Wedding Dresses: How much did you spend on yours? or how much do you plan to spend?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

One of the girls in my class spent $5000.00 on hers. Is that normal?

[bicentennial_baby]

1. I went cheap, but it was beautiful

$170, the Issac Mizrahi Collection from Target. The alterations cost 2x as much as the dress! Personally, I think it's silly to spend an obscene amt. of $$ on something you're only going to wear once. :shrug:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. well i will get married in a saree, so mine will have multiple uses.

but in principle i agree wiht you.

[KitchenWitch]

2. My mom made my wedding dress

All told the cost of materials (silk) was less than $300. Her time was priceless. And I appreciated it.

I will find a photo so you can see it.

I would think after alterations and whatnot that $1000 would be my outer limit if I were purchasing today.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. sounds awesome

[Taverner]

5. My wife spent $200. And it was a rebuilt white party dress

Worked :)

[Left Is Write]

6. I can never rememer if it was $50 or $60. One of the two.

I did not, however, have a traditional bridal gown.

[skygazer]

7. My daughter's dress was around $200, I think

And it was beautiful. She spent more on her tiara but she HAD to have the tiara. She got her cake at the grocery store. :rofl:

She spent a lot of money on the photos and the location and next to nothing on things like flowers and cake that weren't going to last anyway. :hi:

As for me, I'm wearing jeans. :P

[Connonym]

8. That's obscene!

I think mine was about $400 back in 91. The only thing more wasteful is stupid bridesmaid dresses. Maybe it's because I'm divorced but I think big weddings are a huge waste of time, money and emotional distress. I wouldn't do it again.

[mainegreen]

9. My wife spent $350 on alterations to her mom's wedding dress.

It came out very nice.

[AlCzervik]

10. $1200 after a 30% discount, $300 for the veil/head piece thing.

and that was 1991 and no i really don't know what i was thinking. the hsoes were about $60 and those were awesome.

[HERVEPA]

11. My daughter got hers on E-Bay

$40, I think

[VenusRising]

12. I spent $300 on my entire ensemble.

$99 sale at David's Bridal is awesome.



Closer detail


My friend got a $1500 dress for $99 dollars. It was gorgeous.

[RockaFowler]

13. I spent $199 on mine 7 years ago

I went to David's Bridal during a big sale they were having. They continue to have these sales at $99. I didn't like any of them, but I found a great one for $199. I love that dress. I can't wait until our 10th anniversary, I'm gonna wear it again!!!

[Tektonik]

14. If you have the money

go ahead and get the dress you want, but I'd rather spend the money on something not used only once like the ring, or putting the wedding in a better venue

[Shell Beau]

15. A couple grand. But I have known gals to spend $100 to $25,000.

Not sure what normal is!

Although for 25 grand I would rather have a car!!

[supernova]

16. Spent $300 in 1986

which I guess would be more like 6-800 today.

I think I spent about 60 on alterations (mostly hemming it since I'm a shortie. :P )

[Deep13]

17. It is not unusual...

...but I cannot make myself think that it is "normal." It is something that she will wear three or four times tops. (Well, that's what happens in my family.)

My wife made her own out of purple fabric. She did not want the color to be any kind of personal statement about virginity or the lack thereof. She also wore her Grandmother's lace gloves. I wore a suit I bought from Pennys, a shirt my Dad gave me before he died and tie my sister gave me. My step-mother got a one-day appointment to do weddings and presided. We had it at my father's Christmas tree farm. The only thing that was expensive was the food we catered.

[mzteris]

19. she never heard the "purple" joke?

Three elderly unmarried sisters were discussing what they wanted to be buried in.

1st sister: I want to be buried in White as I've never married and I never fooled around and I'm still as pure as the day as I was born.

2nd sister: I want to be buried in Pink as I've never married but I did fool around a little but I'm still a virgin.

3rd sister: I want to be buried in Purple, 'cause honey, I ain't missed a thing!





My mother told me this joke as she handed me a shower present she wanted me to open. It was a very. purple. negligee.

I didn't know whether to laugh, duck, or hide.

[Bassic]

18. It's normal if you're rather rich.

Not super rich mind you, as they tend to spend a lot more than even that.

[Phillycat]

20. $30.

It was a silk handkerchief dress in shades of turquoise and coral I found on sale at Charlotte Russe at the beginning of the summer. I hadn't worn it for anything because didn't have any special occasions to dress up for. I kept trying on white cotton cocktail dresses, because that's what I thought I wanted to wear for the wedding (it was Aug 25). But I couldn't find anything I liked. At the end of another fruitless shopping trip, I came home and tried on the silk dress. It was perfect and made me feel beautiful. :) My husband wore a blue Brooks Brothers button shirt and khaki pants.

And, we both wore flip flops - his, brown leather, mine silver sequinned! :D

[MorningGlow]

21. Spent $400 about 10 years ago

It was a lovely, heavyweight brushed ivory satin. I LOVED that dress--very VERY simple and fit me perfectly with only minor alterations. It was the fourth or fifth dress I tried on and I just KNEW. My mom wanted me to keep shopping--she got a bit put out that I decided so fast. Add $65 for a corset, $80 for an amber necklace and earrings set at the Discovery store, $80 to $100 for the flower "halo" (wreath), and $39.99 for shoes on sale at Sears (bought 'em in 10 minutes on the way to my final fitting because I forgot to shop for shoes) and I was set.

[FloridaJudy]

22. I made my own

Of course, that was during the seventies, and I was married in the courthouse. One of the most moving weddings I ever attended was completely home-made. The bride made her dress and the decorations, and the groom cooked all the food: only the wine was store-bought.

