrible description!) I can send you a picture of it if you want. The dress was 1800 I believe. It also had long flowing sheer strips coming from the back which can be tied into a beautiful pattern and hang like a train if you wanted. I wrapped the strips around my shoulders in the pic.

BeaudryBabe -- I didn''t totally understand your post. I got the 4200 is way too much but I think you said if it fit you right, because lots of dresses don''t fit you, that 4200 would be OK?
 
Hi snowhappy...

Yup, it was more than I wanted to spend, but because I am difficult to fit, in the end the $$ didn''t matter. I wanted to look and feel good, if it took $4200 to do that, than oh well.

I would have rather spent $500.00, but no such luck.
 
Well I got my dress for a steal!! Only $800.00, ahem. The alterations were a different story- the seamtress said that she, in all her 30 years, has never had a more challenging alteration. She said my waist was so small and my top was not- so yah that cost us another $800.00.

LOL,it turned out to be about what I didn''t want to spend on the dress....
 
BeaudryBabe -- Thanks for clearing that up for me! :)

Strawdermangrl -- You looked SO happy and beautiful in your dress. I still remember seeing the pic you posted on PS when you first tried it on...it was just pure joy on your face. :) I''m going to try on more dresses and go back and try the expensive one on again to see what gives me that kind of reaction!
 
$162.50 for the dress...haven''t had alterations yet, not sure what they''re gonna cost yet. I stumbled into this great deal...my dress was a sample, but was absolutely pristine! It honestly looked like it had never been tried on. It was discontinued as well (from the spring 2003 season) and so I got it for half off the marked price, which was already significantly less than original price! I think the original price was $583 or so.
 
This has been so interesting to read. I got married 10 years ago and I swear there were fewer choices back then. My dress was a Christos that I paid over $1800 for (I don''t know why I remember the price so vividly when I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning); I felt quite lucky at the time because it was by far my favorite and it just happened to be pretty much the cheapest in the store. Even though I loved my dress and it was very flattering, if I was getting married today I would be tempted to go for a simple, semi-bridey bridal dress from JCrew and spend the rest of the $$ on the honeymoon or blingbling.
 
BeaudryBabe and snow_happy - My dress was $5,000 so I can understand your desire to spend about 4,000 on a dress you absolutely love.

Snow_Happy, I think a relevant issue to ask you is how much are you spending on your wedding? Its really hard to judge for me b/c I can't see how good the dress is on you and its versatility. If you are purchasing the dress on the assumption that you will wear it many times over, you should really be critical about whether that will really happen. Is it the kind of dress that you really won't grow out of - in taste and in size. Also, realize that if you wear it again to other occasions, those people may already know this dress form your wedding - will you feel uncomfortable with that?

I got my dress at the Kenneth Pool trunk show so the actual retail price was $6,100. I did however feel really guilty about getting it at such a high cost. However, that was the only dress that I got all emotional in - it is totally my style b/c it was definately a "fun" dress - and I was being pressured by my mom and my dad into getting a different dress that I was not that crazy about at all for about $3,500. So the way I figured, my wedding is about 60,000 and I much rather pay the extra 1,500 to feel extremely content and excited with my dress.

Another reason I decided to go with this dress .... I had a problem finding non-stereotypical puffy dresses under $3,000 I don't know why. The puffy dresses I saw that were under $3,000 all looked too typical that it didn't reflect my unconventional style. My hall is really big (old opera hall) and I am very thin so I need something that would grab attention - so the dress I got needed to be attention getting (I had room to go a little crazy with the style rather than very simple - but still elegant of course). I didn't have the issue of "would this be to much for this hall?" Plus it also helped that the first place that my mom really wanted to take me (some private designer that my mom raved about that turned out to be
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) ran $5,000 and up.
 
