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Mrs. Raspberry, DC/New York Age and Occupation in 07: 24, Owner/Chief Creative Director Fiance's Age in 07: 24, Special Investigator for the government Engagement Date: August 5, 2006 Wedding Date: July 2007 Venue: The Roycroft Inn, East Aurora NY About Me: I love wedding and event planning. I am having a great time with all of my DIY projects and can't wait to share them with all of the WeddingBee Readers (some have to wait until after our wedding)! Other favorites include: cooking, running, tennis, knitting and making crafts. Mr. Raspberry and I also have two dogs - Gewurz, a 2 year old yellow lab and Stella, a 1 year old old cock-a poo.
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Watters & Watters vs. Vera Wang

December 31st, 2006 @ 1:29 pm by Mrs. Raspberry

The decision about the bridesmaid’s dresses still hasn’t been made. I thought that we had decided on this Watters & Watters dress in the Amber Rose, but it is $240 and so plain that I wanted to look around just a little more.

Watters and Watters vs. Vera Wang :  wedding bridesmaid dress Z69446201 wattersgreen

Then the new Watters & Watters line came out and I fell in love with these two dresses:

Watters and Watters vs. Vera Wang :  wedding bridesmaid dress Z694462 wattersbrightred

Watters and Watters vs. Vera Wang :  wedding bridesmaid dress Wattersred wattersred.jpg

But the prices for these two dresses are $280 and $295 - and that is all before alterations. So, I started looking around and thought that for those prices I could get Vera Wang… and I was right.

Now I really like these dresses and the colors are interchangable. I am thinking either pink, green or gold.

Watters and Watters vs. Vera Wang :  wedding bridesmaid dress Z694461 bobinetteantique

Watters and Watters vs. Vera Wang :  wedding bridesmaid dress Z69446101 lamegreenapple

Watters and Watters vs. Vera Wang :  wedding bridesmaid dress Z69446102 squareparfait

Let me know your thoughts… Is it crazy to ask your bridesmaids to pay in the upper $200 range?

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41 Responses to “Watters & Watters vs. Vera Wang”

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1.
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Bridget

Personally, yeah, I think it’s crazy to ask your maids to spend that much money on their dresses. But, you know your friends best. If you think they could afford it and wouldn’t be annoyed that you asked them to spend that much money, then go for it. Just remember that you’re relinquishing all rights to complain about the cost of the bridesmaids dresses at their weddings!!

 
2.
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Sabrina

As a former bridesmaid twice and a bride now, I do think it’s a bit unfair to get a really expensive dress when there are so many reasonable ones out there now, unless you have some wealthy bridesmaids who don’t have to worry once the shower and bachelorette parties come around. Also to keep in mind is the fact that they may never wear that dress again. I bought one BM dress in the mid-200s but it was black and I wore it again (to Mrs. Butterfly’s wedding!) but from what it sounds like, you are picking a clearly BM dress..just my opinion..good luck!

 
3.
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Di

Again, unless your friends have the money, it’s too much to ask for. BUT, these dresses don’t seem to “bridesmaidsey” if they were dyed black… so maybe… but there are so many others out there that are much more reasonable.

 
4.
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slo

did you check pearl’s place? I had my maids wear some Siri dresses that were, on average, $80 cheaper than in the store. I also put some money towards each of their dresses as a gesture, so they ended up being much less expensive than the $250 I was originally quoted.

 
5.
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j

i ordered the watters dress (your original choice) from rk bridal and they were only $160 each. also, because it is a wrap dress, we didn’t need to get any of them altered.

 
6.
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K

I also think it’s too much to ask your bridesmaids to pay, regardless of whether they’d be able to wear the dress again or not. You should be able to find those same Watters dresses for a lot less online, though, at houseofbrides or netbride or rk.

 
7.
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I

I think this price is too high, and might cause resentment, which you really want to avoid! Have you considered having the dresses made by a dressmaker? They can sometimes be a lot cheaper, and would have the advantage of being made specifically for your friends’ body shapes.

 
8.
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Miss. Orange

Miss. Raspberry, I picked a Watters dress (2439) and ordered them via Pearl’s Place in Louisiana which reader slo was referring to . I got them in just a month and the girls are going to get them altered on their own. The dress was $180 but originally at another shop it was $250+.

HTH.

 
9.
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Tea

that is a lot to pay just for a dress, but i’m also very frugal. but if you add in alterations, shoes, jewelry, any hair accessories they may want, and purses, that’s a whole lot of more money.

for one of the weddings i was a bridesmaid in, we picked a dress from david’s bridal and had them made for half the cost [it ended up being $100 without all the embellishments], double bonus since any alterations were built in. that could be an option too.