This whole bridal thing has gotten completely out of hand. Do people think the more they spend, the more likely the marriage is to be a success? Charles and Di spent millions, and look how well that turned out.

[AllegroRondo]

23. my wife got hers at JC Penney for about $500

plus a bit more to have it modified.

[LaraMN]

24. I wore my Grandmother's dress.

I don't think I paid for anything but cleaning and maybe alterations.
My whole wedding cost about 2K.

[NewWaveChick1981]

25. $250 worth of materials.

My mother made my dress, and she did a spectacular job. If we'd bought the dress, it would easily have been $2500, and that was in 1992. She sews very, very well, and it was a gorgeous dress. :)

[Aristus]

40. I couldn't find one that made me feel, you know, pretty.

So I opted for a more traditional tuxedo.

My wife's dress, however, looked gorgeous! B-)

[wildhorses]

26. a very long time ago. i spent $1000.oo on the dress.

that is just the start of the whole ensemble....

[electron_blue]

43. I paid $250, my sister $3000. I think the U.S. average is $800 - $1000.

[Kali]

27. 200 in 1982

Without going into the pros/cons of tradition, I will give this piece of advice if you are going with a traditional dress: START EARLY. Just in case you think 6 months is enough time, surely, to order a dress and have it delivered in time for alterations.

Signed,
a size too small, off the rack.

[edbermac]

28. $5000?? For something you'll wear for HALF A DAY??

:wtf:

[zanne]

29. $25 in 1979

It was en end-of-summer sale dress at Filene's. It wasn't a typical wedding dress; it was more "romantic"; off-white, floor length and lacy. I carried a single rose. (I later used it to make crafts with. I got alot of use out of that $25 dress!)

[scarlet_owl]

30. My dress was the most expensive thing about our wedding by far.

I spent $1000. I planned on spending about $400. The crappy thing is that I only got to wear it for an hour. If I ever lose enough weight that I can fit into that dress again, I'm going to sit around the house in it.

[FloridaJudy]

32. LOL

I have a friend who wears hers horse-back riding: "That way I get more than one day's fun out of it". It helps that she's a delicate-looking pre-Raphaelite blonde. I imagine she looks like a bloomin' shampoo commercial, riding a horse in a wedding gown.

"Trashing the wedding dress" in creative ways seems to be a recent cultural phenomenon: http://trashthedress.wordpress.com/

I'd rather recycle it into a quilt, myself.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

31. it's crazytalk

$5,000 is one fine trip to Hawaii (or Europe) -- why would anyone do that? I eloped to Vegas -- I bought a nice dress for about $150 and some matching shoes and a handbag -- we had a blast and tok our money and put it down on our house... Our whole trip to Vegas maybe cost us $2,000.

[NMDemDist2]

33. i got a vintage dress, silk sheathe and lace over for $80

it's gorgeous, too bad I can't get my hips in it anymore LOL

anybody need a vintage silk and old lace dress in size 9?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

34. i woudl love to see a pic of it

[Left Is Write]

35. I would too!

[NMDemDist2]

38. see below n/t

[NMDemDist2]

37. i had to scan em in

[La Lioness Priyanka]

42. beautiful, though i am sure i would look terrible in that

[tandot]

36. $129 on Ebay - vintage style dress

http://www.vintagestyleclothing.com/5901page.html

the pic below isn't me but a pic of a model. I am way more curvy than that ;)

[driver8]

39. My wife spent $500 on her dress, and it was gorgeous! n/t

[NewJeffCT]

41. My wife's was about $300, and it was pure silk

and, very good quality silk, too. Hand-made to my wife's measurements in Suzhou and then taken as a carry-on onto a plane from China and brought to the US.

[Maine-ah]

44. 100 bucks - used.

[canadianbeaver]

45. 25.00 from Value Village......took it apart.....

and kept the skirt part of it.....we had a lake side wedding with everyone in bathing suits and surongs...shorts for the boys....We were bare foot and comfy....camping for 3 days...

[ThomCat]

46. That sounds lilke an awesome wedding and reception.

:)

[canadianbeaver]

49. It was.....I am so glad we did not go the way of my sister...

She had a formal wedding with all the pomp and circumstance...

I said NO WAY....it was so relaxed...its something everyone there will never forget thats for sure!

[Book Lover]

47. Or...

you could buy a used Miata. Or five thousand lotto tickets - you'd have to win something!

FWIW, I spent about $40 on my wedding dress - I got married in a pair of Levis and a sweater my mother got me for the previous Yule.

[MissB]

48. I spent under $200.

I sewed it myself.

I spent less than $5k on my wedding. :rofl: My biggest expense was the marimba band. I was willing to shell out $1k for the band.

[tigereye]

50. it was less than 100 and all flowery - black, red, pink, kind of Victorian-

looking. I had a red felt Oxford- looking kind of hat - flowers I had bought at a grocery store that am to hold and put in vases on the tables.

My sister made a large carrot cake, and my SIL and her buddy made cool paper- mache kissing birds.

I looked kind of preppie, but all the guys wore black boots - so we still refer to it as the black boot wedding.

I think I spent more on the rest. rental ( it was called the Artery and full of art0 and the food. It was an afternoon wedding, so it was mostly munchies.

A friend took all the pictures.

It was very informal and friends told me it was the most fun wedding they had been to!

[TBreeze]

51. Around $60.

I didn't want to spend the money on a traditional dress. I ended up finding mine while looking around at a little shop that was selling things for an upcoming Renaissance Fair. I thought it was pretty and just loved it after I tried it on. Our whole wedding didn't cost very much. We got married outdoors at a local park by a neighboring town's mayor. We bought food, got the cake at the grocery store, and the only flowers were in my little bouquet. It was a great wedding, laid back and fun. I'm so glad we chose to do it the way we did.