I had mine made for me. I was very casual and did not try any on, and just said I wanted it to be like Brooke Shields dress when she married Andre Agassi. I was happy with it, I loved having a swooshy skirt. It was about NZD$500 in 1998.

I have worn it once since, a friend had a wedding night when Kate and Wills got married. We wore our wedding dresses and ate British food and drank lots of champagne.

My sisters both chose designer dresses and spent far more than I did. They both looked stunning too.

Our wedding was hilarious but such a happy day.

I got married in 1977. The prevailing wedding dress style then was Queen Anne neckline, long sleeves, and made out of Qiana, a shiny polyester knit. Usually about $100. Yecch! I knew I didn't want that, but $100 was my budget. I thought. Then I saw a dress in a brides magazine which was a moire taffeta full skirt, and a chiffon blouse with a ruffle around the neck and down the front. It was exactly what I wanted, ( from Priscilla's of Boston, no less.) it was $250. I went to Boston to try it on, loved it, ordered it. I dithered over spending $25 more to get extra length. ( I'm tall.). To give this perspective, I made $10000 a year then. My going away outfit was a Villager suit, ( comp. to Lauren) with the jkt costing $88, the skirt $40 and a vest, $40. Which I wore with a Chaus blouse which cost $40.
Anyway! $1400 is probably not crazy for a wedding dress. Get what you love. Don't think about being able to use it again, or passing it down. It's probably the item of clothing that has the most significance Of anything you will ever wear.
Have you looked at J Crew? They have some lovely dresses if you are minimal. And I've seen brides in things from David's Bridal that were beautiful.

What a diversity of budgets and experiences!

Zibbets and Dina, I'm feeling the stress and drama, even though I'd be perfectly with an off-the-rack normal dress. The problem is that I'm not really a fan of a lot of dress styles out there. Glad that off the rack styles have worked for some!

Carter, Style Fan, Umm Lila, Joy, Ms Mave, Jen--even if the dress wasn't 100% what you were seeking, I envy the way your budgets worked out.

Sterling, it's great to read how fond you are off the dress. Sounds like your decision really worked out well.

Froggiebecky, Thistle, Laura, Lisap--the advantages of knowing one's style is so critical, and can really cut down the budget if you can sew, or know someone who can.

Laurinda, exactly, my plan is to get something I can wear again.

Aziraphale and Echo, looking at it as a costume is a good idea, but it's hard to do that when you're dressing like a cultural hybrid, I find.

Caro in Oz, I was looking at suits but they are so hard to find, and also quite expensive! Plus SO has poo-pooed the idea. Wearing pants in the community we belong to would be a huge statement, moreso than the one I will already be making.

KL, beautiful photos! I'm actually a big fan of tea length dresses and having been looking for a white tea length dress to wear at the reception as a compromise (not wearing a white dress for the ceremony).

TorontoGirl, generous boss! A pleasant surprise, no doubt.

Fuzzy logic, step one: achieved!

Tulle, love the Edwardian look, corset and all.
Minnie, I saw that study when it came up. We're trying to be low key, but food catering will be really expensive because of the religious establishment's oversight.
Rachylou, what kind of community was that? I'd didn't know synagogues had explicit dress codes concerning weddings.
Natalie, great bargain. I've also thrown out once-sentimental clothing when there was no reason for keeping it.
Janet and Kiwigal, I just spoke with a custom dressmaker about replicating a dress I saw, but adding sleeves. It will likely be the same price, even though I was hoping it would be cheaper. A lot of reviews online praised her skills, and this may be the route I take!
Jem, I saw that option available on Etsy, but wasn't a huge fan of the styles.
Retail Girl, I've had my eye on J.Crew dresses, but am not a fan of ivory white, and am looking for something tea length, which they don't carry at the moment.

I understand the dilemma. I haven't been married but was engaged before and my partner and I discuss a future marriage, and consequently a wedding, often. Spending money on our life rather than the wedding is important to us. However, having a wedding is important to me for family reasons. He has been married before, at the courthouse but with a shindig, so that is out. My family has a piece of property that has hosted many weddings, so a homegrown option is a good one. The plan is to go inexpensive with a morning ceremony with coffee and pastry. He doesn't dance, and some of his friends and my family members drink to excess, and others don't drink. It sounds easiest. That said, I'm a photographer and a historian, so photos are important and if you are going to pay for photos, the dress becomes important. That said, it seems ridiculous to spend more on clothes than any other aspect of the wedding excluding photography. The SO would mich rather have extra money toward a down payment on a home or a kick-butt honeymoon.

I've looked at bridesmaid's dresses and there are some lovely options in white and ivory, particularly by Dessy.

I'm also a big fan of Saja weddings, but they are more in the $1000 range, which seems like a lot to me as I can't imagine wearing any white dress appropriate for a cool-temperatured outdoor wedding again with my lifestyle.

That said, by the time it comes around we might just self-solemize on top of a mountain, which is a perk of living in CO.

Big one. Conservative. Women wear mantillas to cover their hair just like in church.

But oh yes. You can't show your shoulders to God.

$200.00 with the veil thrown in for free! It was the year of the Diana dress (30+ years ago) and I didn't want that. Got it on sale, from old stock. I did splurge a bit on flowers, and wore a small, half wreath in my hair.

Goodwill got it when we did a purge before a big move.

$500. In 1988. It was a wedding gift from my grandmother.

My daughter was married 5 years ago. We intended to keep it under $1000. I kid you not, she tried on probably 100 dresses. By the time she put the one on that brought a smile to her face and the words "I think I like it!" I would probably have paid anything LOL. We did go several hundred over budget but it was worth knowing how beautiful she felt that day. I think budget is always personal, but any bride should feel like she looks terrific on her wedding day.

If you want something you can wear again, I'm recommending that you take this opportunity to buy a really beautiful cocktail/event type dress, and allow yourself to spend more than you would ordinarily. If you really put thought into your accessories, hair, and makeup no one will think you are underdressed or any less glamorous. And you won't have to change your dress for the dancing and party after!
My daughter wanted white, and while there are white knee length dresses, there aren't tons of them, and a lot are resort or summer, casual styles, eyelet, etc. It took her months (!!) to find the right one, right up to the wire, but she did, and she looked and felt perfect.

I picked the first dress I tried on at Saks in 1992. It was on the sale rack and was $800. A huge bargain for this dress. I had it altered to fit and it was magnificent!

I got married in 2004 and had found a lace dress online that I had fall in love with. There was one left at a small bridal shop just outside of NYC and went to try it on. Cost me $600 including alterations.

Under $200 from a resale shop that focused on bridal wear.