Wedding Attire Poll

[Shoopy]

I know people don't really like talking about how much you are spending so to respect those wishes, I thought I'd do a poll. FYI: my own personal goal of this thread is to get an idea of how much everyone is spending because I don't trust the whole 10% of your budget estimate.

In the total amount, please consider your dress, shoes, accessories, hair/makeup, and your FI's tux(suit), shoes, and accessories. If you care to elaborate please feel free to (I'd love to hear it!!) but not necessary

FYI Question should be how much are you spending? LOL

 

[loverocks]

In the total amount, please consider your dress, shoes, accessories, hair/makeup, and your FI's tux(suit), shoes, and accessories.

I answered >1500.00
I think for your purpose it might scew your numbers a bit to include hair/makup and FI attire. Generally, when I considered my total budget for me, I budgeted a certain amount for all things that I (bride) will be wearing. So, dress, shoes, veil, accessories, undergarments, alterations, etc. Given this, I would still be over 1500.00, but still I am a little over 10% if that helps.
Hair/makup is generally a different animal, IMHO, same as the grooms attire.

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 8/26/2008 1:47:34 PM
Author: loverocks
In the total amount, please consider your dress, shoes, accessories, hair/makeup, and your FI''s tux(suit), shoes, and accessories.

I answered >1500.00
I think for your purpose it might scew your numbers a bit to include hair/makup and FI attire. Generally, when I considered my total budget for me, I budgeted a certain amount for all things that I (bride) will be wearing. So, dress, shoes, veil, accessories, undergarments, alterations, etc. Given this, I would still be over 1500.00, but still I am a little over 10% if that helps.
Hair/makup is generally a different animal, IMHO, same as the grooms attire.

That makes sense. He and I share an account and are paying for the wedding so I figured I''d throw his expenses in there as well. I''m guessing for guys its about $300

maybe less??

 

[loverocks]

FI will be very inexpensive (I think 300.00 or less is a good number), unless he plans on buying instead of renting. For budgeting, I would suggest following one of the basic templates that you find on the Knot, weddingchannel, or some of the other websites out there. Then you can tweak it to your needs. On those budgets, you will see that they generally line item it the way I indicated above. But - do it whatever way it works best for you, I am only speaking from my experience.

 

[angielea]

my budget is probably low for pricescope, but I still answered 1,500+. I would revise the poll to include more price points.

Dress 1,200
Shoes $25
Hair & Makeup 100 ?
Veil 100?
necklace: $150
Justin''s Tux& accesories: 300 ??

Total: $1875

total budget: $17,000

Even if I had bought a slightly cheaper dress at $825 I''d still be over the 1,500 mark. This doesn''t even count alterations.

 

[oobiecoo]

My dress was 300 I think and DH purchased a suit for about 500. Our shoes were 100 or so each, my hair was 60ish, I wore my pearls so I didn''t have to buy any jewelery and didn''t wear a veil.

I was a cheap bride!

 

[kittybean]

Here is how I'm guessing my attire costs will break down:

Dress: $800
Shoes: $100
Alterations: $300
Veil: $ 40 -- will be made by FMIL
Hair: $120
Makeup: $120
Tuxedo: $500 -- FI is going to buy

TOTAL: $1980

ETA: Forgot jewelry! I have no idea what I'll be buying, if anything, but I'm going to try to keep it under $300 or so if I do buy anything. (That would bring the total to $2280.)

I'd throw the 10% estimate out the window and find attire that you are comfortable with and that is at a price you feel comfortable with paying.

