What’s your wedding dress budget?

I ended up spending $2091 with fees. I purchased a dress for ~$1600 (my limit) as I thought with alterations, it would be $2k. Lol. I forgot about tax and other fees in preference for "how I would look in it!" (haha). Once alterations happen, I'm pretty sure my dress would be $2500, more or less.

My parents paid for mine. I think they would've paid whatever (it was like pulling teeth trying to discuss a budget haha). So, I basically made the decision that I wouldn't go over 2k no matter what out of respect for them.

Ended up finding a lovely Lillian West gown for 1.6k without alterations! Can't wait to see it in the Spring when it actually fits me!

I'm aiming between $1000-$2000. It's weird to say that you're spending $2000 for a DRESS (LOL). But it's one of the most important dresses you'll ever wear...

My sister-in-law had a hard time finding her dress and ended up splicing the bodice and the skirt of two dresses together. It ran them $3k-$4k after alterations and such, but their family can afford something that expensive easily. My family is struggling, but my mom really wants me to have "THE DRESS" and gave me a budget of $800-$1200 (which I haven't had a hard time finding dresses in this price range, just gotta know where to look!). I think it's dependent on what you can realistically afford, and what you end up finding that you love. I think I found my dress at my first appointment on sale for $1k, but am going to try on dresses at one more place before I purchase though I can NOT stop thinking about that one and am making sure I can help pay if needed if we buy it.

Sit down and budget yourself, see what you feel comfortable paying. Or try on dresses and see what the price range ends up being for the dresses you really like to get a more realistic feel of what your price should be.

I had a budget of $2,000 and every salon I went to had SO MANY choices within that budget.

I ended up spending around $1,200 before alterations and it's the Olivia dress by Rebecca Ingram.

My budget was $3000 and I ended up getting a Martina Liana dress for $2500 after getting a %10 discount so that still leaves $500 left over for alterations which will hopefully be enough.

My budget is about $500-$800 including dress, alterations, veil, any accessories, and shoes. Tight, I know. I've actually found some independent seamstresses who sell custom dresses through Amazon for $100-200, and I really do like the look of them. I also explored preownedweddingdresses.com and ebay, and checked out some local thrift stores. I originally didn't want anything other than a Maggie Sottero Patricia or Melanie, even second-hand, butttt.... well for me there's more important things than blowing a ton of money on something I will wear once. I want it to look amazing obviously, but I suspect there's a way to accomplish that without breaking the bank. We'll see!

I told my consultant at my one and only dress appointment that my budget was around $2,000 but I was willing to go over that for the perfect dress. Most of the dresses she showed me were between $1,500 and $2,000, but of course I fell in love with the most expensive one, a Justin Alexander that was around $2,100. With tax and a rush fee, it was around $2,600.

I'm posting this to let brides on a budget know it's possible to keep your budget in check and still get a great dress! I spent $125 on my dress, but alterations will run me $400 (expect this, ladies). I went to many stores and tried on lots of super pricey dresses. I fell in love with a dress that was $400 on clearance but after the alterations (it's many sizes too big) it would have cost me major $$$! So, I took a photo of the dress, posted it around on reddit and other sites, and someone was able to find a similar dress (used) on ebay. Bonus, it's my "something old".