r/BigBudgetBrides

in need of help deciding, I really can’t choose between these two!

Dress #1: Beautiful, but I have some concerns. I’m getting married in July in the south of France, and the wedding is entirely outdoors. This dress is heavy and voluminous, which worries me for an outdoor summer wedding. Pro: it’s well under budget. My hesitation is that it feels a little too trendy, I keep seeing this exact style everywhere. Not sure if my instagram has targeted me?

Dress #2: Also beautiful, but it’s over budget and needs alterations, the neckline is originally a cat-eye shape (shown in the first photo), which isn’t my style, so I’ve folded it down to show how I’d want it altered. I also don’t love that you can see the boning I would want that to be smoothed. That said, I’m obsessed with the fabric. The weight is perfect, and it bustles beautifully.

Would love your honest thoughts! Also, should I just keep looking? I’ve tried on probably 40 dresses at this point. but I haven’t had The oh my God this is my dress moment.

I’m going back to the shop today by myself to make a decision. I’m really torn between two of these dresses. Dress #2 just barely zipped over my butt but obviously would be ordered in the correct size. I realized after the fact that when trying on dress #3 that it comes with gloves and the gloves were inside the dress when she started clamping! So it’s adding some extra bulk. I’m going to ask today about the skirt because it’s more of a mermaid fit on the model. There would also be no creasing at the waist in the proper size.

My fiance is south asian and I’m going to surprise him (with the help of his cousin) by wearing a white saree for the ceremony. So this dress is really for dinner and dancing, but will probably take posed pictures in both this dress and the saree.

Wedding is at the Four Seasons Scottsdale.

Also, my mom cried when I tried on #3. I’m not sure how this factors into my decision making 😬

TIA!!

I had my wedding at Cavo Ventus (Santorini) on June 4th, 2026. Here is my feedback, hope this will help a lot of future brides!

I paid $50,000 for 33 adults and 2 kids. (Not including flights, dresses, small DIY I brought for decor, welcome party etc)

If you are still hesitant about Cavo Ventus, don't! It was the best decision we've had for this entire wedding journey. The pictures don't do justice at all. It cost us 8700€ including drinks.

Wedding planner.
I won't recommend the one we chose. She was not the best and we ended up having SO many issues. I wish I had a different experience. The design was the most important for me but she wasn't that strong and she is also not the most organized. She forgot so many details (like mixing up the ceremony start time, not giving me my bouquet to walk the aisle, not giving the groom his boutonniere... so many other issues).

Makeup artist: Renia Bledaki. 1050€ for 1 bride and 4 guests.
She is an angel on earth. A true mama! I didn't have a trial but she went slowly on each step so I could see what she was doing.

Hair stylist: Marianna Nomikou. 750€ for 1 bride and 4 guests.
She is also super sweet. I didn't 100% loved my hair but I also didn't have a trial. I couldn't see what she was doing since I was focused on the makeup and I ended up having a ton of hair spray (way too much). It is what it is. I'm sure you can get a better result with her with a trial.

Photographer & Videographer: White on Black studio
7600€. They are clearly the best. So so good and professional. I would recommend them 10000 times.

Content creator: Theresa (@dreamerscontent on IG). 850€.
She is the sweetest girl and she loves what she does. You won't be disappointed.

Caterer: Black Owl . 6400€
HORRIBLE. Please do me a favor and never, ever in your life book Black Owl. We paid them 6400€ (almost 200e/person) and Serafeim who is the owner is the worst person you will ever deal with. Him and his team came unprepared. We started dinner at 7:30pm. We were still waiting for the main dish at 11pm. His feedback was "it was fresh food". For 200/pers it better be fresh food lol. Our guests ended up never eating dinner and never ate dessert. Just horrible caterer.