 

[Mayflower25]

I voted $1500++

Here's the breakdown:
Me:
- Dress: 3,200 (includes veil)
- Shoes: 350
- Hair / Makeup: ~150
- Accessories: probably 0, I'll borrow from my sisters & mom
Him:
- Tux: ~2000 (buying, including alterations)
- Shoes: ~300
- Cufflinks: ~200

Total: ~$6,200

 

[geckodani]

Let''s see. We ended up with:

Dress: 500, including alterations.
Shoes: 60
Veil: 50
Jewelry: 100
DH Tommy Bahama shirt: 150
DH pants: 40
DH Shoes: 20
Hair & Nails: 100

 

[Rhea]

My attire: $650-700
His attire: $400-450

Edit to include break downs.
Dress - $150
Alterations - $150
Shoes - $40
Jewelery - $310

Suit - $300
Alterations - $40
Shirt and tie - $80

 

[musey]

Date: 8/26/2008 2:16:01 PM
Author: angielea
my budget is probably low for pricescope, but I still answered 1,500+. I would revise the poll to include more price points.

Ditto... under $1500 would always qualify as a bargain/low budget, IMO. The average wedding dress is supposedly about $1000--I forget where I read that, though.

My dress: $1825 (includes $150 for custom length since I'm SHORT)
My alterations: $230
My shoes: $140
My jewelry: $170 (doesn't include my necklace, a wedding gift from FI)
My veil: $15 (probably, haven't made it yet)
My hair pins: $30 (probably, haven't found 'em, but this is the budget)
My hair/makeup: $375 (including trial)
FI's suit: $510 (we bought, as opposed to renting--the rental would've been $165)
FI's shirt/vest/tie rental: $30 (if I'm remembering correctly)
FI's shoes: $65 (he needed some anyway)

Total: $3,390

$2405 for just my attire (not including hair/makeup, I don't...) and $605 for FI's.

 

[musey]

Date: 8/26/2008 3:49:47 PM
Author: musey

Date: 8/26/2008 2:16:01 PM
Author: angielea
my budget is probably low for pricescope, but I still answered 1,500+. I would revise the poll to include more price points.

Ditto... under $1500 would always qualify as a bargain/low budget, IMO. The average wedding dress is supposedly about $1000--I forget where I read that, though.

Maybe this breakdown would be more realistic?


$0-500

$501 - 1000

$1,001 - 2,000

$2,001 - 3,000

$3,001 - 4,000

$4,001 - 5,000

$5,001 - 6,000

$6,001 - 7,000

$7,001 +

 

[julesbeth]

We sound like ballers from this poll, don''t we!?

I never did a break down of costs - it''s a bit scary!

Dress: $1800 + $425 for alterations (ouch! But got a gorgeous free veil out of the deal)
Shoes:$60 (but I might be too tall for my dress and need shorter ones...

Jewelry:$400 (My fabulous mother bought me pearl earrings and bracelet)
Hair Jewelry: $70
My hair/makeup: $250
FI''s suit: $300 (we bought, too
FI''s shirt & tie l: $150
FI''s shoes: $70


Painful total: $3,525

 

[Rhea]

I agree. I had a small budget and still ended up in one of the top categories according to the poll. I think this poll might be more realistic for just the dress. By the time you include alterations, and DH''s attire it''s hard not to break at least $1000 with the least expensive attire you can find.

 

[LAJennifer]

I didn't vote - because I agree my total would skew what you're really after:

My dress - $299 (with coupon from David's Bridal)
Alterations - $100 from Lady Jane in Toluca Lake (included hem, bra cups, take in at sides and bustle)
My shoes - $15 on ebay

My husbands attire - $1800, an Armani suit (at least he can wear it again)

My hair and makeup - $150

 

[pjean]

I replied in the $501-$1000 range, but I actually have no idea what my FI will end up spending, so I'm assuming equal to me. My current budget is $500 all in. My dress was $262. I still need alterations and shoes. If there's money left over, then I'll think about jewelry, special underwear (my dress doesn't require anything unusual), hair and makeup, etc.

Sigh... budget is not my favourite word.

ETA: assuming that my FI will spend $500 or less is actually wildly optimistic, since he doesn't want to wear his current good suit - it wouldn't feel special enough. We aren't planning for a tux, and his suit cost $1000. So more special than $1000 is not likely to be under $500, unfortunately.

