What do you do if you fine "The Dress" but it's twice the price you planned to spend?

My cousin was dress shopping and the only one she liked was $1500. She made a quick search in the store and moments later found the dress she absolutely loved for $150 on the clearance rack.

Thing is if that one dress had been the one she loved and couldn't have any other, she was going to pay for every bit of it.

Now, my suggestion is to get the dress custom made. You may get a few materials cheaper, labor cheaper, whatever you need, someone will be able to work around what you need. :) Also, you only went for your first time. My first time I went I found alot that I liked, but I hadn't tried on nearly enough to find what I actually bought. Also, go to wedding shows, you get deals on all kinds of things!! :)

Also, just some tips on a wedding under $4000. I am having a wedding we tried for under $4500 and it is coming to around $5000, which was the real amount we could spend. Shoot for a lower price cuz it will go over at least a little. Also, we went to a public park for the wedding which was cheap. If you have a home church they should do it for cheap as well. Our reception venue we got a deal on cuz we booked early. I am guessing you wont have time to unless you are waiting until 2012 to have your wedding. Ask the church you are in (if you are in one) to have the reception there as well, if you are having a reception. For the reception food, we are having my aunt do it and gave her $1000 to get whatever we can afford. Mostly finger foods. For our DJ my fiance knew someone who would do it for $200 wedding and reception. SO already we had been saving and it has still come to $5000 and that is with HUGE discounts from knowing people. That will be your biggest saver. Anyway good luck!

With the wedding you're planning, that is a very expensive dress. How much do you love it? Can you move on or is it going to eat away at you? If you can make it happen, I would get it. But, don't be too sentimental, might there just be other dresses out there that you could love that are within your budget? Have you tried going to an outlet store? What a wonderful thing! They're filled with racks of nice new dresses for practically nothing. Try this before you buy!

I actually tried on a dress that was fabulous but $1200 plus alterations and I walked. It was gorgeous, could have been "the one", but I was sure I could get the same feeling for less, and I did.

Good luck :)

Honestly, its not worth spending that much if your budget is only $4k. You need to keep looking and tell the salespeople not to show you dresses more than a certain price (I'd say $500-$600 TOPS).

I know some people get all caught up in "THE dress", but would you rather have a nice wedding in a pretty dress that isn't this one and be able to celebrate with some family & friends or trade off so you can afford this dress that is out of your budget?

My budget was $20k and I only budgeted $1,000 for my dress including alterations so I was looking at dresses under $800 ONLY.

IMO, unless you can increase your budget so you can afford this dress AND still have the nice wedding you want, its not worth it.

These might not be THE dress you found, but there are pretty dresses that are within your budget:

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Beaded-Lace-Tr...

http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_T8722-T8722_Sa...

You could always try ebay to find someone selling the dress you love or a local seamstress to see if they could make the same dress for you within your budget.

The good thing about wedding dresses is that there is always one you will love more than the last one!

Brides come on here thinking they've found the one but keep looking and second guess their original choice. Brides who buy a dress must stop looking, lest they find one they like more.

What I am saying is, keep looking! I'm sure there is one you love more and in your price range. Spending a fourth of your wedding budget just isn't smart. Do you want to look back at your wedding photos and see yourself on this expensive dress while your guests munch on peanuts?

What would I do if I found a dress twice my budget? Put it back on the rack and move on. There is no perfect dress, there are only dresses that are in your price range that look good on you. If you blow nearly a quarter of your budget on your dress, I guarantee that you'll regret it.

But, if you're set that you won't be satisfied with ANYTHING else you might have to order a knock off or get a sample or something. I bought a sample and got it for almost half off. I wouldn't ever consider ordering online because I would never be so locked into the idea of ONE PERFECT DRESS that I couldn't adapt.

Just remember, there is no perfect dress, there are only dresses which are made perfect by the women inside of them. You can do better than spending such a huge chunk of your budget on a dress.

Spending half your wedding budget on the dress is foolish. And it will be half once you add in alterations, shoes and veil.

Keep looking! There is a dress out there that you will love AND that it is your price range.

Don't look at dresses that aren't in your price range. Don't even touch them! Walk away from them. Tell the bridal consultant what your price range is and stick to it!

Good luck! You will find a dress that you love and that you can afford.

I would find another dress, $1200 is a lot to spend on one dress for one day. I would look something in your price range. No I wouldn't buy a dress online. My dress cost $40.00 off of a sales rack, and it was $25.00 to have it altered. good luck with your dress hunting.

you can't blow over 25% of your budget on the gown! the catering is much more important, that's how you show respect for your guests. what you can do is take a pic of the gown you like to other bridal shops and ask if they have similar styles that are cheaper, like under $500. or go look at dept stores which will surely be cheaper. any place that sells 'bridal' gowns will be marked way up. no you should not buy it online, that would be a total mess because it won't come in on time, it would be the wrong gown, there's no return policy, etc. there's 1000 things that will go wrong if you order it online.

I am spending Easter with my fellow Soldiers stationed over seas here in the Middle East! I would much rather be spending it with my wife and four children though, but these guys here ain't that bad.

This happened to me. Since I had a lot of time before the big day, I looked for it online and was able to find it for a fraction of the cost. Check: OnceWed.com