How To Save On Your Wedding Dress And Attire
Why Is The Wedding Dress NOT So Important?
Unless you’re a celebrity, a socialite or a reality TV star, no one cares (or will even know) how much your bridal gown cost or who designed it. If you are one of those people, we are flattered you are reading our blog and we encourage you to spend an outrageous amount of money so we can all talk about it. However, if you aren’t on that list than our rule is simple:
- Do Not Spend More Than $500 On Your Wedding Dress!
Yes. We said $500. One of our staffers got an online special for $109 of a dress that was originally $1,200. So if you’re paying full price, you’re just not trying.
Buy Cheap, Spend On Alterations
The most important thing about a dress is that it fits well. It should both fit well visually as well as comfortably. Your wedding day is a long day. A very long day. And if your dress is heavy (because you have five pounds of beaded crystals on it) or too tight (because that corset really makes you look two pounds thinner) it will be one of the most uncomfortable days of your life and is that really how you want to remember your wedding day?
So buy something simple and classic (because in 10 years you don’t want to think how dated your wedding pictures are). Make sure the material and cut are flattering and comfortable and then get a tailor to just nip and tuck a few spots. You’ll be amazed at what a difference that makes.
How To Skimp On The Dress
- Shop Designer And Sample Sales
We don’t recommend it, but if you have to have a designer label then please go to a department store sale or a designer’s sample sales (Though you might get hurt at Vera Wang given the crowds). Even better, keep checking any online specials they may have. As you’ll hear us repeat, online is the best way to shop for almost anything. You just can’t beat the amount of information and selection you can go through in a much shorter time online versus live shopping.
- Consider Renting A Dress
Again, we don’t recommend this as the best option (since you cant alter the dress), but it’s certainly better than buying an expensive dress, so if you have to go big, rent and don’t buy. Just Google “rent a wedding dress” for the latest deals.
- Online Sales
Our best advice is to check reasonable label websites. For example, J. Crew has a great wedding line. We still think their retail prices are too much but their clearance prices can be amazing buys. And no, you don’t have to try on the dress first. They don’t even have to have your exact size. Buy something a little bigger than you usually wear and have it altered to fit you perfectly. Ta da! You’ll have a million dollar dress for $200 bucks.
Note that the “save on a dress” section was much shorter than the “save on the reception” section because, as we have tried to drill in to you, the reception is much more important (both monetarily and for your enjoyment). You’ll forget about the dress the minute you put it on (unless it’s uncomfortable of course). The best that dress can do for you is get out of your way of enjoying your wedding day.
So with our budget in mind, we have full faith that you are more than capable of shopping for your own clothes at this point in life. Go on. Have fun with it!
How To Skimp On Menswear
Ok. We can’t really help you here. Renting a nice tux shouldn’t cost more than $100 and we just think that’s as good of a deal as it gets.
So if you follow our guidelines instead of spending 10% of your budget, $3,500 for the average wedding budget we are using, you’ll only spend about $700-800 (with accessories). A $2,700 (or 8%) savings.
Total Dress and Attire Savings: 8% of Your Budget
Wedding Savings Summary (So Far)
Here is how we have transformed the “typical” wedding budget in just 2 steps:
Expense % of Total Budget New % of Budget
Reception
Wedding Attire
Total
35%
10%
45%
25%
2%
27%
Wedding Savings (So Far): 18% of Original Budget
For more brutal truths on how to plan a real wedding, please continue on to the next post:
Step 3: How to save on (or eliminate!) small budget categories
Plan a good wedding. Start a good life.
This post was written by TheGoodWedding.com | Los Angeles Wedding Planning Directory