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 8/26/2008 4:12:13 PM
Author: julesbeth
We sound like ballers from this poll, don''t we!?

I never did a break down of costs - it''s a bit scary!

Dress: $1800 + $425 for alterations (ouch! But got a gorgeous free veil out of the deal)
Shoes:$60 (but I might be too tall for my dress and need shorter ones...

Jewelry:$400 (My fabulous mother bought me pearl earrings and bracelet)
Hair Jewelry: $70
My hair/makeup: $250
FI''s suit: $300 (we bought, too
FI''s shirt & tie l: $150
FI''s shoes: $70


Painful total: $3,525

That''s kind of why I said that I would do an anonymous poll so that anyone who is spending more than what I considered to be ++ doesn''t feel bad and anyone spending less doesn''t feel bad either.

The reason why I didn''t add more than $1,500 is because according to theknot and other budget places, I should only spend about $1,500. I thought that was a little off so I wanted to see how many are spending less and how many are spending more.

 

[musey]

Date: 8/26/2008 4:51:18 PM
Author: fieryred33143
The reason why I didn't add more than $1,500 is because according to theknot and other budget places, I should only spend about $1,500. I thought that was a little off so I wanted to see how many are spending less and how many are spending more.

I've always found theknot.com's percentages to be pretty meaningless.

It gives you something to start with, then you can give and take in certain areas to balance things out... but its usefulness expires at that point.

For example, my floral budget is WAY less than the suggested percentage, but my attire and photography budgets are more. We also didn't include rings in the budget, they are an outside expense to us, not immediately involved in the day-of... so the percentage allotted for that is redistributed elsewhere.

 

[marchswallowbird]

So far here's my breakdown:

Dress: $700
Alterations: $250 max (could be less)
Veil: $45 (purchased online)
Shoes: $80
Jewelry: TBD, estimated $150
His Tux, etc: TBD, estimated $300 (I have no idea, really, what the cost is -- will be a rental)
Hair and make-up: TBD, estimated $500 (partly because of travel costs)
Brunch dress for the day after: $275
Shoes for the day after: TBD, estimate $150

I think it also depends on what part of the country you're in. As I was gown shopping, the one I thought I'd buy ranged from $700 to $1,000 at various bridal stores in Los Angeles. Another PS-er in Wisconsin paid $600 for the exact same dress.

 

[Shoopy]

Date: 8/26/2008 4:59:46 PM
Author: musey

Date: 8/26/2008 4:51:18 PM
Author: fieryred33143
The reason why I didn''t add more than $1,500 is because according to theknot and other budget places, I should only spend about $1,500. I thought that was a little off so I wanted to see how many are spending less and how many are spending more.

I''ve always found theknot.com''s percentages to be pretty meaningless.

It gives you something to start with, then you can give and take in certain areas to balance things out... but its usefulness expires at that point.

For example, my floral budget is WAY less than the suggested percentage, but my attire and photography budgets are more. We also didn''t include rings in the budget, they are an outside expense to us, not immediately involved in the day-of... so the percentage allotted for that is redistributed elsewhere.

Wanna hear something funny??

According to the knot, our wedding rings budget is $200.

Yeah, I don''t think so LOL

 

[Rhea]

Our ring budget was $40 each according to theknot. When I turned on the recommendations theknot said I should look at silver rings. But it gave me several hundred in floral and almost a thousand in attire. Stupid knot.

 

[marchswallowbird]

My wedding ring alone is costing $1,300. Have no idea what his will be yet. But it will be platinum, so it certainly won''t be $200!

 

[swimmer]

We didn''t go by those percentages at all, you will find that some things cost more than you like and then some things cost less than you expect...just strive to not have all categories go over...

my breakdown:
Dress: $376 Sample from Priscilla''s
Alterations: $300 (I''m shaped strangely, it was a lot of work)
Jewelery: $20 earrings at Macys
Shoes: $18 ballet slippers at Dillards
Hair and makeup: free, thanks to sorority sisters'' talents
DH''s Suit: $500 with friends and family discount at Bloomies
DH''s shoes: $275 "
DH''s shirt and tie: $120 "
Getting him the getup for the next hundred weddings/funerals/high holy days: priceless!

Then I got to splurge on 5 hours of openbar and a ton of flowers.
Spend the money where you care...the knot guidelines are meant to be flexible.

 

[Mayflower25]

I definitely agree that the wedding budget calculators can be WAY off. The budget depends on whats most important to the couple, not just some standard allocation.

FI and I are focusing on buying wedding attire that will definitely be worn again for several years (except for my dress, unfortunately

). Ex: I''ve purchased silver heels rather than white, etc.

Other items just happen to be less expensive than I had expected such as flowers and catering, and this evened out our budget.

 

[musey]

Date: 8/26/2008 5:35:09 PM
Author: Mayflower25
FI and I are focusing on buying wedding attire that will definitely be worn again for several years (except for my dress, unfortunately

). Ex: I've purchased silver heels rather than white, etc.

We did that, as well. I think our attire budget would have decreased significantly if it had been single-day focused... my shoes are totally re-wearable (gold flats), my jewelry was all stuff I wanted to get anyway (antique watch and locket). Other than my dress, all the stuff bought just for the day-of (my "pearls," for example) was cheapy stuff.

FI's suit cause a big bump to the budget, because we'd originally planned to rent him a tux. We figured, though, that at 24 we're at the age where we'll have a lot of weddings, etc. to go to within the next 5-8 years, so he'll get great use out of his new suit.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Here is mine, roughly:
Dress:1,200
Alterations: 110
Tiara (I am not having a veil): 75
Jewelry: 70
Make up: 90
Hair: 50
Shoes: 90

My FI
Paul Smith suit that was built for him and can be rewarn: 1,200
Shoes: 70
shirt:30
Vest (don''t have yet): 50-100

We are not even having a big fancy wedding; the venue only cost $2,000. I think around $800-1,500 sounds about average for a gown and that doesn''t cover all the other stuff.

 

[Haven]

Dress $3500ish (including alterations, which were $375, if I remember correctly)
Shoes $70
Hair & Makeup $200 (including my FABULOUS hair extensions!)
Veil $575
necklace: $150 (didn''t even end up wearing the necklace, my mom surprised me with a chain holding my parents'' original wedding bands, and her parents'' original wedding bands)
Hubby''s Morning Suit: $150 (rental)

Total: $4645

total budget: $35,000ish

That would be more than 10% for us, and most of it was for me.

 

[anchor31]

Dress: 600$ + tax
Shoes: 0$ (old HS prom shoes)
Accessories: 18$ (hair jewellery, I borrowed the rest)
Veil: 0$ (seamstress made it for free)
Hair/make-up: 100$
DH''s tux: 0$ (5th tux rental for free at the rental shop)

Total: 700$-ish

Total budget: 8k, but we spent 7.5k... So we were pretty close to the 10%.

 

[mimzy]

our breakdown was.....

dress - 1200
veil - 18 (DIY)
shoes - 33
jewelery - 30 (rewearing pearls FI got me a long time ago, bought new earrings for reception)
hair - 75
makeup - free (DIY)
purse - ??? (not spending more than 15 though)
alterations - estmated 120
FI''s tux rental - 40 (was actually free but he''s splitting his discount with his groomsmen)

so...total is just over 1,500. our total budget was about 19k, so we''re spending about 7% of our budget on attire/etc

 

[SarahLovesJS]

I voted $1500+ because my dress and veil (veil was free, but had to pay for blusher) were around $1200. My shoes were like $30. Jewelry was a little over $200 I think total. Hair and make-up I budgeted like $300. And FI's tux will probably be around $200.

ETA: Total budget is around 29,000 right now including honeymoon.