DC/VA/MD girls. Where did you buy your wedding dress?

[Sharonie]

Hey, I'm not from these areas, just passing through here and thought to throw out my experience of dress shopping.

 

Try Wedding dresses and planning advice | Brides.com or theknot.com and look at the dresses. Find the designers that the styles appeal to you and the price range within or close to your budget ($ or $$ ones). You can then go to the designer website and locate the retails in the geographical locations you're willing to travel to.

 

You can call those local retailers before hand to see if they carry the dresses you're interested or something close to them. If you do fall in love with a dress not too far above your budget, you can search online to find more reasonable prices. For me, I ordered a Maggie Sottero dress from a store in NJ and saved over $400 than if I order from local stores.

 

Good luck shopping and show us the pics when you do find the one for you.

[csk_needweddinghelp]

Hi,

 

I went to several shops in the MD & VA. The one with the prices closest to the internet was Pattrapon in Kensington, MD. They have a website: http://www.pattraponbridal.com. It is a tiny boutique but the owner (this tiny little woman from Thailand) has a TON of dresses there ranging from size 6 thru 14. She actually had dresses that were less than $600! However, the Sottero & Midgley dress (also by Maggie Sottero) I wanted was not there but I tried on dresses by Sottero that were similar in design. I think she would have matched the online price I found but I still would have had to pay tax and I wouldn't have gotten $170 toward a veil and shoes.

 

Even though her prices were the most competitive locally for me, I still bought mine online from Wedding Dresses, Prom Dresses, Wedding Accessories at BestBridalPrices.com, because they threw in $120 for a veil and $50 for shoes (though I got $50 worth of other stuff because I did not think it a good idea to buy wedding shoes I had never tried on--need them to be comfortable). From what I've read here and other forums, this online bridal store is legitimate and registered with the BBB.

 

Good luck!

[KimB81]

I bought mine from Jessica McClintock at Tysons Corner. The best part was most of their dresses were under $600. The sales people were all very nice and helpful as well.

[melglnh2o]

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions. Now i just need to get out there and try them on and then do some research online. You gals are great!!