How much did you spend on your wedding dress?

[cutes814]

Hey everyone. Just thought it''d be cool to have a poll of the prices you all paid for a wedding dress. I did a search and couldn''t find a poll, so I hope I am not duplicating this. This is my first poll, so I''m not sure if it''ll come out okay.

 

[cutes814]

I just realized I messed up and created a duplicate...Whoops! Maybe Leonid can delete it... You guys can add comments of your budget and if you stayed within it or totally slurged and went crazy....etc....

I''m not even engaged yet, but just thought it''d be cool to have something to track the prices of dresses for the new-brides-to-be for reference.

 

[JCJD]

Gown itself was less than 600, but with alterations and dry-cleaning, it came to just over $1000.....

 

[flopkins]

I voted for 700-1000 but I got it at a big discount by ordering online... I think retail was about 1500. And it doesn''t include alterations, which will definitely bump it over 1000!

 

[rms]

man, those alterations really bump up the prices I guess. I was so fortunate in that regard. My dad is a custom tailor and did my alterations for me. And he didn''t even charge me

 

[WTNLVR]

You''d have to do some kind of math, as this was 16 yrs ago. I spent $300 on a discounted gown, but then paid a fortune to have it fitted- and it wasn''t that off in size. Looking back, I think it is more cost effective to order the gown you want in the size that will fit and reduce the alteration costs which are a killer. I was so naive I didn''t know any better. I, to this day, love the gown I got, and wouldn''t have changed a thing- other than the alteration costs.I know they put alot of hand work into things but it really becomes outrageous at times.

 

[glaucomflecken]

My dress was $212 after tax. I was actually surprised by the quality of the dress for that price, I bought it sight unseen and based off a catalog picture so I lucked out. It only has a sweep train and very little detail so thats probably why it was so cheap. I am sure though since I keep losing weight (which is good) I will have several expensive alteration bills (which is bad)

 

[HOUMedGal]

$162.50....ohh yeah. Retail price was $538, got it on big time sale! Haven''t had any alterations yet (wedding is in May 2007) but it will need some. (hopefully...it''s too big now, I''m really hoping it will be as big or bigger on me then and not smaller!!!)

 

[ame]

Well...mine actually cost about $1300, but we got it for $800 I think because of a bridal show gift cert I got and it was 25% off on top of that for the show itself. After alterations we paid $900 total.

 

[cutes814]

I''m starting to get a good idea of how much dresses cost. From what I''m hearing, the smartest thing is to get a dress that fits and don''t get it until towards close to the wedding? Or will the dress get sold out? The alterations seem to cost a bundle. Dry cleaning? Is that for after you wore the dress or for before you wear it?

 

[flopkins]

ou an idea, dresses under $1000 retail are generally considered ''budget concious'' Dresses between $1k-2k retail are ''average'', and dresses $2k+ retail are ''couture''.

Personally, I found most dresses under $500 to be of poor quality (poor construction, fabric, you name it). Once you hit around $1500-2000, you start to get silk gowns, where the fabric is obviously much better, and the quality of construction usually improves dramatically.

From what I''m hearing, the smartest thing is to get a dress that fits and don''t get it until towards close to the wedding? Or will the dress get sold out?

This is the eternal question. It depends how long you have until the wedding. If you have the leeway, I would order the dress anywhere from 6mo to 12 mo in advance, esp if you know what you want. If you wait to order, just verify w/ the manufacturer (have the salon call) that they will not discontinue the gown in the near future. Usu gowns are discontinued in Jan/Feb of every year. Dresses do not usu get ''sold out'' in the conventional sense, and it usu takes about 2-4 mo to recieve the dress after you order it - The reason being the manufacturer waits until there are a certain number of orders for your dress in your approx size, and they cut all the gowns at the same time. (Of course, this does not apply to the off-the-rack places, like Jessica Mclintock and Davids)

The alterations seem to cost a bundle.

About dress size, just make sure they measure you correctly, and go with the size that accomodates your largest measurement. Yes, alterations are expensive, but altering down is easier than altering up, any way you look at it. Also, I would usu not recommend using bridal salon seamstresses - most are just contracted anyhow, so it is best to find a quality seamstress independently, and the cost of alterations will be much lower. To give you an example, the bridal salon I ordered a bm dress from was charging $60 just to hem the dress. I took it to a local dry cleaners, and they hemmed the dress for $20.

Dry cleaning? Is that for after you wore the dress or for before you wear it?

