Anyone else annoyed that wedding dress sites rarely list prices?

Azazie has prices listed and is very popular for being a budget option.


As for other designers, it boils down to the idea that the Wedding Industry sees it as a once in a lifetime spend every dime you and your parents both have event. That’s true of other vendors, not just dresses, and is a major retail tactic called emotional purchases. If a vendor doesn’t listen or care when you say you have $x budget, walk away. When trying on dresses to see what styles in general are flattering before purchasing online, you are recommended and encouraged to call up the salon before you go in and be firm on a budget. If they are worth their salt, they will abide by your wishes.
As far as dresses go, the “average” price is made even more expensive in the long run because of the recent trend to only wear it less than an hour before changing into something else for 4+ hours. It begs the question of why even bother with a dress worn for that short of a period (1 hour or less) if if it isn’t worn the entire day?

Alterations prices are not included because you typically go through a local independent seamstress who isn’t working on commission through the store. David’s has an overall reputation for bad quality extremely overpriced alterations. That’s not to say everyone working there charges through the nose for a simple hem or sewing on a single button, but it is common enough that it has fair warning.

I think this is because the designers typically don’t have their own brick and mortar stores like the others you mentioned do. Each salon is therefore left to determine their pricing for the dress since they act as a middle man. For example, the designer may have a base price of $2000 for a dress, but then the salon you buy from will have to mark it up to make money as well. Depending on the location, etc, each salon may have a different price for the same dress. You could always call a local salon who carries a designer you like and ask them where their prices start at.

Watters, Wtoo, and Willowby also list price ranges for their gowns! Those designers are carried in boutiques and have a wide variety of styles

You can also google any designer to find out for example google "Maggie Sottero dress cost" it says on google the average cost is $1200-$2400 dollars.

I haaaate when sites do this, bridal or not. We live in a very connected society. It doesn't take much to find out the information that we're seeking, so why not just offer it?

But, I worked at a bridal shop back in **** and they choose their markups. I imagine designers have a minimum price that stores must sell their gowns for, and then the store does whatever they want. The place I worked at marked them up over 350%. A brand new Maggie Sottero gown cost them only $250 . You can also see the retail price for brands on marketplaces like Poshmark.copm/NearlyNewlywed.com/PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com/Once Wed.com. I take it all with a grain of salt because I've seen items listed selling for more than retail on Poshmak sooo...yeah. lol.

Yeah that part of looking for dresses online really sucked. What I ended up doing was looking on wedding dress reseller sites to get an idea of the price of a particular dress I had my eye on. Many dresses would be listed for either the same price if never worn or altered or in the same ballpark. So you can get an idea that way and try to avoid falling in love with a gown out of your budget. Some bridal boutique sites won’t show the price but if you add to cart it would show up and others just plain don’t.

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" Some bridal boutique sites won’t show the price but if you add to cart it would show up"

Oooh that is interesting! Good to know