Dress: $70 (new prom dress, eBay)
Alterations: $30 incl sewing in some bra cups
Veil: $15 (just past shoulder length, two layer blusher veil with ribbon edging... JUST like the ones they sold at my local shop for $50-$60! I am sewing it onto my own hair clip since the one that came attached is not big enough for all my poofy hair)
Shoes: $10 (on clearance at Meijer''s)
Jewelry: Haven''t bought yet but will probably go with old art-deco era vintage super gaudy rhinestones... expect to spend around $60 total.

Not doing the garter or any special undergarments.

Total for outfit: $185

(I am so cheap it hurts but I ended up really liking my outfit it is perfect for a beach wedding and I think the old art-deco vintage rhinestone pieces will add some uniqueness to it.)
 
Oh yeah, the veil was from a Michael''s craft store, sorry!
 
When I was looking at wedding dresses, I found that the difference between expensive dresses and cheaper dresses was so obvious, I didn''t think twice about spending a few thousand on the dress. It was a beautiful, custom-made designer gown, that I only wore once and donated afterwards. For me it was absolutely worth it because it just made happy. But but it''s a personal choice and a matter of priorities. We saved money on other things that were less important to us.
 
Date: 4/5/2006 5:23:09 PM
Author: momothree
This has been so interesting to read. I got married 10 years ago and I swear there were fewer choices back then. My dress was a Christos that I paid over $1800 for (I don''t know why I remember the price so vividly when I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning); I felt quite lucky at the time because it was by far my favorite and it just happened to be pretty much the cheapest in the store. Even though I loved my dress and it was very flattering, if I was getting married today I would be tempted to go for a simple, semi-bridey bridal dress from JCrew and spend the rest of the $$ on the honeymoon or blingbling.
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HI:

Funny how/why we remember what we paid--I recall what I paid 20 years ago b/c it was waaaaayyyy more than I intended to spend....but it was the "one". It cost $1200 without the veil.

cheers--Sharon
 
I got the Melissa Sweet Lia gown for $4,000 plus fittings at Saks.

I am kind of kicking myself because I went shopping with the idea it was just a dress to be worn ONCE. But it was the first one I tried on and that was THAT. Nothing else afterward could compare. I just had to have it. It made me feel like a princess and it was so sexy, classy & flattering at the same time. I, too, got teary-eyed because I imagined how DH's face would look seeing me wear this dress.

Ahhhh.... it was worth every penny. Every time someone asks me about the dress I light up and get misty about it. Every time I look at pictures it will be worth it. It is my dream dress.
 
hehee i am sooo glad i didn't have any high expectations for the dress...really i just wanted something to look nice in and be photographed in, and that was that. also as sweet as the thought is, greg's eyes would never go all teary at the sight of me in a dress. actually what would give him tears of joy was knowing i didn't spent that much on it...he's a pretty practical typical male.
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i remember having dinner with a couple that we were friends with, we don't see them that often, and they had just gotten married recently (when we were engaged). Her dress was something like $4k and her fiance thought it was just a ridiculous amount. she was like OH okay Mara what did you spend...figuring that i had to have spent alot of $$ and she'd have some backup, i was like sorry girl mine was like $1000!
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also i couldn't go too insane because it was an island wedding, and it just felt silly to even consider a $2500 dress for something like that. maybe if it had been a big church affair i would have felt differently.

but really if you do have the means and you find a dress you just CAN'T live with out and you keep coming back to that one again and again and again, do it...why not...life is short you only live once!! i like large diamonds, others like nice cars, others like designer wedding gowns. whatever floats the boat!
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My dress was $1200 and it was the very first one I tried on (of a total of 5). When I was planning my wedding, I was VERY nonchalant about it and did my best to keep things as simple and quick as possible. In retrospect, I should've tried more dresses on (just for the sheer joy of it, since that was my only opportunity to ever do so!), and I could've probably saved money and gotten a perfectly lovely $200 dress. Also in retrospect, the gown I chose probably wasn't as flattering as many others would've been...I was just too lazy to give them a shot!

Either way, I knew DH would never have shed tears of joy upon seeing me (and he didn't) because he's just not sentimental like that....at all. So that's probably part of why I didn't put much thought into the buying of my dress!
 
