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You don't have to spend a fortune to find a dress you love. There are many, MANY dresses out there that are under $1k!!! Or you can look on sites like www.preownedweddingdresses.com or www.oncewed.com and find a previously owned dress for very cheap.
I'm defintely of the mind set that you shouldn't spend a TON on a dress if you can't afford it.
Is your total budget $5,000 or is that the budget for your gown?
I gave myself a budget of $600 for my gown and ended up going over. I spent $936 and change including tax for a Justin Alexander sample gown; including tax, undergarments, and alterations.
I went to a small bridal boutique close to where I live and had the best service and experience. They didn't pressure me at all and encouraged me to try on a lot of gowns; some that I showed them from pictures and the sample that they somehow knew would be the one.
I think you should stay as close to your budget or below your budget as you can; especially if you forsee having to spend extra for your family and other guests to be at your wedding.
$5000 is my max for a dress. I just hate spending that much on something I wear once. It won't break me but may keep me up at night since the cost for this wedding it quickly swirling out of control. I will look at the pre owned sites.
You can very easily find a gorgeous dress for under 5K. Mine is a Maggie - I love ALL of her dresses - and I'm pretty sure her most expensive is under 2K.
I think it depends, if you can afford it go for it!! i'd love to be able to afford it. if the thought is keeping you up at night, perhaps you should cut your budget in half? have you been to marry go round? i saw them on peter perfect and loved them. they have designer dresses at a very inexpensive price that are being resold, sort of like a consignment type deal.
I personally couldn't do that but it's your money. Do you want to spend a huge chunk of change on a dress or get a less expensive dress you love and use the money toward something else that you and/or your guests will appreciate (even if you don't spend any of it on the wedding and save it for married life expenses or savings)?
I agree; $5,000 for a gown should be more than enough to find something "designer" that you love.
Actually one of the dresses I LOVE the prices I belive are around 600-2000. I plan on trying it on next week.
escalar.jpg (79 KB, 40 downloads) 2 years old 
I purchased mine on Ebay NEW from someone who didn't end up wearing it and it cost me 200 plus 150 in alterations and steaming. It was EXACTLY what I wanted but I just had to do the footwork. :) Hope that gives you a little something to work with.
You can definitely get an amazing dress for less if thats what you want to do!
One way of looking at is breaking the price down by hour! A bride did this on Say Yes To The Dress and found that the dress she wanted would be $1000 per HOUR on her wedding day! She ended up choosing a less expensive dress if I remember correctly. It helps to put things into perspective!
Sign up for emails from the bridal shops in your area. I had a lot of luck at a sample sale. TONS of beautiful designer dresses, 2-3 other girls there (so totally un-crazy), amazing prices. I got my $3700 dress for $1000. It still sells used on preownedweddingdresses and oncewed for $2000! And this was Saks in NYC on a weekend! Sample sales!!!
It really all depends on what is most important to you. Some people spend a lot to try to get the perfect band because having great music and dancing is their number one priority, some people spend a lot of photography, or food, maybe yours is your dress. This will most likely be the most expensive piece of clothing you will ever buy, if you can afford it, why not go all out?
May I ask why are you expecting to have so many alterations? I haven't done the research, so I'm sure other bees can speak to this better than I, but would it be less expensive just to have a dress custom made if you considering doing MAJOR alterations?
And that is a gorgeous dress, what label is it?
I'm a full DD on top but a size 2 everywhere else. All my clothes have to be altered if they are fitted. That why I'm so nervous about buying a dress without trying it on.
That dress is by Madeline Gardner
I would start trying on dresses in all price ranges, and see what you like. I was like you when I started out - I kinda had a blank check for a dress but the thought of spending that much on one dress seemed crazy. Then I fell in love with an Amsale dress ... and the rest is history :) I also found that I liked some dresses that were way on the low-end of the price scale too, so you never know!
Quick answer: no.
However, you will find when wedding dress shopping and on these forums and blogs, the term 'fortune' is relative. Wear what you love =D
To be honest, I spent $2500 on my dress and sometimes I still have regret, because YES its a lot of money! I do love my dress, but seeing beautiful dresses under my price point makes me sad!
I went to Davids bridal and they have some cute dresses this season, I wish they had them when I was looking! And I know you're a DW bride and I think they would be perfect!!
So, NO don't spend a fortune on your dress!! (and mad props to you for paying for your family to go to your DW!! I wish I could do the same!!)
No it's not worth it. You can find a dress that you will be happy with for under $1000. Or at least you should be able to!
I have a feeling finding a dress is going to drive me nearly crazy. I know almost all these dresses I love once I get them on won't look right. With that said I just hope to find one that I love, can be altered to fit right and not cost a arm and a leg. I really don't know how women survive this whole thing. Being that this my 3rd marriage and I've birthed 3 kids you would think it a walk in the park...WRONG, omg this insane.
Well noone's going to tell you "yes, you should spend a fortune!" :) If you find something for $1000 or less that you love, great. That's how I started out, but as you start looking more and more at high-end gowns, you realize there's a reason why they're the price they are and you start wanting them. If that's what you fall in love with and you can afford it, I think you should go for it. The dress is one of the most important aspects of the wedding so it should be at the bottom of the list for cutting edges IMO.
Btw, alterations shouldn't be more than $300-400 at the most. Taking in a dress should be a standard charge, they don't charge by how many inches they have to take it in.
I don't think it's worth it. There are so many dresses, especially with a 5k budget, I can't imagine you wouldn't find an amazing dress in that budget. My budget was way, way less and I found a dress I adore. I know it's your wedding day, but it is only one day and like 6-10 hours.
Honestly...if you can afford it...do it! If you find a dress that isn't expensive that is okay but I wouldn't look at the price tags if I were you and then just go from there. Honestly, you will probably never wear a garment that expensive again and it makes you feel great to know how wonderful that dress is that you're wearing. You know that for one day in your life ALL eyes are on you and you are going to to want it to be in the most beautiful dress you could find. I'm a huge advocate of the dress. I cut my budget in other areas to be able to afford me dress.
Look at all the wedding photos...what do they all have in common? YOU! Not your place settings or your table cloths. People are going to remember you above all else! Good luck!
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Ok I don't really have a budget but would like to stay under $5000..way under if I can. My question is it really worth it to spend that much on a dress I wear once. I mean I'm spending a TON on a destination wedding. I'm flying in and housing all my guest including my family. They don't have alot of money so I'm sure I'll end up footing most the food bill while they all there too. So looking for ways to cut some edges. I plan on going to several places from David's Bridal to higher end stores. I just want to look pretty. Whatever dress I get will require major alterations so that something I also have to keep in mind too...I'd love some feedback on this...!!