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I refused to even let myself look at them...I just knew if I did I would fall in love with something that I could never afford and nothing else would be good enough after that!
Ok it depends how you are. For me I'm a thrifty stubborn girl and know I wouldn't spend over my budget (though I was surprised how tempted I was, but it wasn't that much out of range). So if I liked something it gave me a good idea of what styles I at least liked. Just because you can't spend 10000 doesn't mean you shouldn't really like the dress. So my strategy was to try them and then scour until I found a similar enough one in my budget. But it ended up being just a completely different dress that I liked even more than the more expensive one.
I did try on more expensive dresses (think Vera Wang vampire dress at $6,000)... but I needed to stretch my mind because I wasn't finding anything I liked and I knew that I absolutely would not allow myself to go over budget. I thought it might give me ideas of new shapes or custom alterations to existing dresses.
It worked for me, but if impulse control is a problem, I wouldn't go there :)
I haven't started looking at dresses yet, but I will not! I have a tiny budget and I will not fall in love with anything I can't have!
I didn't want to tempt myself, so I would only look at something I was willing to pay for. I even transferred money out of my checking account and into savings before shopping, so I wouldn't be tempted to go over!
I tried on the crazy expensive ones after I had already fallen in love with my (within budget) dress - it was fun to play dress up, and the fact that I still loved *my* dress after trying on all the fantasy gowns erased every single doubt I could possibly have about mine. Have fun!
Just tell the sales woman what your range is. If they are a decent person, they won't show you the ones in the 5K range. I went in with a budget of 700-1200 (only because I didn't want something cheap looking and I didn't want to limit myself to the 1000 mark (dresses for 999.99 anyone?) So, I ended up buying a dress that was a little under 1000 with taxes and hopefully, my alterations will be under 200, so I'll be on budget!
No. I didn't because I didn't want to try on something way out of my budget and love it. I would have been heartbroken and knew there was no way I could stretch my budget.
Of course... but they were wildly expensive!
I tried on a bunch of runway samples from La Sposa ($8-20k each), and a lot of dresses at Monique as well despite the price tags ($3k - 10k). I knew what my budget was to start with and wasn't in a "shopping mode" when I walked in to try on those dresses.
I did, however, find shapes that I adored and fabrics and colors that I both loved and hated. And while I did fall in love with the 15 foot train on one dress... I was ok passing on it in favor of a house down payment. :)
Yes, and I the first one I tried on out of my budget (without noticing the price tag) turned out to be the one I liked the most. I don't fully regret it because it showed me what options are out there. I'm still toying with the idea of buying that dress, or altering something else to look more like that dress. If budget is a strict constraint, I'd say don't waste your time. But if you're getting desparate like me and may be willing to stretch that budget, it's worth a shot. There's also the option of buying an expensive, highly recognized brand name dress, and then trying to resell the dress for a fraction of the cost after the wedding if it's still in good condition.
Like others have said, it depends on YOU...
I ditto meliss about selling (even here in the classifieds) & I'd like to add an option that's available here, in LA, & may be possible for you if you're in a big city or have fantastic dressmakers: a bride can sneak a picture (or if the shop is lenient, openly take a picture) of her dream dress, trot on down to Korea Town & have the lovely, talented seamstresses there mock up a beautiful copy to buy or RENT! So a bride can get a Monique Lhuillier-like gown to rent for $800 - $1600!!
I looked at a few dresses way out of my price range during the early stages but I didn't fall in love with them (thank god!). As time went on, I limited myself to only trying on stuff within my budget. I honestly feel that's the best way to handle it.
I would definitely look at that range. Since you have time, if you find a $5,000 dress you cannot live with out, you can hunt the sample sales, Once Wed, etc, and find it for a huge markdown. Of course, for brides who need to buy their dress immediately, it might be asking to fall in love with something over budget. But I think you have room to play!
i am open to try everything. i have set my budget to be at $1500 MAX, but i do have the flexibility to go a lot higher, HOWEVER, i know i would not do it because there are so many beautiful dresses out there that are within my $1500 budget.
Don't even give yourself the option. I looked at dresses ONLINE that were way out of my budget, but I never even considered letting myself see them on my body. When you know ahead of time what your limit is, why push it? $1,500 is still a lot of money; you can find a dress that you love for that price... it might just take a little more looking.
I had a very wishy washy dress budget. I didn't want to spend more than 800 but I was willing to wiggle a bit. So of course I tried on dresses that were more than 800. But not much higher; I think the most expensive dress that I tried on was 1300.
When it came to narrowing down, because I liked something about every dress I tried on, I ended up using price as a reason to cut dresses off my list. So I did end up buying one in my price range. I wasn't too worried about falling in love with a higher priced dress because I knew I wasn't going to be one of those "OMG this is the dress" kind of brides. But that's just me.
Although my dress turned out to be a bit over my original budget, I made sure to try on dresses with price tags I could stomach. I don't really don't trust myself to walk away from an unber expensive dream dress.
