Why Are Wedding Dresses So Expensive?

NPR ^ | August 5, 2011 | Caitlin Kennedy

[sinanju]

"...Shopping for a wedding dress is strange. You have to make an appointment. You're expected to bring family and friends. The salespeople say things like, "You'll remember this forever."

When I bought my dress a few months ago, I couldn't stop thinking about how emotional it all was — and how expensive.

To figure out why wedding dresses cost so much, I went to New York International Bridal Week, a big trade show for the wedding-dress industry.

(snip)

A lot of that extra cost comes down to the word "wedding."

There's so much emotion tied to that word that's it's hard to put a number on it, but it's there. And Barge gets this. When she talks about her dresses, she is selling emotion.

"It's the dress of your life, and if there is ever one picture your [descendants] have of you it's the one in your wedding dress," she says.

That's a lot of pressure to put on a bride. Veronica Guerrieri was married last summer in her home country of Italy, and she says she felt it.

"They were trying hard to convince me that it was the best day of my life, that I shouldn't have thought about economics."

But not thinking about economics is hard for Guerrieri. She's an economist at the University of Chicago.

Guerrieri says we're part of the reason prices are so high: They're high because that is what we're willing to pay.

"I think that on average there is a lot of status and signaling going on wedding day," Guerrieri says.

A bride's dress can signal how wealthy she is, what her status in society is. But it can also signal how seriously she's taking this marriage..."

[ilovesarah2012]

LOL - both.

[maine-iac7]

Ain't expensive he-ah. -

But seriously, you can get beautiful new California designer gowns that will sell for $2,500 and up for starting at $250 up. Hussey's is a 'design testing' outlet. The designers get an idea of which new designs will sell best before going into big production. So, this great old timey General Store, and it IS out in the country, has 3 stories.

In the basement: furniture and appliances.

On the ground level: gas out front, groceries on left, sports/camping gear on right, extensive array of guns on far right.

Upstairs: clothing, including hunting/fishing and boots and the Bridal 'Salon".

The building is old, wooden construction, wooden floors...built when wood was WOOD (old growth, dense wood) that lasts about forever. Nothing fancy inside or out.

Representative of Native Mainers - keep it simple, to the necessities and hang the unnecessary fluff and stuff for show.

[poindexter]

Wedding dresses are expensive because they can be.

[SuziQ]

It’s been my observation that the more that is spent on the wedding and honeymoon, the less likely the marriage is to succeed.

That's a corollary to my contention that the length of the marriage is inversely proportional to the number of bridesmaids. ;o)

I watch "Say Yes to the Dress" from time to time, and am appalled at the amount of money spent on those dresses! Most of the time, the gals are looking for a 'sexy dress', which, frankly, I find quite inappropriate. But I guess that's just my 'prudish' nature giving vent. Showing a bit of cleavage isn't bad, but I can't think of anything more tacky than a woman whose ta-tas are falling out of her wedding dress. Seriously, these gals seem to spend more time thinking about the dress than they do what it's gonna require to have a successful marriage.

Now I was a bride in the mid 70s, and the 'simple thing' was all the rage, with the Gunny Sax type dresses and all, but still there were some really frou-frou dresses that were popular among the tony set. Mine was a simple scoop neck long shift with a lace capelet; no train, and not even a veil. I made it myself; an ivory polyester faux satin, and scalloped edged lace, total cost $36, and was quite pretty. I wore flowers in my hair, and we had a guitar Mass. My grandmother called it a 'hippy wedding', but 36 years and four kids later, we're happier now than we were on our wedding day!

[riverrunner]

Beause foolish women think the more expensive the wedding dress and wedding the happier the marriage

[SC Swamp Fox]

They're high because that is what we're willing to pay.

I'm glad they reached the correct conclusion. Marketing 101

[Mr. Jeeves]

My fiancee is a fashion designer with a great eye for quality.

She spent $400 on her wedding dress, and grumbled that was too much.

It's all about selling emotion.

[TruthConquers]

Go to an bridal outlet store.

You can find decent to beautiful dresses for half price or more. In tons of different styles.

That’s what I did, and been married 20+ years now.

[teenyelliott]

I bet it was pretty. I wore my Mom's dress and got married in my parent's back yard.

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary!

[Troublemaker]

Neither of us saw any wisdom in spending a small fortune.

Neither did we. Of course we didn't have any money - so it really didn't matter :o). We got married at the closest church and had the reception at my parent's ranch in one of the barns (the less smelly one - LOL). And, we had a ball.

[goat granny]

I had my bridesmaids rent their gown’s. 2 couldn’t afford to buy one.....any bride that spends over 500 dollars for a dress you wear once is truly nutz...

[goldi]

She was late for her wedding because she couldn’t get the gown over her head. It didn’t have a zipper.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,90819,00.html

[Atlas Sneezed]

It’s been more than a few years, but Mrs. B. and I called them the “Wedding Mafia.”

We avoided most of it, although paid top dollar for a pro photographer who did good work. The rest of the wedding cost about as much as the photographer. My bride had a lovely dress from fine silk she purchased, made by a local seamstress to custom order. For a couple hundred dollars.

I got a new shirt.

[teenyelliott]

set up house and lived as husband and wife together for a year

As the mother of three girls, this idea does not thrill me.

[LizardQueen]

Sounds like us. We got married in a state park, had a catered barbecue there after the service. Hubby and his bro wore gray suits (I bought them matching ties), I wore a dress I had made for me for about $500 (I still choke at the cost, but I loved it), and my sister picked out a dress that “went with a gray suit” and added a straw hat.

It will be 20 years for us in about 3 weeks.

[ilovesarah2012]

My poor daughter - all her friends are getting married or have gotten married and she keeps having to buy bridesmaid dresses. When my sister got married (many years ago), we rented bridesmaid dresses and she bought a used wedding dress cheap. Small inexpensive wedding but beautiful and they’ve been married 39 years.

[ilovesarah2012]

I worked for attorneys who handled divorces and I always found it amusing that couples had to divide up the debt of the weddings that they couldn’t afford.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I worked for attorneys who handled divorces and I always found it amusing that couples had to divide up the debt of the weddings that they couldn’t afford.

When you start off divorced from reality, other forms of divorce aren't far behind.

[MayflowerMadam]

“I probably wouldn’t notice (or care) if she got a $59.98 wedding dress from the Wal-Mart.”

Mine was $37 from a JC Penney clearance rack. Not an “official” wedding gown — just a minimalist cream colored long dress with a bit of lace. Very pretty.

[bonfire]

My daughter just got married in a gorgeous Maggie Sottero Couture gown that we paid $600 from a Bridal Discount store. She looked like a million dollar bride coming down that aisle. Her entire wedding was around $4,000 because we know how to do it in our family! This is the 5th girl to get married in 6 years and we’ve got it down to a fine art! Weddings R Us!

btw, bridesmaids dresses on clearance from Penney’s for $60. I made sparkle branches from curly willow,white spray paint and glitter and it looked like a fairy tale. Collected large cut glass vases and wine glasses from local thrift stores, made table runners from sparkly curtains found at WalMart on clearance, curly willow was free, candle sticks from the dollar store, etc etc. It CAN be done and it’s fun to DIY.