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Hello Hive!
We have selected our Bridesmaids dresses and I am feeling a little guilty about the price. Would you mind telling me what you are asking your bridesmaids to pay?
We had to change from our original dress due to my MOH will be 6 days shy of giving birth on the day of our wedding and we wanted all of the fabric to be the same. (Our original dress was from J. Crew and they do not have a maternity line of dresses) The difference in cost is $45 more for the new dress.
I love the new dress and think it looks beautiful on everyone. They range from 5'11 to 4'8 and are 35 to 11 years old. Two of the girls love the dress and agreed they would wear it again. (honestly)
So again, what is the average price you have paid or are asking your "ladies" to pay for a dress.
Thank you for any help.
$200 - That's what I've always paid as a BM and that's what my BMs are paying. We're doing J Crew dresses. I haven't had any complaints.
I have paid $100 and $150 to be in two different weddings. My girls got off easy because my mom made them and we didn't charge them.
I bought my girl's dresses for them. I paid $33 each (found them on the clearance rack at Macy's).
We're spoiled by the LA Fashion District, so I've never paid more than $60 or so for a BM dress. My girls found theirs on Nordstrom.com on sale for $85.
As a BM, I have paid $220 with tax for a dress, $160 with tax for a dress. Mine are costing my girls $120 with tax (lucky ducks) and for my FSIL's wedding in December, I am paying $160 with tax. As a note, tax in my area is 10%, yeah highest I think anywhere, thank you Chicago.
My BM's paid $40 for their dresses. I've paid $100 and less for the dress in the weddings I have been in. I couldn't imagined paying or asking my maids to pay $200.
One of my maids who is getting married 8 months after me was so happy that I found a good quality bridesmaid dress for that amount.
Mine were $153 including tax, but they also have to pay for their alterations.
My girls spent $130 on the dresses for my wedding and for the two weddings I've been in I spent about $140 and $120.
I'd feel bad asking my girls to spend more than $150 on a dress for my wedding and would absolutely under no circumstances ask someone to spend more than $175. There are tons and tons of really nice options in the under $150 range.
mine are paying around 180. found my flower girl dresses online for around 36 each though!
My girls' dresses cost $165 before alterations.
They were $140 with free shipping from JCrew on sale. I offered to let the BMs pick them and gave some guidelines, but no one suggested anything. I set a deadline for dress ideas so we'd have enough time to wait for a JCrew sale, with the JCrew dress as the backup. I was in charge of stalking the website and calling/emailing the girls when it went on sale. One of the BMs didn't buy her dress during the 2 weeks it was on sale, so hers was about $200.
I think the cost should depend on what the BM's can realistically afford. I'm using Lula-Kate dresses and the style I picked is right around 345.00. I would never have chosen them if I knew the ladies couldn't afford it. I was in a wedding where the dresses cost around 300.00 and while it wasn't an issue for me I know she had 2 BM's drop out b/c of cost.
$180 plus tax for my girls, in a retail (non-bridal) store. One girl got hers altered (not sure how much she paid for that, not a lot, I think), the other didn't need to.
I have paid $70, $150, and $20 for dresses. The dresses for my ladies are $145.
Mine will be 220 i feel really bad for the cost but the girls picked them out. i even found cheaper cuter ones but they really love the original dress. They have a year and half to save though so that helps out.
the most i paid for my MOH dress is 340
I paid about $270 in one wedding (where I was forced to buy a way too big dress and pay a way too big alteration fee). And I paid $12.50 (from Forever21) on another that I secretly safety pinned the straps of (to keep my small chest from being too exposed).
The first one has NEVER been worn again. I wear the other one all the time. lol. I'm about to be in another wedding and I think our dresses will be around $150 before alterations.
Mine were $140. For me personally, I have paid as much as $400 and as little as $80 for a BM dress.
The average I have paid in weddings is around $200. The most I paid was $270 for a dress that needed $120 in alterations (bride wanted a special bustle). My BM's are paying $150.
$140, which was the cheapest price I could find. We went with an online retails because all the BM's are in different states. There was no point getting them at one place.
I paid $300 when I was a BM and I have to say, I was pissed (but I didn't say anything). $150 is reasonable, especially if alterations will be needed.
Thank you Ladies.
