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How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

Terrier412 Posted:

How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

I'm just trying to see if I'm being unreasonable.....

My bridesmaid dresses are $178 (Dessy, #1935) plus alterations (which will, at the most, be about $20, and the bridal shop told me some girls may not even need it....)

I told the girls they can buy any dyable shoes they want (Payless/ Parade of Shoes would be fine). That's it in terms of the attire.

Yesterday, one of them was FREAKING out because her dress size is more money (because it's a size 24). In the end, she was basically freaking out over $15 bucks! She WASN'T upset because she thought it was unfair that she had to pay more for a bigger size -- it was the $15 dollars!!!!!!

Then she proceeded to order the smaller size!!!!!! (The size 22 is $20 more, the size 24 is $35 more). The bridal shop owner said 'I'll order whatever you want -- but don't come to me when it doesn't fit.'

So at this point I finally pipe in that I think she should order the bigger size -- the size that fits. After much discussion, examination of the dress, my friend saying 'But I don't know, it's $15 more!' at least 10 times, and the bridal shop owner showing her how there is NO room to take out the dress, my friend finally relented and ordered the bigger size.

Anyway, I kinda thought it was petty. I mean, when I asked them to be bridesmaids, I told all of them that I realized it was a huge expense, and that I'd understand if they said no. I also told them that I was only looking at dresses under $200.

I'm not mad at her or anything. I'm just curious what you gals thought about this, and what you were having your bridal party spend on their dresses.
chefe Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

If one of my girls made such a big deal about $15, I would have just given it to her so she could order the right size. That's just me.

Anyway, I will agree with you that she was being a bit unreasonable. Had she ordered the smaller size and it didn't fit, she would have had to have paid more money fixing it so it would fit, and it would probably look terrible to boot. If the money is really the issue (and something tells me it's not), maybe you should speak with her privately to find out if she needs some financial help with her dress.

My BM's paid over $300 for their dresses. I bought them the $85 wraps and they actually all decided to purchase the matching bag for $60. And no one had a problem with it since they know I would have done the same for them.
lilmrs Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

The girls will be paying 200 plus alterations for mine. If I were her my thought would have been agh heck whats another 15 bucks! Just remember its petty, its done she ordered the right size and now you are all set to move on to the next item on your list!!

blushingbride2003 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

I had problems with a bridesmaid who didn't want to give me the money to order her dress (she's from out of town and I wanted to put everyone's order in for the same dye lot). She gave me so many problems from the get go. Needless to say, she's no longer in the bridal party. When people agree to be in a bridal party, they have to know there is an expense to it. If you're going to complain or be petty, then save everyone the trouble and decline the honor. I think a bridesmaid dress under or around $200 is reasonable. That's what my bridesmaid dress is around with alterations included. So don't feel bad because you were more than reasonable.

MISHY Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

My girls dresses are from Dessy also, the dresses come to 190.00 and there is a 55.00 cap for alterations... But they did tell me it cost more for larger sizes because of the extra material, this is unfortunate but I believe all dress companies are like this..

Terrier412 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

I was about to just give her the $15 bucks -- I was just in such STUN!

shepppy Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

I'm aiming for $200 or less. I think that is perfectly reasonable....my officemate is in a wedding next November....her dress costs $750!

Sonicstef Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

I ordered my BM dresses from www.netbride.com because I didnt want my girls to have to spend a fortune on a dress they HAD to wear. I picked a dress that was $250 + tax at the store but only $150 incl tax online. Alterations were about $40 so total was less than $200.

curly2003 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

same here. www.netbride.com for $151 with delivery and tax. alterations are extra but in the stores they were quoting me 245 + tax!!!!

ddunne23 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

My dresses were $109..no tax. Since all my girls except one are traveling to NY and having to pay airfare, hotel, rent a car, etc.. I really wanted to keep it under $150 for them. I got them at www.nydressco.com.

Sassy Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

Around $200 is average. You're not being unreasonable at all. My BM dresses are 2-peices and will probably cost the girls $150-175 + alterations.

Maybe you should talk to her privately (someone mentioned above) and make sure she can handle the financial responsibilty.
Besides the dress, the shoes, etc. . . the BP may take part in throwing the shower? Is that how they are doing it for you? B/c the last thing you want is for your BP to think they should all contribute, and the ONE BM not wanting to chip in, and then they are all arguing over money. Definitely something to think and talk about so you could avoid future problems.
Crisco718 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

The dress was $157 including shipping from Bridalmarketplace.com. Everyone is doing alterations with their local tailor.

Stacey1403 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

I would talk to her maybe there is more going on than just a dress. The price is definately not too much alot of girls end up paying over $200.00. Maybe it is her own issues with weight. Are your other bridesmaids all thin? Good luck!
HappyEverAfter Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

The BM dresses that we decided on were $165. I thought that was pretty reasonable, as I always get stuck paying a lot more when I am in friends weddings. I only had one BM complain, and that was the one who made me buy a $250 dress to be in her wedding Thought that was pretty rude, but whatever, its not the first rude thing I encountered during the wedding planning!
Shamee Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

I ordered from an online distributor as well and they were only $110 (including tax). Wouldn't you know, I still had a few bridesmaids who *****ed about the price? And the dress was an elegant straight black gown they could re-use over and over again? (I didn't pick a pepto bismo pink organza nightmare or something). I even let them wear their own shoes (provided they were black). So their overall costs were NOTHING and they were still complaining! Where in the world do you ever commit to a bridal party and pay nothing?!? I don't understand people!

Niecey Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

My dresses, before alterations, were all $111-160 (they all picked their own dress) and were all Dessy/After Six. I think $200 range is a reasonable/expected amount to pay for a BM dress. When you go over the $250 mark, I think that is too much to ask.

I would also tell her to order her size, in my experience the Dessy/After Six dresses were all big on the top for the girls but the bottoms pretty much fit true to size. I would tell her to look at those measurements and compare to the sizing chart.

I am surprised about the fee for a larger size. Also, in my SIL's wedding we wore After Six and one BM was the largest size (24) and she did not have to pay extra money for that size. She did have to pay $75 extra for panels which they needed to order because she was slightly over the mfg sizing chart and they wanted to have extra material just in case. Wound up she didn't need them but she didn't complain at all about the cost. I think she was a little embarrassed because the shop was a little rude and here I was there trying to get them to order me a 6 instead of an 10 (I know that is my size in this dress..we met in between at an 8 and I needed alterations.)
CatchI22 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

Mine were a lot, around $270. One couldn't pay for hers so I picked up the tab. It was more importatnt to me that she was able to come for the wedding (she had to fly cross-country).
I felt bad that the dresses wereso much $$ but all the girls really liked them and said they would gladly pay more for a dress they liked. I mean its a big thing to be asked to do something like be a bridesmaid and they were all like 'its the least we can do'.
MSCJLK Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

Being someone who used to wear a 22 /24.. It may have not been the $15.00 but the fact that she is going to be wearing a size 24. I was in my friends wedding and she got dresses custom made and they cost almost $300.. And all the other Bridemaids wore a size 2 so mine looked like a TENT so remember when you look for dresses and you have a BM that is larger than the 'normal BM dress size 10' to understand sometimes it is not the price but the number of the size...this is just my opinion...

dkga1026 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

my dresses were $240, but the girls picked them out themselves....i just 'approved' it and picked the color...

she was totally being unreasonable...you were not asking for much..
LnP2003 Posted:

Re: How much were your bridesmaid dresses? (long, mini-vent)

my dresses are also under $200 - they come to somewhere very close to the $200 w/the alterations though....

as if we don't have enough to be concerned with - why do people have to give brides such problems????

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