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Was the designer a factor in your dress choice?
Would you buy a gown from a lesser known designer if it looked the same?
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designer is not important to me at all, most important is that I feel great and that it looks looks great.
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I'm not dress shopping yet, but when I do, it will not be about the designer. It will be about the price. I want an inexpensive dress, because I know I'm only going to wear it once, and as long as I feel good and look good, I'll be fine. There are so many other aspects of the wedding that the money could be better spent on. The day will be about family and about us. It's not about what I'm wearing.
i'm glad to read that it doesn't matter to you guys :)
with the economy the way it is, the dress is one place to cut lots of $$$.
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The designer was very important to me. I wanted a well made gown, good fabric, and I love good service. At first I considered going for any gown that I could look good in, so I went to David's bridal and was very disappointed in their selection of 'plus sized gowns'. I wanted a dress that didn't look like it was meant for a plus sized girl. This includes but wasn't limited to:
I didn't want to feel like a plus-sized girl. I fell in love with one of their dresses but it is only made to size 12!!!!! Those bastards! It had intricate beading and it was just lovely. At that point I gave up on David's bridal.
I had always loved pronovias gowns. They were always slightly different than mainstream gowns, the details on the dresses are gorgeous, and lucky for me they had just opened a flagship store in NYC the month before I was engaged. Even better, they carry all their gowns in two sizes for trying on. A 6 or 8 for smaller brides, and 14 for us larger ladies, and I fell in love and I'm still in raptures, I have my first fitting in 1 week.
They serve champagne, they have private dressing areas that fit all of your friends and their attention to detail is perfect. I could never go to a David's bridal again.
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chela - i'm a pronovias bride! i wore nardo.
is that what you purchased?
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Actually in the end I did get some gathering but the top of the dress is to die for. I have Helena. It's the 2009 collection and since I went to their flagship store I was one of the first people to order the style in the US. The best part is the flagship store doesn't charge you for alterations as they want to keep control of the style of the dress.
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I knew I loved Jim Hjelm gowns. I would have definitely bought a "knock off" (Not that Jim Hjelm is a super high end designer or anything) if the quality of material were equal. Material was as important to me as the look of the dress!
I didn't care at all about the designer, there was just a look I had in my head and that's what I was looking for...just never quite found.
Well Lillindy, it looks like although you didn't find the dress you found one that still made you happy, you look beutiful in your avatar pic.
Thanks Mrs.Leopard. I know Nardo is a beautiful dress too. I'm sure you looked amazing.
I didn't care about designer, but I guess if I had my DREAM wedding with no budget, I might choose a specific designer.
I just wanted to make sure I loved the dress--the way it looked and the way it felt on.
I didn't care about the designer at all. I honestly don't even know the designer of the dress I bought. It was some exclusive to the bridal shop. I just loved the way it made me feel!
I don't know if I cared about designer so much as I did about the quality, fit and how I felt in the dress. I ended up getting my dress at a trunk show and met the designer and now my dress feels that much more special after the experience. It's a small designer, but I love my dress and I think the price was better than other comparable dresses because it wasn't a big name designer who inflated the price.
No, I'm in the process... and in the process of finishing the story on my blog. The dress I found that I liked the most is a Maggie Sottero, the party I haven't blogged about yet is that I found out it was dicontinued when they went to order it for me.
Opps I meant to add a picture...
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Ooh Ali, that's so pretty!!
Ultimately choosing your dress is a personal choice. Some are more high maintenance than others (i.e. ME).
The designer was semi important to me. I guess I just felt better about the dress getting a designer known for quality work, and one that I might be able to resell if I decide to do so. I bought my dress from La Sposa - a Pronovias line, and I'm soo happy with it. And they have a great price range.
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I didn't completely care about the designer. What I did care about was getting a well-made dress. Without mentioning any specific designer names, I've seen some shoddy workmanship on some well-respected and expensive designer dresses (crooked seams, messy tucks or beading).
I wanted to know I was getting a sturdy well made dress, and when mine came in, I went over it with a fine-toothed comb to make sure it was well made. I wish I could have found a dress by a local designer, but it was not to be... That's ok, I got a really well made dress.
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Nope. I just wanted to pick something that I liked and that looked good.
No way. I just wanted the dress that made me feel beautiful. In the end, I didn't find one that I wanted to pay ridiculous amounts of money for (seriously, they jack up the prices on EVERYTHING just because you put the word "wedding" in front of it), so I'm having a tailor custom-make mine. It's actually cheaper, I get exactly what I want, and I know her quality is good. That being said, I actually didn't care about the quality of the dress to a large degree, because I'm wearing it once then getting rid of it. It needs to look good, but I don't care if it's not perfectly made, since it only has to last one day. But I'm really happy with what I'm getting, and that's what's important, right?
I couldn't have cared less about who made my gown. It's not something I think about. I'm really cheap and generally don't wear designer anything unless it's marked 'irregular' and on sale at Marshalls or TJMaxx!
