How much did you spend on your dress?

Unless you are based in a very upmarket area I would definatley suggest stocking something lower than £1400. My max budget was £1000, I did try on a couple that were up to £1200 but wouldn't have even visited your store to be honest if I knew your lowest price dress was £1400.

I've seen plenty of bridal boutiques with dresses only starting from £1000+. The shops I went to that stocked much lower priced dresses came across to me as cheap. It also depends on the area you're in. I went to 2 boutique near me. One was in a nearby village which is predominantly commuters to London, so somewhat affluent, and the dresses tended to be £****, and it was a lovely place. The other was in a more built up place where there was a larger community and most definitely not as well off, and the shop sold dresses from about £800. They also had Justin Alexander dresses, though, so there was a mix. The shop itself looked very cheap, though, and I was a bit put off by that. I feel like a bridal shop should look as sumptuous as the dresses, because the setting in which you try on the dress will really affect the way you see the dresses.

But to answer your question, while I could have afforded a dress of a couple thousand, I didn't really consider them worth the money for something I would wear once, and I ended up buying off the peg from BHS. I will be investing in some VERY high end lace and having a bolero-like overlay for the bodice made specially. Basically I'm not a good person to ask, as I think most wedding dresses are just too much.

Call me naive but when I very first started dress shopping, I thought dresses would be around £600-£1000 with perhaps £1200 being consider high-end. Well this is how it is on Don't Tell The Bride!!

I dont think many brides intend to spend more thank £1k on a dress, even if they end up doing so. And the ones who initially budget more are probably more accustomed I weddings than a complete novice like me.

So in answer to your question, my initial thought was all of my outfit under £1k. Then seeing the prices of dresses and accessories that went up to £2k. However, I couldn't find a great selection with straps anywhere. Nothing was perfect, especially not for £2k! So I decided to buy a mid-range strapless then have an independent seamstress alter it to be 'The One.'

Hmmm... Personally I would try and stock some that are more around the £1000 mark.

Mine is a Justin Alexander and was £1000. I was willing to spend up to £1500 but I'd have rather not if that makes sense?

Just to put things in a bit of perspective money wise, we are lucky to have what I consider a relatively healthy budget for our wedding but I still didn't want to go mad on the dress.

I think the key to a good bridal shop is one that stocks a good range of prices but all good quality. Personally, I think my dress looks like it should be lots more than £1000.

Budgeted £600, spent £1150! But I wouldn't have looked in a shop if I knew all the dresses were over £1000 unless they were having a sale.

We have two bridal shops near me in a road opposite each other. One sells made to measure amd samples all under £800 and one sells all dress 1k+.

The more expensive shop isnt doing nearly as well as the cheaper one. The cheaper one is inundated all the time and the dearer one you can get an appintment at a minutes notice.

Guess it depends on area. Personally I adore my sample dress all the more knowing its a romantica of devon and cost me very little in compasrison to others.

But then Im not a bride with a big budget...

It does!! Yours is the only dress I tried in the shop I went to in Bromley that I liked!! Beautiful

Exactly this.

The shop I got my dress on had 2 areas, one area was off the peg and they were all under £500. The other are was the designer area.

I had a budget of about 750. I tried a few off the peg and then went into the designer area. Thats when I found my dress and fell in love with it. At a price of £1200 I really thought I wouldnt be able to have it. However I spoke to my OH and took my mum to see it. My OH said I could spend as much as I wanted as long as I was happy, my mum on the other hand said thats way too much for a dress to wear for just one day.

However I went back for a second look, showed it to my mum and she said I dont think you should try on anymore dresses. So that was it. I did haggle with the shop and managed to get it for £950 so that was a bonus.

If I knew they only had dresses of 1400 or more then I wouldnt have gone there, even though I spent way more then my budget.

It's not about price, it's about chosing a style and fit that suits you. Get this right and the dress will look a million dollars on you. I've seen brides in dresses that cost £200 that have worn them so well they looked more expensive than a £2000 dress bought because the bride was determined to have a high end name...

Spending less does not mean your dress is cheap, sadly some people on here are so far up their own butts that they don't appear to realise that their comments are unwarranted.

I spent ££££'s on my first dress which I have now sold, the dress I am going to wear I adore, and it only cost £600.

A range of prices is needed fo all budgets I'd say from £500 onwards, more expensive does not mean better.

I actually only ended up spending £350 on my dress as I got a never-worn-but-technically-secondahand dress from preloved from a bride who didn't lose enough weight to wear it. Twas the bargain of the century and should have £1400 new.

Wow! Talk about right place right time - lucky you!

Considering you brought your dress from BHS Venart you're coming across extremely snobby.

I obviously have very cheap taste as mine was £500- even thought it was meant to be a £1k dress and i got it on sale! ? ?

Who cares leni?! That's what I meant by quality over price. Who cares what it costs if it looks great?

I think having dresses at the £1000 mark will get more brides through your door as psychologically (?!) there's a big difference between £1000 and £1200. TBH I think its more about the dress than the price. I was nearly put off going to the shop where I got my dress from as I thought the prices started too high. Yes they had some very expensive dresses but also some less expensive which IMO were just as beautiful. It's just about finding the right dress for the right person. I wouldn't write off designers/styles based on price.