Saxophonist: Christos Aggouridakis 1500€
We booked and paid him for 3hours but because we ended waiting for a dinner that never came, we only had 50min of Party. So we barely saw him. (Thanks to Black Owl and the wedding planner who couldn't manage the timeline either)

Flowers: bloom de fleur. 4150€ but I clearly had not a lot.
The flowers were nice. But design-wise, I wish I had a different wedding planner who actually had a strong eye for design. I had to work on the design myself, do the design presentation myself and show it to her. She tried to make it look the way I imagined it but since our exchanges had to stay strictly via email I got so frustrated and kind of gave up.

Furniture & Decor: Maison Trilogie and White Knots. 6800€ total.
Again, same as the flowers, I tried to design everything myself but everything was so frustrating especially when you live overseas.

DJ: Events in Santorini (Multimedia) we paid 1300€.
We were assigned to Georgios Roussos. As a person, he is definitely a sweetheart. As a DJ, we hated it... There was no ambiance and he was just sitting playing the music. We could've just done a spotify playlist and let it play, it would've been the same honestly. I see a lot of brides being happy with Multimedia, they were probably assigned to a different DJ. Ps: after posting my feedback all over social media, a ton of other brides reacted and were also unhappy with this DJ! Don’t book them!

Lights/Sounds: Events in Santorini (Multimedia Events Santorini) we paid 2500€.
Thank god we decided last minute to change our selection and reduce all the light decor for the party. We barely had a chance to party because of the dinner. We paid 500euros for a few fairy lights and a disco ball. I can send you our design in DM.

Transportation: Santorini Pickups.
You have to book transportation to your guests. It was 20/pers.

Welcome Party: We had a welcome party on the Adonis Boat. The boat looked super ugly from the pictures, but trust me, we had an amazing time and our guests loved it. We paid 150/pers and had food and drinks.

Hotel: Elessa Hotel
The hotel is just amazing. You have to book it! The owners and the employees are so so nice.

I probably forgot a lot of other things we booked. Feel free to ask and I'll share!

The wedding will be in a Tudor style mansion in July ‘27, and I’m going for an old world romantic overall vibe. I went in locked in to get a drop waist style, but have ended up loving the beadwork, the lace, or the classic a line. How did you girls decide? I am torn between 3, or 1 personally.

From Monique Lhuillier. Regardless of which style, I am using the lace from the second photo! If I choose the first one I’d do a lace swap :)

Hi! Looking to either purchase or get a custom bolero or gloves to go with my dress. Any ideas of where to go in the city or order online ?

Here is some inspo of what type of gloves / topper I’d be looking for

Is my dress hemmed too short? I asked my seamstress if it could be lengthened slightly so there's no gap between the floor and dress and she said no. Does it look okay or should I get a second opinion?

Hi all! For a long time, we had thought we were going to get married at Sea Ranch Lodge, but they ended up pushing us around during the contracting process so we ended up picking a different venue! But wanted to include full buyout pricing in case it helps anyone!

Hi! I’m torn between these two dresses. They’re both so different but I fell in love with both. Any thoughts would be appreciated!! I’m getting married next July on the Mendocino coast.

Disclaimer on dress #1: the column skirt will be in the same ivory color as the corset and the overskirt will be in the same material as the corset and column

Disclaimer on dress #2: lighting isn’t great I apologize!! Also, the train is a muslin toile here, but would obviously be in the same silk in the final version. Last photo is what that would look like.

Thoughts on these options for a Tuscan welcome party event. It’s a white party, outdoors.

Hi BBBs, I got this dress to change into for late night/after party, but now I am starting to worry about the train dragging behind me when dancing. Should I get alterations to shorten it so that it doesn’t touch the ground? I feel conflicted because the train is an integral part of this dress’s design. This photo shows the model but it is very similar in length on me. Also, what should I wear under this so that I don’t accidentally flash people…

Hi all!

We have about 90-95 guests. I've designated these tables into distinct group: old friends, shared friends, his family, and my family. Our sweetheart table is in the middle and our bridal party is one either side of the sweetheart. The middle area are some trees, but not many, and you can see in between them. The area behind the sweetheart table are thicker trees.

Curious to hear people's thoughts or alt ideas? Thank you!

hopefully this helps someone!