affordable wedding dresses in Chicago?

There's at least half a dozen David's Bridal locations in Chicagoland.

I've been there, didn't care for their selection at all

Try smaller boutiques in the suburbs. There's one in downtown Algonquin that is really great-- I forget the name.

House of Brides in Oak Lawn was having a liquidation sale a couple of weeks ago but I don't know if it's still going on. I went in there and didn't find what I wanted plus I wasn't too thrilled with most of the dresses being off the rack and not able to order. It's worth a try though with the price range you have and how close you are to your wedding date. I ended up ordering my dress from the House of Brides in Glen Ellyn.

Beggars can't be choosers?

You're not gonna find much else in that price range. Maybe a white quinceanera dress. Have you tried any quinceanera shops?

What about a pre owned dress? Try lace bridal in Idaho (they sell dresses long distance and can be returned for a $35 restocking fee no problem) or preownedweddingdresses.com. Also, Azazie.com has some very gorgeous gowns all under $500 and not from a chinese wholesale site.

The one in Algonquin told me that I shouldn't make an appointment if I wasn't going to spend at least $1200. That was when I thought I was spending only $500. I spent a lot more than $1200 (at DB) but at least they would let me make a freaking appointment.

Boo on that Algonquin place.

Resale shops are pretty flush with wedding dresses this time of year and you can always try Ebay, wedslist (?) and a few of the other wedding dress resellers. Neiman Marcus has a line of white dresses that are in the $300-500 range if you're wiling to forego the "bridal" look and wear white formal.

Good luck -- you are going to need it for that price range and you'll have to be flexible and spend lots of time searching if you're very picky.

There are other places to find a dress other than David's Bridal @purplekitten, that's what things like this forum is for...... I am a budget bride, and so far everything is coming along beautifully. I found an amazing venue for $500 after someone like you told me not to hold my breath. There are amazing finds in this beautiful city, you just have to be persistent and patient ESPECIALLY if you are a bride on a budget..... Thanks for you ladies suggestions so far, I just booked an appointment for house of brides for Thursday

Thanks Mrs.morales! I will look into your suggestions

Whoa, OP! I think the passive aggressive comment toward purplekitten was totally uncalled for. I was a budget bride. There is nothing wrong with planning a wedding on a budget, but it doesn't give you a free pass to be rude. Not everyone will have the answers for operating on a small budget and that's okay. You have to weed through comments when you post on a forum. Just because you don't like someone's opinion doesn't make them an evil villian. Think outside the box. Prioritize your needs. For goodness sakes, take advantage of Google and online reviews. DB has a great selection and is a a money saving solution for a lot of brides who don't feel comfortable ordering a used dress or Chinese imported dress online. I happened to find the perfect DB dress for $99.

A lot of the suburb towns have boutiques in them, check the ones that are around you, I know near me Libertyville has more than one and all look nice, I haven't started shopping yet, but when i do I will probably hit those up first.

There is a bridal resale shop on the corner of Belmont and and Narraganset you could check out . I've also heard good things about Reddington Bridal in park ridge.

Yes, there are other places to find dresses, but I haven't heard of any for that low of a price.

And please don't act like you're the only person who has a "budget". You're talking like the rest of us have infinite money to spend.

Humble brag..

You haven't heard of anything, but as you see many have. You should never tell someone that they may be limited to one choice because of their budget. Saying that beggars shouldn't be choosy is not only rude but untrue.... As you see these ladies have given me plenty of choices.

Have you tried looking online? I have found quite a few nice dresses online that are reasonable. Dolly Couture dresses are in your price range for starters. Google them.

Disregard these snarky comments. I didn't realize that this message board was going to be full of know-nothing "know-it-alls". I figured this would be a place to build each other up and support each other.

I agree with @MrsMorales....Azazie has some nice looking wedding dresses. My bridesmaids got their dresses from there (and I'm positive that her BMs did too). You won't be able to return I'm sure, but Tradesy.com, oncewed.com, nearlynewlywed.com are options for preowned dresses. I DO Designer Consignment shop on Belmont...and here's a list of yelp reviews of different places. Hope this helps!!

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Consignment+Wedding+Dresses&find_loc=Chicago%2C+IL

ETA: It might be better to copy and paste!

Wow, way to take personal offense to my not having been informed of other options. I've lived here my entire life and hadn't heard of the options the others mentioned. I stated my honest experience with the subject matter and shouldn't be expected to feel bad about that. And I also did suggest quinceanera shops, which is somewhere I was looking and saw less expensive options.

I got my dress from Royal Bridal and Tux in Villa Park. It's a privately owned boutique and Vera the owner is very nice. You can try to call and see if they have any dress around that price before you travel there.

One of my bm's mom owns a quinceanera store called Magic Moments Boutique in Bensenville, she has tons of books and the dress could double as a wedding dress and would definitely work within your budget.

Good Luck!

I heard Catherine's in mchenry is good. It's either in McHenry, crystal lake or Woodstock, they're all so close