£800....?! For a dress?

[Tilllly]

DS getting married and I have just been to a shop that specialises in dresses for mother of the bride of mother of the groom

I suppose I should've been warned that you had to make an appointment, that this wasn't exactly going to be New Look!!

Put the cheapest dress I tried on was £800

Is that normal? Am I just being extremely tight fisted because I think £800 for a dress for a wedding is absolutely horrendous.

Not a chance I would pay that. But then I got my wedding dress from monsoon. Wanted to put more money into the house. And didn’t want to waste thousands on a dress I would only wear for a few hours.
my wedding dress cost £100 and I loved it.

I also didn’t have a fancy cake or a ton of flowers. Again. Wanted more money for the house. 23 years later I’m still just as married as I would have been spending all that money on things that only lasted a few hours. Don’t regret it at all.

I got mine from Bombshell in the sale, it was about £180, beautiful quality made in the uk and the type of dress that I can wear again without it screaming wedding. https://www.bombshellhq.com/

My dress was £280 I think, bought 2 weeks before at my mother’s insistence that I couldn’t go in ripped jeans.

Cake £1k - took us years to finish it (weighed 8 stone) and still talked about now.

No rings. Minimal flowers. Lots of fun.

Priorities. :)

(19 years and counting.)

My MIL wore a dress and jacket from Hobbs to my wedding and she looked lovely.

I mean, you can spend a lot more than that on a dress if you really want to.

But yes, avoid wedding shops as there's always a 'wedding' markup

Found the dresses I liked for DD’s wedding at John Lewis plus another of the same brand on Amazon US of all places! They were each around £300 and I had masses of compliments. Wear something that makes you feel good whether that’s a dress or trousers! Many MOB dresses are so frumpy they are awful, usually with matching jackets to make a “two piece” like my gran would have worn 50 years ago!!

I wore this to my son's wedding (before it was on sale - paid the whole £50 for it 😄). Got loads of compliments on it 🙂
https://www.roman.co.uk/textured-leaf-print-tiered-maxi-dress-14198034

Have you looked at phase 8?

There are several FB sites specifically selling MOB/MOG dresses, most of which have only been worn for a few hours. I got my MOG dress off eBay for £50 and it was perfect.
The reason people go to specialist shops is that they are often one off designs, so there won’t be an issue with a guest turning up in the same dress, which is a possibility if you go for High St stores.

You can spend as much or as little as you want on a frock, especially when the word ‘wedding’ is attached.

I won’t tell you what my wedding frock cost me, it was unreal, but it has insanely gone up in value, so I guess it was an investment. 😬

My mum is MOTB this summer and has some lovely options from phase eight. Late 50s and a barn venue so didn't want anything too formal.

I got my wedding dress for £59 from Simply Be (none-white dress) for my wedding a month ago.. There are plenty of superb dresses to be had if you look....I'm going to be a Mother of the Bride next year...I don't plan on spending that much!( Though my daughter is having a much grander affair than mine!)

Yes one is Pre-loved Wedding and Occasion Outfits UK on FB.

does the price includes fitting/alteration?

tbh other (chain) shops have evening wear. that and a good seamstress will probably work out better.

Try the JL personal shopping service. I’ve done it before and got a dress, shoes and hat for under £200. Was a lovely experience.

Agree with the previous comments - the classic MOB/MOG dresses sold in bridal shops are usually really frumpy.

If someone wants an 'official' mother of the bride/groom outfit, they probably don't want something they can wear again to another occasion, they want something very fancy and obviously MOB/G. They don't want the risk that someone else will have the same dress.

MIL spent over £1,000 on her outfit for BIL's wedding which was very formal. Then sold it for maybe £200, so you might get lucky in second hand.

My mum bought her dresses for my sisters' weddings on holiday abroad so although they weren't typical MOB none of the guests had the same dress.

I am usually a bargain hunter but I did splurge on my wedding dress, I like looking at it and trying it on sometimes. Since I wouldn't get a lot if I sold it I'm happy enough to keep it for now.

My Mum wore an £80 Phase Eight dress to my wedding and looked lovely 🌹

I got a gorgeous dress for a wedding in DPs family. 55 quid from amazon 🤣

It was navy and long maxi style but the blush pink shorter version was VERY mother of bride. Not sure what you're specifically looking for but here's something similar:

.https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B464HC3L/ref=cm_cr_othr_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8#cm_cr_carousel_images_section

Oh thank goodness for the common sense, tribe landing on this thread. I am going to note down all the suggestions and avoid any specialist shops.

A couple of the dresses I tried on were nice, but none of them made me think this is fantastic. It is definitely the dress. And even if they had I am not spending £800 on it!

I often see MOB type outfits at my local charity shops.

When I was getting married my mum got into a real state trying to find a dress and ordered all kinds of things online which were very expensive and not all that flattering.

I took her into Phase Eight (having had a browse of the website first) and within about 20 minutes she had a lovely flattering dress and matching jacket for about £250. She looked fab. The following summer we went to another wedding and she went back there and found another lovely outfit without any input from me.

When I got married we booked a personal shopper at a department store ( pretty sure it was free or if not super cheap ) and then they suggested outfits for my mum from all of the concessions . It was such a lovely experience for her and she got something nice but not expensive that she wouldn't have usually chosen! I highly recommend .

I am in exactly the same as you OP and panicking as the wedding is soon and I am still not sorted out. I feel the same way as you do about wearing a dress for one day that costs £800+ . Thank you for this thread; all the helpful comments have calmed me!

Don't go to those MOB/MOG specialist places, the type of outfits they have will be that at least and often over a grand! I bought in House of Fraser at the time, dress on sale and bought a second large size one to cut up and put sleeves on first one. Nice jacket then and off you go.

The reason those shops are the done thing is you can be guaranteed nobody else at the wedding will be wearing the same outfit , there is always the risk with a high street purchase that a guest will turn up in similar outfit.

Yes but if you mix up accessories, much less chance - 60 percent of what JL and Hobbs sell looks MOTB suitable to me.

but yes, i didn’t pay £800 for my wedding dress - but honestly, if it had made you feel amazing and you loved it I can’t see the harm either.