How much did you spend on your dress?

Money can pay for many things, but it can never buy you class.

The dress shop I went to was a specialist 'plus size' one in Fenny Stratford. It's the only one I went to because the attitude of others put me off; I'm not a skinny person and hated the idea of being squeezed into a sample dress that was too small for me and the stories I'd heard from other brides feeling mocked because they were too big for the shop samples really worried me. Every time I rang another store and enquired about their size ranges, I felt upset and hideous - just from a phonecall!

As it turned out, the shop I went to stocked dresses from £300 for ex-sample sales right up to over £2000. The dress I picked was £800-ish ex-sample and made me feel amazing, as did the staff who were friendly, attentive without being pushy, made me laugh and looked after me really well. THOSE are the qualities I would endeavour to replicate if I was opening a dress shop.

I agree CuriousOrange, it is so important that they make you feel special - whether you are spending 100 or 10000 pounds! My dress lady is so welcoming, gives me a hug every time i go in and is very friendly with me and my mum and sister whenever we go in. It makes so much difference

I think you were just unlucky with your choice of store Venart. I went to quite a few shops and had brilliant customer service in most of them, no matter how expensive the dresses were. There were some rubbish ones, and one in Cambridge that I went to (for a friend, not me) had expensive dresses but the assistant was less than helpful!

Eeek!! I spent way more than I should of done, I make myself fee better by thinking that the £100 of accessories I got for free makes my dress price seem more reasonable, no one else agrees lol. My dress came to £1300 but hey ho I'm never getting married again

I was hoping to spend £800-1000 but ended up spending £1075. I tried to go to shops with excellent reputations for service and a middle-of-the-range price point. I didn't go near posh boutique places which I knew would be £1500+, but I know there is a market for them also.

It depends on the market you want to appeal to, surely that's your starting point? I wouldn't enter into a new business without properly assessing the market demand in the area, and considering what your selling point is actually going to be.

I paid £890 for my dress and I love it. It's perfect for me.

In answer to the OP I wouldn't visit your shop if I knew that you stocked nothing under £1200. The shop I bought my dress from is a beautiful bridal boutique and stocks dresses from £495 up to £1450. I didn't ask any prices, just tried on the dresses that a liked. When I tried mine on I fell in love with it but was sure it was going to be one of the higher priced dresses, luckily it was within my budget.

I heard the area reflects the budgets of the dress shops and i have found this to be true so far... the stupidly overpriced village i live has a bridal shop that stocks stupidly overpriced dresses however a 20 mile drive to a town with one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the uk and the dresses start at £500 and they have quite a few under that price when you go in, so it totaly depends on where you want to open your shop, you have to have a know what people in the area want as people will only travel so far.

Personaly give me the cheap shops! i have no problem in getting myself a "cheap dress" ive been to weddings where the bride has poured her bridal budget into the dress and ended up skimping on her hair/make-up and skincare and i really don't think it was the best idea! i totaly understand if you just happen to fall in love with a £1400 dress when your budget was only £800 but don't understand it when people won't buy under £1000 or whatever because that would mean there dress is "cheap"

I never went in any posh wedding dress shops, you get to know which shops are pricey, so i didnt bother going in.

My limit was about £800. At the time i found my dress i was only suppose to be looking for BM dresses but as my BM was trying her dress on I had a sneaky look through the sale rail and spotted the most amazing dress, it must have been fait as it was my size and fit like a glove. And it was reduced from £700 to £395 ????

You need more range if you want a bigger clientele. When i went shopping my budget was £500, i splashed out on a dress that was £899 though. If anything was over £900 I put it straight back on the rack, no matter what my mum or anyone else said about the price.

However, if you're aiming for clientele who are only wanting to pay £1400+ then fair enough. Otherwise I would suggest looking at stocking £600-£1000 dresses as well, and definitely £1000+ Weddings are very expensive and at the end of the day i've not come across many people who WANT to pay £1400 for a dress they are wearing for a maximum of 14 hours out of their entire life.

I was willing to spend upto £800 but found my dress in the sample section of the shop for £300! Was originally £1095!!

Hi

I budgeted up to £1000, well, OH did, but in the end I got one from a sample sale at £300. I also wouldn't have come if I'd known there were none within my budget, so perhaps stocking a few lower priced dresses would be good, then brides with a variety of budgets would be happy to pay you a visit.

My dress is a Ronald Joyce, and costs £1350, This is over our budget and if it hadnt have been for my step dad, there is no way it would be mine. Our dress budget was around 900, pushing to £1k but even then I didnt want to spend that. I agree, the shops with lower priced dresses or a nice range of prices are doing better. I went to three dress shops yesterday and all of them had a nice range. The most expensive I tried on was £1500, but I wasnt really looking at prices so I dont know if they went up any more than that in the shop.

When pricing your dresses, i think the companies will tell you a recommended retail price and you need to leave enough room for you to move on the price as the seasons go out and prices are reduced.

WOW at the snobby remarks ?

I would deffo say a range of prices

Surely better for your market aswell to have something for everyone.

I would think having a range is better as you will then be able to help those with a bigger or smaller budget. i think it helps to be more accessible as wedding dress shopping is already daunting. my budget was 2k but spent 1400 for a MS dress i think asking brides price range before they try on dresses so they dont fall in love with one well outside budget is also a good idea.

Agree...i almost fell off my chair at the pregnancy rates line!

I don't think that was meant as a snobby remark tbh, more an illustration of the point that shops' price ranges do tend to vary depending on the social mix of the area (of which teen pregnancy rate is one indicator). Which is hardly an unreasonable thing to say - if you put a really upmarket shop in the middle of a deprived area, it just won't sell anything. She didn't say that the shops there were worse, just that their range was less expensive.

I think I made a similar comment earlier about having had a fantastic experience in shops in "dodgy" areas - I hope people didn't think that was snobby.

I agree with you Helenia - I am not sure that the teenage pregnancy comment was snobby really - sadly, this is an indicator which is linked to disadvantaged areas. No value judgement intended, simply a fact. I didn't think you were being snobby either Helenia when I read your comment on dodgy areas. It can be a minefield wording these things sometimes.

That's true, but I think in this case the reference to teenage pregnancy was just unnecessary. Could have just kept the comment to ensuring the prices of your dresses suited the demographic of the area local to the shop (as others have done) and we'd have all understood what she meant.

LOL not a snobby remark at all, i was 19 myself when i had my first!! and my dress budget is £500! i just ment that the town is very run down, it is in the news alot for drugs/crime the teen pregnancy thing is a fact rather than a dig! and from what i have seen it does seem to have a lot to do with it, if your starting a busness you need sell what the local people will want! chances are a town full of £400,000 houses will have brides with a bigger budget than the towns that have cheaper housing!

as i just said it wasn't to look down on teenage pregnancy, just was trying to give an indication as to where i was talking about as it has been called that in the papers, radio etc without actually telling everyone where i live!!

My dress was under £30, off ebay. Not a traditional wedding dress either.

That's because I fell pregnant at 17, i'm sure...

(despite the fact I was brought up in a "well to do" area, where everyone owned their own homes, and worked - shocking)

I didn't have a budget (was lucky my H was of the opinion, if you like it, you can have it), but 1) i didn't want a traditional gown, and 2)I didn't want to spend a fortune on 1 dress, for 1 day.