How much did you spend on your wedding dress? Any regrets?

[flanjabelle]

As the title says.

I ask because this is my dream dress:

annacampbell.worldsecuresystems.com/dresses/spirit/madison-silk-tulle

The wedding is going to be a boho sort of ceremony abroad and I just love this dress. I am not sure I want to be spending nearly two grand on the dress though as that is the same price as the wedding package!

Did you spend a lot and find it was absolutely worth it? Or more importantly, did you spend a minimal amount on the dress and feel amazing?

Any links to cheaper alternatives for a boho kind of feel would be great. I am a size 8-10 but I have a mum tum so skin tight would not be great. Temperature is going to be about 30 so not even sure on what fabric I should be going for. Help?

[Pisssssedofff]

£2,000 on the dress, £25,000 on the wedding, £60,000 on the divorce. Don't go it lol

[LottieDoubtie]

£745 although my 'budget' was up to a £1500 it so happens that the one I liked was less. I couldn't at the time (and still can't!) get my head around how the prices are decided- they seem largely plucked out of thin air.

I liked it at the time and the pictures are lovely, but i can't even work up the energy to open its bag and look at it now though and I do feel the whole dress thing was quite wasteful now. I'm not sure why I feel like that- could be mumsnet guilt!

[GinIsIn]

Mine was £1800 but I got all the extensive alterations for free so I guess probably about £1400? I absolutely don't regret it - I had a really clear idea of just what I wanted in my head, and couldn't believe I found the exact dress!

[Hughpughbarneymagrew]

We had a budget off 1000 for my dress but I happened to get lucky and find a secondhand one I loved for under 100. There didn't seem any point in looking at more expensive dresses just for the sake of it. So I bought the cheap dress and we put the rest of the money behind the bar at the reception.

No regrets. We had whale of a time at the party, and I still look at the photos and think my dress was great.

[Glamorousglitter]

I spent a lot. It was a designer I loved, Colette dinnigan, not quite known as well in the uk at the time. It was one of 3 of the style and had a lot of handi work and antique French lace and beading.

At the time we could afford it- well my parents contributed some and I paid some (half and half I think- it was my parents gift to me)
I adored the dress. It s still beautiful and timeless. And I hope one of my daughters might use it for something.

I look back on photos and love it.
Do I feel a bit of guilt - well yes and no, 3 kids later I probably will never spend that on a dress again for me :).

Bottom line, it s up to you. My dress helped make my day, it wasn't all about the dress of course (about the marriage etc) we had a lovely lovely day and I felt amazing.

I think if I had tried that dress on with a cheaper or more expensive price tag I would still have adored it. So no dont regret it.

By the way, Colette dinnigan dresses are a lot more affordable now I think so maybe worth checking out, some would be along the lines of the style you are looking at.

[OhTheRoses]

£750 25 years ago but could afford it. If you can't and it's a stretch then it's far too much. Look at hiring, cheaper versions ir second hand. £1500 of that is a lot of money I you are otherwise skint.

I have no regrets about my dress but it didn't make my day. The marriage and marrying the man I loved did that.

[lcoc2015]

That style of wedding dress is fairly widely available have you done many try ons? Maybe go to your nearest big city and do a hit on all the big wedding boutiques in a day for bohemian style dresses. Other than that try monsoon or jcrew for more budget options. See this one from monsoon for eg

[Cakescakescakes]

£200 from Monsoon. I loved it.

But that is a really beautiful dress in your pic.

[rubybleu]

£3k but it bought me a dress made in England & made to measure. It's a work of structural beauty in simple silk crepe. No regrets, we could afford it.

It's the well known branded dresses around the £1-2k mark that are worst value for money - all that money for cheap lace, put together in Asian workshops.

[flanjabelle]

It's just the lads (dp and dbil) are going to look incredible. They both work out and look amazing in shirts, both with a bit of an edgy style and I don't want to look like I haven't bothered!

[minipie]

I spent £300 (reduced from £1300 in a sample sale) but then quite a bit extra on alterations to make it exactly what I wanted.

I think the one you've found is lovely but I also think there are lots of good options on the high street for £2-300 these days - especially for the boho floaty styles. if you got one of those and took it to a seamstress to be altered to fit you perfectly then you'd get a very similar effect to the £1k+ dresses I think.

Look at Monsoon, Debenhams, Phase Eight, Coast, Asos, ChiChi for starters..

[AintNobodyHereButUsKittens]

I think it's a lovely dress but I'm sure you could get something very similar and equally lovely for far less. Especially if you're getting married on the beach.

