Recently, I sold a dress to a bride who had quite the story to tell me about Davids Bridal and their $99 Sales.
After hearing all about it, I figured I would blog so that everyone would know what to expect. Don't think though that this is a bashing, it isn't! It's just some information that everyone should know before they buy that $99 David's Wedding Dress.
To start, let's give the perfect scenario for the Davids $99 Bridal Sale...
You have found your dream dress and it fit's perfectly. It doesn't need any alterations including a bustle. It's on sale for $99. You buy it and maybe some accessories. You walk out the door with a $99 dress, veil and shoes. Maybe the whole thing cost $225. Well done. Consider yourself blessed and get on with the rest of your planning!
For the rest of you, here's the real deal about these sales.
Alterations--what to expect from Davids alterations. If the dress needs altering in other words it's too big or too small in certain areas your costs will more than likely exceed the cost of the dress. In many cases alterations costs at Davids can be at minimum double to quadruple the cost of the $99 dress.
Does your $99 gown have a train? Are you having a reception or any kind of after party where you will be walking around mingling with guests? Then more than likely you will need a bustle. Our local David's charges $20 per button for a bustle. The average uncomplicated bustle needs 5 buttons. If you have a big train or if you'd like a french bustle or just something different, be prepared to pay up to $250 just for the bustle alone.
What about Bra Cups? Would you like Bra Cups in your dress? That's $20 per cup.
Do you see how that $99 dress can suddenly creep up to the $400-$700 range? How is that a bargain? Especially for a $99 dress that probably looks like it costs $99!
We hardly ever have $99 sales. Why, because our gowns are discount wedding dresses. Not cheaply made wedding gowns and alterations fees are non-existent or minimal.
Our brides have the option to have their gown custom made to their measurements. No need for an off the rack size, get it custom made to your body and it will fit right out of the box as long as the measurements don't change. This is such a money saver in and of itself. Especially for brides that maybe have measurements that crossover into 2 sizes or for brides that are ordering a lace wedding dress.
Lace wedding gowns are some of the most expensive to alter. Why? Because lace is pieced together by hand on wedding gowns ( or it should be, ours is!). When a lace gown has to be altered, each piece has to be taken off of the stabilizing material and moved, then re sewn. A seamstress/tailor definitely earns their money, but the costs for this service can sometimes be outrageously shocking!
Bra cups...it is beyond me how you can make a wedding dress without bra cups. At minimum they are required for shaping. Each and every one of our wedding gowns has bra cups. The only ones that don't would be a charmeuse type slip silhouette, and we have none of these on our website as of date. Paying $40 to have bra cups added is simply ridiculous, when they should be there in the first place.
Bustling! There is a fine art to bustling, especially dresses with big trains. But for gowns that have a manageable train, usually a wrist loop sewed into the center seam of the skirt lining will do. We do that automatically in the appropriate styles. If you are ordering a gown with a big train you should contact a local seamstress/tailor and show them a picture of the dress. Ask them to give you an estimate if they were to bustle the gown. This way there are no nasty surprises.
In the end the David's $99 may work out for you. But at least now you know exactly what to expect!
1 comments:
Your offer is really great like the dresses, i would love to have one for my wedding, i am going to check out more collection right now.
Post a Comment