How much is TOO much to spend on a dress?

[Aramelle]

The other threads discussing the cost of dresses made me curious as to what everyone's limit is. How much is, for you, too much to spend on a dress, both for the wedding dress and the BM dresses?

Of course, this isn't meant to bash anyone. I recognize what some think is way too much, others won't bat an eye at. I simply think that it's interesting to see where different brides put their budgeting priorities.

[Aramelle]

When we were initially establishing our budget, I was hoping to get away with spending under $800 on my dress, but I was willing to spend up to $1,000. For my pocketbook, anything over $1,000 is too much for me.

As far as BM dresses, I didn't even consider any dresses that were above $150. When my sister got married, our BM dresses cost $275, and I spent an additional $100 on alterations. I admit, I was royally ticked about it, and everytime I looked at that dress I would get annoyed. I did not want my BMs to feel that way over the cost of their dress.

[Poloke]

My dress budget- including veil, undergarments, tiara, dress & alterations I did not want to spend more than $1,000. So far so good.

My dress is $495, veil is my moms (free), tiara $38, undergarments $35, shoes- under $30.

For the BM's I didn't want them to be more than $150, and sadly it just didn't work out that way. The dresses are 170 something, plus alterations and whatever style shoes they pick. It'll be over 200 by the time they are done.

[Allyson]

My entire budget for my dress, shoes, veil, alterations is $5,000. I'll probably run a little under budget for that.

For my bridesmaids, I'm really trying to keep in mind what they can afford. The most expensive bridesmaids dress we're looking at is $200, which is still expensive, but it's affordable for my bridesmaids. I wouldn't want to burden anyone with something they need to buy for my wedding.

[~Sherry~]

I was hoping to get away with $700-$800 for a dress. I lucked out and got everything I needed for $450 including the dress.

For moh's I just gave them the color and let them pick whatever they could afford and whatever they liked. I think they each spent $150 on the dress and $50 on alterations.

[MsJessica07]

I was really worried about the cost of my dresses and my bridesmaids, as I really didn't want to spend too much more than $500 on the dress itself. When I found what I wanted, I was crushed to learn it was $750, but I found it online for under half that ($362), and was able to get it, under budget! For bridesmaids, I was hoping under $150, but they're three-piece separates so it ends up being a little more than that :)

[nikkiscott]

I actually never thought about a budget for the dress or the wedding. I like to save money. I knew in my mind that I didn't want to spend over $1000 on a dress. I spent just over 800 dollars. And then on top of that I have all the undergarments and veil. So I think that I am around $1000 with everthing included. --- Not including alterations....haven't gotten those done yet.




The MOH dress was under 100 not including alterations. We haven't gotten those done yet. The BMs dress she already had from another wedding that she was in. No alterations to that one either.

[bmhetz2]

I don't think I really had a budget in mind. I used the general budget "rules" on how much to spend on the dress based on the total amount my parents are willing to spend. I think I might have went a little over, but am willing to cut elsewhere.

As far as bridesmaid dresses, I picked a color and let them pick a style in hopes that it would be easier for them to control their costs.

[Maria 05]

Too much would be to blow all the money on the dress :lol:
My dress went over my budget but my mammy said it was a gift from her.
As for the Bridesmaids I rented their dresses my jr Bridesmaid wore her communion dress and my flower girls dress was not too expensive I just asked that it be white

[Dmsangel]

I was very lucky...my Mom won the lottery in 2005...not a ton but enough for my parents to take a vacation to Hawaii ! She also gave me $1,000 for my wedding dress (before I was even engaged). So that was my budget. My dress & veil are together under $500 so that leaves me plenty for alterations, shoes & any other accessories.

[badluckbunny]

i really can't see myself spending more than 500 on something pre-made that i'm going to wear for one day.

i was thinking of getting the dress made. i wouldn't mind spending twice as much as pre-made budget because it would be exactly (almost) the way i want it. i'm not sure how that works though, hiring someone to make the dress "from scratch", if you will.

i'm weird like that.

[Winter_Bride]

My dress budget was $1000 (and it turned out that my dress was only $730) but I'm also believed that if I found a dress that I LOVED for more ($1500 was the MAX) that I would work an extra shift, or shuffle money from elsewhere to buy it - I'll only wear it once, but the pictures and my memories from that day would last forever!!

