Wedding Dress Shopping Chicagoland

[purplebelle]

Hi:

I'm getting married next summer and I'm about to start dress shopping.

I'd like to start at low-end stores and work my way up, if necessary. I'm guessing David's Bridal is lower end, then maybe House of Brides... Correct me if I'm wrong.

Would be WONDERFUL to get a dress under $500, but I'm not sure if I'm being completely unreasonable here. My sister spent $1500 on her dress, and she looked beautiful, but the bustle broke and the dress now hangs in a closet forever taking up lots of space. My friend was married 2 years ago and got a dress at a David's Bridal massive sale (in October?) for $100 that was originally worth $650. Does anyone know well about this sale? I'm hoping to catch if it's an annual sale.

I can look in the city, NW Suburbs (Schaumburg), SW 'burbs (Naperville), and pretty much anything within that vicity. Pretty open area. Any suggestions?

 

[disneygal922]

HI! I can't really help with the west 'burbs b/c i live out in Tinley BUT i will say, I got my dress at David's for $349. I love my dress and was very happy with the service at the David's in Orland Park. Also, David's does have their annual $99 dress sale. I think there is a sale in the fall and one in the spring, kind of like an end of season type sale I think. I would definitely look there if there is one in your neck of the woods! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[CharacterFan]

I got my dress at David's Bridal for $300 during their $99 sale (dresses that are $199 are $99 dresses $299-$499 are $50 off and it scales up from there) They did have a few extra dresses that were $99 mostly dresses that were ordered, but never picked up. Samples that were torn, dirty, and sold as-is.

I love my dress. I wasn't so thrilled with my experiance at David's Bridal. I went to 2 different locations and had a total of 4 consultants. 1 I loved but she didn't really help me since I had already picked out my dress. Although, I'm glad I checked the order size before I ordered my dress. It would have been too small. I had two terrible consultants and 1 okay one. (I requested new ones after the really bad ones)

 

[pezaddict231]

First off, Congrats!

I used to work at David's Bridal when I was in college, and they call it an annual sale but it's always held over and really seemed to be going on all the time. I worked there from probably May through November and it really seemed like it was always going on. The discount depends on the price of the dress, and there are very few $99 dresses. These are mostly the informal dresses that would normally be around $200, or dresses that for some reason are being discontinued or the store is getting rid of. That's not to say you won't get lucky and find one, my best friend got her dress for $99 and it was very pretty. Every dress is onsale though, so you will definitely get money off the original price.

You don't have to spend a ton on a dress if you don't want. Plenty of girls here have bought dresses on ebay and things like that. I can definitely understand not wanting to spend $1,500 on a dress, although the bustle breaking on your sister's dress has nothing to do with the actual dress, it's with the alterations department and how they did the bustle. If it was just a regular bustle it may have only been held up in one place, now all that fabric hanging on a button or two is bound to give you problems. You are better off with a french bustle, although more expensive, the weight is more evenly distributed.

You could also try some smaller bridal shops as well and just be honest about your budget. Once you find a particular dress, call around and ask for prices, be sure to figure in alterations caps and that sort of thing. I saved $100 on my dress because I knew another shop had it cheaper.

 

[PrincessShea]

I got my dress from House of Brides in Schaumburg. I liked it because they have all the dresses divided up by price. I too wanted to find a dress under $500 but honestly, it's pretty unrealistic. My dress was like $850 and after tax and stuff it was pretty close to $1000, and that doesn't include alterations (flat rate of $275. It's higher if the beading is more elaborate).

I think $1000 is a more realistic low end number. Unless of course you are looking for something uber-simple. I do remember seeing a few $500-600 dresses there though. You just have to remember to factor in tax, because it adds A LOT.

The only bad thing is that they rip out all the tags and stuff so you have no idea what designer/model you are looking at so its hard to just try on and then buy online.

I did go to some "boutique" places on the NW side of the city and didn't care for it. It's like "Say yes to the dress" where they have a person bringing dresses to you. It was frustrating because I just wanted to look through them myself, you know? They didn't have a lot of cheap dresses either.

I never knew about the Demetrios store in Shops of Woodfield until a couple weeks ago, so maybe that is a place to try. I don't know much about their prices though. I know people who've had good experiences in the bridal shop at Macy's also.

 

[crista]

When I was looking for my dress I knew I wanted to look just like a Disney Princess. There is a store out by Midway Airport in Chicago called "Peaches". Most girls go there for prom dresses, but for me I knew this was where I was going to find my wedding dress. I did and it was perfect. Definantly different that the average wedding store, but very sparkley.

 

[aduck126]

I got my dress from the David Bridal in Vernon Hills for only 200.00 during their 99.00 dress sale. The sales people were really nice and friendly there. It is also so much less crowded than shaumburg too, i went on a saturday night and I was the only bride in the store.

 

[PrincessShea]

When I was looking for my dress I knew I wanted to look just like a Disney Princess. There is a store out by Midway Airport in Chicago called "Peaches". Most girls go there for prom dresses, but for me I knew this was where I was going to find my wedding dress. I did and it was perfect. Definantly different that the average wedding store, but very sparkley.

hahaha oh man I live and teach on the NW side of the city and a lot of girls at my school mentioned this place for prom. I could not believe it when they talked about their $500 prom dresses but now I am even more shocked they went all the way to the southside for them.

Another suggestion OP, in Woodfield, there is a store called Total Wedding. The people who work there are stalkerish and kind of crazy, but I tried on some nice dresses there that were inexpensive.

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

i was VERY happy with Evas Bridal on Harlem Ave

 

[BELLE16127]

My daughter got her dress ar Alfred Angelo, and it is beautiful. It is a dress that is not on their US part of the web site but it is on the site in the UK. I guess some of the stores got the dress and could sell it.

Check their web site and find a store and go look there they had tons of beautiful dresses!!

 

[purplebelle]

Thanks everyone! I will check them out.

 

[purplebelle]

i was VERY happy with Evas Bridal on Harlem Ave

I know exactly where that is and will check it out.

 

[chitown_disneylovers]

There's a wedding dress resale shop in downtown called White Chicago

http://www.whitechicago.com/


My friend bought her wedding dress from them. I know you can buy dresses that have been worn before so you can get them cheaper. They also buy dresses back so you can recoup some of the money spent. Their alterations were kind of pricey though..........

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding!