Should I splurge on the designer gown?

[Jas12]

Hi gals

I went on another dress shopping trip--I went to a new shop with the intention of trying on a specific watters gown and ended up falling in love with the Melissa Sweet Dora dress--it is very me, even the little dots on the organza (i have dot borders on all my favor labels it is a sweetheart top (which I wanted) and very unique. The only problem, and it''s a big one, it''s about $3000 above my budget!! The ticket price was $4700 CND, but the sales woman did say we would discuss it, so I am assuming there is a little room for negotiating--I didn''t ask however, b/c I wanted to discuss it privately with my sister, and I didn''t go back to find out what the total cost would be.
So I ask, what would you guys do? I am considering buying and then selling on ebay after the wedding, but I wonder what I would recover? Has anyone done this?
If you were in the same position would you just pretend you never saw it, or do whatever you could to get it?

I''ve attacted a pic so you guys can see what i am talking about, and also the second runner dress (Maggie sottero, Melinda, which is only about $1100! but has a few qualities I don''t like as much)
Dora Dress i would purchase the ivory color
Melinda second choice, also in ivory

 

[swingirl]

I love the Melinda. It really depends on your physique. Wedding gowns with waste-line sashes are hard to pull off because they emphasis the torso. They are both beautiful dresses. I say stick to your budget.

What do you think your could sell a $4700 dress for on eBay? Most expensive dress on eBay is less that $1000.

Any pictures of you in the dresses?

 

[firebirdgold]

Did you look prettier in the maggie dress?

If you really want it I suggest scouring discount dress sites, ebay, and preowned wedding dress sites. Craigslist too. There are also stores that sell samples and such. What size are you? Seems like some sizes are much easier to fiind.

 

[FireGoddess]

They are both very beautiful.

It depends on a few things, mostly you though!

I didn''t want to spend that much on a dress I''d wear for a few hours and then never again. I wanted to spend my money on other things. So my dress was around $350. My SIL was having a smaller destination wedding and fell in love with a $3500 dress (yes, ten times what mine cost). She bought it and loved it. She rearranged her budget to fit the dress, because it was important to her. Of note though, is the fact that she has tried to sell it on ebay for half price, and has had no takers. I guess people don''t want to spend that much money on a dress that''s already used.

 

[robbie3982]

I think, best case scenario, you''ll get half of what you paid back, but I wouldn''t count on it or use it as a deciding factor because you never know. If you feel ok spending that much on the dress w/o getting anything back, then go for it. Otherwise, I''d say you should either look for a used one or go with a different dress.

 

[goldenstar]

im not engaged yet but i''ve been having wedding daydreams so i have ideas about dresses...

i would splurge on the designer dress if it was do-able but a stretch. i would feel so much more special if i had the dress of my dreams. i would first try looking for a pre-owned one, but get the new one if i couldn''t find it. then i''d try to sell it after the wedding to get as much back as i could (with the understanding that there''s no guarantee of how much the dress would sell for).

the dora dress is beautiful and really unique. i''m not a fan of cookie cutter wedding dresses. i love the luxurious fabrics and fine tailoring of a designer dress.

you can try preownedweddingdresses.com to find the dress or to sell it later.

 

[anacgarcia]

what I''m doing with the $5k dress I fell in love with is have it custom made by a local designer for half the original price. He''s also making a dress for a friend whose wedding is 4 months before mine, so I''ll be able to see how her dress turns out before hehe

.

But my friend showed me some pictures of dresses he has done and he''s really great,

.

 

[FacetFire]

Are you sure that's the best price you can get on the Dora? That seems awfully high for what I remember most of her dresses costing when I tried them on. I'd call some other shops and see about prices...

