It's all About the Dress
The Wedding Gown
I've already told you that you are not your wedding. You are also
not your wedding gown. By that I mean that you are not worth less,
or are any less special if your wedding gown isn't worth more
than most peoples cars! We so easily get sucked into the hype
of the celebrities who have worn outrageously expensive designer
gowns on their wedding day. Try to remember that most of those
celebrities were given their gowns by the designer as a trade-off
for the huge amount of free publicity given to them by the celebrity
wearing it. Do you think that the super-stars feel any less special
on their big day because they got a free dress? Heck no! And as
long as your dress makes you feel pretty and look good –
that’s all that matters. You're going to be surprised at
how many hints and tips we have for finding dream gowns on a realistic
budget. But first, some quick tips on your wedding dress in general.
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Start looking and researching straight away. Brides that shop
while feeling rushed often pay hundreds of dollars more than they
should have.
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Know what suits you. Before even considering buying a dress,
try a few on. Don't be tempted to take your family along. Lots
of wedding stores encourage you to bring along an entourage of
family and girlfriends to try on wedding dresses. Yes, this can
be a wonderful family moment, but the real reason they encourage
this is that it increases the hype and pressure to impulse-buy
a gown. If you have fifteen of your loved ones cooing at you that
you look amazing, it's too easy to hand over your credit card
or savings without really looking to make sure that you love the
dress. Take one or two honest friends with you and word them up
that you are not buying a dress today. You just want to see what
looks good. Try on as many different shaped and styled dresses
as you can find – full and puffy or sleek and slinky, train
or no train, try different necklines and different colors. Don't
worry about the decorations on the dress as much as it's shape
and style. Remember, today you aren't shopping for a dress, you
are shopping for a dress style. You may be surprised at what suits
you and what feels good.
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Dress appropriately for your wedding. there's no point spending
$5000 on a traditional full-skirted gown with a train if you are
going to have to hitch it up around your thighs to walk down the
sandy aisle at your beach wedding – a more slimline shape
without a train would be much better suited to the task. Alternatively,
there are more than a few church ministers who would prefer you
didn't wear a revealing or overtly sexy dress for a traditional
church wedding – something a little more classic would be
called for in this situation.
Now, for my top Wedding Dress Savings Tips – Grab a pen
and mark the one that could be saving your hard-earned dollars!
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Never just accept the tag price at a Bridal store. If you heart
is set on that dress, ask them to write down the details of the
dress (Designer/Maker, Style Name or Number and the best price
that they will sell it to you for) and let them know that you
want to sleep on it. Try to ignore them when they say the dress
will be gone tomorrow, another bride already wants this dress
etc etc etc. They are just trying to snare your cash. Leave the
store. Once home with the details, get researching and calling.
Don't be afraid to call other wedding stores and ask if they have
or can get this dress into stock and the best price they can do
on it. How many stores and where these stores are is up to you.
I know of a bride who found another store three hours away that
had her dress – that sounds insane until I tell you that
store had her dress for $700 less than the original store! Well
worth a short road trip!
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Accept that wedding gowns aren't always sold as 'wedding gowns'
– and getting used to that idea can save you thousands!
I was shopping recently for an evening gown and came across the
most incredible white ball gown that would make any bride proud.
If I had seen this in a bridal store, you would expect the price
tag to be $1500 - $3000. In this department store the tag price
was $799. The savings can be even greater for those brides thinking
about a slinky or straighter style dress. Amazingly detailed and
sexy evening dresses quite often come up in white or light colors
and even the most intricate can sell for thousands less than similar
dresses (or exactly the same ones in some cases) in specialist
bridal and wedding stores.
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Seriously think about your stance on wearing a second-hand or
hire gown. For some it is an immediate no, for the rest of us,
the opportunity of saving thousands of dollars (quite often more
than enough to pay for a honeymoon) on a dress we'll only ever
wear once is a powerful motivator.
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Get Online. I only recommend this after you have followed my
hint about trying dresses on and knowing exactly what suits you
and what you'd like. Stores like www.gojane.com have a wide range
of evening and formal wear that often some in white or ivory,
almost all are under $200 – a recent search showed some
great traditional as well as sleek gowns. You'll soon see www.ebay.com
has an enormous array of wedding dresses at ridiculous prices.
Most of these are made by tailors in China (don't let that turn
you off, most bridal store gowns are made in the same location!)
according to measurements you give them after winning the auction.
My word of warning on ebay gowns – the postage charges are
usually very expensive and there can be quite a long delay while
your gown is made for you. Make sure you read the auction page
carefully and always read a lot of the seller's feedback history
to see what other buyers have thought of their gowns once they
received them. This is a slight gamble, but in my experience,
brides who have done their research before winning the gown, and
accepted that the gown may need minor alterations to make it a
perfect fit once it arrives (usually costs less than $100) have
found amazing bargains this way.
Next Page - Page 05: Saving Money on the Wedding Dress Pt. 2.
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