Wedding dress budget

My budget was $600. Went to the Davids bridal $99 dress sale and only spend 108 with taxes.

I didn't really have a budget but I knew I wouldn't go over a certain number including alterations. I will end up spending around 2k including the dress, veil, alterations, shoes and accessories. I went with David's Bridal this time. I am a second time bride (14 years between weddings) and had a couture Maggie Sottero dress that I donated to Goodwill during my divorce. I said never again would I or anyone in my family spend 4-5k on a garment again. This is not that I plan on getting divorced ever again, but spending that kind of money on clothing just doesn't seem practical to me at this stage in my life.

I set my budget at $1500 ish plus alterations. I ended up getting a sample dress during a sale where everything in the store was $999. It was originally $4000! Just went to my seamstress recently and she quoted $200 for dry cleaning and $500 for alterations (it's pretty intricate). That was honestly less than I expected and brings the total probably just under what I had originally budgeted overall.

I only wanted to spend $500 but fell in love with a $1300 dress. I said yes and struggles with the price but nothing compared to it. My grandma just told me she was gifting me $800 towards my dress. I am so grateful for this and feel better about overspending!!

$2000 max. Didn't have to go that far, even with alterations - it was less.

My budget was originally 7K yes I know what a crazy amount but I had no idea what dresses regularly go for ...


I ended up with a Martina liana with was 3K but I got free alternations (Thanks for my aunty with her bargaining skills) which I’m very happy about..

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I don't think any amount is crazy. It's great that some people can spend that amount of money on a dress, and if you can, why not! I also just bought a Martina Liana!! Congrats!!

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It happens to the best of us, I also just said yes to a dress twice my budget! That's so amazing of your grandma, congrats!!

My budget was $3000 including alterations and a veil. I originally wanted a Martina Liana dress, but the dress alone was $3100 I was going to say screw it and go over my budget, but I knew I wouldn't feel good about it afterwards. So I kept looking, and I found a beautiful dress, veil, and skirt which was all under $3k, I think it was about $2.8k which I was really happy about. There are thousands of beautiful dresses out there, I'm sure you can find a dress without breaking the bank.

Between my dress, veil, and alterations I’m spending about $7k. It’s about $2k over what I wanted to spend but I fell absolutely in love with my dress!!!

My budget was 500 spent 335.00 i was sooo happy look around and when looking find dressings within your budget

I set out an all included budget first. Like $1500 was my total budget for my entire outfit like dress, shoes, taxes, veil, and other accessories etc... My dress absolute max budget was $1300 and I ended up spending $1269 (tax included). That leaves me with $230 for the other items, which is do-able.

My budget was $1000. I ended up going to David’s bridal and falling absolutely in love with a Vera wang dress. Turns out it was only $600! There are truly some beautiful dresses out there. I definitely think you shouldn’t over spend because it is one day, but also be reasonable! You can’t find a dress for $20 and call that your dream dress. But you also don’t need to spend thousands and thousands. I know some girl who said she’s spend 10k. I find that ridiculous! Lol

Mine should have been $300, but I actually got it for free from a bridal consignment store (they sell both gently used and some new donated dresses) through a program for military/first responders and their future spouses called Brides Across America. They do events a couple times a year where you schedule time to go into certain stores that they work with and you can pick from any dress in the store to get one for free. It worked out that I hadn't liked any of the dresses I'd tried on in more traditional bridal shops so I gave the free dress even a try and I fell in love with the dress I found. I'm picking it back up from the seamstress next week!

The alterations (LOTS of hemming up and creating a small train, taking in/reinforcing the straps because the beading makes the dress so heavy and adding a bit of a bustle) cost about $300.

I didnt have a budget lol. I figured I just go with the flow and whatever I fell in love with then I would figure it out lol. I knew David's Bridal had a layaway option 🤷🏾‍♀️. My dress was 1050 (originally 1400, I caught an AMAZING sale). Surprisingly my parents paid for it which made me ball even more during my dress appointment. I covered my own alterations which was 386. So all in all it was just under $1500.

My budget was $1000 to $1200, my mom ended up helping me get the dress of my dreams! Dress ended up being $2400 (whoooops), decided that it is my day and I deserved the dress of my dreams! Still have to pay for alterations, dress will be in around early August, can't wait!

View Quoted Comment I feel you. I was thinking £600 but nothing I like is that price. The dress I wanted was £2400. I’ve settled for a dress that’s £1400 without alterations.

I bought mine at an outlet before it was even priced (the woman that owned the outlet had literally just gotten it in that morning). She priced it at $749 so I wouldn't have to pay the "luxury tax" in MA. I looked at the initial price tag and it was apparently initially around $7,000.....

Would definitely recommend shopping around and having an idea board in addition to a dream dress picture. I thought I had a dream dress, but when I walked into this outlet and showed the seller my board, she snagged this dress and I nearly cried... wasn't anything like I thought I'd get, but the minute I tried it on, I knew it was mine.

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$10k on a dress? I can't even imagine... That's nearly half my wedding budget!!!

Definitely agree with you! Be reasonable, but also acknowledge that it's your special day! You (hopefully) get married once - the dress you wear should make you feel special, beautiful, amazing, and HAPPY! If you even have a thought of "oh gosh I spent too much," that also might stress you out on your special day.

I was strongly opposed to spending a fortune on a dress I'd only wear once, and when I went dress shopping in person the less expensive dresses just didn't seem that nice or well made, but I found a designer dress on StillWhite and paid only $400 plus shipping for a dress that originally cost over $2k. If you aren't opposed to a pre-owned dress, you can save a TON of money buy purchasing on a site like StillWhite, OnceWed, PreownedWeddingDresses.com, Poshmark, or even Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist.

Lulus or ASOS also have a number of really beautiful and well made but inexpensive bridal dresses ($80-$300 range), and BHLDN has a number of less expensive bridesmaids dresses ($200-$400) that can also double as modern bridal gowns. In my opinion, most of the time a $2000 dress doesn't look 10x nicer than a $200 one, and a $10k dress doesn't look 10x more expensive than a $1000 one.

My first car cost me $4000 and I had it for 9 years. Spending more than that on a dress I'll wear once just isn't where my priorities are.