Wedding Dress Prices
Good evening folks:
I was just out shopping for my dress for the first time today. Now that I`ve had that experience, I`ve got a question for those wedding dress shopping vetrans out there.
First of all, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that there WERE dresses for me to try on that were in my actual size, 18. By that I mean that actual size 18 dresses fit my actual size 18 frame. I had always heard that they run small. I wouldn`t say there were huge numbers of larger dresses, but there certainly were some. So that was a relief.
So, I found a couple of dresses that I really liked - one was an Alfred Angelo, the other an Alfred Sung. What I didn`t like was the price. I want to know if those prices are the standard ones, I want to shop for the same dresses at other stores and I want to know if I can find a better deal online. But I can`t seem to find these dresses on the designers` websites. Can anyone tell me of a good site to look up prices of gowns?
Thanks,
K
I was just out shopping for my dress for the first time today. Now that I`ve had that experience, I`ve got a question for those wedding dress shopping vetrans out there.
First of all, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that there WERE dresses for me to try on that were in my actual size, 18. By that I mean that actual size 18 dresses fit my actual size 18 frame. I had always heard that they run small. I wouldn`t say there were huge numbers of larger dresses, but there certainly were some. So that was a relief.
So, I found a couple of dresses that I really liked - one was an Alfred Angelo, the other an Alfred Sung. What I didn`t like was the price. I want to know if those prices are the standard ones, I want to shop for the same dresses at other stores and I want to know if I can find a better deal online. But I can`t seem to find these dresses on the designers` websites. Can anyone tell me of a good site to look up prices of gowns?
Thanks,
K
Posted by Kimberly; updated 01/18/03
Reply
Kimberly, as a store owner, I can`t understand why you wouldn`t want to buy your gown from the shop who in your own words treated you with respect and took time to show you gowns. Do you have any idea how many girls try to find gowns "cheaper" on line and end up paying more in the end than if they would have just bought the gown where they saw it. Or how many buy online and end up with nothing but a discontinued phone number to call with problems. This is your wedding dress. Till you find it cheaper online than find a QUALIFIED bridal seamstress to alter it, then pay someone to press it, doing all this while planning all the other aspects of your wedding, WHAT have you saved? If the gowns you looked at are out of your price range, look at lesser priced gowns, but do it at a shop that you know and trust. As many brides are finding out (too late I might add) CHEAPER is not always better.
Posted by Sharon; updated 01/26/03
Reply
Kimberly, as a store owner, I can`t understand why you wouldn`t want to buy your gown from the shop who in your own words treated you with respect and took time to show you gowns. Do you have any idea how many girls try to find gowns "cheaper" on line and end up paying more in the end than if they would have just bought the gown where they saw it. Or how many buy online and end up with nothing but a discontinued phone number to call with problems. This is your wedding dress. Till you find it cheaper online than find a QUALIFIED bridal seamstress to alter it, then pay someone to press it, doing all this while planning all the other aspects of your wedding, WHAT have you saved? If the gowns you looked at are out of your price range, look at lesser priced gowns, but do it at a shop that you know and trust. As many brides are finding out (too late I might add) CHEAPER is not always better.
Posted by Sharon; updated 01/26/03
Reply
Good evening Sharon:
I`m sorry if I offended you with my comments. Let me explain myself a bit.
OK, first of all I didn`t say anything about being treated with respect. The first store I visited, their idea of customer service was pointing to where the dresses were, and then pointing to the closet-sized dressing room where there was scarcely room for the dress, much less me. I had to have my stepmother zip me up and such, as the salespeople didn`t offer a bit of assistance - that is, until I got it on and walked into the open area where they could fawn over me and tell me that I HAD to have the $2000 dress, nothing less would do. I`m not saying that all stores do that, but it was a very poor first experience. The second place, I`m happy to say, was better.
This day I went shopping, it was the first time I had ever gone shopping for a wedding gown. While I did want to compare prices online to see if I could get a deal, I also wanted to compare prices with other shops. As you say, this is my WEDDING DRESS, an item of clothing that I`ve never purchased before. How do I know if any store is charging a fair price for it, discounting it in exchange for the terrible service, or if they`re offering last year`s style at double the price? I just don`t...so I`m shopping around. I want to find the best value for my dollars.
Sorry if that doesn`t seem ethical to you as a shop owner, but it is the reality - people will shop around and try to get the best possible bargain for their money. That may include going to other shops, or going online to find the place to buy your dress.
In closing, online vendors are not the only ones who can rip people off, I`m sorry to say. You can also find real shops who will take your money and in exchange give you a used dress, the wrong one, or just disappear with the cash.
It`s buyer beware, and I`m covering all my bases.
Sorry.
K
I`m sorry if I offended you with my comments. Let me explain myself a bit.
OK, first of all I didn`t say anything about being treated with respect. The first store I visited, their idea of customer service was pointing to where the dresses were, and then pointing to the closet-sized dressing room where there was scarcely room for the dress, much less me. I had to have my stepmother zip me up and such, as the salespeople didn`t offer a bit of assistance - that is, until I got it on and walked into the open area where they could fawn over me and tell me that I HAD to have the $2000 dress, nothing less would do. I`m not saying that all stores do that, but it was a very poor first experience. The second place, I`m happy to say, was better.
This day I went shopping, it was the first time I had ever gone shopping for a wedding gown. While I did want to compare prices online to see if I could get a deal, I also wanted to compare prices with other shops. As you say, this is my WEDDING DRESS, an item of clothing that I`ve never purchased before. How do I know if any store is charging a fair price for it, discounting it in exchange for the terrible service, or if they`re offering last year`s style at double the price? I just don`t...so I`m shopping around. I want to find the best value for my dollars.
