You have been dreaming of your wedding day and wearing that white dress since you were a little girl and now that you’re starting to prepare for your big day, you’re facing the reality check of wedding budgets!
It’s quite easy to be swept away in the wedding preparations fever and go way over budget. Take a deep breath and remember your wedding day is a day to celebrate love in the presence of friends and family.
You can save on literally every aspect of your wedding starting from replacing stationary by e-vites (which we did by the way), to marrying off-season and everything in between…My personal advice would be to decide on your non-negotiable item from the start. For us it was photography as we didn’t want to jeopardize the memory of the day.
Choosing your wedding dress is quite an emotional experience and you might believe that it will cost you an arm and a leg to wear your dream dress. Luckily, that is no longer true.
Here are six tips to save on your wedding dress without sacrificing style:
1 – Opt for a Pre-Loved Dress
Opting for a Pre-loved wedding dress is a great way to wear your dream dress without the price tag that comes with it! It’s one of the main principles behind Dress Come True that every bride deserves her Dream Dress!
Dresses on Dress Come True are listed by brides who have worn a stylish dress once or never at all. You have no idea how many brides have a change of heart close to the wedding day and end up with a different dress than the one they originally purchased.
Savings on a pre-loved dress can range anywhere between 30% off the retail price for the newest dresses up to a whopping 90% on other dresses.
Plus, if you get lucky and buy a dress from someone with a similar body type, you may not even have to make too many alterations.
2 – Negotiate your Accessories
Accessories offer you most room for negotiation, especially for pre-loved gowns. Most brides listing their dress on Dress Come True have bought a veil, a belt or an underskirt with the dress.
Negotiate a deal to include the veil, the underskirt, or belt in the cost of the dress. You might even get away with a headpiece…Most dresses have custom made veils and the bride selling would be happy to include it as she will have no use for it once the dress is sold.
Don’t even think of buying a matching shoe to your wedding dress that you will never wear again. Rather choose a shoe that you will gladly wear again and again.
3 – Look for a Versatile Dress
One of the latest trends we see on Dress Come True is versatile dresses, typically a dress that is figure hugging covered by a detachable skirt. This saves you on buying two dresses, one for the ceremony, one for the reception. By removing the detachable skirt, you will have a completely different look for your reception.
We have few Avant Garde dresses that are versatile beyond the wedding, where a jumpsuit or a cocktail dress is hiding under the skirt of the wedding dress and can be worn again and again.
4 – Choose Your Must-Have Item
Choosing one focal point or must-have item on your wedding dress will help you stay within budget as the less important features can be eliminated.
For example, if you are adamant to wear a certain silhouette like ball gown or have a clear preference for a neckline or a sleeves style, or even a certain embellishment, focus on this must-have element. This way it becomes easier to eliminate any unnecessary and expensive features. Your options will increase once you have focused on the feature you love as you will experiment with different styles until you find your dream dress within your budget.
5 – Go with a Simple Silhouette
Big wedding dresses made of fancy fabrics like silk or satin with lots of embellishments, especially Swarovski will make the wedding dress expensive. Making such a dress is man-hour intensive, not to mention the amount and cost of materials used.
Opting for mixed fabrics can achieve similar beautiful results within your budget. If you are not keen on too much bling or you prefer a modern minimalistic silhouette for an intimate or outdoor wedding, a bohemian style may be your choice. You will find lots of options within your budget and you can always up the glam using a tiara, chandelier earrings, a belt or just wear statement heels with a pop of colour.
6 – Buy a Sample or Last Season’s Dresses
Unless you are keen on wearing the latest bridal trend of the year, you can find amazing new dresses from last year’s collection or sample dresses at unbelievable prices. At Dress Come True we work with many boutiques and designers wanting to make way for their latest collection and we have a vast array of heavily discounted new dresses from last years’ collection. This is another great way to land your dream wedding dress without exceeding your budget.
The entire process of finding your wedding dress can be overwhelming, especially on a budget. Trust the process and carry on! With a little patience and a cool head, you will wear your dream wedding dress – guaranteed ☺.
Also read our Blog TOP TIPS FOR CHOOSING YOUR DREAM WEDDING DRESS