Wedding Blog

Here are the bees’ dresses over $1000 before alterations. Check out the first post in this series, dresses under $1000.

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Mrs. Meatball’s Dress

Dress: #CBD from Deborah Lindquist
Cost + Alterations: $1500, no alterations

“I worked out a trade with Deborah, doing PT invoicing and fabric cutting at her studio, in exchange for a deep discount on the dress. It was still way out of our budget, but I loved it so much more than other dresses I’d tried on, and the green aspect made my heart really happy. I figure if I don’t strike it rich in the next few months, I can (painfully) sell it.

The dress was eco-friendly and locally made to measure. The top is a bustier covered in vintage lace (from a tablecloth) and accented with mother of pearl. The sash is peace-silk organza, and the skirt is organic linen.

Note: Deb was totally amazing - she offered to come be my dresser on the day of, which included dress delivery, steaming, fluffing, etc. She even cut off 2″ in the bathroom of the reception because it was too long after I lost all that weight. I felt like a rock star.”

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Ms. Cowboy Boot’s Dress

Dress: Christos Julianna from Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills
Cost + Alterations: $3,335

“Original cost for this dress was actually $3650, but here are a few secrets on how to save your pennies:

1. Open a Saks account. You save 10% on your purchase.
2. Put in a deposit that leaves your balance over $3,000. Ask your salesperson when their next EKG sale is (I don’t know what that stands for). Whenever it is, ask that your charge be put through on that day. If you charge over $3,000 you get a gift card for $450.
3. Use that gift card towards free alterations. At Saks, alterations are $450 exactly, regardless of how little or how much you need done.
4. Buy out of state and have them deliver it to the Saks nearest your wedding. You spend $50 on delivery, but can pick it up days before your wedding so you don’t have to store it. You save by not paying any tax (nearly 10% in California). “

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Mrs. Cherry Pie’s Dress:

Style: Pronovias Diamante from La Belle Elaine’s Bridal
Cost + Alterations: $1,500 + $400 ($1,900)

“It took me a long time and many visits to many different stores to find my dress. I found a lot of things along the way that were ALMOST good enough, but not quite– not quite timeless enough, not quite high enough quality, not quite affordable enough, not quite simple enough. I was getting quite fed up, but decided to take one last trip to La Belle Elaine’s for a final appointment. That time, I did something rather unconventional– I brought along Mr. CP and only Mr. CP. He didn’t want to see me in ANY dresses, but I needed his help to scour the rack for potential choices.

Wouldn’t ya know it, he was the one to pick my dress! It was the first one I tried on that day and I knew I had finally found something I would be happy to wear on my wedding day and happy to remember forever. What a relief.

The dress was both everything I was looking for and a lot of things I wasn’t expecting. It was simple, elegant, and classic. Even better, it was a lightweight, natural, raw silk with beautiful ruching. But unlike the other dresses I tried, this dress had straps! And a button-back over a zipper, not corset lacing like other gowns I’d been ogling.

It was raw silk, made by Pronovias of Barcelona, and an affordable price for a designer gown. Also, it was comfortable, simple, and stylish. Perfect!”

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Miss Apple Cider’s Dress

Style: Custom Dress by Michele Nassaney (designer based in NC)
Cost + Alterations: $1,500 (including alterations and custom fittings)

“I am going through the entire design process with Michele. The style will be custom. Sorry, no pics yet! The dress will be strapless with a high trumpet skirt. The process has been flawless. Michele is a dream to work with and her creativity seeps into her fittings and design. Custom dresses aren’t out of the question if you have a budget less than $2,000.”

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Mrs. Tiramisu’s Dress

Dress: Paloma Blanca #3802 in Natural
Cost + Alterations: $1440 + $230 ($1670)

“$1440 at The Wedding Touch in Frazer, PA - (the same boutique where Mrs. Cupcake found her dress!) I purchased the sample and saved 15% on my dress. The normal discount for purchasing a sample is 20%, but since I was only the second person to try on my dress, they would only discount it 15%.

I purchased my dress 11 months before my wedding and it was only the third dress I ever tried on! I loved how lightweight and un-cumbersome it felt and knew it would be perfect for our mid-summer wedding. I also fell in love right away with the Alencon lace that topped the gown, and the sweetheart neckline. The style of the dress is a sweetheart neckline, strapless, fitted bodice with a drop waist and skirt with slight pick-ups!

The alterations involved taking the dress in on top, a hem, and a simple gathered bustle (which, as bustles are wont to do, broke!).”

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Mrs. Cookie’s Dress

Dress: Marisa #734 from Anna Be, Denver
Cost + Alterations: $2,200

“I am a curvy girl, and I wanted a dress to show off my curves. I was going for a modern, old Hollywood style — simple, yet very elegant. I decided on a Marisa gown. It was a V-neck, silk dress with a mermaid skirt and the middle was cut on the bias. I felt very sexy in my dress. Since I have pale skin, I went with an ivory color.”

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Mrs. Penguin’s Dress

Dress: Jim Hjelm #JH8657
Cost + Alterations: $2100 + $300 ($2400)

“I purchased my dress from a large, warehouse style boutique. Alteration costs included bottom hem, bustle, a bra (from the alterations shop) and sewing it permanently in the dress. I chose this dress because I really liked the rouching at the bust, and the modified sweetheart neckline… the two details that were the common denominator in all my inspiration pictures. I was willing to spend a maximum of $4K on a dress, but in retrospect, wish I had shopped more than one day!”

