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After pushing our wedding back a year, I decided I wouldn’t start looking at dresses until the summer before our wedding. After seeing Melissa Sweet ads in bridal magazines, I knew I wanted to try on a few of her dresses. So, on a weekend trip to Dallas, my friend Bri and I went to the Priscilla of Boston salon. After trying on about 25 dresses, I fell for the Lia dress; it was the one in the magazine ads that drew me to the store.
Lia– I love how simple it is!However, I did not fall for the price of the Lia dress. It retails for over $3,000–throw in alterations and that was way more than I wanted to spend. So I kept looking. I tried. I tried REALLY hard to find a cheaper dress that I loved. I went to every bridal salon in Austin. And guess what I found?
Monique Lhuillier’s Amelie Dress, which retails for $6,400!
Amelie–very vintage glam!Apparently, I have expensive taste in dresses. So what’s a girl to do? I took to the internet, looking for used or sample Lia or Amelie dresses. I didn’t have much luck. Amelie was hard to find. There were quite a few Lia dresses, but most were damaged or had been hemmed to be too short for me. Frustrated, I temporarily retired my search…
Did you fall for a dress out of your price range? How did you remedy the situation?
I set very strict dress shopping rules from the get-go. NO trying on dresses outside my price range — I wanted to spend less than $3500, and didn’t want to end up falling in love with a gown over that amount.
But I compliment you on your taste in gowns — Melissa Sweet’s are my favorite; so much so, I ended up buying one! Which others did you try on in the Dallad PofB store?
When I went to Pronovias I told the saleslady not to show me anything over $2000. Stick to your budget and don’t tempt yourself! You might want to look at some dresses by San Patrick. They have some gorgeous styles that are well made in the $1000-2000 price range.
I feel your pain–originally I was going to go off the rack–I am SO low-maintenance. BUT, I fell in love w/ Reem Acra’s Heavenly & after a year of searching found it on bridepower.com for 1/2 off These gowns are all samples, so they should be long enough. They even have a gown locator service (for a fee). Also bear in mind that to deflect some of the upfront cost, you can re-sell your gown after the wedding–designer gowns have much better resale value. Good luck–I’ll keep my eyes peeled!
You are so in luck! The Lia wedding dress you desire is all over
preownedweddingdresses.com
This is an awesome site that sells gently used wedding dresses at a fraction of the cost. Before I bought my Priscilla of boston dress, I searched it for weeks. I didn’t find mine, but your’s was there!
I also tried the lia on, and it was amazing. I would have bought it on the spot, but one of my friends wore it at her wedding.
good luck
I also fell in love with a dress out of my price range. It was a Priscilla of Boston. I couldn’t spend $3,000.00 for the dress before having a stitch done. I ended up going someplace else finding a dress that I liked a lot for $700.00 and went with that. Everyone said I looked wonderful and only I know the comparison between the two.
Have you been to Designer Exchange on Burnet and Anderson? They have a huge selection of used and sample sale dresses. They will also sell your dress for you after your wedding. And the seamstress they recommend is awesome. Her name is Carol Redman and she is totally worth the trip to Georgetown.
I should’ve bought the Amelie from you, haha. I still heart it.
Have you looked at Marisa gowns? I swear there’s one that looks just like Lia *cough* for much less…
Both dresses are beautiful. My dress was definitely out of my price range; but I knew it was the one.
I totally did! My answer was to work for the woman who designs the dress. I got 50% off by working odd jobs in my off-hours for it 
Found a designer willing (and able) to replicate the look of a designer dress, for a much more reasonable price!
It actually looks a lot like the dress I’m going to get….Watters WTOO brand Emelia although the picture on the internet is not near as flattering as the actual dress in real life. Or try Watters 1087B. Actually there are a lot of watters dresses that look similar to that and they are less expensive. good luck!
Have you considered having your dress made? I found myself quite taken with not one, but two $3k plus dresses (one Lazaro and one Melissa Sweet.) I just ordered from a highly recommended ebay store- April Bridal. They are doing both dresses for me and are charging a mere $317, including shipping! Best of luck!
I went dress shopping for the first time this weekend at a Watters trunk show in Baltimore, and fell in love with something way out of my price range. I originally told myself i wouldn’t spend anything over $1000. But then I just knew it was the one. I couldn’t find the dress cheaper online, so I just said screw it and put the deposit down on saturday. I know I made the right decision though, based on the way I felt when I had it on and the fact that I made my mom, sister, and FMIL cry. I got a good deal on it, and I guess I really didn’t go THAT far out of my price range when all was said and done.
I was very careful + didn’t look at dresses out of my ideal price range. But it helped a lot that the first one I tried on was The One. If you’re coming back to Dallas looking, check out LuLu’s Bridal Boutique. Great shop, it’s in an old house + the ladies are super sweet.
I haven’t started shopping yet because we’re getting married in 18 months, but I was hoping to buy my dress for no more than $500 (I am perfectly okay with a used dress) and that’s not including alterations…anyone think that’s possible?!
I’m supposed to go dress shopping this week and this is exactly what I’m afraid of! I keep putting it off and now that I saw Amelie..I think I want her
I had the same experience!!! I knew I wanted a couture gown as I started clipping dresses from magazines as soon as I got engaged. I first fell for a dress that was about $1500 over my budget. I then fell for a dress that was $500 more and finally ended up buying one $2000 more than the low end of my price range. Like you, I felt a little guilty! But like you, once I had “the dress” on, everyone knew it.
A close friend of my mother’s eased our worries. She told us to go with the dress and cut back somewhere else. She also went on to say that nobody will remember how many centerpieces we had or whether we stood under an arch or a chuppah. They might not eve remember the food or that we had an open bar. But everyone will remember the dress.
If you’re going to splurge on one thing, it should be the dress (and shoes). They will be in EVERY photo!!!
You look beautiful in both dresses: like a million bucks. Now to fine the one dress that combines both dresses above into one! It’s possible. It happened that way for me, and all of my friends and family were amazed!
(Also, I agree with Stephanie. Watters has lots of lovely dresses for half the couture price. I would have been delighted to wear one of their dresses but fell for the Kenneth Pool Aria…)
I fell for one thats over my budget too and I have been looking for it on Preownedweddingdress.com and oncewed. Or I am considering buying it new and selling it afterwards rather than collecting dust. Good luck it looks beautiful on you!
I feel your pain!!! I bought the Amelie dress!! I had seen this other Monique Lhuillier dress that was similar to the Amelie dress, but cost $15000 instead. My consultant took out the Amelie dress and I didn’t want to take it off. This all happened even though I semi-set my budget to be around $3000….
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Mrs. Kitten, Austin/Grand Cayman Age and Occupation: 25, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Dental Student Engagement Date: October 19, 2006 Wedding Date: April, 2009 Venue: The Grand Old House, Grand Cayman About Me: In 2009 I will get married (after a two and a half year engagement!), become an Army wife, graduate from law school, take the bar, move from Austin to Washington, D.C., and start my career as a lawyer! With all this going on, Mr. Kitten and I decided to have a tropical, "stress-free" destination wedding. Nevertheless, my micromanaging, detail-oriented, perfectionist side has prevailed---I am currently obsessed with every last detail of my "stress-free" destination wedding! But most of all, I'm beyond excited to become Mrs. Kitten on a fabulous Caribbean vacation surrounded by my friends and family!
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