All The Frugal Ladies Personal finance with a feminine touch
Let’s find Wedding Dresses for Cheap!
I’m on a quest. A quest to make your wedding cheaper. I refuse to believe that weddings have to be so expensive – it’s a myth, and one that I want to take down, piece by piece. Today, we start with the most important part: the wedding dress!
Wedding dress prices are unfortunately, extremely hiked up. With an industry that provides such extreme demand for one particular type of dress, stores and designers have the ability to mark up their prices. But buying a wedding dress should not break your bank. After all, you’re only using that wedding dress once anyway, and for a few hours at that!
There are better, more frugal -but just as beautiful- choices for us ladies. And below, are some great options that I found and you should consider!
1) Rent the dress
Did you know that there are actual wedding dress rental stores? Sure, you won’t be the first person to wear that dress, but does it really matter? It will look like new, they will tailor it to fit you perfectly, and you may even be getting a stunning designer model. It doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s your special day day of romantic commitment to your partner.
When the wedding is over, you just return it to the store and they will handle the dry-cleaning. Forget about leaving that poor dress in storage or in your closet eternally. You don’t have to worry about it!
The cost: between $250-600
Time it took me to find it: 2 minutes of Googling
Possible options:
http://www.go2weddings.com & http://www.jjshouse.com
2) Buy a PreOwned Wedding Dress
Why not shop around for a used wedding dress? There are entire websites and stores that only focus on selling them, and at an extremely affordable rate, at that. Most have only been used once or twice and are usually in perfect, beautiful shape. The benefit is that if you own it, you can alter it however you want. (My aunt added gigantic 80s style shoulder pads and a massive bow to hers – please don’t do that.)
You can get designer dresses for cheap this way, too, if that’s what you fancy.
The cost: between $100-1000
Time it took me to find it: 2 minutes of Googling
Possible options:
http://www.tradesy.com & http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com & http://www.oncewed.com
3) By any chance, are you going on a trip abroad?
If your answer is yes, and it happens to be to a developing country – you are set! You will find far cheaper, but beautiful wedding dresses abroad in countries like China or Thailand. Jessica did just that and discussed it on her wedding post. She saved tons of money and looked stunning on her wedding night!
4) Hand-me-downs from family and friends
If your mom, your grandma or your best friend happened to wear the most stunning wedding dress on their special day – why not wear it yourself? If it fits you right and they are happy to lend it, there is nothing wrong with option for this choice. What better way is there to show them what they mean to you, then by wearing their dress down the altar? It’s a deep feeling of connection, love and appreciation, not to mention a huge lift of your pocket.
Plus, it covers your something old and something borrowed!
5) Hello, mass retail!
Turns out, there are mass retail stores producing beautiful wedding dresses, too. JCrew has started selling them, and others are quickly following on their tail.
6) Looking for wedding dresses under $100?
Marilisa wrote a great article on how to find even cheaper options for wedding dresses. (she takes frugality a step further than me!) I’m not one to advocate heading to a ballet supply store and wearing a tutu as a wedding dress, but heck, there are all types of people out there and each bride has her unique fashion sense. Check out her article to get more very frugal ideas on how to find a great wedding dress.
