Where did you buy your wedding dress?

Fred Leighton’s in Greenwich Village. It was a rough cotton, cream colored, crewel embroidered dress from Mexico. Very simple, long and A-line and perfect for my small, hippie-ish wedding. Shopped for it with my mother who enjoyed telling people that I had gone off to
England to my fiance’s with no wedding date but a wedding dress in my suitcase.

I had mine made for me.

I didn’t even know I did, let alone the fact that I’m a man.

Sanger-Harris.

I had mine made for me. If I could do it over… I wouldn’t have gotten married then, but waited until I was healthier and thinner and could have walked down the ‘aisle’ (in my case it was a set of stairs.) in a dress I felt good in.

Online. I don’t remember where specifically, only that I paid $32 including shipping. It was simple and pretty with an empire waist and a little bit of lace detail. The only downside was that it was a bit short when it arrived, but that was an easy fix. The upside was that I got a dress that I still love to this day for an incredible bargain.

I fashioned mine out of toilet paper and duct tape.

I don’t remember where I got it. Is that awful? I got a dress that I could use afterward for dressy occasions and was pleased with my practicality. It had a short lace jacket to wear over the top for the wedding. Underneath was a sleeveless scoop neck dress.

mine was made by an old woman in a spidery shed. It was edwardian with leg of mutton sleeves, of eggshell coloured raw silk.It had a row of tiny buttons down the back and a large sash tie. I wore it with a dolled up straw boater and old fashioned shoes. I wish I still had it

1st marriage: Excellent seamstress MIL made me a replica of a Bianchi gown I’d seen in some magazine.

2nd marriage: A designer from India is making mine from scratch but with her own and my designs/embellishments.

Both times are just as I’d have it meaning I get the shape of dress I want but custom fabricated from the get-go to my measurements, my fabric choices, color choices, everything and for a fraction of the cost of a rack dress that only gets a few tailoring tweaks.

I bought mine from a place here in Texas called Bride’s Mart. I had my mother, my future mother-in-law, and my future sister-in-law with me. My sister-in-law actually found the dress. I hated it on the hanger but agreed to try it on to please her. It was the 5th dress I tried on and we all sighed “this one”. Here’s the full dress with a closeup of the bodice.

My first wedding dress was custom-made from scratch by this Russian designer here in Brooklyn and it cost around $3300. My second wedding dress was sewn by my aunt and cost $100.

I walked into a Jessica McClintock shop and bought, off the rack, a strapless floor-length gown that was a blush/champagne silk under dress with a sort of ivory lace overlay – strapless. It might have been intended to be a prom dress (it was certainly priced prom-dress range as opposed to bridal) – but it was perfect for my outdoor destination wedding. I think I remember it costing around $300 – and it fit perfectly. (This was back in 2000.)

What did it look like?
The closest thing I can find to a picture of my dress is this one.
The blush color and ivory lace overlay look just like mine – but my dress was longer (it was floor length) and strapless.

What was the best thing that you did when you were shopping?
I didn’t take ANYONE with me when I finally went to buy.
I had already gone to a few traditional shops with my mom and a couple of girl friends (the traditional “dress shopping” outing… <sigh> I’d hated going to my sisters and I felt just as uncomfortable at my own…).
I’d already looked through bridal magazines. I knew using a bridal shop would jack the price up..and since I didn’t want a truly traditional white bridal dress…I realized I was better off finding something at a non-Bridal dress store.
I looked online first—found what I wanted and bought it off the rack. It was tactical: find-try-on and buy, all done in 25 minutes or less. I chose this path after watching my sister get a couture Vera Wang which required 6+ fittings and over $4,000 in alterations. (Not to mention the $8,000 price tag!).
My bridesmaid dress purchased for being in her wedding as her maid of honor cost more than twice what my wedding dress cost. (Yes, she made 12 bridesmaids spend $800 each on a green dress that at least I never wore again. I’m sure the bridal shop loved her, but it was a financial hardship for me and the rest of the girls – no doubt.)

The worst? Nothing bad about my dress at all. Love it – have it stored in case my daughters ever want to see/use/wear it.

If you did it again, what would you do differently?
Not a thing. Our wedding was beautiful, my dress and veil were beautiful – and I’ve lent it out the veil to two dear friends since then, too.

It was 20 years ago, and I bought it from the Fredricks of Hollywood Catalog.
It was white and lacy with a hanky hem, and no, the neck was not even that low. (it was under $100 too. )

My father to,d me about Mori Lee dresses that have a reputation for being well made and less expensive than the competitors. I looked up where they were sold near me, and I wound up buying my dress there, and it is a Mori Lee.

To back up a little, I first looked through bridal magazines, and at first I thought I would want something very modern and sleek, but when I tried on some dresses at different shops, I liked the more cinderella dresses. I did not expect that. The prices were very high in the shops I went to intially.

I wanted to know my husband would like what I picked, so I showed him similar dresses in the magazines, and he never liked what I wanted. I brought him tl a bridal shop and tried on dresses. The sales people were so upset I brought my fiance. When I tried on the dress that was similar to what I wanted his expression was fantastic! He loved it.

Then I went on my search for a more reasonable price and wound up in that shop I described in the first paragraph. The dress had a little more beading than I wanted, and I did not want a puffy sleaves. My dress had a little puff. Funny, I hated Princess Di’s dress, being so puffy, so 80’s. I was married in 1993. You can see some wedding photos in my wedding album on facebook.

haha then my next wedding was: a plaid pendleton jacket from the 50s over a sweater, a black knee length skirt, black hose and doc martins. my sisters lace hanky from kildare ireland in the pocket.

At Macy’s.