Usually gowns are steamed/pressed before you wear it, so it''s not wrinkled. For after you wear it, there are dozens of ''gown preservation'' companies that charge you for ''preserving'' your gown - ie washing it, and putting it in a nice box. Again, I think this is a rip off. I would take it to a local dry cleaner that''s experienced w/wedding gowns, and ppl usu recommend storing it in acid free tissue paper and placing it in a cardboard(or breathable, non-plastic) box.


HTH!

 

[MelissaSue]

My dress was $790 plus tax, which I think put it at somewhere around $840. Haven''t even THOUGHT about alterations yet, but I have a bad feeling that they''re going to be PRICEY. Did I tell you girls that there was a knottie with my same dress and she was told my two separate seamstresses that they couldn''t hem her dress for her because they didn''t know how to do the scalloped lace on the bottom. ANd I know I will also need my dress taken in at the bust.. and possibly in the hip area. and I just don''t know what they are going to do about it! FI whos mom used to be a seamstress in a bridal shop assures me it can be done.. but I''m SCARED!

 

[cutes814]

Date: 8/16/2005 12:35:18 AM
Author: flopkins

HTH!

flopkins, that helps a lot! Thanks for all that info. Good for me to know and I''m pretty sure other new brides will find it very helpful too.

 

[Beth]

I eloped but we reaffirmed our vows in the church. I shudder to think that I spent 10k on my reaffirmation dress. It was not off the rack though. I went to several consults then several fittings as the dress was constructed. Alterations to the original design were made to accentuate my assets. I pretty much had to hand the design reins over to the professionals who told me what I needed after I showed them a basic idea of what I wanted. There was a lot of hand beading that went into it and it was raw silk, detachable cathedral length train etc. You should get it dry cleaned before if they don''t do that for you (which they SHOULD) and afterwards you can preserve it for a few hundred dollars if you want to keep it and hand it down.

 

[Mara]

The dress I REALLY wanted in some other life was this Badgley Mischka dress that was something like $15k. I posted pictures of it on some other old thread and I LOVED IT but hello $15k? I'm not JLO!

So the other dress I fell in love with after that was a beautiful Christos dress that was ivory with wide sashing around the breasts in a sailorish kind of fashion, but classic wedding besides the sashes. Anyway it was something I never would have thought I would have liked on but it was beautiful on me. However it was $2800 or something and that was just WAY too much for a dress IMO. Keep in mind our whole wedding was going to be around $15k and I thought how can I justify a $2800 dress for a Hawaii wedding?

So the dress I ended up with was a Rena Koh, I bought the store sample size 8, because the gal said that 'not that many people have a figure like yours so it's only been tried on once or twice'

...and they fixed a few of the beads that were coming off and I got it for $1000 plus tax whereas the retail new one was about $1500.

Sometimes I think back and wish maybe I'd gone with the Christos, because it was so unique and totally not me but looked great ON...however I think it would have been too hot and heavy for the climate, as it was my lightweight dress was stuck to me for the last few hours of the night, but I didn't worry about 'ruining' it because it wasn't an arm and a leg. Even after the cleaning, there are still grass and dirt stains all along the bottom of the hem but I love them. Those are memory stains. I don't know if I would have been QUITE so blase about tromping around in the grass with flipflops on in a $2800 dress.

 

[LollyBear]

My dress was discounted from 900 to 700 (before tax). I got lucky and the dress fit perfectly and I only had to pay $25 for the bustlin,( so I voted 700-1000).
I do think I got very luck not having to pay for extra alterations. I guess it pays to be tall without curves.

ETA: My dress is Oleg Cassini, style 9158

 

[diamondfan]

Fifteen years ago my dress was 1500.00 in a taffeta that I did not like. I had it remade into a silk shantung. Cost more (of course) as did some other subtle changes I made (what a surprise). Alterations were then minimal, thank heaven''s for small favors, since I made it custom once I reodered the fabric. I think 15,000 is ridiculous unless like Mara said you are JLO, and you ,ust think about your venue. 500 people at the Four Seasons and maybe that is appropriate...if it makes you look SLAMMING. If it is in your budget and you love, love love it I say do it, it is YOUR day. You will never wear it again unless you go to a costume party, my girlfriend had a party for her 20th and had every girl wear their wedding gown if they could! (still had it, had been married, etc) Styles sure had changed...

 

[Beth]

Some designs are classic and when made from quality material and well constructed are timeless. I could have worn my dress 100 years ago and I could wear it today and it would still be amazing (been married 12 years or so - lost count lol) . Handmade lace too. Gosh. I would live in it if I could! Baptismal gowns are another example. My boys were baptised in family heirloom gowns that are well constructed of high quality material and timeless. I consider that I also paid for a service as well as an end product. I hoped to to hand it down. People still talk about it (in a good way). It was a joyful glorious day. Thanks for making me remember it!