As for BM dresses, my max limit was $150 for the girls to spend!! I've been a BM 4 times, and I know how much it meant to me when the bride actually took my budget into account (for one wedding, I was a student, I wasn't working and I had to pay $230 for my dress. It was enough that I couldn't buy a textbook for one of my classes for the first month!!) If I had found a dress for more, my husband and I had set aside money in our budget to give each girl $50 towards their dress.

[That Girl]

My limit for a dress was $900. In order to resist temptation and stay under that amount, I didn't even look at dresses that were over $900. I knew if I spent more than that, I'd be kicking myself for it. My dress ended up being $635.

For BM dresses, each girl picked her own. So the price was up to them. The prices for the BM dresses they picked ranged about $120 - $160.

[Sk8ermaiden]

At first I budgeted no more than $2,000 for a dress. Then, after I went shopping at a few places, I knocked that number down to no more than $1,200 for a dress.

As for bridesmaids dresses, no more than $150. I'm paying for those, and didn't want to break my own bank!

[Kathy]

The dresses I was realistically looking at (I'm not including that amazing Demetrios gown that I was absolutely in love with) were all about $600, so that was pretty much my max price. Mine ended up being $449 on sale, and I didn't check the tag on any dresses I tried on until I decided I wanted to take that one home with me. I don't think I could bring myself to buy a dress that cost much more than that ... I would have felt guilty for spending too much and it would have taken the joy out of wearing the dress. So I'm happy I paid what I did :)

I'm looking for bridesmaid dresses under $200 ... not sure how much under at this point, but that's my goal.

[Jaime]

i really can't see myself spending more than 500 on something pre-made that i'm going to wear for one day.

i was thinking of getting the dress made. i wouldn't mind spending twice as much as pre-made budget because it would be exactly (almost) the way i want it. i'm not sure how that works though, hiring someone to make the dress "from scratch", if you will.

i'm weird like that.

Mine was custom made and it is a very time consuming process. It involves hours and hours standing on a large stage under very hot lights. I almost fainted one night because I was so hot. That makes it more expensive, because you are paying for so much of the seamstress's time. I went 3 times a week, for about an hour and a half at a time, over a two month period.

[badluckbunny]

Kitty Cornflake, did you have to worry about the dress at all after you finished with the seamstress? i think it might be worth it. thanks for the info! =)

[Jaime]

Kitty Cornflake, did you have to worry about the dress at all after you finished with the seamstress? i think it might be worth it. thanks for the info! =)


What do you mean by worry about it after I finished with the seamstress? Sorry, I am having a slow brain day! :hehe:

[Kari]

I never set an amount. I saw the dress I wanted in a magazine. I didn't care HOW much it was, I just knew I was going to wear it on my wedding day. Lucky for me it was only around $600 retail.

I found it from an online vendor for $333 including shipping. Add veil, shoes, jewelry, bustle (no alterations needed) and undergarments and I STILL spent less than $500. :)

I am one of the very lucky ones! :nod:

[badluckbunny]

What do you mean by worry about it after I finished with the seamstress? Sorry, I am having a slow brain day! :hehe:

did you have to alter the dress, or pay anymore money once the dress was finished? was it a set price or did you really have to pay the seamstress by the hour? =)

[Jaime]

No, she did it all.. I was having fittings up until the day before the wedding. She had to take it in a few times because I had lost some weight. I picked it up the day before the wedding. I honestly have no idea how much it was because my parents paid for it and I employ a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy for that sort of thing :D I do know that they paid a flat fee.

[Andrea]

WOO this is a hard one gurls. With my not even being engaged yet or anything, I haven't really talked to much with my parents about what they're chipping in or anything :dunno: Who knows what I will be doing in a couple years (job wise) HOWEVER...with all this being said, Damian and I have talked about going ALL out and really not worrying about.

I want to be able to have MY dress. I want to be able to LOOK and TRY on dresses without worrying about price, but of course the cutoff is gunna hafta be somewhere. :giggle: Im a suck when it comes to my daddy because I am such a daddys gurl, so I will prolly get whatever, ANYWAYS I'm rambling...I don't wanna REALLY spend anymore than $2000 on the actual dress

[Andrea]

As for the BM dresses themselves...I would like to be able to pay atleast $75 dollars towards the dress or maybe even the downpayment :dontknow: we will see when the time comes. I've got a wide range of gurls with different life styles to I want to try and keep it in the $150-$225 range. I know I have one gurl taht will FREAK about that because shes cheap but you know what...we will have to see...you just never know what you can find out there

[Raychel]

Honestly...$500-$600 was my limit..I think I ended up spending that much on both of them together :lol: Lord knows if only I would have researched more beforehand I would have never ended up with the first one and probably had gotten away spending what I did on the second one.