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Mrs. Hot Cocoa’s Dress

Dress: Monique Lhuillier ‘Mona Lisa’ from Dream Bridal LA
Cost + Alterations: Less than $2000 + $400 at Alterations by Anahit in Watertown, MA ($~2400)

“My dress was a sample from Dream Bridal LA. After some serious web browsing (follow my journey here), I fell in love with both this dress and a Badgley Mischka sample dress from Your Dream Dress. Both stores have a helpful return policy, under which they will send you the dress and give you 24 hours to evaluate it (and to bring it to a seamstress for an assessment). I purchased both dresses, tried them on in the comfort of my own home, and decided to keep the much much more comfortable Monique Lhuillier. To this day, I still can’t believe what a sweet deal I got!”

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Mrs. Eggplant’s Dress

Dress: Ines di Santo from Alexandra Bridal Salon, San Francisco
Cost + Alterations: $3600 (after tax and 10% off) + $380 alterations by Lucy’s Alterations & Dress Making in San Bruno ($3980)

“I found this dress during my second day dress shopping and fell in love with it. The dress was pure, thick silk and felt like butterflies on my skin wearing it. I happened to visit the store two days before an Ines di Santo trunk show, so I told the sales consultants that I would be back to purchase the dress. They offered to throw in a free veil ($350) plus the 10% trunk show discount if I purchased that day instead of waiting two days because it was the last day of the month and they wanted to hit their sales numbers before closing their books. The alterations were pricey because I needed to take the bust-line up and it was complicated with the ruching and beading across the top.”

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Mrs. Gummi Bear’s Dress

Dress: Monique Lhuillier Scarlett
Cost + Alterations: $4511 + $350 ($4861)

“Hated the place I got the dress, so I won’t give out the name… I wouldn’t want people to go there, nor do I have the guts to openly trash anyone by name.

Loved the dress - it was comfortable and fit well. Alterations were great considering I had to have it altered heavily to fit me! It’s not very fitted, so it’s definitely for the kind of person who doesn’t mind just being all out there and risking exposure.”

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Mrs. Avocado’s Dress

Dress: Watters 9055b from A Bride Beautiful
Cost + Alterations: $1200 + $320 ($1520)

“I tried the dress on in Dallas but only planned on ordering through A Bride Beautiful in Salt Lake City because of the amazing job they do building sleeves onto dresses. They did the alterations, including building on addition sleeves, raising the neckline, adding cap sleeves under the pleated sleeves, and shortening and bustling the dress, in three fittings over a period of a few days.”

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Mrs. Peep Toe’s Dress

Dress: Amy Kuschel’s Kendra
Cost + Alterations: $2700, alterations included. I got $150 off by purchasing it at my second fitting, but I added a strap that cost $120.

Source

“My dress was totally not what I thought I would end up with, but seriously, I had a gazillion comments on the day about how gorgeous I looked. It really did help me glow on the big day.

Being a ‘larger’ curvy girl. I was really worried about finding something that fit me and that I was comfortable with. The last thing I wanted was a strapless dress. The dress I ended up with was strapless - but we added a small halter strap. At Amy’s the alterations were included - which sold me on the dress. The entire experience was amazing. I got to meet Amy at my last fitting, and each fitting was with one of the designers and Lilly (the women who actually sewed my dress). The store itself is a beautiful 5th floor loft, and they actually sew and design the dresses on the sixth floor. I’d HIGHLY recommend Amy Kushcel’s simple, modern and fairly reasonably priced dresses. Dress design: Duchess silk satin, trumpet, sweetheart neck.

I am going to wait to post a picture of me in the actual dress, since I haven’t posted any wedding pics.”

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Mrs. Butterfly’s Dress

Dress: Casablanca from MyrJan Bridal
Cost + Alterations: $1,750 (including alterations)

“I absolutely loved my wedding dress. The alterations were done by Fancy Cleaners (check the Tuesdays “Sales” blogs for a discount!). Everything about the dress was perfect! The veil was from MyrJan and the tailor altered it because I didn’t like the original length too much. MyrJan Bridal was good to deal with as a vendor.”

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Mrs. Kiwi’s Dress

Dress: Unconfirmed
Cost + Alterations: $1,253.00

“My very wonderful and kind mother in law paid for my alterations. Had she not, I’m sure my dress and expenses would have been a LOT more expensive. As it was, my dress with tax was $1,253.00. Way more than I wanted to spend. Perhaps that’s the reason I didn’t like my dress so much?”

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Mrs. Corn’s Dress

Dress: Alfred Angelo
Cost + Alterations: $1000 + $120 (1,120)

“As you may recall I had some reservations since I hadn’t seen the dress in so long. I can assure you any reservations I had were blown away the first time I saw it hanging there.”

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Mrs. Bee’s Dress

Dress: Anne Barge ‘Pamela’ from Mark Ingram Bridal Atelier
Cost + Alterations: $3977.73 (plus tax and shipping) + $400 ($4377.73)

“I purchased my dress at an Anne Barge trunk show at Mark Ingram’s Bridal Atelier, where I got to meet the lovely Anne herself! I fell in love with this A-line, strapless, slight sweetheart neckline dress because of the gorgeous beading all along the train. Before trying this dress on, I thought I wasn’t a beading type of gal, but I was definitely proved wrong!

I had initially planned on spending much less on a dress, and if I had to do it again, I never would have tried on dresses beyond the budget I originally envisioned. It’s just too easy to fall in love. “