I wanted to see what everyone was paying, but our current dresses are from LulaKate. They are $265. No one has trouble affording the dress, but I feel bad that my MOH has to buy a dress that she will never wear again. (this will be her 2nd and last pregnancy). However, it is because she is pregnant that we switched dresses.
Maybe I am the only one in the bridal party that is concerned that they are paying that much.
Thank you all.
Oh, I might add that the girls will get free alterations from one of my Bridesmaids mothers. She is an excellent seamstress (she is making my dress). So there will not be any additional costs for the dress.
WOW - I don't own a single wardrobe related thing (besides my wedding dress) that costs that much!! Your BMs either have a much, much larger budget/income than me or I'd guess they are concerned with that price even if they haven't told you to your face.
Yeah, I agree with FutureKMM. I felt kind of bad about my $180 dresses, but the girls picked it out themselves. And I know for myself, even though technically I can afford an expensive dress, I wouldn't love the idea of spending a lot on a dress that isn't my choosing. If they normally spend that amount on clothing for themselves, that's probably fine. If you know they normally like to shop at cheaper places and are frugal, than maybe it isn't fine. Whether they are able to afford it shouldn't necessarily be the guideline...
I've paid $150, $100, $120, and $40... so I guess they were all below average.
I've only worn one again and it was to a formal dinner in college. I probably will wear my sister's BM dress again, though, and maybe another one if it gets altered a little (didn't flatter my small chest all that well haha).
I think it really depends on your circle of friends and what is the norm for your group. I've paid between $250-$300 for each of the bridesmaid dresses I've worn. So I think your dress cost sounds reasonable.
If you're the first in your group of friends to get married--I'd use the stores you and your friends normally shop at as a guide.
$175
My brothers cost me $275 before alterations, it came in 3 sizes too big and there was apparently no need for me to add extra length. I cost more like $375-400 in the end...
My dress is costing them $140.
Most of the weddings I've been in have averaged between $110-150. And most of them were purchased at David's Bridal. I am in a wedding next month where I got the Nordstrom dress off Ebay for $30!! I was stoked about that.
I think they were like $225ish? They all needed alterations, but no one paid over $14 for the alterations. They were really beautiful dresses and in black, so they can definitely wear them again for future events.
I will add that the OP is in San Diego. I'm guessing everything is more expensive out there than it is in little old Pittsburgh too :)
@snuggielove - While I'd agree with that sentiment for some things, it doesn't really apply to clothes (I just spent close to a year living in LA so I can speak from experience - I never had to spend any more on clothes there than in Atlanta, Dallas, or Fort Wayne, IN). Plus, so many bridesmaids dresses you can order online so the cost is identical no matter where in the country you live (other than slight differences in shipping).
I do live in San Diego, but we are ordering dresses from a company in South Carolina. I am not the first or last to get married in the group. My MOH is married. Two of my bridesmaids are employed by me 
, so I know they can afford to purchase their dress, and two other two girls are 14 and 11. We are purchasing their dresses for them, as a gift to them, as their parents dad's are standing for my fiance.
As a side note, the two girls who are standing for me who are married did not have bridal parties at their weddings. Not that they haven't been in a wedding before, again, just a side note.
Our dresses are Navy.
Thanks for all your help. Any information is helpful as the dresses will not be ordered until Wednesday this week. So I have tomorrow if needed.
Out of curiousity...Which LulaKate dresses are you getting? I love me some LulaKate!!
@amykate - I'm hope I'm not coming accross as a downer to you or anything - just trying to give my honest opinion on your dresses. While I make good money and could easily afford to spend $265 on a dress, I wouldn't be comfortable spending that on a bridesmaids dress.
And I know you obviously know the income of the two BMs that work for you, but knowing their income doesn't mean you know they can afford a $265 dress - you don't know their rent payment/mortgage, debt from school/car/etc loans that they're paying down, potential automatic withdrawls for children's college funds, investment accounts, etc or any plethora of other personal expenses they have. It's dangerous to make assumptions about other people's financial situation, even if you do know their income.
It is very generous of you to offer to pay for the dresses of the 14 and 11 year old girls. Maybe you could consider paying for a portion of the other girls dresses as well so that they don't have such a huge out-of-pocket expense (because I wouldn't be at all surprised if at least one of them finds it quite expensive).
My bridesmaids paid $115 for their dress. It was originally $135 but they got a discount b/c I bought my dress there (David's Bridal).
The most I've paid is $165.
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