Dream dress just out of reach

My youngest daughter bought her dress in Illinois while living in a Wisconsin. She had originally found it in WI but he price, even with much higher taxes, was less in IL so she bought it there. When the dress came in, she picked it up and used a seamstress near her home to do the alterations.

Yes. I traveled to NYC from Baltimore for my dream dress. It isn't strange at all, particularly with certain designers. It's just gonna be a bit tricky around now depending on your state's and the one you'll be traveling to's travel restrictions

I didn’t have a specific dress in mind but there was only one Bridal Boutique in my area so I went to the next state over to try on dresses at a much bigger Bridal Boutique.
I think it’s absolutely worth it because it sounds like you won’t get the dress out of your head until you try it.

I bought my dress in NY and I live in FL

I live in PA (Philly area) and will be dress shopping in Delaware and New Jersey if I don’t find my dress at this one bridal shop I’m scheduled for. Delaware has no sales tax and N.J. sales tax is lower than Philadelphia. Definitely not uncommon for brides to do that here.
Like you, I want a specific dress from a specific designer. The dress I want is from a Spanish designer but only a handful of shops in the US carry her. Luckily a shop in Philly does. I did inquire if they carry the gown and was told they did not; they could order it in for me but I wouldn’t be able to try it on beforehand. I could try on other gowns from the designer to get an idea of how it would fit, what it would be like on me. Maybe the same can be done for you.

I live in Las Vegas. I didn't travel but I bought my dress from a seller in Michigan. It was a bridal resale website called Stillwhite. Great selection and it was heavily discounted. I never found the dress in any physical stores in my state.

Before buying, you can actually see the size specs and see what the dress looks like on the brides (or ask for real life photos if all they have are model photos of the dress). It was definitely worth the buy. I'm still all smiles over it!

If it's just the next state over, I say it would totally be worth going over to try it. Who knows, if it ends up not being the dress, California has PLENTY of shops you can visit so you can make the most of it. You never know what you might find out there if your dream dress doesn't work out. No matte what happens, I wish you the best of luck!