affordable wedding gowns - please help!
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by MarksGirl » February 29th, 2008, 7:25 am
ChiTownGirl -
Yes, your budget is totally doable and definitely reasonable. My budget was right where yours was and I was able to get even lower that that. Emilina just posted about the Macy''s sample sale in Chicago this weekend - that''s a GREAT place to find wonderful designers at killer prices. Other places in the Chicago area that will work with your budget are White Chicago (one used or sample sale gowns in great condition), Volle''s in Lake Zurich, Gigi''s Closet, Wedding Belles in Barrington are all great. Also, do not discount eBay - quite often people buy a brand new dress, change their mind and then try to re-sell on EeBay. If you fell in love with a higher priced gown at a boutique, search, and keep searching for it on eBay. Also - try theknot.com message boards. People are often selling their gowns and you can get great prices there too. Hope that helps!!! Good luck! 
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White Chicago (www.whitechicago.com), craigslist, bridepower.com, sample sales (like the HUGE one somone posted will be at Chicago Macy's tomorrow. quick! call and get an appointment!
Saks also will sell samples on request sometimes. Just ask if they have any samples that are for SALE that you can try on. I almost bought a Carolina Herrera sample from them that was $1500 (if I recall correctly). |
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Well you can either go to David''s *shudders* or you can eBay your dress which is what I did (gorgeous Pronovias dress for 100$). Although I realize that eBay is not for everybody. Good luck!
 And as the ladies mentioned, there is going to be a huge sale at Macy''s and I am sure that other places are having good sale right about now.
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Oh, and yeah, your budget is TOTALLY realistic if you're willing to shop around a bit and wear a sample or pre-owned gown. I got my Steven Yearick fo $800 (regular 3-4K) and my Nicole Miller on sale for $280ish.
Oh yeah! Nicole Miller. Totally in your price range brand new. New an not on sale they are about 800-2000. And TOTALLY gorgeous. I think there's one in Chicago.. (goes to hunt). Yup 1419 N. Wells Give them a call and try some on! |
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There are lots in your budget! I thought I was going to have to spend about $3,000 and I ended up only spending about $1200 for veil, a pair of shoes, blusher, tiara, and gown!! My dress is a Christina Wu. Here is my dress. From there you can look at other dresses (more recent ones) as well. Like Spring 2008. I will let you know if I think of more! As of right now I am thinking Jasmine and PC Mary''s were pretty reasonable. Jasmine is neat because they will let you custom-make your dress basically say if you like the top of one and the bottom of another.
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thritto on nicole miller. great option to get a really unique look in great fabrics without completely breaking the bank. i looked at similar dresses in bridal boutiques and they were significantly more expensive for similar styles as compared to the NM dresses. plus, the turnaround is short -- around 6 weeks even if they don''t have your size in stock.
another suggestion is bluefly. i would look under their ivory and white categories under dresses. there are often last season''s NM dresses as well as other designers, and bluefly has an awesome return policy so you have plenty of time to try it on and compare to other options. |
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You can totally find a lovely dress within your budget...the designers the other ladies have suggested are great choices and you should spend time visiting websites, and locating salons.
Look for trunk shows..they usually offer a nice discount during the show if you''re prepared to order that day. Be realistic...dresses with more beading, or dresses that require a lot of more construction will jump your price up from reasonable to sky high and beyond. If you love the look of detail, purchase a like dress sans the "work" and hire a private seamstress to put the detailing on for you later. Certain designers you''ll want to avoid buying (even on ebay--because they sometimes are knock off''s) because their price point will be above what you''re comfortable spending. Visit Eva''s Bridal in Oak Lawn...they have a ton of dresses broken down by price, so you can flip thru samples in your range and avoid falling in love with anything outside of it because you don''t even have to look at them! |
) A couple of brides on this board have a maggie sottero fan club going 
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I don''t know if anyone mentioned it, but Nordstrom also has a bridal section on their website. Most dresses aren''t over $500.
I also second calling Pearl''s Place. I was originally going to order a Nicole Miller gown from the Spring 2008 collection, but balked a little bit at the price (around $1900). I called them back in December and they said that it would cost around $1275 to order through them. It might even be a bit cheaper now because it''s been a few months. I know that they carry a lot of different brands (brands that might not even be listed on their site), but you would have to call with a style number for a quote. Good luck! |
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Ladies, thank you so much for all the advice, tips, and kind wishes.
I have been away from my computer for the last couple of days - FI and I went to down to St.Pete, FL to get away from the snow !!! I''m starting to look into all your suggestions - I knew I would find the answer on Pricescope!! Thank you again ! |
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