I know! I had already tried the dress on in that size so I knew it would fit and I loved it (obviously will love it more when the straps are finished!). I did have to make a 220 mile trip to London to pick it up though. But still well worth it even with the train ticket. And complete fluke I found it! I was browsing google images to send to a seamstress to get the 'ok' about adding straps before putting my deposit down. Then I realised this picture I'd clicked on was from preloved. And the rest is history...

The woman who bought it originally must have been at least a size 22, the dress is a size 10. She wanted to lose 7 stone in 6 months. She only lost 3 stone. I felt really sorry for actually, she just wanted rid of the dress as it made her sad to know she wouldn't fit into it.

This! No one should feel bad about how much or how little they spend on their wedding dress. If it makes you feel great, that's the most important thing. There is no 'minimum spend' requirement on looking great.

Brilliant quote BV!

And there is no guarantee that spending millions will make you look a million dollars either!!

My lovely parents bought by dress for me. I deliberately steered clear of the more high-end boutiques because I hate going anywhere where I feel the staff look down on you (you're a sales assistant love, get over yourself!) and in the end got a lovely Maggie dress in the sale for £900. Yes the shop that I went to wasn't as beautiful as I'm sure some of the boutiques are, but the staff were lovely, bent over backwards to be helpful and made the whole experience very enjoyable. You can often pay less for a much better experience, in my opinion.

I cant remember why but I thought you made your dress EF, I've spent all this time thinking you are an amazing seamstress!

EF made her fab bridesmaids dresses.

Ahhhh ? Thank you

I went into a couple of really swish boutiques around Bond Street/Oxford Street, and walked almost straight back out again once I saw the prices. The two best shops I went to were in slightly "dodgy" areas - Elephant & Castle and Croydon - but the service was really friendly and there was a good range of prices from ~£750 to over £1500, plus some sample sale bargains (which I'm sadly too fat for!) I also spent a hilarious half hour with my bridesmaids at a Vera Wang sample sale in Selfridges - we couldn't believe that people were paying £5000 (reduced from £12000) for ex-sample dresses that were totally ruined, would need loads of seamstress work and would then be fairly unrecognisable - just for the name. I think people are right that £1000 is a big psychological barrier so it would be a good idea to have some dresses for less. Most brides don't know too much about designer names/typical prices before they start shopping, so I think a good range is important.

I ended up spending £1300 on a Maggie dress, but before I started shopping I would never have imagined I would spend that much. I still think it was a little bit mad.

If you live in an area that has clientele who won't blink at a £1500+ price tag then by all means be a bit more exclusive. But I think you will get a lot more people into the shop if you have some less pricey items.

I budgeted £1,000 for my dress, without alterations. My dress actually cost £645 (plus £120 for alterations) and IMHO it easily looks double the cost. ?

When I was asked if I had a budget, I actually said no because I wanted to try on a wide price range of dresses, I didn't have any specific style in mind either which pleased the first shop I went into. It soon became apparent that I liked fitted and lacy and that's what I have!

x

My point was about the boutique itself, not the dresses. They didn't do anything to make the dresses seem special. The walls had peeling paint, you had to walk up a very narrow flight of stairs to get to the shop, the door was practically a slab of plywood, and the staff didn't seem excited in the least to be helping me find "the one." They carried a selection of styles, but even when I tried on Kharv's dress I couldn't get any feeling for it because of the atmosphere of the shop! I had to strip down to my knickers in a cubicle about 2 ft by 2 ft in which the dresses I tried on wouldn't even fit, so I was basically standing out in the open half naked trying to put on dresses! Horrible!

The shop that only had higher end dresses in it had a beautifully set up area with a gorgeous wood-framed full-length mirror. There was a step for you to stand on, they had a selection of beautiful shoes to wear with the dresses to check height, as well as veils and boleros. It looked bridal. The dresses I tried on there could have been far cheaper and I wouldn't have noticed or cared just because the shop made me feel like a bride. I knew I couldn't justify spending the money on a dress there, but I still loved the experience.

Had the first shop had that atmosphere I might very well have been tempted to buy one of their dresses.

If that was your point, then there was no point in relating it to the price of the dresses, which your original post appeared to do.

Your advice to the OP would therefore seem to be that irrespective of the price of the dresses she chooses to stock, the important factor is to take care of the quality, layout and atmosphere of the boutique itself.

I guess if you had made your point, the reaction to what you wrote would have been different.

My dress was £1650, which is expensive but I am very lucky that my Mum has paid for it. If I had paid myself, I think I would have budgeted around the £1000 mark, as it is important to remember that by the time you have accesories veil etc that can be another few hundred pounds on top.

I agree with the other posters that one of the most important things is the atmosphere, all the shops i liked had lovely chaise lounge sofas, were decorated in beiges and creams and had lovely vintage style accessories making it look pretty. And BIG mirrors, with plenty of room to walk around. Trying dresses on in other shops which were not so pristine put me off slightly, because the atmosphere didnt feel nice - despite them selling some expensive lines.

I think its is very important to have a mix of prices, the shop I went to had cheaper dresses for a few hundred, up to Ian Stuart ones which were £3000+. If you cater to everyone you are more likely to get a good reputation!