 
10.
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Pencils

Yes, I think that’s too much to ask. Very few bridesmaids dresses are appropriate to wear again. But definitely check around–I don’t know about the Wang dresses, but you can definitely get the Watters dresses for much, much cheaper online. And have them make sure that they’re measured properly–the alterations thing is a total racket run by salons, so if they know the right size to order, they hopefully should not need such expensive changes done–or they should be able to get simple hems, etc., done at their local tailor/cleaner.

 
11.
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BaghdadBride

It’s not too much…if you don’t want a wedding gift, if they don’t have to travel, if they aren’t getting their hair/nails/make-up done, if they don’t have to buy matching shoes and jewelry, if they aren’t throwing you a bridal shower and a bacherlotte party…basically being a bridesmaid is really expensive…if you throw a 300 dress in there, they could easily spend 1,000 or more on all of the above (each!). Some of the styles you picked are pretty simple and you could get something simliar from JCrew or Ann Taylor. If you do go the Watters or Vera route…definitely go with one of the online stores.

 
12.
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chrisseli

Since my wedding will be a destination for many, I’ve opted to pay for the bm dresses. I’ve asked my bm to design the dresses they like through cocomyles.com after I’ve picked out the color and fabric. They’re around $125 each.

 
13.
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chelles

Wow. Agreed. While they are lovely dresses, they are way too expensive. You could get the same dress at any discounted bridal place or you could go shopping at any store and get the dress dyed and stuff. As a bridesmaid now, I am very upset that the bride asked me to pay $234 for a dress and then another $75 for shoes, both which I would never wear again. I then found the exact same dress at another bridal saloon (by a different designer) that only cost $100. She wouldnt change it though, because the dress she wanted to buy was Vera Wang…
Wow. I sound bitter! But I think any expensive idea like this should be talked over and seriously considered by both the bride and the bridal party.

 
14.
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Kendra

I agree that expensive BM dresses should be avoided if at all possible. I have probably $1000 worth of BM dresses sitting in a closet that were only worn once. Although I enjoyed being in the weddings for my friends, I would have rather used that money to give them a nice gift to start their married lives with!

All the other posters have given great suggestions, but I would also try going to a smaller store that does prom and other formal dresses as well and talk with someone who has been there awhile. I ended up getting a dress similar to a designer one for half the price that actually fits all of my girls better than the designer!

 
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16.
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Mrs. Snowbride

I’ve paid over $275 (not counting alterations!) for a bridesmaid dress and honestly, while I think that is a little but honestly, while price should be a consideration I think style and fit are more important. No one wants to be in an uncomfortable, ill-fitting dress.
My bridal party had all shapes and sizes and my most important thought was how would they feel in the dresses at the wedding. Ask them all for some input-maybe send them a little poll with some pictures and see what answers you get!

 
17.
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pbj

Like what everyone else stated, that’s a lot of money for your bridesmaids to spend. As a bride, I was very conscious of the price range and the quality of dress for them.

 
18.
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joy

Also, do keep in mind (well, just MHO)–you are paying a LOT for the Vera Wang brand name–they are not necessarily “better” than other dresses out there! I do think that the upper $200 range is a lot to ask of your bridesmaids, especially if you are hoping to have them host a bachelorette party, or shower, plus the other time commitments.

 
19.
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Bella

chrisseli…
What did you think of the dresses from cocomyles.com? Looks like a neat idea.

 
20.
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fizzyg

I love that last watters dress, but not $295 worth. It also seems like strange logic to say that just because you’re spending that much anyway, that you could get a vera wang. Especially since the vera wang dresses don’t look any more special than a lot of the $150 bridesmaid dresses that I’ve seen.

 
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Mrs. Raspberry
Mrs. Raspberry

Mrs. Raspberry, DC/New York Age and Occupation in 07: 24, Owner/Chief Creative Director Fiance's Age in 07: 24, Special Investigator for the government Engagement Date: August 5, 2006 Wedding Date: July 2007 Venue: The Roycroft Inn, East Aurora NY About Me: I love wedding and event planning. I am having a great time with all of my DIY projects and can't wait to share them with all of the WeddingBee Readers (some have to wait until after our wedding)! Other favorites include: cooking, running, tennis, knitting and making crafts. Mr. Raspberry and I also have two dogs - Gewurz, a 2 year old yellow lab and Stella, a 1 year old old cock-a poo.

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