Bridesmaid Dress VENT

FaithRocks · January 2012

I just had to get this off my chest - anyone else out there HATE to spend hundreds of dollars on bridesmaids dresses? My sister in law is getting married. Her bridesmaids dress is going to be $300!!!!! I wrote her an email saying that it was too expensive and she wrote me this long email about how it IS reasonable. OMG. I can't believe it. I realize that these dresses are expensive but WOW.

Not to mention that DH and our kids are also in this wedding. So BM dress and 3 tuxes. And that's without considering throwing showers, gifts, transportation, hotel, etc.

Weddings = yikes.

Yellow_Daisy · January 2012

That is SO expensive! When I got married I purposefully found a BM dress I could get at a good price that I also really liked so that my bridesmaids weren't out so much money. My BM dresses only cost $65 through a discount store and normally ran closer to $200 through a bridal store.

AvaLikeLava · January 2012

Well, I'm sure they're reasonably priced in comparison to the ones that cost $700

I told my girls they would spend at most $100 on their attire, and I paid for anything over. Luckily for me, their gowns were $130 and there were only 3 of them.

LakeGenevaBride · January 2012

Yowsers. $300 is expensive. Although I have to say that I picked out this ridiculously expensive flower girl dress and thought nothing of asking my SIL to spend $150 on a dress for her 5 year old (and this was 8 years ago). I feel terrible about it now but at the time I had no concept of kids and money.

marcuej · January 2012

I'm sorry but $300 is absolutely ridiculous! There is NO way in hell I would (or could) fork over that kind of money. I think it's rude of her to expect you to do that. If she wants those dresses...fine...she should pay!

Any chance she will reconsider or help you pay? How many bridesmaids does she have?

PrincessShay80 · January 2012

I hate spending that much money on a dress I will never wear again, as much as brides always say you can wear them again, you can't! That totally stinks!

When I got married I was determined to have a dress that everyone could wear again- I chose a black tea lenght cocktail dress from Nordstrom- my friend got them for us and used her employee discount- they ended up being around $89 for everyone, and they all loved them, and have worn them again!

krissyh21 · January 2012

I fear my sister is going to go this route. She was having me check out super expensive designer sites of dresses she likes. I keep saying "have you looked at David's Bridal". Ugh. Weddings are nuts. And lets face it - how many BM dresses can be worn more than once!

Kiki11 · January 2012

Yeah, my sister-in-law, who I adore, picked out a $348 bridesmaid dress. Add in shoes, a shower, a shower gift, a wedding gift... it was unbelievable. And then we had my husband's tux, too. My little guy's ring bearer outfit was a gift, but we ended up spending close to $1,000 for their wedding. And they wondered why we couldn't participate in the bachelor weekend in Vegas or the bachelorette weekend in Miami?

mybobble · January 2012

Ouch! I wouldn't want to spend that either especially since your dh and 2 kids are also in the wedding.

Is there any way you can tell her that you just can't afford that dress and see if she'd be willing to help you pay? Or see if you can pay her "here and there" and see what she does.

Whatever happened to semi affordable dresses?

leslie&brian · January 2012

That is so unreasonable and inconsiderate. The bridesmaids dresses for my wedding came from Davids Bridal..I picked the color, and let the girls pick out whichever style they wanted. I had 4 BM's and they all picked a different dress.

PhillySue · January 2012

I have been in 6 weddings and yes 300 dollars is a lot!! That is way to much money to ask friends and family to spend in my opinion. I am generally a very easy going bridesmaid who goes along with what the bride wants but I would be annoyed especially considering the whole family is in the wedding. I hope she changes her mind.

Dragonfly1226 · January 2012

IMO $300 is totally too much!!! Honestly, if I was asking my brother's whole family to be in my wedding I would help pay for some of the clothing and tell them that the is no way they should get me a gift.

LIAngel · January 2012

$300?! Is she on drugs???? No way would I pay that for a bridesmaid dress.

perry7285 · January 2012

that is a lot . . . that's kind of inconsiderate of her to expect you guys to spend that much. when i looked at bridesmaid's dresses for my wedding i didn't consider anything over $150.

Jenny952 · January 2012

Agree, $300 is a lot to pay. I think $100-150 is much more reasonable. Since your whole family is in the wedding, it's going to add up. I'm not sure what else you can do with your SIL since she's not willing to reconsider. I would just let her know that you won't be able to do the bachelorette party and scale back on shower and weddig gifts (if you do anything). I'm sorry she's being rigid on this.

Depending on what color the dress is, could you buy it from a discount place? I know it's not recommended b/c of dye lots, but it might be something for you to look into.

gringa78 · January 2012

That's just crazy. Waaaay too much.

When we got married, DH didn't want to wear a tux, so we bought suits for his brothers who were his groomsman. It was our decision not to go the inexpensive route, but we owned it and paid for it to be the way we wanted it to be. I can't imagine expecting someone else to foot the bill to suit my fashion needs.

srmmm09 · January 2012

Girlfriend, don't get her any presents! Your presence is your gift. Wink

If she's rude enough to bring it up, let her know you spent a ton of $ on her wedding.

LVBlvd · January 2012

I would never ask my friends and family to pay that. That is insane.

soccerwife · January 2012

Is it a specific designer or just a "regular" make of dress?

I have to be honest - when I first saw the price, I didn't think $300 was outrageous. High, yes, but not insane. After reading the responses and the fact that your entire family needs wedding attire, I looked up some random bridesmaid dresses, some designer, some not and I have to say, I now agree. There is no NEED to choose $300 bridesmaid dresses! There are hundreds of gorgeous dresses available, most of which are under $200.

FaithRocks · January 2012

marcuej:
I'm sorry but $300 is absolutely ridiculous! There is NO way in hell I would (or could) fork over that kind of money. I think it's rude of her to expect you to do that. If she wants those dresses...fine...she should pay!
Any chance she will reconsider or help you pay? How many bridesmaids does she have?

Nope she is expecting us all to pay. PLUS we have to get a bolero because the church requires us all to cover our shoulders. And shoes. And like I mentioned, 3 tuxes. And a bachelorette party AND gifts. OMG.

PLUS my husband makes a resident salary which is NOT enough to pay over $1000 for this wedding.

Oh and she has 10 bridesmaids.

marcuej · January 2012

FaithRocks:
marcuej:
I'm sorry but $300 is absolutely ridiculous! There is NO way in hell I would (or could) fork over that kind of money. I think it's rude of her to expect you to do that. If she wants those dresses...fine...she should pay!
Any chance she will reconsider or help you pay? How many bridesmaids does she have?
Nope she is expecting us all to pay. PLUS we have to get a bolero because the church requires us all to cover our shoulders. And shoes. And like I mentioned, 3 tuxes. And a bachelorette party AND gifts. OMG.
PLUS my husband makes a resident salary which is NOT enough to pay over $1000 for this wedding.
Oh and she has 10 bridesmaids.

I think she may be crazy! Big Smile There is no way on god's green earth I would shell out $1000 for someone else's wedding. That is just not in the budget at ALL! I think you just need to let her know you are honored she asked but will have to gracefully bow out because you cannot afford it. Maybe she'll have a change of heart and offer to help pay. You are family after all!

njohnson1972 · January 2012

That's why I had a very small wedding with no attendants. No one likes spending the money or the dress. It was also my 2nd wedding and my priorities were very different.

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