Bridesmaid Dress Making Cost?

Has anyone had a bridesmaid dress made here in the UK? i'm in a wedding and since the bride hasn't told us how much the dress maker is charging, i'd like to estimate it for my own budgetting purposes.  it's a very simple a-line long skirt, lined, with strapless boned, lined bodice.  heavy weight satin.  any idea?  the fabric + notions were £90 each. 

so... .drum roll.... £120.  yes... you heard it... £120 for labour + £90 (fabric etc).  this dress is going to end up costing me more than $400.  i'm shocked.  i know this wedding is about the bride and i'm all up for that.  really, i am.

but surely she should have done some homework about how much this all was gonna cost b/f going down this route (having the dresses made vs buying them).  i feel that i cannot walk out of being in the bridal party.  i just can't.  but is there no getting this bride to make sense?     

I am at a point where just about everyone I know is getting married. I've been asked twice to be a bridesmaid and both times I've had to not do it. Once because the dresses were going to cost $500, not including shoes etc.  All of my clothes combined probably didnt cost that much!

i think i'm going to chalk this up as a learning experience.  there are way of supporting your engaged friend w/o being in the wedding party.  i def think i should have only said yes once she learned how much the dress was going to cost.  previously she had been going on... well... it should only be £30 or so to make... i knew that was wrong and tried to gently tell her that was a bad idea.

i'm due to have drinks with her tonight... i going to have to bite my tongue so hard... i told you thsi dress was gonna be more expensive than you thought... etc... breathe in blue. breathe out red.  passive aggressiveness is not becoming on anyone.

I've been a bride's maid 9 times and maid of honor once...I have yet to wear any of the dresses again, even though I was assured I would.  The worst dress was the long, Barney purple, velvet dress with matching purple velvet shoes and over the elbow purple velvet gloves...grand total with alterations = $650!

I think Bride's should be a bit more considerate when asking friends to be in their wedding.  The expenses are ridiculous.  The dress, the shower, the shower gift, the hen night and the wedding gift.  It's out of control! 

That's why I followed the tradition (English) of paying for my bridesmaids outfits.  They would have only cost $60 anyway, but I thought that as they were paying for so many other things, it wasn't fair to them to have to pay to buy an outfit they aren't going to wear ever again (unless they go to another Indian function).

That's why I followed the tradition (English) of paying for my bridesmaids outfits.

I didn't know that was the English tradition! It's what I've always intended to do, anyway, so it's good to know it won't be "weird"! 

That's why I followed the tradition (English) of paying for my bridesmaids outfits.  They would have only cost $60 anyway, but I thought that as they were paying for so many other things, it wasn't fair to them to have to pay to buy an outfit they aren't going to wear ever again (unless they go to another Indian function).

Good for you!!!

I've never understood why it is the bridesmaid's responsibility to pay for the dress.  Why can't the dresses be put into the wedding budget?  It is a lot of money for someone to spend on a dress that they don't get to choose and probably won't get to wear again, just so that the bride can have nice pictures. 

My sister had a $30 000 wedding and had plenty of money to pay for everything but still had the bridesmaids pay for their dresses.  They weren't cheap either.  Tacky, tacky.

i'm proud of you for paying for the dresses...

i was asked to be in the wedding.... and asked to pay for the dress.... i totally agree that if we're being asked to pay for the dress we should have more say in what it looks like, how much it costs, etc.

i have this repetitive mantra going on in my head "why does this all matter" "who cares what we wear"  "why is this so ridicilous"

I've been a bridesmaid 6 times and twice the maid of honor.  To date, my absolute favorite dress was probably the ugliest but I loved the honesty of the bride.  She took us to David's bridal in Atlanta where we had a very simple green dress that wasn't pretty, but it was fine.  The bride picked it because in her words, "ladies, lets face it, you will never wear a bridesmaid dress again so I'm not going to make you spend hundreds and try and pass it off as reusable, so i've picked this $95 dress.  Enjoy".

$95, on my then graduate school student budget brought tears to my eyes.  I still love her for it.

I've been a bridesmaid 6 times and twice the maid of honor.  To date, my absolute favorite dress was probably the ugliest but I loved the honesty of the bride.  She took us to David's bridal in Atlanta where we had a very simple green dress that wasn't pretty, but it was fine.  The bride picked it because in her words, "ladies, lets face it, you will never wear a bridesmaid dress again so I'm not going to make you spend hundreds and try and pass it off as reusable, so i've picked this $95 dress.  Enjoy".

$95, on my then graduate school student budget brought tears to my eyes.  I still love her for it.

haha...i'm due to be in 3 weddings in 2 years now.  luckily the two dresses picked out so far are $150 and $100, definitely appreciate it!

i don't mean to turn this thread into a bride bashing war- but honestly- does being a bride somehow cloud your judgement?  or b/c you're shelling out hundreds of pounds of seemingly "important" things (such as chocolate favours, cake, special knife cutter thingy) twist your reality? and i just don't feel that it's socially acceptable to question a bride's judgement.  

i have flat out told my older sisters that they are welcome to slap me back into reality if/when i become a bride-to-be.  and i've already decided that my sisters can wear whatever they like.  if they all want to go to the store together- great- if they want to wear a black suit- great- if they want to boogie naked- perhaps not so great.  

Check out www.theknot.com...seriously, they make everything sound like it's crazy important to do and if you aren't doing it the right way (aka knot way) then you are doing it wrong.  I think a lot of brides are trying to make it their 'perfect day' and quite honestly - it's just a large party.  But it's so hyped, particularly in the States, that it's tough not being caught up in it.  It does bring on a lot of expectations along with it from friends and family, and it can really become a tough day if you don't live up to those expectations.  I'm just glad I'm done with my wedding, cause as much as it was fun and I really was happy with the party, there was tons of stress before (due to family and details) and after (due to a friend's unrealistic expectations of me & my family).

Check out www.theknot.com...

This is ridiculous and I only read the part about the bridesmaids and what they should expect to pay to be in someone else's wedding!!!  Big $$$

http://www.theknot.com/ch_article.html?Object=AI980914211051&keywordID=176&keywordType=2&parentID=209

I'm trying really hard to impress on my kids that it's not the wedding that counts, it's the marriage and eloping is the answer!!

I'm lucky, and so were my maids at my first wedding.  I can sew.

I made them ball gown skirts of burgandy iridescent taffeta bought on the clearance table (I believe it was $1 a yard, actually), and bought them $7 cashmere sweaters in a mauve rose at Nordstrom's Rack.  I worked at Priscilla's of Boston at the time, and so had access to the tulle "innards" that we often cut out of dresses for Priscilla's brides who didn't want the skirt so foofy (we usually just threw them out), so I could put those into the skirts for free; they didn't even have to buy crinolines.  I can't remember what they did about shoes -- I told them to figure it out on their own, and it was the only thing they paid for.  (I also gave them their jewelry - pearls.)

So I got the look I wanted, and they got to buy some shoes.