Does anyone think the price of a wedding dress you wear for one day is OUTRAGEOUS?!

amdublin

Personally I think it is riduclous the price of dresses that shops charge and women pay.

I was reading the thread on 1950s style dress (which I love btw!) and I click onto one of the stores linked to in the thread.

Beautiful dresses!
But what really p1ssed me off was some script writing across the page. Something like "make sure it doesn't look like a dress bought in a store".
Heck why the hell not?!

This rubbish perpetuates the myth "it's the biggest day of my life and I need to look like an angel in front of the big crowd".

At the end of the day why do we make such a big fuss and spend soooooo much money on a dress for what is an event just between you and your partner??

Like am I right in thinking that the average women spend on their dress is €1k?? And going up to €3k??
For what?!
To wear for one day and evening. And sit in a box after that.

Anyone out there think yeah its ridiculous?? Or no, you all think it is completely "okay"?

juan.kerr

Yes I agree

John Mason

i think its horrendous but that is what some people want to let me on with it. they arent harming anyone.

mine cost 130e

Quandary

Personally I think it's utterly ridiculous to spend crazy money on it. Myself and g/f are getting married in 2013 and I will be doing everything in my power to manage costs.

Different circumstances for everyone though. €1000 might seem a lot of money to me whereas a more affluent couple might see nothing wrong with dropping €3000 on a dress.

Toto Wolfcastle

Of course it's a ridiculous price to pay for a dress that will be worn once. Many women feel that it's worth it though, and there's no harm in that as long as they can afford it. I spent more on my dress than I intended but I was happy to do so because I could afford to and will be selling it after the wedding. I tried on a dress that was more expensive than the one I chose and although it was beautiful, I couldn't justify the cost. I think most people have an upper limit that they will not go beyond.

Ms.M

lightinthebox.com are based in China but do affordable made to measure dresses. And whether it's true or not (I'd have no notion) an Irish dress-maker told me the quality of the lace on my dress was higher than what you'd get in a European Bridal Shop. Almost punched me when I told her it cost 150 euro. Mind you, it's easy to make mistakes on your measurements. Hence why I had to visit Irish dress-maker

Miaireland

I agree the price is crazy here. My best friend paid over €3000 for her dress (even with a staff discount as her friend worked in the store).

It was a nice dress but she wore it for 12 hours and three years after her wedding is still paying it off, along with the €600 spent on adjustments. The €200 dry cleaning bill for it and the €50 for the storage box for it.

tinkerbell

Seriously, why should it make one bit of difference to anyone what a woman wants to spend on her wedding dress? It shouldn't, it's nobody's business what someone decides to spend on anything, including their wedding dress. There are dresses available in a wide range of prices, anything from €100 to well over €10k. So quite frankly who cares?

Also some people have different priorities. One couple might think it crazy to spend €3k on a wedding dress which will only be worn for one day, yet perfectly acceptable to spend €3k on a wedding band which is only for a few hours! Yet another couple might think the opposite. Another couple might decide to do the big wedding with 300 guests costing €20k and go on a very cheap honeymoon, yet another couple might decide to have a smaller cheaper wedding yet go all out on the honeymoon.

patwicklow

Some waste of money alright could they not borrow the nets off the windows for one day and put there sewing skills to the test? Now some women like that would make any man a great wife:D

Moonbeam

I think it is crazy but everyone had different priorities and likes different things.

Dolbert

It's a total racket IMO. Unfortunately we're left with little alternative. I've ordered a dress from China, if that doesn't work out I'll be going the secondhand route. A Polish friend of mine was saying that over there, it's fairly commonplace to rent your wedding dress, makes much more sense!

Gatica

yes, it is personal how much one decides to spend on anything, whether wedding related or not, whether the dress or not... However, how we as an economy react to prices will determine the prices for everyone and the standard expected for and by everyone.
The more people that are willing to pay high prices for wedding dresses (or bands, or photographers) the more the high price will persist.
I paid a lot for my dress. I am spreading out the cost by paying it off over a longer period of time, and I am not getting into debt over it. It is more than I planned to spend and it was a bit of an impetuous decision spurred on by the situation I was in when I was trying it on. I love my dress, but I do know that it was a bit mad to go that much "all-out".
I think a lot of it is how the whole wedding industry plays up the importance of every little detail of what should probably be more low key and more personal - "the dress is the most important thing", "the venue is all-important", "what the guests will remember is the food", "everyone will be talking about the band", "your friends will be in awe at the personal touches and attention to detail of your wedding day", and so on and so forth...
It is an ideology perpetuated by Disney cartoons from childhood and rom-coms in adulthood. Women want to feel special for that one day and play the role of a fairy tale princess in a fabulous gown.
I succumbed to that too.

D3PO

amdublin wrote: »

Anyone out there think yeah its ridiculous?? Or no, you all think it is completely "okay"?

Its not rediculous because you dont have to pay it. Nobody is stopping anybody from paying 50 quid for a white dress in Debenhams or whatever.

Diddler1977

My friend rented her dress. €300 for rental plus insurance in case of accidental damage. A must better option imo!

Gatica

tbh, 300 for rental sounds like a lot as well. You can buy nice dresses for that much. However, I do understand that dry cleaning on particular wedding dresses can be very expensive too.

Bride2012

I bought mine online for €192 and love it. My friend spent €4,500 on hers, I haven't seen it yet. That was her choice, this was mine. Each to their own and all that.

Dolbert

Dolorous wrote: »

It's a total racket IMO. Unfortunately we're left with little alternative. I've ordered a dress from China, if that doesn't work out I'll be going the secondhand route. A Polish friend of mine was saying that over there, it's fairly commonplace to rent your wedding dress, makes much more sense!

The dress from China arrived - it's great quality! There'll be a few alterations needed, but that's to be expected as I ordered an off-the-rack size. Didn't get caught for customs either

lazygal

I had a really strict budget for my dress. I went to a few shops and had to really resist being talked into trying on dresses that were 'only' a couple of hundred above budget. Like anything in life, you have what you can afford. I didn't have the dress as a top priority, food, wine and band were our major things. I got a beautiful dress at a price I could afford. I've friends who spent three times what I did, they could afford it. I've a penchent for designer handbags, and have spent more than €1,000 on one. I love it and could afford it, so I bought it. If you can't or don't want to spend thousands on a dress, don't. But equally I don't like the inverse snobbery of 'I would NEVER spend that much on a dress for a day, how silly'. There's loads of things I would never spend my money on, like computer games, sporting events and backpacking holidays, but I couldn't care less if someone else spends their money on such things.

uli84

whats the price range if you don't mind me asking..

frozenfrozen

I don't plan on spending a single penny on my wedding dress