Reasonable Price for a Bridesmaid Dress?

[jnale]

What is a reasonable price to ask your bridesmaids to pay for a dress?

I've been looking at dresses online and I'm trying to find dresses that aren't too expensive so my bridesmaids won't have to come out of pocket too much, but the one I really like is $175. Is this too much to ask?

 

[orangetiggs]

I so wish I was based in the states, I have to pay for all my bm dresses. They are like $300 here for a basic one!!! so i dont think $175 is too much at all

 

[jnale]

I so wish I was based in the states, I have to pay for all my bm dresses. They are like $300 here for a basic one!!! so i dont think $175 is too much at all

$300!!!! Good Gracious, for that price they better have some diamonds or bling on there somewhere!

Are you paying for their dresses as a gift or is that custom for you?

How many dresses do you have to buy?

 

[tomthebarncat]

When I got married the first time, I had a big wedding (dog and pony show). I let my bridesmaids pick out dresses of their own choosing but I retained first right to say this will not work. We also got all our dresses from the evening wear department at Neiman Marcus. The sales lady was great and they have alot of stuff in white and cream. They also stored the dresses, steamed them and delivered them to my home for no charge. This was at the NM in Bethesda, Md. So you may want to think/shop outside the typical bridal shops and look at some of the dept stores and little boutiques. If you go with an small boutique you may be able to negiotate a discount for multiple purchases. I really did not want my BM's to spend money on dresses that they would not ever wear again. I am much to practical for that.

 

[orangetiggs]

I think its custom over here to pay for them, I'm ordering them from shop for bridal as they are only $142 on there so half the price i would pay here!

 

[jnale]

When I got married the first time, I had a big wedding (dog and pony show). I let my bridesmaids pick out dresses of their own choosing but I retained first right to say this will not work. We also got all our dresses from the evening wear department at Neiman Marcus. The sales lady was great and they have alot of stuff in white and cream. They also stored the dresses, steamed them and delivered them to my home for no charge. This was at the NM in Bethesda, Md. So you may want to think/shop outside the typical bridal shops and look at some of the dept stores and little boutiques. If you go with an small boutique you may be able to negiotate a discount for multiple purchases. I really did not want my BM's to spend money on dresses that they would not ever wear again. I am much to practical for that.

Thanks for the suggestion...I live in Maryland so I may have to check that NM out. Yeah I agree - I don't want to force my bridesmaids to spend too much money on a dress they'll probably never wear again.

 

[jnale]

I think its custom over here to pay for them, I'm ordering them from shop for bridal as they are only $142 on there so half the price i would pay here!

That sounds better!!

 

[StitchBride]

My bridesmaids paid $132 for the dresses (which were more expensive than the one I picked out that was cheaper but they didn't like) and they picked out their own shoes (or I loaned out some of mine, lol) I was in a wedding in June that was $200 which to me seemed pricey for a short dress but nobody complained. The bride did pay for the shoes since she wanted us all to match. But we were able to sell the dresses on ebay afterwards for 1/2 our cost so it wasn't too bad. (which is a great place to look, but its a little harder if you have a bunch of bridesmaids)

 

[JandJ]

I was MOH in a wedding last year and the dresses were short and not at all "bridesmaid-y" and they were $130. I wore it to DH's holiday work party and no one could believe it was BM dress. For my wedding my niece was MOH and I got her dress for her, which was $170 and had less details than my $130 dress! But, again it was short and not "bridesmaid-y" and she wore it for Homecoming so she got use out of it. I think if it can honestly be worn again girls don't mind paying so much, at least I didn't!

I think $130 and up prices aren't that awful for BM dresses - I saw two super cute dresses in a Macy's ad this weekend, just normal dresses, and they were $134 and $168 So, $175 for a BM dress isn't too crazy!

 

[helloirishkitty]

The bridesmaids dresses I picked out for my girls were $260 in the store, but $180 online. I was thrilled to find them for cheaper and so were they! I would never make them pay the $260.

 

[tlhbdm]

The BM dresses for my wedding were $125 but that was with the 10% discount they got because I had five BM.

 

[Desnik]

My sister was just married Dec. 29th and I was her MOH. This was my dress and my younger sister also wore the same dress:
http://www.davidsbridal.com/bridesmaids_bycolor_detail.jsp?stid=2805&sid=12931&cfid=7
(it was just 3 girls, this was my sisters 2nd wedding)It's a cute dress and it had a bow in the back. I know I can probably use it again and I thought it was a good price. Don't forget your BM's will have to also buy shoes, earings, bracelet, necklace, purse. My shoes and purse cost $60 and then we wore black gloves up to our elbow which were $25. I probably spent around $250 for the total look. I would try to keep the cost down because it isn't the only expense they will have. I think between $125-$175 is reasonable, especially if they can use it again.

 

[girli565]

Try Ebay they have a huge amount of dresses.