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Wedding Dress Budget

What do you think is the average budget for a brides wedding gown? When the bride is interested/in LOVE in something that is over budget, what do you do to help them make the decision? Or if you are the bride, what are your top concerns and how can your bridal consultant help you?

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Permalink Reply by Caren Jeanty on June 24, 2010 at 2:34am

I either look for the style someplace else cheaper or I find out if the particular designer is having a sale

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Permalink Reply by Event Wedding Planning on June 24, 2010 at 4:32am

The Dress/Gown budget is usually between 2% -4% of the overall budget, but I believe when a bride is completely in LOVE with her gown, it fits perfect, looks AMAZING on and the bride cannot leave the shop without it(almost crys) then she deserves it. This is ONE day she can dress like a queen however she see fit, so she can spend a little extra on this one dress. She should NOT "Settle" for something she is NOT in love with. Now I am not saying she should go crazy & purchase every expensive accessory to go with it, just the dress. One thing I do recommend is that she take a little away from another area of the budget to make this work, if she is on a tight one of course. You can play with the budget in all areas, but for the dress, there are exceptions. A fabulous dress that makes the bride glow is Priceless!

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Permalink Reply by Embroidery Fashions Boutique on June 27, 2010 at 7:09am

My step daughter was visiting this afternoon. She is getting married July 2011 and has started to look at wedding gown/dresses. I will pass on the the budget recommendation to her.

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Permalink Reply by Crystal Unrau on July 7, 2010 at 4:45pm

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Permalink Reply by Marie McClanahan on July 9, 2010 at 4:45pm

I did a survey with my readers at one point and their average dress budget was $1000 - $1500 but keep in mind that my blog is on planning on a budget and their average wedding budget was only $10K so that is 10-15% of their budget already. <--- What Crystal said was exactly my situation, and that is just what I spent.

But I did cut the number of people down so that it would work out...though we still ended up quite a bit over budget. Sold stuff on ebay afterwards to recoup.

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Permalink Reply by D.I.Y.va Designs, LLC on July 21, 2010 at 3:00pm

I actually had my eye on a dress I could NEVER afford and had an up-coming designer re-create something just like it:) It's simply a matter of taking your time and shopping around. You will find 'THE' dress a few times. I do not believe in going over budget and I will talk one of my brides into something more affordable any day. (Unless she is that obsessed.)---then you can work the budget and take money from elsewhere in the budget.

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Permalink Reply by diana brown on November 11, 2010 at 7:00am

i definitely agree! I would use an expensive designer gown as an inspiration and then try to find someone to re-create it for cheaper.

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Permalink Reply by Roxanne Ford on August 1, 2010 at 6:59am

I found a dress that I absolutely Love! But the problem was that it is £1,500! And I don't have that kind of money! So I searched on a popular aution site, and found an extremely similar one for £100 And I like it just as much, If not more! I am going to vue it and try it on before I purchase, and if it feels as good as the first one, then I will buy it! :)

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Permalink Reply by Alicia Grills-Grant on August 3, 2010 at 5:05am

i think the average budget for a wedding dress is normally about a thousand euros but if you dress is amazing and is in this years collection of a particular designer you should be able to find a cheaper version of some place else if not a dress designer could design exactly the same for you.

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Permalink Reply by BG Productions on August 3, 2010 at 6:57am

all i know is- when you find the right dress you know it! this happeneed to me and i ended up with an azaming Melissa Sweet dress (Petunia) and didnt have anywhere near that amount budgeted! My mom and now husband jsut knew i needed that dress! I also find when talking to brides that ahve booked us for photography/videography that they feel the same way!

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Permalink Reply by DiscountTiarasUK.com on August 4, 2010 at 3:22am

Hundreds of pounds.
Personally, though, I'd look through Ebay to have a personalised one made abroad for under £100 because I'm thrifty, but by all means get inspired by the designer ones :o)

Top it off with unique budget wedding accessories and a discount wedding tiara to pull together a unique look that was very 'me'.

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Permalink Reply by BravoBride - Susan A. Shapiro on August 9, 2010 at 11:55am

One great way to get a designer dress but still stay within your budget is to consider a used wedding dress. Since a wedding gown is only worn for about 4 or 5 hours it's practically brand new again after it's been cleaned. We've posted some tips on our blog about buying used wedding dresses. Hope this helps and good luck!