<p>The thing is, you don’t have to spend a fortune on a dress to look great. The choice is not between spending a fortune and looking great v. spending a little and looking crappy.</p>
<p>I think Denise on tonight’s WNTW may have been her daughter! Same taste in clothes.</p>
<p>^^OMG. I’m watching it right now. In total disbelief. Was she a toddler with lots of tiaras in her childhood?</p>
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<p>That’s so true. Most of the brides are young and beautiful, for goodness sakes. They would look radiant in anything. I look at pictures of myself at 21…my clothes were boring and cheap and I didn’t know what to do with my hair and makeup…but I still had that “bloom” of youth (and of course, really high boobs.)</p>
<p>What I don’t get is the girls who buy ornate, formal dresses for outdoor weddings. One girl had a dress with a long train for a beach wedding. She was dragging sand around and her bridesmaid kept lifting her train to shake it out.</p>
<p>As for the woman in last night’s What Not to Wear. She really never thought she looked better. They even let her basically keep her hair color and style and makeup - just toned it down so she wasn’t a cartoon…and she said she was going back to her old look.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t really object much if my girl wanted me to drop $1500 or so on a wedding dress, if she really loved it and it looked amazing. It is the one day when all eyes are on her and she should feel completely confident and beautiful without apology or even the slightest concern that she doesn’t look her absolute best. </p>
<p>Brides are nervous enough without worrying that her zipper will fail or her satin will split and in wedding dresses the quality improves with the price tag (generally speaking). I wore a cheap dress – all I could afford at the time – and the netting on the back near the zipper shredded before the day was over. That’s something a bride does not need to remember and, no, I don’t laugh about it now!</p>
<p>Sure, $1500. But some of these brides are dropping $10,000.00! If I were Melissa Gates, I still couldn’t spend that much. I just couldn’t. I would feel like a dope.</p>
<p>I agree with missypie - they’re usually already young and as beautiful as they’ll ever be. I have never been to a wedding where I thought, “Ugh - why didn’t she spend more on a dress?” And it’s really only on these wedding dress shows where I even notice that a dress is unflattering or flat-out ugly. Put someone in front of an officiant with flowers, a beaming groom, surrounded by family and friends, and I always love the dress. Same principal somehow does not apply to bridesmaid’s dresses.</p>
<p>So many ways to have a gorgeous gown without spending the equivalent of a Persian rug or roomful of nice furniture. My d did this a few months ago: [Running</a> of the Brides® | Filene’s Basement](<a href=“http://www.filenesbasement.com/running-of-the-brides/]Running”>http://www.filenesbasement.com/running-of-the-brides/) I know some folks would never consider it, but she found a $3,000 dress for a ridiculous price (though she’s seriously thinking about spending more for the shoes).</p>
<p>It really bugs me when the Kleinfeld folks (and certainly the Atlanta folks) roll their eyes and confide to the camera how hard it is to find something really nice for $3,000. Watta racket.</p>
<p>I told my bridesmaids–“Wear whatever you want in whatever color you want–just show up!” I had confidence they’d look great and they did. They all wore some version of pink and pretty. They didn’t consult me or each other beforehand. I was thrilled none of them went out and bought a dress. This idea that everyone has to “match” always seemed misplaced. </p>
<p>Btw, I got my wedding dress at Kleinfelds, when it was in Brooklyn, for $850. It was a sample. I think I tried on 3 dresses bc I refused to spend more than $1,000. It was designed by Priscilla of Boston. At the time the designer was known for designing Trish Nixon’s wedding dress. I was thrilled. And yeah, frazzled, what a racket!</p>
<p>There are some cultures as well where throwing a big expensive wedding is a necessary expense. Look up a British show called ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ for examples.</p>
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<p>I totally agree! I’ve always said that every bride looks beautiful in her own wedding dress. My college roommate was a size 20. She went to her local small town bridal shop - they had one dress in a size 20, she liked it and she looked beautiful.</p>
<p>I sat in the audience of The View a few days ago and Wayne Rogers, the former MASH star who owns Kleinfeld’s was a guest. When asked about the store’s success, he didn’t even mention Say Yes to the Dress! Ridiculous!</p>
<p>Wayne Rogers owns Kleinfeld’s? Really? Hmm, that might explain why we saw the owners 1st season but not since.</p>
<p>I’ve wondered why those husband and wife owners “went away.” Hmm…</p>
<p>Actually, I think he’s “part-owner” - he was on CBS Sunday Morning last week and that’s how they referred to him.</p>
<p>I thought of this thread after having an interesting conversation with DH.</p>
<p>Me: Since oD finally decided on the date, I was thinking that we should give her a check so she can start shopping for her dress. She might find something when we are not available…
DH: Are you sure we have enough money in the checking account? I don’t think we can afford it right now…
Me: What do you mean?
DH: Aren’t those dresses so expensive?
Me: ??? Yes, they are. But…
DH: Don’t they start at $10K? That show on TV…
Me (snorting, holding back laughter): Honey, I never thought you paid attention to that show! I think you might have watched too many episodes with me! That is not the real world.
DH really thought that $2K would buy an “ugly dress”. LOL!!!</p>
<p>Yup, DH was very happy that a wedding dress is not going to leave us broke :)</p>
<p>LOL, BunsenBurner, your post made me go onto the David’s Bridal website. Looked like the most expensive gown there iss $1400 for a very fancy Vera Wang. LOTS in in the $500-$700 range. At Kleinfelds, I guess for that price you’d get the dress they mopped the floor with.</p>
<p>LOL, missypie! I looked at the dresses displayed in the windows of our local wedding shop, and the most expensive one was $3K. Even at Luly Yang, our chichi wedding designer, one can find a beautiful dress for less than that!</p>
<p>I think I’m becoming obsessed. I went on the site that has the lovely gowns loosely modeled after the gowns of the Disney princesses. Looks like those range from $1000 to $1400.</p>
<p>Missypie – Those dresses are beautiful…the ones by Alfredo Angelo, right? Much better than the first couple of years.</p>
<h1>1) I could not BELIEVE how OLD Wayne Rogers looked! He was such a good looking guy in MASH…I looked at my H and said, boy do I feel old!</h1>
<h1>2) I love the say yes to the dress, but HATE the Atlanta version.</h1>
<h1>3) I’m with all of you…I would never have my child pay that much for a gown…I guess I’m lucky then to have boys! :)</h1>
<h1>4) Glad to hear at “normal” stores, you can get a gorgeous gown for $1000 or less as it should be…</h1>
<h1>5) Vitrac: I liked your idea of everyone picking their own dress in same color…I really hope short dresses for bridesmaids are more fashionable now rather than those old, ugly taffeta bridesmaids gowns…yucch.</h1>
<h1>6) I’m getting jaded in my old age…I prefer to give the child money toward a condo or house and hope that when the time comes for their wedding that they do something very simple and cost-conscious and give them some money for something to own.</h1>