My dress shopping experience

Hey girls: It was so much fun to go dress shopping!!! But it was exhausting! Anyway, I started off at Macy's and fell in love with a Marisa and Diamond Bride gown. I tried on about 10 dresses and really only loved these 2. But when were about to leave, FH's mom and my grandma suggested that I try on a Eva Forsythe gown. I originally told them no, because it just had to much beading. But I gave in and tried it on anyway. Of course I fell in love with that one too But when I looked at the price tag, I almost fainted. $4,500. Mind you, I originally only wanted to spend $1,000 on a dress. Well that budget has gone out the window All the dresses that I fell in love with today were $2,000 and up. The Eva F. dress has a lot of beading, but it's sooo not tacky. It's so elegant and beautiful, but I'm really hesitant to spend so much $$ on a dress. My mom, grandma and FMIL fell in love with the Eva dress also and are convinced that this is the dress for me and that I should get it.
After Macy's we went out to lunch and then we went to Charisol in Flushing. I tried on a few dresses and found another one that I love. It's an Eve of Milady dress.
I just got home and called RK bridal to get quotes. I gave them all the names and numbers of the dresses and they were all so much cheaper than the price I got at Macy's and Charisol They did not have the Eva F dress though
Anyway, here are the pics of the dresses that I love. I cannot find a pic of the Eve of Milady dress though:

1. Marisa (Macy's price:$2,875/RK price:$1,100 )




2. Diamond Bride (Macy's price: $2,735/RK price:$1550)





3. Eva Haynal Forsythe ($4,500 at Macy's and Macy's gives you 15% off)



Edited to add: That the lady at Macy's showed me an $1000 veil which was beautiful and a tiara for $600 I was like what is the woman NUTS!!! There's no way I'm spending that kind of $$

Oh, Marcela
#2 is the dress I bought!!!!!
Isn't it beautiful???

Thanks girls!

Jennifer: YES!! That dress is absolutely gorgeous. I love the beading!! Where did you get it from?

I got it from Lilletes in Baldwin.
The service is excellent (and it is in my hometown!)

2. Diamond Bride (Macy's price: $2,735/RK price:$1550)

I paid $2200, so I guess it is in the middle.
But they do put a cap on the price of alterations, which is good.

BEAUTIFUL!!

I was @ MACYS in SMITH HAVEN this morning to order my dress--they are so nice and amazingly sweet there--BUT just for kicks my mom and I mentioned the price I saw my EXACT dress on netbride.com for--they were shocked and are looking into for me--obviously they aren't going to match the price-but maybe take a little $$ off or work with me on the veil and headpieces--they prices for headpieces are INSANE! so maybe you should mention it to them--if you are serious about getting that dress--ya know never know!

Anyway-glad to hear you had such a nice day! let us know what you decide!

Jennifer: I can't believe how prices can differ from place to place. I've heard great things about Lilette. I'm going to try to go there next weekend.

Alison: Thanks and CONGRATS on ordering your dress!! Which one did you order, Macy's had a lot of beautiful dresses! I honestly didn't even ask how much the other headpieces were because the price of the one she showed me blew me away!! The veil was beautiful though.
What I'm going to so is try to find the Eva F. dress somewhere else and see what price I get. I already e-mailed a bunch of internet bridal places. If I get something cheaper I'll go back to Macy's and see what they can do. The woman did say that if I saw it cheaper to let her know and that she'd work with me. She said that they try to match prices.

I also want to go to RK, Lilettes and Flowerama to see what they have. I don't want to rush off and pay $4,500 for a dress unless I am ABSOLUTELY sure that this is THE ONE.

I think I found a pic of the Eve of Milady dress I tried on. It was $2800 at Charisol in Flushing and $2385 at RK.

Marcela I love the second to last and last one you posted. I love the beaded dresses.
I totally feel you on this. My budget for a dress is the same as yours and I know I am going over. But if you can afford it, go for whatever you want.

Someone mentioned Lillette's but also try Burton's Bridals too. When I started pricing out a gown I loved, they gave me a good price, not as low as the lowest (RK), but she said I can work with you if you find someone that does it cheaper.

Forgot to add that Bridal Burton's will give you a headpiece. So if your at Macy's and see a headpiece you like, try to get the designer and style number. Shop around for it. Same goes for the veil. Alot of people on here use C&H in the city. Try glamgal.com I think. Sirev used her. I will double check with her. She was the cheapest and good to work with. She had a couple of problems but it was just miscommuncation going on.
I believe Sonicstef and Michele31 used glamgal too but not sure for what.

Here's my dress!!

Marcela---you are soooo wise to shop around--no need to go THAT over budget if you have time and can look elsewhere---that is A LOT of money!! Good luck hon!!!

Wanda: Thanks I'm definitely going to check those places out. I know I really thought I could stick to my dress budget The only thing I can do is try to stick as close as possible to it. I'm not going to look at the Eva F. dress anymore!!

Alison: That dress is absolutely beautiful!! I love the sleeves! Congrats!!!!

And you're soooo right about the budget. I've already decided that the Eva F. dress is way over budget and just not worth it to me. I can spend the $$ elsewhere. And I really loved the others too, so it's not like I didn't like any others and only liked the Eva F. one.

Thanks Marcela! I am not sure about the designer of the veil--- Does Demetrios make veils as well as dresses?? it could've been by them--

i'm sorry if I discouraged you about the over budget dress!! I feel so bad!! You are being smart about it though--the first dress I tried on was a DIAMOND dress and it was $2500 my mom's budget was about $1500 so i was upset but then when I tried this dress on I was sooo happy! and it was in the right price range!! So you are so practical about it and you will be rewarded for that!!

Alison: NOOOOO!! You didn't discourage me at all. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would consider buying a $4000 plus dress. I'm just not like that. I'd rather spend money on things that I need vs. things that I want. So, please don't feel bad. Plus, I need you girls to help me out and make me think about everything. When you really want something, sometimes your judgement gets cloudy So you need people to bring you back and make you think about the big picture. Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it!!

#3 is beautiful. Look at the work on that bottom. Good luck in trying to decide!!!!