I spent £350 twenty years ago from the bridal section of a shop that mostly sold ball gowns to students - I looked at £1,000+ dresses in full-on bridal boutiques but although I had the money, I felt that I simply couldn't bring myself to sign a cheque for that amount for a single use dress. No regrets, it was a fabulous, unique dress in my colour and highlighting my good points.

[orangebird69]

£1250 on wedding no.1 dress
£200 on wedding no.2 dress.
I regret neither purchase.

[OhTheRoses]

flanjsbelle. I mean this in the nicest possible way, however gorgeous and hunky the groom is going to be wearing turned up chinos and a casual shirt with braces. Call me old fashioned but that look, at an informal beach wedding, doesn't merit being accompanied by a two grand frock unless you can lay your hands on another £20k for non essential spending and money is pretty much no object.

[Nan0second]

£300 for an ex display dress worth 3x that. I looked and felt beautiful. DH cried when he saw me(!)
I still baulk at the price though and the money spent even though we could afford it as I have not worn it since as it feels like a total waste...
My sisters spent £1k and 1.5k on theirs and that makes me wan to vomit. My parents paid and they were happy which is all that matters though.

[insertimaginativeusername]

£1600 on mine and totally worth it. Did wear it twice though as got married abroad and had a reception after.

That dress is stunning but if it is a stretch I second looking at monsoon etc for similar, you can even spend extra on having extra beading put on a simple dress and make it your own and still have made a massive saving.

[Floralnomad]

My dress cost £799 ,that was 27 years ago , my parents paid for our wedding ( mostly) , I've never regretted what we spent - we had a relatively small wedding which cost about £5/6000 in total .

[badg3r]

Check and see if anyone is selling a second hand one? Or alternatively, would you consider selling it after to recoup some of the cost?

[daftbesom]

£800, minor alterations, one of a kind, ivory silk overlaid with antique lace, simple design that suited my figure. (However, once I had chosen it, my parents insisted on paying for it, so I could say it was "free"! But I was prepared to pay £800.)

The dress was right for our wedding (February in the UK, early 1800s venue). The thing I regret is I have never been able to wear it again (pregnant/ breastfeeding in the early years, now too old and fat to look good in it, plus never go to any grand events) but I can't bring myself to get rid of it.

[mowglik]

If it's not comfortably within your budget id say keep looking.

Also the skirt material is silk tulle and very fragile - it will def get ruined being dragged on the sand and not a great idea should you wish to sell it or buy it as an investment eg for daughter to wear etc.

Although just had the idea that you could lop the bottom off afterwards and get lots of wear out of it as occasion wear though you prob wouldn't wear it to another wedding

[VoldysGoneMouldy]

£240. It was stunning and exactly what I wanted. Got it from Wed2B, who do discontinued styles etc at a fraction of the cost.

I really don't see the point on spending more than the cost of the day on an item of clothing, especially if it will be stretching your funds.

[Floisme]

I didn't buy a special dress. I'm not a fan of wedding dresses so I definitely didn't want anything bridal and I couldn't find anything that made me go wow. So I just wore a lovely dress I had already.

No regrets at all. It was a low key event and I looked nice. I have loads of clothes that don't get worn enough.

[RaeSkywalker]

Lovely dress! If you can afford it then go for it. Monsoon do have some lovely lightweight ones suitable for beach weddings too.

I don't know how much my dress was- my parents paid for it (DH and I paid for the rest of the wedding). My Mum wouldn't let me look at the price tags, just told me to try on the ones I liked. I do know that my dress was over the original budget (but I don't know what the budget was). I was quite happy to have any one of 3 dresses that I tried on and liked, or to keep looking, but my Mum was adamant that my dress was 'the' dress. She was definitely right, it was perfect and I feel so happy when I remember wearing it! DH (who is very reserved) cried when he saw me walking down the aisle and afterwards said "I had no idea what you were going to wear, but I saw you and thought 'ah yes, that's who you are'".

[LizardBreath]

£3k on mine. Bearing in mind I wasn't fussed before, and planned to get a coast / monsoon type one.

Have you tried it on? The thing is none of the others I tried came close to my actual dress. I tried it on first and then must have tried on 50+ others before coming back to it. Mine does have a good resale value (2k+) particularly as I'm tall, though I'm not planning on selling it? Does yours? It may also be worth looking at second hand sites for it.

[LizardBreath]

Ooh op, I've just had a proper look at it, it's lovely!!! And perfect for a beach wedding. I would say keep looking 'just in case' but start to think about what you can sell / save money on if you do end up getting it.

I think you have similar style to me, I ended up with Jenny packham's Eden and don't regret it at all! I still have the dress hung up and admire it every day!