Word to those of you on a small budget....don't buy a dress that you aren't 100% sure about just b/c it is on sale (what I did with my first one!) I know I have probably said that a lot already but I can't say it enough. One of my biggest wedding :dope: moments. And such a huge waste of money b/c you really can't resell them for much.

[jillian]

I didn't set a limit and didn't look at prices either. Dress, tiara, shoes, skirt thing, and veil all came to about $1400. I don't think I would have been comfortable spending more than $1500.

[Kathy]

Word to those of you on a small budget....don't buy a dress that you aren't 100% sure about just b/c it is on sale (what I did with my first one!) I know I have probably said that a lot already but I can't say it enough. One of my biggest wedding :dope: moments. And such a huge waste of money b/c you really can't resell them for much.

That's why I didn't look for anything else after I found out my dress wasn't from the $99 rack like I thought ... I didn't want to "settle" because it was cheaper, then freak out and start to hate it, and have to buy something else.

[US_UKlove]

Everyone has their own 'barometer' for this. It depends on your budget and what you personally want.

Its the bride's day - so I say we should be able to do whatever we wanna do! :D

[mrrr]

I love the way Erie put it and I agree. It is only one day but those memories do last forever--and the pics!

I originally set a budget of $500, absolutely no more than that. It changed when my sister went shopping with me and made me try on dresses without looking at the price tag. I fell in love with a dress for $950. Bought it on sale for $750. Struggled with the price for awhile but I absolutely love this dress. Plus, no alterations needed so I saved a couple pennies there.

My BM's dresses were $80 on sale and lowered to $60 because I bought my dress there. So they ended up saving quite a bit!

[rowanmayfairs]

My dress cost $175.00 (included shipping & petticoat) . I didn't spend over $300.00 even with alterations. I wanted to spend $400.00 or under on my dress. I wanted something beautiful but not expensive.

My Maid of Honor's dress cost $60.00 . She looked beautiful in it :)

Both of our dresses were bought off ebay :)

My whole wedding costs under $4,000 . I was pleased about how it turned out :)

Even though I had a small budget wedding..I fell in love with my dress at first sight !! I looked at other dresses, but kept coming back to that dress. :) There was no settling with my dress :)

[Christa]

I didn't give myself a budget for a dress but I don't think I would have been comfortable spending more than $2000 on a dress.

[Trinia]

Our budget was 1000 for the dress.. So far including the alterations (which are only 250 right now) The final price is around 1400.

I don't have a veil or tiara.

[nikkiscott]

I actually never thought about a budget for the dress or the wedding. I like to save money. I knew in my mind that I didn't want to spend over $1000 on a dress. I spent just over 800 dollars. And then on top of that I have all the undergarments and veil. So I think that I am around $1000 with everthing included. --- Not including alterations....haven't gotten those done yet.




The MOH dress was under 100 not including alterations. We haven't gotten those done yet. The BMs dress she already had from another wedding that she was in. No alterations to that one either.

So I forgot to update this. But the alterations for my dress was $50. That was to have the hem taken up 5 inches. And the bustle. Which I wasn't happy with the day of the wedding. And my maoh's alterations for her dress was $20.

[Nik]

I didn't want to spend more than $1000 on the dress. I spent 850 on the dress, 263 on alterations, 43 on the veil, 43 on the tiara and 50 on the shoes. No slip, and not sure what I'm doing for panties yet, maybe some cute white cheekies. I'm OK with that.

For BM dresses I didn't want them spending more than $150 on the dress. I'm pretty sure they were either 120 or 140.

[angie]

I didn't want to spend more than $750 on the dress itself. I spent $650. Alterations and accessories brought the cost of the whole attire a little over $1000.

I initially didn't want the BMs to pay more than $150 on their dress, but we found one we all loved for $160 and they were ok paying that.

[km]

I think it depends on your budget....................