Balling on a Budget: How to Save Money on your Wedding Attire

This is part four of my six-part series on how to save money while planning a wedding.

The range of garments available to a prospective bride or groom is amazing; the sky's the limit, from a thrifted outfit to custom made suits and gowns. It may seem daunting to set expectations for your wedding ensemble, which will live in forever in photographs, for better or for worse. Having been through this myself and playing a supporting role to others searching for outfits for their wedding day, I have some tips on how to save money and minimize stress.

Be Prepared

Shopping for this all-important outfit will be much easier if you have an idea of what you want. Take a look at print magazines and online to get an idea of what silhouettes are available. It will be helpful for you to know what styles you like before you head to the store. If you have not bought a suit or a formal gown before (or since Prom), you might consider going to a bridal store or suit warehouse with a wide range of styles available so that you can try on a number of pieces and get an idea of what you like best.

Scope Out Sales

Bridal and suit stores have periodic sales and online-only specials. You can best take advantage of these events if you have a good idea of what styles you prefer. You may also want to keep an eye out for store closings. While this is not a common occurrence, a bridal store going out of business will be liquidating a large amount of stock at reduced prices.

Online Retailers

 As long as you are careful about sizing (and backed by a good returns policy), you can search for your dream dress online. Some retailers, like Azazie, do charge a fee for trying on dresses at house. However, all of their popular styles are under $900 (many under $500!) so you will still come out ahead if one of these gowns is the one for you.

If your online retailer of choice offers custom sizing, it may be worth looking into if you have any kind of an unusual fit. I do not mean to cause offense - as someone who is 5 feet tall, I am a weird fit myself! It cost as much to alter my dress as it did to buy it off the rack. If I had ordered a dress online, I would have had someone help me take my measurements and ordered a custom length to prevent having to make multiple seamstress visits. Fewer fittings will save you money, as well.

Save on Accessories

I wholeheartedly recommend that you look online for all of your accessory needs. The markup on these items is extreme for both men's and women's accessories. Some well-known bridal chains charge over $100 for a veil, which is essentially a piece of tulle fabric attached to a comb, and more than that for belts and costume jewelry. The markup on ties is similarly huge. To give you an idea of the savings to be had, my husband tried on an $80 tie that had a pattern in line with our wedding theme. I ultimately found him a $10 tie that looked nearly identical on Amazon. I also bought a $20 veil that I liked more than the $150 one I tried on in the bridal store!

You may be able to share accessories from your family or friends. While it's difficult to share a tailored gown with someone else, accessories are much more one-size-fits-all. Your mom, grandma, or other family member may have kept their veil along with their gown. This extra-special touch would add an emotional family connection to your wedding outfit.

I bought my veil at Amazon for a mere $20 and later shared it with a close friend.
It made for an extra-special story for us both to tell forever!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Re-Upholster Dining Room Chairs

Image
Re-upholstering chairs be a great way to change the look of your whole dining room just by changing the color or pattern of your seats. Once you are confident in how to re-cover chairs, you can buy a dining room set secondhand or re-vamp an inherited set rather than paying retail for new furniture. While you could certainly take the chairs to an upholsterer, it is much more economical to complete this project on your own. A professional upholsterer will likely charge about $40 to re-cover a dining room chair, which you will see is quite a simple task. Your kitchen set of 4 chairs would cost you $160 in that case, and a dining room set of 6 would cost $240 to re-finish. You will also have to go through the hassle of finding the right professional, and possibly transporting the chairs to and from their establishment. The finished products Re-Upholstering Made Easy You'll need just a few materials to get started: A staple gun (with staples, of course) Several yards of u...
Read more

Meatless Meals: Greek Spinach Pie

Image
This spinach pie recipe has been passed down through my husband's family. My husband's Greek family is from Ioannina, a city in northwestern Greece. The Jewish community in Ioannina prepared a number of unique dishes, mostly focused on vegetarian foods containing dairy products in keeping with Kosher dietary rules.  Other Jewish families in Ioannina add feta cheese to this recipe, which I think sounds delicious, as well. The original version, which uses plain unseasoned matzo meal, get most of its flavor from the spinach and grated cheese topping. Personally, I use seasoned breadcrumbs and add garlic and onion powder to taste to bump up the flavor. This pie has no crust, which saves you the trouble of buying or rolling out a pie crust! Ingredients: 2 packages (10 oz each) of frozen chopped spinach, drained 2 eggs, beaten 8 oz farmer cheese (or cottage cheese) 4 oz cream cheese 1 tsp salt Handful of matzo meal (I always use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs) Grated chees...
Read more

Broccoli and Cheese Bake

Image
  This recipe is a riff on the spinach and cheese recipe that I posted several years ago. It has the flavor of a broccoli and cheese soup without the heavy cream.  Ingredients: 8oz fat free cottage cheese 2 Laughing Cow soft cheese wedges 2 eggs 16oz uncooked broccoli florets 1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs Onion powder Garlic powder Black pepper or red pepper flakes Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top Directions: Steam broccoli on stovetop or in microwave I weighed 16oz of broccoli into a glass Pyrex container, added a cup of water, and cooked in microwave for 12 minutes Blend Laughing Cow cheese, eggs, and cottage cheese in small blender or food processor, then add to a mixing bowl Chop up or use potato masher to break the broccoli into small pieces. Add to the mixing bowl. Add the breadcrumbs and seasonings to the bowl and mix all ingredients together Pour into greased pie plate and top with parmesan if desired Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 45 minutes or until well browned...
Read more