I tried on some $6,500 dresses AFTER i bought my $400 one. They were SO FAR out of my price range, it wasn't even practical. None of them looked good on me, either (couture was not meant for my curvy body, lol) and i was busting out of all the dresses (they don't make the bust area longer when you're tall so i was S.O.L.)...so it just helped.
It was fun. I went with my parents just for shits and giggles basically. We had fun beimg fancy, getting champagne, and ultimately, feeling really good about my end decision. I tried on one $2200 justin alexander I liked, but didn't LOVE.
For the most part I stuck to my budget. I did try on one dress that was double my budget only because a bad sales woman put me in it and told me the price after it was on my body. Did i love it? YES. But was I able to find something I loved even more within my price range? YES It can sometimes give you a good idea of what you are looking for. But only do this if you know you can say NO. haha
I did because I always had it in my mind that I would buy my dress used or as a sample (in which case the dress might end up in my price range).
I looked at only one that was out of my budget - at Vera Wang. It was the gown that I fell in love with and the consultant ended up offering me at 15% discount. I just posted on another thread that I was really surprised since the gown was an expensive brand-new design and there was no sale going on at the store. I was very, very surprised but ended up with my dream dress that was initially out of my price range!
I looked at all the dresses, fell in love with one from Elizabeth Fillmore and way out of my price range. So I found it preowned.
I tried on a 15k Pucchi wedding dress.. lol just for fun. The dress wore me! It was crazy! I blogged about it.. check it out here.
http://leah-barksdale.blogspot.com/
Wow LeahNHeath, you could be like, the Queen Giraffe of the Zoo in that dress, LOL
I looked online at ones that were way over my budget, but when it came to actually shopping, I didn't look at ones that were over my limit (well, not extremely over my limit). I was trying for $1000 tops, but when I was at the shop I ended up purchasing my dress from, the info card that I filled out asked me to select a range, and it went from 100-499, 500-999, 1000-2000, etc. I didn't want to rule out the 1000 dresses completely, so I checked the 1000-2000 box (and all the ones under it), but made a note saying I wasn't willing to go over $1500. It turns out that my dress was $1500 exactly, but it was so perfect for me that I couldn't say no. Thankfully, my grandma pitched in and sent me a check for $500 to make up the difference (she was there when I was trying the dress on and was crying...I guess I suckered her into that one...).
If you are planning on trying some on that are over your budget, just make sure that you go in with the mindset that you can't purchase one...and if you DO fall in love, you might have to search high and low to find a used one, or a sample on sale!
My parents live in London and every time I go we obviously shop a lot :-) I've already (just being a girl) looked dresses in many stores in London. Looked, not tried. I loooooove dresses there.... I see a lot of dresses as a wedding photographer and maybe I just love the diversity and change of pace? Not that they are overly different... but different designers we don't see here. There's a lot in my price range there.... even with the conversion rates as my parents get paid in GBP it's not a big deal. Sounds bad but we don't really think about conversion rates or else we'd get mad buying everything at twice the price :-)
The issue, I really don't see how I'm going to be able to get over there this year :-( I'm kinda heartbroken about that because I LOOOOVE the head pieces over there, and I really wanted to get at least a head piece there...
There's a store here that sells strictly british designers... but obviously the higher end ones, plus pricing is different cause it's the states.... That's the store I'm wanting to go to. I guess my other option would be to call the designer in the UK and maybe get it that way...
Still torn, thanks for the great answers!
My first visit to a bridal salon I was asked what my dress budget was and I said price wasn't an issue. I tried on a bunch of dresses and never looked at the price tags. The second shop I went to I fell in love with a dress that was $1,100, which I could pull off but I'm a super frugal person and can't justify spending that much on a dress. But on a whim I went to David's and found a very similar dress and bought it for $600. I'd say try on everything during your first trip to see what you like but make sure you're strong and be realistic with your budget. Have fun!!!
I would say that if you are't finding anything in your current price range, it might not be a bad idea to look at more expensive dresses. It can give you a better idea on what to hunt for in a more inexpensive dress, and if you're okay with Ebay or other options (dresses from China) you can often find it cheaper.
That said, you have to prepare yourself then to fall in love and having to either say no or find the room in the budget to get your dream dress.
After I found out how much the limit on my card was at David's I quick tried on something that was over my budget by almost double. I was fine with it, since if I did end up loving it I had already decided to bump up my budget. Other than that, I stayed in my price range.
Look, for sure... but I would hesitate to try them on. If you just look, and find a style that you like, take the picture along with you, and ask at the different salons if they have something similar in your price range.
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So, I may start my search here in a few weeks and I'm trying to see what stores I want to go to, who has what designers, etc...
... there's one store in particular that has a price point of $1500 - 5,500. Now, the low end is doable, but I'm worried I'll fall in love with a $5000 dress... and on principle I just really don't justify spending that much on the dress.... But this store has amazing dresses....
What do you think, tempt it? I'm just shy of a year out so I may have some time to wait for a sale too....