Anyone regret how much they did (or did not) spend on their wedding dress?

[EmyK35]

I don't have a massive budget (max £750ish) but I always thought I would go to bridal shops with my mum and friends, try beautiful dresses on, go for fittings before taking away a beautifully packaged dress.

However I have seen a couple of things I like on the high street, which would save a lot of money (and time and hassle). But would I regret my wedding dress being something I picked up from a high street store in my lunch hour? Would I be missing out on the whole wedding dress experience? Or am I being ridiculous?

Does anyone who went designer wish they went high street or vice versa?

Oops sorry for the double post

I spent £70 on my wedding dress in a Monsoon sale ten years ago, and spent a further £30 getting it taken in. No regrets!

Just over a thousand and I don't regret it at all. I loved it and I felt fabulous in it. It was also really comfortable. Down the line a bit I may try and get it altered into something I can wear again but for now I'm happy enough just hanging on to it.

About £20 in River Island...the prettiest little white sun dress...got married in Las Vegas 9 years ago...unplanned. No regrets at all.

Mine was about £200 plus alterations and a wrap made from the same overlay material. This was 13 years ago.

I loved it, in fact DH picked it out in a shop where I was reluctantly trying on cream/column/ wedding dresses. Bear in mind this was before proper internet shopping and so it was local. Lady in the shop was a) bit funny that my mum wasn't with me (err I was 30 and paying for it all myself) and b) horrified that DH-to-be was pushing this dress through into the changing room. He picked well.

That doesn't mean I would necessarily pick the same dress again as I am much older but it was lovely and very 'me' rather than a wedding dress. Dh's suit cost far more!

I don't regret the dress, it cost about £700 fifteen years ago, I had a vision for it and it's the dress I wanted. I sometimes look at it hanging up and think I should have got something that could have been worn again!

Didn't like the shop experience - I was a size 16 so no samples fitted me, I was even told 'oh, you can see how it SHOULD look' about one dress cos a much thinner woman was trying it on! I had mine made to order and I enjoyed that - the dressmaker was the one person I could really talk to about the wedding as she wasn't personally involved, but was professionally obliged to listen to me chunter.

I had never really envisioned having a big wedding, but my husband to be had quite a large family and wanted to invite a lot of friends... and was really keen on having a big party!

We therefore had a big informal wedding with a big informal party that featured a lot of mulled wine and a very large amount of cake that I put together mostly myself, with some help from M and S.

I was also rather heavier than I am now, and a mature bride, so what with the red wine and chocolate cake liable to fall over me, I was quite amenable to the idea of a non-white dress.

I ended up in glamorous and flattering black velvet and silver brocade, with some dramatic (though not uncomfortable) corseting and hoop petticoats under the full shirt. The dress cost $500, found on-line and ordered from the states. Of course people said lovely things (that goes with the territory though!). I am quite happy with my choice.

I did go to some bridal shops but was amazed at
-just how much they charged
-how snooty they were - for example the shop in Islington that told me I would need an appointment and shut the door in my face!! I wonder whether they are still in business...

• how much time they needed to order the dresses
• again that they stocked samples in not-very-many sizes.

A significant factor was that my beloved mum died 4 years before the wedding, I really missed having her there, to discuss all this with her. I think my parents would have strongly preferred me to get married in white and I might have chosen differently if they had been about; the whole wedding might have been rather different.

We had the same response as ZZZZ - appallingly rude service from several wedding dress shops

The first thing they asked was when was the wedding. When I replied " September " I was told that if I meant September the year after next it was too early. When I explained it was this September, I was shown to the door .

One asked me if I was the mother of the bride or the groom - I was in my late 30s , size 8 and , I thought, looking reasonably good for my age .

So I hated the whole " wedding dress experience " .

I also went to a dressmaker , who made me exactly the dress I wanted, to my own design, perfectly fitted for under £350

Zzzzz-I had the same, went shopping in jam for June wedding and was treated very rudely by staff in several shops saying I'd left it too late!! I couldn't do it before as I was pg then had my sisters wedding so was busy with baby, bridesmaid duties and moving house. 6 months should be more than enough time! Anyway I felt rushed and pressurised into buying one that day which I did, it was ok, don't like it now though and wish I hadn't spent £650 on it!
Really wish I'd looked on the high street with a max budget of £150.

Clearly didn't go shopping in jam-or that might have explained their rudeness!

I spent about £1200 in total on mine (with hoop and fitting etc) 10 years ago. It was the best money I spent on my wedding. It was actually the first dress I tried on and I felt beautiful in it. I've never been a dress kind of person but I felt fab in it. I think how it makes you feel is the most important factor.

My Mum made mine.

It was a proper wedding dress as well- all sticky outty with layers and layers of tulle petticoats, really complicated tucks and pleats and everything. I was seriously impressed.

I paid £100 for fabric (bodice full of glass beads- skirt in heavy silk the same as Princess Di's- creasing was a constant worry!)
and £20 for the pattern.

I have no regrets! It was far, far nicer than the nearest thing like it in the wedding shop (which we shamelessly plundered for ideas) and so special to have my Mum make it for me.

Mum certainly regretted it at times though! It was the first time she'd attempted anything as complex, it took weeks and weeks to make and was a total stress for the entire time.

My budget was £300, did t see the point in spending more as didn't want anything too bridal. Then I tried on jenny packham, and am now trying to justify 3grand on a dress. In my defence they go for about £2500 second hand so technically only £500?!

Try some on and go for what you feel you at your absolute best in.

LizardBreath jenny packham at Debenhams just ordered a cocktail type dress for £40 in the sale

I spent £300 on mine. Money well spent as had it shortened and dyed and wore to events since. Love it very much. It was a bridesmaids dresses according to the wedding shop lady who was not impressed with me.

I can imagine almost nothing worse than going wedding dress shopping. I like the bit in Miranda where she says she looks like a meringue that has had an anaphylactic shock - that would definitely have been me, though I'd have looked very grumpy too.

Mine was £60 (reduced from £250 because it was the last one in my size and was totally filthy!). I bought it in a bit of a panic after trying on hundreds of dresses and not really liking any of them.

Our wedding was really really expensive (free bar, all night!) and my OH had a Dolce and Gabbana suit on (which he really regretted buying in the end, too formal and never worn again) so money was no object, I just didn't really like anything I saw. We married pre-Kate Middleton and 'twas in the days of the ubiquitous strapless frock. Not my thing at all.

Turns out I'm just not a wedding dressy kind of a girl.

Didn't regret having a cheap dress in the slightest, I thought I looked quite nice and I felt great in it. Flowers in my hair, sandals on my feet, massive smile on my face.

The only thing I regret is spending money to have it dry cleaned afterwards!

Aw Val. just read your beautiful post. Your mum was a very lucky lady .

I bet you looked gorgeous in it.

Didn't spend anything! I wore a fluffy, cream, polo neck sweater and long tweed skirt, both of which I already had in my wardrobe. Never regretted it. Regretted getting married though :-)

I'm getting married in October and have spent £90 on my dress, I ordered it online from Modcloth.com and I love it! I did the wedding dress shop thing and whilst no one was rude, I found the whole experience really off putting, I just didn't get the whole experience of it

I don't regret the amount it cost. I do wish that I had tried more dresses on (it was the second one in the first shop, and although lovely it wasn't "wow") and I wish I had politely declined my parents insisting that they pay for it so I didn't worry about going overboard at their expense.

In fact, I'm seriously considering taking my best friend with me to do some pretend dress shopping to belatedly make up for it...