ETA
Also depending on how much you pay and whether or not you want to hand it down do consider some of the preservation techniques, especially air tight.

Do consider your venue too. Our church is huge and has all the formal trappings so the gown was not out of place there. The ceremony was also after 6 which is another factor in how formal to go.

 

[JessesGrl]

My dress was 1200 before tax...I actually feel very guilty, all in all it will end up being 1500 at least...for a dress I will wear for 5 hours...we brides are crazy!

 

[ame]

Consider bridesmaid gowns as well. Most come in white or ivory and some can work well as great wedding gowns.

 

[njc]

My dress was $625 + $50 for alterations (bustle and tightened the bust). Sometimes its nice to be 6 feet tall and never need a hem!

I actually ran into dresses that were too short (like by an inch or so) and they wanted me to pay an extra $150 just for 6 inches of fabric + whatever it would have cost to get the other 5 inches hemmed off. CRAZY-RIP-YOU-OFF BUSINESS!

RMS - how wonderful your dad is a tailor!

 

[Rube]

My dress was $350 on sale- and not being 6 feet tall (

) I had to get quite a bit cut off! So, after alterations, & bustle, it was probably closer to $500. Still seems like a lot for a few hours! But in comparison to the rest of the wedding, it was probably right on target. We went low budget, high enjoyment, the whole way.

 

[lmurden]

I refuse to pay more than $500 for a dress that I will wear for only 6 hours!

Anyway, I think it is all about how well the dress flatters your figure and how well the dress has been altered to your shape.

 

[innerkitten]

$150 dollars. But mine wasn''t a wedding dress, it was just a nice dress that I liked. I wanted to do things a little bit different.

 

[FireGoddess]

My dress was $350 on sale. I too did not want to pay more than $500 for a dress I was only going to wear once. Plus DH and I paid entirely for our own wedding, so we were on a budget and had other things to spend the money on!

 

[cutes814]

Can you ladies include the names of the designers for your dresses?

 

[codex57]

Fiancee''s dress was $4,000!

Was only her 2nd choice too. 1st choice was over $7,000!

Luckily, at that price, tax was included. Gave a gift card for $400 that covered the alterations. They also steam the dress for you after the wedding. Nice b/c we actually have two weddings. One in SF and one in LA. It''s in LA right now, but it''ll get shipped to SF where we''ll pick it up for the first wedding. We then just drop it off at a Saks in SF, they steam it, then ship it back down to LA. Nice cuz we don''t have to figure out how to transport the thing up and down California.

 

[qtiekiki]

Date: 8/19/2005 6:53:38 PM
Author: codex57
Fiancee's dress was $4,000!

Was only her 2nd choice too. 1st choice was over $7,000!

Luckily, at that price, tax was included. Gave a gift card for $400 that covered the alterations. They also steam the dress for you after the wedding. Nice b/c we actually have two weddings. One in SF and one in LA. It's in LA right now, but it'll get shipped to SF where we'll pick it up for the first wedding. We then just drop it off at a Saks in SF, they steam it, then ship it back down to LA. Nice cuz we don't have to figure out how to transport the thing up and down California.

We are having one in LA and one in the Bay Area too. What's a coincidence. I have to figure that part out with shipping my dress back and forth. My dress was $524 plus tax. Alterations was another $130. I have a david's bridal dress which I love and I don't really think the quality is that bad compare to other designers in the same price range, especially after my FSIL (who works in fashion) told me that she thought the fabric and workmanship of a Demetrios gown wasn't that great when she alters it for her friend. I am also spending around $500 on a custom made qi pao, and probablly a couple more hundreds on an evening gown (Chinese traditions to change multiple times during wedding). That's partly why I didn't want to spend more than $600 on my dress, but I went over anyways.

 

[cinnabar]

My dress was $35. No alterations, it fitted perfectly.

I wasn''t even engaged when I bought it. I was browsing an outlet shop and noticed they had a new (but small) bridal section; it''s just habit to see if there''s anything in my size, so that''s what I did. I fell in love and had to try it on. The perfect fit convinced me it was fate, and at $35 it seemed insane not to buy it.

I thought that if I found one I liked better later, then I wouldn''t worry about discarding my bargain. I never did find one I liked better, I was so happy with that one.

My tiara was less than $20 from a local market. I wasn''t trying to work to a tight budget, I just saw stuff I really wanted at bizarrely low prices.

 

[AndyRosse]

I paid $1600, which was much more than I wanted to pay, but this was truely THE gown for me...so in the grand scheme of things, it isn''t worth me stressing over IMO.