Are there any places around Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill that sell dresses like these other than a David's Bridal. We were just going to go to Davids but I feel like the dresses there are somewhat expensive and I'm trying to be fair to my bridesmaids. Maybe BridalMart in Burlington although it seems they sell designer dresses, and even those marked down would cost more?

10/3/2007 7:27:59 AM

In my experience as a bridesmaid, David's Bridal dresses are absolutely the cheapest I've ever gotten.

10/3/2007 7:34:27 AM

1. David's is cheap for bridesmaids' dresses.
2. Bridal Mart is great and they have a large range of prices. Go during the week if you can, Saturday is insane.
3. If you don't have a whole posse to dress, try some of the consignment shops, especially Around Again. You might get lucky.
4. Ann Taylor Celebrations has great sales and pretty things, if you are flexible about color. You can also try eBay.
Good luck!

[Edited on October 3, 2007 at 7:44 AM. Reason : duh]

10/3/2007 7:44:40 AM

I know there are some places you can RENT bridal dresses.

10/3/2007 9:09:39 AM

you should make more threads about your wedding

10/3/2007 9:10:35 AM

^ Well, since I haven't gotten married before, I have questions to ask for others who have.

10/3/2007 9:29:48 AM

we tried Carolina Bridal World in Smithfield and they are just as expensive as David's Bridal. If you can find a dress that has been discontinued at David's Bridal, they are usually pretty cheap (i think we got a $179 dress for $70). I know there are websites were you can buy sets of used bridesmaids dresses.

10/3/2007 9:30:09 AM

How much do you think a bridesmaids dress should cost. The ones I was looking at were around 150, but they seemed to think that was too expensive.

10/3/2007 9:31:59 AM

just make sure at least most, if not all, of the girls think they look good in the dress or they will bitch to no end - including on your wedding day

if it's a dress they can wear again then being on the more expensive side doesn't matter as much - if it's not then you should try to keep it cheaper - i would consider 150 near the middle of the range and maybe a bit on the higher side if all of the girls are still in college and paying for their own dress

the bridesmaids dresses the girls in my wedding wore were being discontinued from david's bridal and they were under 100 i think but that definitely won't work for everyone

10/3/2007 9:43:14 AM

Well what I was going to do was pick a color and let them pick their own dress, that way everyone would be happy with how it looked.

10/3/2007 9:47:36 AM

i got mine from the jcrew website on sale

10/3/2007 10:35:07 AM

Why don't you just go to Belks and get a black dress that they will want to keep and add some matching color accents?

I paid $180 for my last tuxedo rental, so I guess the guys aren't much better off.

10/3/2007 10:55:32 AM

Quote :

"Well what I was going to do was pick a color and let them pick their own dress, that way everyone would be happy with how it looked."

That's a good idea in theory, but I've seen it go wrong. It is a good thing to do if you aren't super anal-retentive, and you don't mind if the colors don't match just right.

[Edited on October 3, 2007 at 10:57 AM. Reason : ]

10/3/2007 10:57:09 AM

Quote :

"Well what I was going to do was pick a color and let them pick their own dress, that way everyone would be happy with how it looked."

just make sure that you set a few restrictions and at least have them get it all from the same company/place so that colors match - you should at least have a few guidelines like length and whatnot...

10/3/2007 11:13:27 AM

i've been in 3 weddings in the last year and the bridesmaids' dresses were all $110 (david's bridal), $140 (bridalmart), and $150 (some bridal boutique downtown on hillsboro st)

150 is on the higher end of what i would want to pay but is not unreasonable for a bridesmaids' dress (and yes i am still in school). i really wouldn't want to get anything higher than that because alterations are so expensive... i paid between $40 and $70 for all the alterations.

at david's bridal if you bought your gown there they give you a 10% discount on the bridesmaids' dresses.

because i didn't have a lot of money and needed to buy the dress, i just cut out cost where i could for other things. shoes from target, did my own hair twice, wrote my friends a note instead of a present or got them something little, wore clothes i already had to all the different functions or borrowed dresses to wear from friends, etc.

good luck

10/3/2007 12:02:33 PM

If they all got them from Davids Bridal, then the colors should match. We'll see how that goes. I bought my dress at Davids Bridal and they just gave me coupons for 20 off each bridesmaids dress.

10/3/2007 12:31:54 PM

Mine were $110 from David's, but they got a discount because I bought my dress there. They ended up being roughly $100 with tax, and only one needed alterations (they were tea-length).

One place I would consider is the Chadwick's catalog. They are fairly inexpensive. They may need better undergarments due to the dresses not being as well made, though, as well as having to order without trying on, which can cause problems.

10/3/2007 4:20:48 PM

I let my girls do the mix and match at David's Bridal. I told them to pick any white top, a bottom in my color, and any white shoe from anywhere. That way they had a little control over the cost, depending on what they chose. And if nothing else they could wear the top and shoes again. I would say that $100-150 is pretty standard for bridesmaid dresses.

The nicest thing that you can do is pick something that they could use again to dress up. Some bridesmaid dresses are so damned ugly that I couldn't imagine anyone ever having a reason to wear it again.

10/3/2007 4:53:00 PM

I am interested in this too.

I have narrowed down the options to:

http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=2774&prodgroup=110 Cornflower
http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=2820&prodgroup=110 Cornflower
http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=2986&prodgroup=110 Marine


But I would love to find them something cheaper than $110.

