3 O’Clock Wedding

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Cinderella’s gown was tailored by mice.  In fairytales, that’s an easy solution!  In real life, it’s much more daunting!  Finding the perfect gown is very important to every bride to be.  Most girls want to feel like a princess as they walk down the aisle to their prince charming!  You can look like a princess without spending a whole month’s rent on your dress!

Do you really need a hand-made wedding dress with beads and diamantes?  This is where the big cost is and there are several options in cutting the cost.

First and foremost, consider wearing your mother or grandmother’s wedding gown – assuming they still have them of course.  Can you imagine the pride on their faces as they watch you stroll down the aisle toward your future husband wearing the very gown that they wore doing the exact same thing?  You may think that their gown is out of date, if that’s the case then consider hiring a seamstress to update the cut a bit.  You can often find a seamstress or tailor for around $100 – well less than the cost of a new, off the rack wedding gown anyway!

Why not opt for a second-hand wedding dress? It’s probably only been worn once anyway and you can get a once expensive dress for half the price.  Check out consignment shops or thrift stores to see what they have to offer.  Better yet, check out ebay.com.  Again, if you can get a great deal on a gown and only need some alterations, a seamstress will be only a fraction of the cost of buying the gown outright.

Consider buying an evening gown/cocktail dress from a department store.  Look around prom season.  These days, many prom dresses can look like wedding gowns.

 A lot of specialty shops will run specials prior to prom hoping to cull their inventory.  You can come across a great deal on a beautiful dress and look like a prom queen in the process!

You may want to look around for closing out sales or liquidation sales at bridal shops in your area.  One word of caution - do not drive the equivalent of halfway across the country just to find a gown. 

Another option is to rent your wedding gown.  This will be much cheaper than buying a gown.  However, if you do this it is unlikely that the gown will fit you perfectly and you will not be able to have it altered.  Also, check that you can take out insurance with the store in case the dress gets damaged during your wedding day.

Consider shopping online at a discount wedding store or even eBay.  You won’t get the pampering you do at a bridal shop but you can save up to around 40% by following this route!  You can have the dress altered locally if it doesn’t fit quite right.

You can also realize incredible savings on your dream gown by picking one out and asking a local seamstress to copy the design.  This probably won’t be the most cost-cutting measure but you can have a designer gown for about half the price that you would pay directly from the designer.  If you find a good seamstress, they should be able to copy the design and noone will ever know the difference!

What would be even better than that?  If you or someone you know sews!  Pick out a pattern at the local discount store, buy the fabric and make the dress yourself, for a fraction of the cost!

This is an extract from our eBook ‘Planning The Perfect Wedding On a Shoestring Budget’, it’s packed with ideas to help you plan your perfect wedding without having to remortgage your house! If you would like to download our eBook, please click here.