Wedding dress opinions on dress and cost

Hmmm. My dress was a budget buster but I didn't feel remotely guilty about it. OK, well maybe for about ten minutes. I don't regret spending a single penny of it. I don't imagine your Mum will either. If she's offered, and you can get the dress you love (not the dress SHE loves), then accept the gift.

You could always sell it afterwards?

I was in a very similar situation - I've just bought my dress and it was around the same price. I'd budgeted up to about £1000 but in my head I was really quite reluctant to spend that much on it because, like you, it seemed silly to spend that amount of money on a dress I was wearing for one day. I'm a bargain hunter and have never spent more than about £40 on a single item of clothing (and even then it's a huge decision!)

But then I thought about it and realised, we're almost spending that same amount on a photographer for one day and way more than that on food and drink for one day and half of that on suits for the groom's party for one day so when you look as it like that the dress is a really important part of your day so why not?

I mulled it over for a few weeks and tried the dress on three times and in the end decided to go for it! The main reason was because it was the one and I knew it made me feel like a princess and gave me shivers. I tried on around 40 others in total, some more expensive some much cheaper, and no others gave me that feeling. The cheapest I looked at was around £300 - still tons of money in my opinion. So in the end I decided I'd rather spend a crazy amount of money on a dress I love so much it will make me feel amazing, than spend what is still a huge amount of money on a dress which is just 'that'll do'. So I bought it!!

The dress is really beautiful so if it's the one and you're really sure, go for it, but try it on a few times first and try others so you know for sure!!!

Sorry for the long post!

Sell it afterwards, or, as you have a while yet, followsome of the pre-loved sites and see if you can pick one up second hand yourself. If you then keep it in good nick, you may be able to resell yourself.

Googled the dress, It is beautiful!

I had originally budgeted 1000 for the dress, alterations and shoes! I felt extremely guilty about spending that amount at the beginning and thought I would easily find a dress for 300 and be delighted. Then I went dress shopping and the dress I loved was 1500, I spent ages trying to decide what to do and with the OH saying it was fine to go for it I did, I still feel its a ridiculous price for something I will wear one day but I do love it.

If your Mum has offered to pay it then she obviously wants to, if she offered after knowing the price of the dress then she must not see it as a problem. x

If it's the one then its the one! In my humble cabbage ( opinion) you cannot put a price on that feeling. My gran paid for mine as she can't come to the wedding and she wanted to feel like she was a big part of the day, so I understand that feeling- almost a feeling like your being a bit cheeky. It's the one time when, if you can afford it, it's ok to spend 'silly ' money on a dress. Talk to your mum and explain how you feel if its her paying that's worrying you, you could always offer to pay a bit towards it.

Do it, do it, do it.

If it feels like the one, I think any others will never feel quite right to you. If your mum has kindly offered to make up the difference, then it sounds like it won't impinge on your budget at all....

Thankyou everyone for your replies.its been good to know I'm not the only one who as faced this. They've been really helpful and I appreciate them. I spoke to my mum last night and she said that even if my dream dress had been a lot less she had always planned on giving me a £1000 towards the wedding planning. So I can either have the dress I love or use the money towards other things, but she said she could tell how much I loved it so I should go for it in her opinion. We're not well off at all and a £1000 is a lot of money to us both so for her to say this was lovely. After reading your replies and speaking to my mum it's eased my guilt slightly and I think I might go for it but perhaps sell it later and use the money to buy her something really nice or save after the wedding and take her on a little trip away :-) x

I say GET IT!!! But definitely sell it after and give her the proceeds. That seems really fair to me, as she's being so generous and sweet

I've just googled it and I say buy it!

It's a pretty dress and it will be money well spent for the way you feel whilst wearing it!

If it's the dress of your dreams, tell your mum how much it costs and explain that you understand if she can't afford to pay for the whole thing, and that you would be happy t contribute to it. Done and done! I think it's a fairly run of the mill dress price, if I'm honest.

My daughter found the dress of her dreams in a shop ... £1500. I bought a copy of it from China. Did she feel cheated, hard done by or less of a princess.... not at all. With postage and alterations (just the hem), I paid £250 in total.

I, er, think we have the same name! I did a double take when I saw your username; take away the E and that's my real name. Wow.

I didn't spend much on my dress at all; it cost just over £100. It was cheeeeap. There was The Dress that I had had in mind for years (Stephanie Allin's Rosalba), but it just cost too much when it came down to it. So I got a gorgeous off-the-rack dress that I actually think is more "me". It's sexy and flirty and vintage-looking, and it's perfect.

I opted not to blow the budget on my dress because it was way down my priority list. The most important things for us were a gorgeous venue, great food, plenty of booze and good photographs, and that's where the bulk of our budget is going. Add in to the fact that my partner is also female and the two of us hypothetically blowing the budget on Dream Dresses would have just been ludicrous.

It's a dress that you wear once. I couldn't justify the cost. I'm over it.

Personally, I think it comes down to what your priorities for the wedding actually are. If you've always dreamed of that showstopping gown, then blow your budget on it. But if you're like me, and the whole experience of the day is worth more to you, I'd put the money elsewhere.

Good luck!!

Exactly how I felt about it. Fortunately I never wanted the show-stopping dress, it's just not my style but if it's what YOU want then go for it.

Hi

i just wanted say thanks for the advice i decided to go with the majority and have placed a deposit on my dress today :-) thankyou everyone for your comments. Amaranth I can't believe we have the same name!! You don't meet to many Terri/e-Anns x x