 

[codex57]

I''d only do it if you can afford the splurge. We thought about selling it after on eBay, but when trying to buy one like it on eBay, we realized it''s a tough thing to do. Gotta find someone who likes that particular style in that particular size at that particular time. Otherwise, you''d have to keep listing it over and over again. So, we decided if we could afford it and we got it without worrying about what to do with it later. Just sacrificed in other areas to make up for the cost of the dress. The dress is such a big part of what makes a wedding special for the bride that it may be worth the splurge.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I''m just dropping in to give a random vote! But I like the second dress better. And even if I liked them the same, there is no way I think the price difference is worth it unless you''re marrying one of the Trumps and they are picking up the tab! Truly, the guests are not going to appreciate the difference in price between those two dresses. I am sure there are sooo many beautiful possibilities in the price range of the Maggie Sottero dress. I just can''t encourage anyone to go that much overbudget on a dress.

 

[IndiBlue]

I too fell in LOVE with a Melissa Sweet and had the same emotions...how could I justify spending so much $$$ on this dress. But in the end I went a head with it because I couldn't see myself in any other dress.

I bought Windsome I can't wait for it to come in!


I only plan to marry once!

I was able to get a considerable amout of $$ off because the store was having a trunk show (but for a different designer)- I also think they felt bad for me because when I saw the price I started crying. The next day I called Saks to see what they were selling it for and it was $1400 more then the MSRP at the store in Chicago- so I think I did well.

 

[dani13]

Only you yourself can answer this question. Can you swing the $$?

$4700 does sound very high for a Melissa Sweet. I agree with FacetFire that that price seems over-inflated. If you do decide to go for it, check around for trunk shows/sample sales/etc so that you are able to get the lowest price possible.

Good luck!!!!

 

[Scintillating]

I dunno, that''s WAY over your budget. Keep shopping and see if you can find something that will work for you within the budget you''ve set. If you can''t - I guess you have your answer.

Scintillating...

 

[diamondlove]

hi Jas12,

I was also stuck when I found my dream dress recently but the price was so exorbitant I was torn whether or not to go with it. I ended up going for it but I did weigh a lot of things out. Most importantly, you want to make sure it''s within your budget. I don''t mean the ''budget you set for yourself'' because obviously we all strive to spend less on things but if it''s within your ''budget without going into debt'' and you are still fine with your budget regarding other aspects of the wedding then go for it if it''s really THE DRESS you will regret not getting.

I tried on quite a few dresses after I fell in love with the Dress hoping to find something I loved that was much cheaper but I didn''t find anything close to how I felt about that dress so at least I knew I tried. Definitely call around to find competitive pricing and try to order it at a trunk show. I received 15% off my dress ordering it at a trunk show which made a sizable difference.

Good luck!

 

[swingirl]

I don't know much abou this subject but on the Melissa Sweet website there are Truck Shows listed. Can you attend anything close to you? Even if you spend a few hundred dollars to fly to the closest one, you might save enough to make it worth your time and money.

I am assuming at Trunk Shows you get a discount. Maybe that isn't true.

 

[diamondlove]

Discounts at trunk shows depend on the store. For instance, dress boutiques around me give discounts for trunk shows but Saks does not give discounts at their trunk shows. On the other hand, you can always get a 10% discount on your dress at Saks if you open a new account (assuming you don''t already have one). Just gotta call around and check.

 

[AChiOAlumna]

Try www.netbride.com, I was able to get an Alfred Angelo destination dress for 1/2 the retail price! They respond quickly and I''ve only been able to find positive feedback on them on the net.

 

[Jas12]

Thanks for the feedback everyone

I have been checking ebay and used dress sites, but no luck--the dress is a new design so I don''t think there were too many ''06 summer brides with it (this could be good for my resale)

Just to answer a few of the questions above. I am about a street size 4-6, 5"4,

I can''t visit a trunk show cuz iam in canada and only one store close to me carries MS, and the price you see is canadian, so that is why it may seem a little high (but i think it is still inflated a bit)

I am running out of time to find a dress, so I hope i can make up my mind by the end of the week. I was never one to envision my dream dress,or dream wedding day, but now not being able to decide on one has become so emotional, I just broke down in tears when I was discussing it with my FI, i felt so silly being upset over a DRESS, and couldn''t articulate why it was worrying me so much since I''ve never ''gushed'' over wedding related stuff before. I think it may just be all the planning in general building up. I have a hard time making decisions, and this is just one of a string of considerations. Apparently it holds more weight than I anticipated.