Every bride wants to find the wedding dress of her dreams, but not every bride has a dream budget. The average wedding dress in 2015 cost $1,200-1,400, not to mention alterations and accessories: shoes, jewelry, garter, headpiece, veil or tiara. Factor in the other wedding costs such as venue, flowers, catering, decorations, transportation, etc and one can spend upwards of thousands of dollars. For those with unlimited funds this is not an issue, but to those with a tighter budget it can be quite stressful to find the perfect wedding dress.
There are some solutions. It just takes some time, thought and creativity and every bride can have the wedding gown she has imagined since childhood. If you do your research, you will be able to find plenty of gorgeous, but cheap wedding dresses.
Consider a Used Gown
If you are not opposed to purchasing a second-hand bridal gown, there are some amazing finds at thrift shops and consignment stores. They might need a little handiwork and alterations or maybe just a good dry cleaning, but with the money saved on the purchasing a previously worm gown, it be easier to factor alternations into the budget. You can add a few personal touches to make it your own, such as changing the length, neckline, sleeves or adding lace or extra little details to the bodice.
If you are a little wary of purchasing a previously worn gown, take into consideration that it has only been worn once and was most likely cleaned and treated before it was donated to a thrift shop or put up for sale in a consignment shop. You can save a great deal of money purchasing a used gown and you can also find designer gowns for less than half of their original price and no one has to know you’re wearing a used gown, that can be your little secret.
You can also carry on the time-honored tradition of wearing your mother’s gown, or great grandmothers, or any other family member who may have preserved their gown. Again, you can always have alternations to make the dress yours or you can keep it vintage. The choice is totally yours. Think of the money you’ll save this way, and also you will be honoring the memory of a loved one.
Discount Shops
A lot of brides turn their nose up at the idea of discount bridal shops, department or chain stores and prefer to buy their gown from a high-end bridal boutique. Again, not every bride has that privilege. Plenty of department stores have excellent bridal departments, complete with staff trained to do alterations. Also, a lot of stores have bridal expos, sample sales and trunk sales where they offer the dresses at discounted rates.
Online
There are a lot of great online stores that sell gorgeous gowns at very reasonable rates, and a good number of them make customized gowns as well. If you chose to buy online, read customer reviews and make sure you order your gown as early as possible to factor in shipping time and time for alterations.
Custom-made Gown
If you happen to be skilled at sewing, why not make your own dress? Or at least design your own gown and have it tailor made. We all of that one friend with the creative flair who would be secretly thrilled to make a wedding gown. You can be as creative as you want and really make your gown special and unique.
See, there are options available for cheap wedding dresses, so don’t get discouraged. You can save money and still have your dream wedding!
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