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The designer was semi important. I wanted a dress that I knew would hold up well and ever Maggie bride I have ever seen looked beautiful.
wow the pics of the dresses above aer beautiful. I agree with the fact that I want a well made gown also. Great fabric will feel great against my skin and make me feel beautiful on my special day.
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You know, I just got back from dress shopping and tried on some extremely (in my mind) high-priced dresses (one was over $4,000! What?!?). None of them compared in the LEAST to the one I'm almost certain I'll get: a $650 Allure. To me, I wanted it to look spectacular and have good quality fabric. While the crazy expensive ones may have some high end fabrics, they just didn't do it for me. The name (as long as it didn't include the words "David's Bridal") didn't matter to me at all. And I might as well include a pic (excuse the terrible hair/lighting).
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EAQ - your dress is gorgeous!! what color is that: white, diamond white, ivory? It's lovely.
Honestly, the tag isnt on the outside of the dress. I still dont know who my designer is, I keep forgetting to ask. I tried on dresses in a nice salon, and cared only about how it made me look and feel. I wanted nice material, but you don't need a famous designer to get that. I actually prefer that my dress can not be seen in any catalog.
While designer wasn't important to me for bragging rights (or whatever importance is attached to a label), I fell in love with certain designers for their unique styles. For example, I love Lela Rose for her use of alternative fabrics, unique laces and the way she mixes modern with traditional. I ended up getting a Claire Pettibone dress because of the fabrics, the quality and the way it makes me feel. After months of checking out other dresses, I have yet to find one that looks like mine.
the designer didn't really matter to me, but i knew there were certain designers that i liked more and those were the ones i wanted to try on. i ended up getting a paloma blanca (one of the designers i preferred) because it had everything i was looking for in a dress.
I wasn't looking for a specific designer (I bought at a sample sale, so it's take what you can get) at the time. However I am happy with the dress I ended up with, but agree it's everything to do with how the dress looks on you. ie. I tried on ML dresses that were worth $8k, but it looked terrible on me-I wouldn't buy it just because it's the designer... It's an added bonus I got my dress for a comparable rate as a non-designer though.
I am normally pretty branded but for wedding dress I really didn't look for designer. However, once I set my price range and started searching, I realized I look really good/skinny in Maggie Sottero dresses so later on I only tried her dresses.
EAQ219,
Your dress is Flippin Gorgeous!!!!!!!
I didn't care about the designer either, in fact if anything I tried to avoid them. After seeing my sister's MIL (future at the time) pay for most of her dress ($11,200) because our parents are more practical than that I decided to go on a quest and find a well made gown that looked like I spent more than I did.
My cousin actually found this website before I did, but after seeing the quality of her dress, I took the plunge.
Here's my ceremony dress
http://www.mybigfatbeautifulwedding.com/234-chandler I ordered it in Ivory and will have it in about 5 weeks.
Yesterday, I ordered my reception dress from them
http://www.mybigfatbeautifulwedding.com/376.htm in their pale pink.
I spent less than $800 for both dresses (my dress budget was $1500, were going to Italy for our honeymoon!) and I am so proud of the fact that I got 2 awesome dresses both individually different for less than many brides pay for 1. I am thrilled and can not wait for my FI to see me in these gorgeous dresses.
I am so not a name-brand girl. I do have some items with name labels, but it isn't because of the name. I buy items I liek regardless of who makes them. Why spend more on soemthign you can buy for less? To me that is ridiculous. I honestly love Melissa Sweet gowns and thought I would be a Meliss aSweet bride, until I was engaged and realized how much they cost, I know if I look around, I can find soemthing more in my price range.
My sister found a dress at Priscilla's of Boston for about $10,000.00, she bought an almost identical dress at Running of the Brides for $499.00!
i didn't care. i knew that i wanted something that wasn't strapless, didn't have a lot of beading, and didn't weight eleventybillion pounds. And my Casablanca--is all of those things!
It did not matter to be- my main concern was to try to find a dress possibly by a lesser known designer if not to make sure that for the 5 weddings I am attending this year befre mine, that none of my friends wear the same dress as me. I bought a Demetrios dress and one wedding down- so far no duplicates :)
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Definitely didn't care about the designer, i just wanted something that looked good and felt right and didn't cost me and arm and leg! I ended up a with a dress from Alfred Angelos. Less than $1000.
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I definitely didn't think about the designer of my gown at all when I started shopping. I just wanted something that made me look and feel my best, and I wanted it to be something that I could buy myself outside my wedding budget without feeling guilty at all for what I spent. I really cared more about finding something with good quality and service rather than a designer name.
I still have no idea where my dress's designer (Anjolique) falls in terms of the hierarchy of gowns, since I'd never heard of it before trying them on, myself. And really, it doesn't matter. The dress looks stunning either way! :)
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