How much should a wedding gown cost?
wedding dress costs
The national average cost of a wedding gown is $1641, according to a recent poll. But what should yours cost?
That’s a question you need to answer after sitting down and looking at your wedding plans. Doing a wedding budget can help get a handle on all the costs you’ll be looking at and figuring out who is paying for them and how much are you paying.
Weddings have a lot of different costs, and you need to decide what is important to you. Something might be very important to you and not so important to someone else, so this needs to be your own list. Think about the things you’ll remember from the wedding:
Is it the photos?
Is it the party itself?
Is it how you and your partner looked when you saw each other?
Is it gifts to your wedding party or family?
Once you figure out what’s important, then you can prioritize and start putting prices to items.
On your dress, this isn’t just an ordinary dress like you’ve buy at a department store. These dresses are more and because of that, the craftsmanship and fabric are more. You’ll have to pay more for that.
Now the dress is very important because of how it makes you look and feel. You’ll be having a lot of photos taken and you want to make sure you look the best for years to come or to show your kids or grandkids years and years from now.
But you need to have a budget for the dress itself. If all you had money for was the dress, you’d resent that. So, make sure and come up with a budget that works for you, and you can feel comfortable with.
Wanting a Dress that’s more than what you want to spend
If you have trouble coming up with money, maybe consider asking some of your friends and family to pitch in for the dress or some of the accessories, like a veil, as their gift to you. It can be your sister, for example, buying your veil, or she can give you $X to put toward what you want. That’s a way that you can get more than you want to pay for and have others share in the excitement of choosing what you’ll look like when you’re married.
But you don’t want to have a dress that is out of reach. The most beautiful wedding dress is one that you’re comfortable in and feel good about being in. Resentment doesn’t look attractive. If you’ve been talked into a dress that more expensive than you can or want to afford, that’ll affect how you see or feel about the dress.
Even if you can afford it, it’s not respectful to show you dresses outside of what you said your limits are for it. We don’t like dealing with pushy people. And we really don’t like dealing with people who don’t listen to us or show us respect for our opinion. If someone is showing you dresses that are too high, ask that they stop that and see what you can get in your price.
Wedding dresses come in all different prices. We offer a wide selection starting under $1000. Keep in mind that the average price of a dress in our shop is $1500. You can get all different silhouettes and wear a designer gown and still stay within your budget.
Be Flexible
Now there is the old saying of having champagne tastes on a beer budget. So, with a lower budget, you have to be more flexible in your expectations. But being flexible does not mean you won’t look and feel like the bride you are.
That’s why when you make an appointment at Uptown Bride, we ask what your budget is. We aren’t doing that to size you up before you come in, it’s out of respect. We don’t want to show you things that are more than you’re comfortable seeing. That would just be cruel to have you fall in love with a dress than is more than you can afford.
Apples to Apples
Don’t be swept up in what a great deal it is. Don’t be misled by the amount of the discount. Look just at what the dress will actually cost you. It doesn’t matter if it’s a huge discount, but still above your set price. Is the discount even real? Apples to apples is a good way to look at dress prices too.
Again, you won’t love your dress if you have regret for having paid too much for it.
Don’t Forget the Extras
When you’re coming up with your budget, don’t forget to include extras for accessories, like the veil and preservation, and alterations.
Alterations are almost always needed on a dress, even if it’s just hemming it to your shoe height. But don’t be caught in thinking something major can be done in alterations. Be sure to ask your stylist or a manager to be sure that something you want done to the dress can be done reasonably and for a price you’re willing to pay. Some dresses cannot be changed without overhauling the whole dress and changing its structure. Sometimes it’s better to find a new dress than to change up a lot in alterations. It will certainly save you money doing it that way. Is it an easy alteration and worth the cost? Also, consider having the stylist write down on the sales receipt what change you want altered and an approximate price to do it. Just so there is no disagreement or miscommunication after you’ve bought the dress.
Getting a Deal Online
Often brides go to find their dresses there because they think they’re getting a more inexpensive price – a deal. But is it really? Look at the average price of dresses at Uptown Bride. The average price of dresses sold in our shop is $1100. The most expensive is $3000. So, is the online price really a deal? What about supporting a local business and having a team there to help you with all the issues that might come up from alterations to steaming to accessories.
Sometimes there’s a big difference between what you love in a photo and what looks good on you. You might be able to return it, but will you really have chosen the best look possible for yourself. Photos last a long time and if you find yourself wondering whether you could do better, they could tarnish your love of those photos.
Another note on buying a dress online, often times the great deal online means that it’s cheaply made. Well, you’re only wearing it for one day, so who cares, right? Not so fast because first of all it’ll be hard to find someone who will alter the dress for you. Seamstresses have been blamed too many times for a dress not looking the way the bride thought it should look and not because of their fault, but because of the poor construction of the dress. The other thing to watch out for is that with that inexpensive price tag can come inexpensive materials and those can make you sweat throughout the day. How good does that look in photos?
Again, the bottom line is how you look and feel in your wedding dress. Make sure you love it and the process of finding it. It’s all part of your memories about your wedding planning.