I'm in love with Amsale and Monique Lhullier dresses but when I told the FI that the dresses I like were in the 3 - 4K range, I think his response was (and I quote) "Absolutely not....".
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He was serious about that too so I don't think I can swing it. Lucky for me, I love a Pronovias dress in the $1000 to $1200 range too. My FI is very generous with me and really easy going but he's practical as well.
 
$1000.00 just for the dress - 15 years ago!!!!
 
The responses are so interesting!

My FI was with me and his sister when we were shopping in Soho and came upon the boutique. We are really non-traditional so it was OK that he saw the dress (I can hear the shock and awe in the crowd) and even HE (FI = very frugal!) said that the dress is worth the $4k. We don''t have a lot of money but he said he will work extra shifts at work if it means that I can have the dress I want. He also said that had he not seen the dress and just heard it was $4000, he never would have been OK with it.

That being said I AM going to try on dresses tomorrow because the $4k price tag still irks me. I figure more shopping will either turn up a dress that is less that I will be equally happy with or further jutsify spending the money on the dress.

OK here is a pic of the dress. Sorry for the funny pose, I think it makes me look like I''m constipated or something
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My FI and I were looking for a vintage (sans puffy shoulders), maybe sort with an Asian twist and also something modest for my conservative family. :)
 
$6,300 inclusive of alterations and lace mantilla. an absurd amount, but i am of the "difficult to fit" category and the dress was worth every single penny.
 
My dress goes for $1300 to $1800 in the salons in Boston and Raleigh. I got it from lakebridals.com for $1050.
 
Oh snow happy it is BEAUTIFUL!
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That's probably NOT what you want to hear, but it is! And it's not so bridal that you couldn't wear it again as-is... if you do get it I wouldn't risk dyeing it.

Hmmm, have you considered having something similar made? I'd look into it... Do you know what fabric it is made of? $4K is a lot, and if you're willing to compromise on getting something that's "similar" or evokes the same idea as that dress, but isn't exactly the same, I think going the custom route could maybe save you some big bucks. That said, I'm one of the few people who has had a great experience getting a dress made... others have not, so make sure to do your homework and find the best dressmaker in your area. This topic was discussed here .

My dress cost just under $1K. I'm doing a DW w/ an outdoor ceremony w/ less than 20 guests, so I wanted something pretty casual and not too expensive. The veil was $165. The first dress I was planning to wear was an $180 Jessica McClintock prom dress that was SO CUTE! But pretty much everyone else in my life hated it and wanted to see me in a real wedding dress so back to the store it went! Wish they'd ponied up the extra $800 though!
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Good luck and keep us updated!

ETA: Just to clarify, I didn't get my wedding dress made... I got my high school prom dress made. That dress cost about $150, but we already had the fabric and it was a simple pattern.
 
Snow_Happy,

That is a really unique and lovely dress! Like I said, the price is all about what you can stomach. I personally can''t help but think about all the other things we need to spend money on (LIKE A HOUSE.) But I too, get my heart set on stuff and I can''t get my mind off of it.

Try on other dresses, and keep looking at that picture. I fell in LOVE with a 3000 dollar beauty, but then found my 800.00 dress. I love my Maggie dress more than I ever could have imagined, so I''m glad I waited. I kept pictures of the dresses that I tried on earlier, and kept refering back to them. I hope that helps.

Tybee
 
snow, i love the bottom ruffled layers but (and i hope this doesn't upset you!) the top part esp the boobies looks kinda odd! it makes your boobs look 'separated' and disrupts the flow of the gown visually IMO. i think if you had it made you could kind of fix that, also what is the flap of material at the waist for, like a cumberbund? i love the sleeves and ruffled layers with the waist kinda wrapped look, but i think you could improve on the design a little...aka the boobies..esp with your cutie figure!!!

i would totally look into having something made, i did that for my prom dress ( i had a silk sheath made with straps of pearls going down into a low back) and i would have done it for my wedding dress if i had not found something....having a great seamstress can be affordable and give you something totally unique!
 
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