I have to confess that if I had £10k to spend on the dress I'd been banging on Vivienne Westwood's door rather than Vera Wang's, as I've always been obsessed with her dresses, but it must be such a wonderful experience to be able to afford a gown from such an amazing couturier. I had a budget of £2500 for my dress but ended up finding a dressmaker who I clicked with who is making my dress for £1500. I would have paid £3500 if that was what having my perfect dress cost.

If I had 10k to spend on a dress, I'd spend it on my entire wedding instead :/ though I agree with Special Sundae on Vivienne Westwood, she's pretty awesome! Hey, each to his own, I just wouldn't have the conscience to spend 10k on a dress that could be made exactly the same for £200, I'd rather have the "replica" made (although most designer dresses are made in the exact same factories unless they are haute couture)...and give the rest to charity.
I'm sorry if I'm stepping on someone's toes by saying it, but that's just my opinion.

Meh, not reaaaally a major fallacy. I've been studying and working in fashion for the last 3years, believe me, very little is actually done by the designers these days, and if you stay out of sweatshops, a lot of the dresses are made in china.

I have a gorgeous Versace dress, not Haute Couture, and so it was made in China.

Annette - I'm well aware that a lot of "designer" wedding dresses are made in China, but even if the copies are of a similar quality (some are, some aren't) they aren't always exact copies.

On top of that, there are a good number of designers who do not out-source the making of their dresses to China (Blue Bridalwear, Sassi Holford, Suzanne Neville, Stewart Parvin and a goodly a number of others). I'm not sure where Vera Wang dresses are made, but I do know that they have a reputation for beautiful fabrics and impeccable construction.

For me, fabric and corsetry were the things that I would not compromise on. I wanted pure silk (originally I wanted zibeline but you seem to only be able to get that in white or ivory and I wanted gold) and steel boning and I wouldn't get that from China for £100.

Just to be clear, I don't have anything against China dresses. I think it's fantastic that there is that option and I have to confess that I do like sticking it to the significant minority of bridal stores who like to screw over brides, BUT to say that a dress bought from a Chinese seller for £100 (or so) will be the same as a £10,000 couture dress is utter rubbish.

*Layls* - They're made in China.

SpecialSundae do u know where ronald joyce dresses are made? as its a uk designer i think just would like to know :)

this is what i find funny,i had my dress made for from a lady i found on ebay,wasnt a copy of a design it was her own design with a few of my alterations,recieved it and i loved it,only payed £150,,i then had to get it altered as i could no longer wear my heels,so took it to 2 bridal shop one lady told me it was exquisite workmanship silk taffeta was second to none and the beading was incredable,i asked her how much a gown like mine would cost and her reply was it would easily sell for £1,500-£2,000,,the other shop gave me a price of £1,850!! needless to say im a very happy bunny with a beautiful dress worth alot more then a payed for it

This is just like the BBB thread

I don't think it matters HOW much it costs, it's HOW much it makes you FEEL when wearing it.

If you've got the money, spend it on a designer dress! If you're on a smaller budget, find the perfect dress that will make you look like a million dollars!

Thanks SS!

*blushes*

Its all relative really, a 1k wedding = 100 dress, 10k wedding = 1k dress, 100k wedding = 10k dress wouldnt you say on average???

hahahaha - God only knows if I had the cash I would have a diamond dress.

I am sooooo jealous and will hold my hands up high and freely admit to my dress budget envy :-)

There's a little bit of dress budget envy, although Vera Wang's not my personal taste. I do love to see people with big budgets and what they do with it, but like to try to find ways to make our wedding feel like a genuinely big budget wedding with our slightly over average budget.

My dress is costing just shy of £1000 but once I have all my accessories it will cost about £1500. My dress is by a British designer and is made just down the road to me in Harrogate. This wasn't the most important thing to me but I am glad have gone with a British designer as alot of ours are really amazing

Same here Jo x

Wow a Vera Wang - SO so jealous :)
Looking forward to pictures/designs xx