Sorry if that doesn`t seem ethical to you as a shop owner, but it is the reality - people will shop around and try to get the best possible bargain for their money. That may include going to other shops, or going online to find the place to buy your dress.
In closing, online vendors are not the only ones who can rip people off, I`m sorry to say. You can also find real shops who will take your money and in exchange give you a used dress, the wrong one, or just disappear with the cash.
It`s buyer beware, and I`m covering all my bases.
Sorry.
K
Posted by Kimberly; updated 01/26/03
Reply
Thanks Sharon, glad that we managed to get that cleared up.
I`m actually going on my second shopping trip this afternoon, as my mom is coming up to go shopping with me. The store we plan to go to, it`s well known for their customer service - they treat brides very special. As corny as it sounds, that`s what I expect - I`m a bride to be, I SHOULD be treated special! :) We`re going on a weekday afternoon, so it will probably be reasonably quiet.
I`m not a real clothes horse, so I`m not going to fall in love with the $3000 gown I don`t think. I know the style I`m after, but really couldn`t care less about who designed what. I`m looking for something simple, sleeveless, with straps and a fairly long train, ideally a detachable one. But I`m totally open to suggestions, and will tell the salespeople that. And I`ll also be telling them my price range, which is less than $1000 (hopefully about half that!).
Thanks again for your comments...I`ll keep you posted on how it goes!
K
I`m actually going on my second shopping trip this afternoon, as my mom is coming up to go shopping with me. The store we plan to go to, it`s well known for their customer service - they treat brides very special. As corny as it sounds, that`s what I expect - I`m a bride to be, I SHOULD be treated special! :) We`re going on a weekday afternoon, so it will probably be reasonably quiet.
I`m not a real clothes horse, so I`m not going to fall in love with the $3000 gown I don`t think. I know the style I`m after, but really couldn`t care less about who designed what. I`m looking for something simple, sleeveless, with straps and a fairly long train, ideally a detachable one. But I`m totally open to suggestions, and will tell the salespeople that. And I`ll also be telling them my price range, which is less than $1000 (hopefully about half that!).
Thanks again for your comments...I`ll keep you posted on how it goes!
K
Posted by Kimberly; updated 01/27/03
Reply
Hi there. I do feel for the shopowners out there now adays. I shopped for my dream dress and was quoted a price of $870. I found a site on the internet called www.netbride.com and received a price quote for the same dress for $505 (this includes shipping and there was no tax). I received excellent customer service, I received my dress 10 weeks earlier than expected and it is brand spanking new. I will also be ordering my bridesmaids dresses from them here in a couple of weeks. I found a seamstress who is doing it for a lesser price that the bridal store quoted me for alterations. She has excellent references so there are no worries there. I know that most shop owners do their best to help a person with anything they need, but I needed to save money so I could put it into other areas since I am on a budget. Good luck and check out their website, I found several that do business this way and netbride was the cheapest for me. Let me know if you have any other questions. I would gladly answer them for you. Jennifer
Posted by Jennifer; updated 01/31/03
Reply
I also went shopping and found a dress that I fell in love with. I was quoted $830 for mine, and then did some shopping around and found a price quote of $640. But because the store where I found the dress was so helpful, I asked if there was anyway they could lower the price, because they were wonderful. They did, and I`m going to get my dress, along with all my bridesmaid dresses there. I was very happy with their service and didn`t want to shop elsewhere if I didn`t have to
Posted by Michelle; updated 02/01/03
Reply
Regarding my earlier post that I was not going to fall in love with an expensive dress...well, I was wrong! I`ve tried on a lot of dresses at this point, I`ve visited about six different shops, and while there were plenty of attractive dresses out there, nothing had screamed at me that it was the one.
I was out shopping yesterday with one of my bridesmaids, and it was one of the last gowns I tried on. I walked out of the dressing room, stepped up on the little pedastal in front of the mirror and just said "Wow." My bridesmaid was right beside me, saying the same thing. Then the saleswoman came over, and repeated our sentiments.
Unfortunately this gown was over $1,000 . I wish I could tell you what the style number was, but while this shop did leave in tags, I think they change their style numbers. I could find no sign of this gown online. All I could find out from the tags was that it was Mon Cheri. Any idea how to decode a style number provided by the shop? :)
K
I was out shopping yesterday with one of my bridesmaids, and it was one of the last gowns I tried on. I walked out of the dressing room, stepped up on the little pedastal in front of the mirror and just said "Wow." My bridesmaid was right beside me, saying the same thing. Then the saleswoman came over, and repeated our sentiments.
Unfortunately this gown was over $1,000 . I wish I could tell you what the style number was, but while this shop did leave in tags, I think they change their style numbers. I could find no sign of this gown online. All I could find out from the tags was that it was Mon Cheri. Any idea how to decode a style number provided by the shop? :)
K
Posted by Kimberly; updated 02/02/03
Reply
Thanks for replying.
Found the style number! Only problem is, most of the places you can order online from are in the US, and when you`re buying with Canadian dollars that isn`t much of a savings. Plus you have to pay duty, taxes, shipping, etc. So I`m close to concluding that buying in a brick and mortar shop is the answer for a Canadian, unless anyone out there knows of a good Canadian online retailer!
Thanks,
Kimberly
Found the style number! Only problem is, most of the places you can order online from are in the US, and when you`re buying with Canadian dollars that isn`t much of a savings. Plus you have to pay duty, taxes, shipping, etc. So I`m close to concluding that buying in a brick and mortar shop is the answer for a Canadian, unless anyone out there knows of a good Canadian online retailer!
Thanks,
Kimberly
Posted by Kimberly; updated 02/05/03