Oh and Target sells bridesmaids dresses now too for VERY cheap. Not a ton of selection though-

http://www.target.com/gp/search.html/ref=sr_ln_3/601-4220518-7844939?ie=UTF8&field-browse-product=339794011&index=target&field-browse=1041790&field-keywords=bridesmaid

[Edited on October 3, 2007 at 5:15 PM. Reason : update]

Oooh this is pretty... If only they had blue:

http://www.chadwicks.com/clothing/Chiffon-Sash-Tie-Empire-Dress.aspx?PfId=111646&DeptId=8219&ProductTypeId=1&PurchaseType=0

[Edited on October 3, 2007 at 5:18 PM. Reason : edit]

10/3/2007 5:13:38 PM

i actually just got something off the rack at belks for my bridesmaids. they all really liked the dress and it was only $85. no one had to have their dress altered. and the dresses were a dark red, so i just let everyone wear whatever black shoe they wanted (it was a winter wedding)

don't be afraid to just get something off the rack at a dept store... often they have them all over the state(s) (made it easy for my bridesmaids to get their dress... they could just go to any belk wherever they lived). and often if they don't have a right size at that particular store they can have it shipped to the store you want it at for free.

10/3/2007 5:27:58 PM

I know I said bridesmaid dresses are cheapest at David's Bridal, but I'm actually wearing this Target dress in a wedding next summer

http://www.target.com/Isaac-Mizrahi-Target-Strapless-Sateen/dp/B000HBC20I/ref=br_1_4/602-4217844-3389459?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1

It's really pretty, and I'm gonna have to have it altered a lot, which is fine, considering I got it on sale for $20. It's extremely flattering. I'd totally recommend it to anybody.

10/3/2007 6:40:55 PM

^ i've seen wifey in hers and it looks good - she said she's going to have it altered a bit closer to the date

10/3/2007 6:42:50 PM

I know all brides say they are going to pick a dress that "the bridesmaids will wear again" but face the fact that they all just get shoved in the back of a closet and eventually donated.

10/4/2007 10:05:58 AM

I'm in a wedding next summer and the bride actually let us pick out our dresses, she just told us that it had to be tea lenght and a certain color.

We all went shopping and ended out picking out the same dress, I doubt I would wear it again.

But she was really nice, telling us to pick out our own dress with a price that will fit us. She's also buying our shoes for us

10/4/2007 10:17:24 AM

i wore my bridesmaids dress for my brother's wedding again

granted it was from white house black market...but still. it was, and is, a good dress. i may even wear it a third time just to shock my bf in wearing a dress more than once

10/4/2007 10:30:30 AM

I was a bridesmaid in 3 weddings this year, and I wanted to kill my friends.

Friend 1: Did the mix and match at David's, but chose black taffeta. It's now being used to catch dust on the floor of my closet $75 for each piece

Friend 2: Did a floor length dress from David's Bridal. $150. I gave it to one of my friends younger sister for prom.

Friend 3: Let us pick out a black dress from J-Crew. $200. However, I still wear this dress for really nice occasions. I love it.

Dresses are expensive no matter what, but it's best to let your friends pick out something they can wear again. I think it's selfish to pidgeon hole them into buying something so expensive that they'll never use again just so you can control all the details.

10/4/2007 11:05:21 PM

I really like the idea of picking a color and having everyone buy whatever dress/mix and match skirt and top they feel is the most flattering. (I would definitely help each one out!) Even though I'm not usually attracted to stores like David's Bridal, there numerous options make me a fan. You can pick whatever color (cornflower blue, brick red, etc etc etc etc), and there are a ton of dresses and skirt/top combos you can pick from. So each person can find a look that is flattering for them. And hopefully the bride will pick out a color that isn't so damn hard to reuse.

10/5/2007 3:09:49 AM

I think I am going for red and short dresses, so that shouldn't be hard to do and having shorter dresses makes them cheaper and easier to reuse. i don't like any of those stupid lilac or baby blue or periwinkle color dresses.

10/5/2007 10:16:54 AM

Quote :

"I am interested in this too. I have narrowed down the options to: http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=2774&prodgroup=110 Cornflower http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=2820&prodgroup=110 Cornflower http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_detail.jsp?stid=2986&prodgroup=110 Marine But I would love to find them something cheaper than $110. Oh and Target sells bridesmaids dresses now too for VERY cheap. Not a ton of selection though- http://www.target.com/gp/search.html/ref=sr_ln_3/601-4220518-7844939?ie=UTF8&field-browse-product=339794011&index=target&field-browse=1041790&field-keywords=bridesmaid [Edited on October 3, 2007 at 5:15 PM. Reason : update] Oooh this is pretty... If only they had blue: http://www.chadwicks.com/clothing/Chiffon-Sash-Tie-Empire-Dress.aspx?PfId=111646&DeptId=8219&ProductTypeId=1&PurchaseType=0 "

the first 2 you picked are the ones my girls are wearing, in the apple color. i told them short and apple and those are the ones they picked.

i had no choice but to use david's bridal because i have a bridesmaid out of state so i needed her to be able to try it on and pick out one she liked. there are definitely a lot of options, but keeping in mind what they feel comfortable in is key

i tried to do mix and match at david's bridal but none of the combinations looked good to me so we just picked dresses

a note about altering: if you get it done at david's they charge $20 per item altered. i had to pay $40 to get one of my girl's dresses altered about a 1/4 inch and have some cups put in...just keep that in mind when figuring the actual cost of the dress

[Edited on October 5, 2007 at 2:22 PM. Reason : ]

10/5/2007 2:20:20 PM

Nordstrom's has some nice dresses, too. Some are less than $100

I like this one:



[Edited on October 5, 2007 at 4:01 PM. Reason : j]

10/5/2007 4:01:25 PM

learn to read

[Edited on October 5, 2007 at 4:21 PM. Reason : nm]

10/5/2007 4:20:51 PM

Quote :

"I paid $180 for my last tuxedo rental, so I guess the guys aren't much better off."

dude you got fucking hosed

10/5/2007 7:06:07 PM