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I found the dress!!!

MissVMrsBMissVMrsB Posts: 147
in The wedding budget
I went dress shopping with my mum and found the most amazing dress. I wanted something that made me bounce. Budget was set at ??1000, which is not exactly teeny! However... I wanted sleeves, for sure. And lace. And it needed to make me look teeny wee. Now I tried on heaps of GORGEOUS dresses, but none of them made me bounce. And then. After my mother twisted my arm, I tried on pronovias 'ucari'. It wasn't love at first sight as I hated the sash. But the lady changed that to a sash from a Maggie Sottero, grossgrain ribbon in Parisian Mist. And boom. That was it. I was in love, damn my mother! With a ??1,700 dress - argh! So. What to do? I can probably find ??700 between now and the wedding as long as I literally have NO LIFE, and live on beans. But is ??1,700 a ridiculous amount to spend when the total budget is ??11,000? Does anyone have experience of negotiating the price of their dress? I literally love this dress so much, and with the lilac ribbon it's just stunning.

Posts

  • Claire-Bride-2-BeClaire-Bride-2-Be Posts: 115
    Hi congrats on finding the one image can you not ring a few stockists of the dress you like now you know which one and try and find a sample for sale? My dress shop offered me a sample of one I tried on at ??800 off the ??2000 price tag but it wasn't for me,I still managed to get ??100 and half price alterations on the dress I did buy (which was ??1150) so its worth asking if they can cut you a deal.



    I would definitely look for pre-loved or sample dress,you can make a huge saving and they are usually in really good

    Condition,the sample I tried on was flawless.



    Good luck image
  • LivelifeloveLivelifelove Posts: 1,024 New bride
    Can you get a sample? Or try preloved?
  • MissVMrsBMissVMrsB Posts: 147
    I've tried them and rock my wedding, I've got alerts set up for every website and have subscribed to pronovias in case they have a sample sale. But the dress is in the brand new collection! Typical MissV! Always have the best intentions, even h2b said when I got back from dress shopping "bet you fell in love with the one you can't have". Damn that man knows me too well!
  • Jennie108Jennie108 Posts: 283
    Mine is ??1500 which was a lot more than I budgeted for but I completely fell in love with it.

    The more I see it, the more I love it which makes realise I've made the right choice.

    It was a new 2013 dress and didn't have much room to negotiate but I got a little off it (should have been just under ??1700).

    I found the dress in October and the shop had the designers sample in for 4 days before they had to send it off to the next store.

    They only got their actually sample in last month so I knew there was no way I could that either.

    Def worth seeing if you can get a sample or preloved though! Or just keep negotiating! image
  • Alien girlAlien girl Posts: 136
    Don't know if this any help but I only found this shop after I bought my dress. It's is in newcastle upon Tyne area but might be worth giving them a call





    http://www.bridalwish.co.uk/offers.html
  • MondayBride2014MondayBride2014 Posts: 1,134
    My dress was up for up for 1500 in the shop, I found all the stockists in my county and rang round for them to give me a price on my dress. Even if they dont have a sample as long as they stock the designer they will be able to give you a price, some of them could give me it there and then and some rang back after a few hours. most said if I found it cheaper to call back, I then went back to the shop I wanted to buy from told them the lowest price and they match it and reduced it by 10% too (I was really impressed by the customer service in that particular shop and the woman was lovely!) they also have me ??50 off my alteration costs too! They did interest free finance too which I took then up on (if its interest free why not!) so we made 200 deposit and its 60 a month which I won't even notice as its a direct debit! Just shows that 20 mins ringing around saved me 500! Definately sign up to the bridal shops offers too as they may have designer days where they do 10% discount or in quieter months even 20%! Haggle all the way to get the dress of your dreams! image good luck!! X
  • TeachersPetTeachersPet Posts: 1,009
    To be completly honest and trust me as I fell in love with amsuzanne Neville at ??3500 for ??1700 I would save the extra pennies! It took me another 6 months to find a dress that rivalled the original but I probably spent alot on travel and time looking for it! You can defo haggle a bit. I'm a firm believer if its the dress then it's THE DRESS. Just googles it and its stunning! Go for it, it's your big day and you don't want to be thinking what if over ??700!
  • :D:D Posts: 1,805

    I would weigh up what I would be willing to cut for the dress. If you feel really strongly about it I can't help but think you have to go for it, although hagling and looking for samples is sensible. You might choose to have cheaper shoes, scrap the sweetie table... and save image

  • Malb2b13Malb2b13 Posts: 679

    how long have you got till th wedding? if you had 12 months that would be less than £60 a month, thats not loads, would you be able to adjust and find £60 a month? its def worth looking out for preloved but if it is a new design you might be a bit early for them comming up second hand. def try to haggle with the store as as someone else said see if you can get a better deal elsewhere too. good luck! x

  • PinkandPearlsPinkandPearls Posts: 975
    I would go for it. I went ??600 over budget on my dress but found anything in my top 3 was over budget! I decided it was worth finding the extra cash for, I looked at photos of me in the ones in budget and although I knew they were lovely, the excitement on my face in the ones I LOVED was totally different.



    Definitely shop around. I didn't actually get a discount from my dress shop, because they gave me a price of 1310,everyone else was charging 1500-1600 for the same dress so they'd already given me their very best price, and I felt comfortable knowing I'd got a good price and also amazing service from a very lovely lady
  • hodgy-podgyhodgy-podgy Posts: 257
    Was this your first time shopping? If so keep shopping as there may be others that you just haven't found yet. Then you'll really know if this is the dress and you'll make sacrifices to afford it!
  • giddy-kippergiddy-kipper Posts: 521
    I personally don't think that it's too much to spend on a dress...and if its the dress..



    You've had some good advise from the other girls on here. I think it's worth shopping around and trying to cut a deal.



    My mum had mentioned the max budget to the lady in dress shop, and my dress was only a little over that, but the vail was another couple of hundred...so the lady very kindly gave me a pair of shoes, which were selling for ??80 and perfect height.



    You maybe able to get a free veil or tiara etc if you make the shop aware that you are way over your budget.
  • sammy brown(maybecousens)sammy brown(maybecousens) Posts: 36

    i think you should go for it MissVMrsB2014!! i agree with the gals advising you to cut down other costs to make it happen. i think your dress is just one of those things you can't and shouldn't compromise on. you have to look and feel amazing - lose the bits and bobs you simply don't need and save some ££. My dress was well over my budget (ended up being £1975) but it is PERFECT and i don;t want to wear anything else. we are scaling back on the silly extras that no-one will notice anyway..

    BUY IT!!!!!!

    x

  • MissVMrsBMissVMrsB Posts: 147

    Thanks for the advice ladies!  Im up in Aberdeen this weekend sorting my venue, so me and two of the BMs went to bridal shop up here that also stocks the dress.  Well.  They fell in love with it too.  Thin shop reduced the price by £250 for me so I did it - I BOUGHT MY DRESS!!!  Woohoo, I'm sooooo happy!!!

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