How to save on your Wedding Dress
I recently covered a wedding where the bride had managed to score her wedding dress for s measly $50. This wasn’t some horrible train wreck of a wedding dress either, like the cheap examples below, it was a lovely, elegant and well made dress. And to top it all off, she said she actually bought 3 dresses as they were so cheap! She did this by finding a closing down wedding tailor and buying out their stock before they went under. Anyway, this gave me a bit of an idea, I’m sure a lot of you brides out there would be looking for some tips on how to save on your Wedding Dress? Well as a wedding photographer, I’ve covered many dozens of weddings and I’ve come across a few simple tips on how to save on your Wedding Dress.
Tips on how to save on your Wedding Dress
1. Avoid shopping on line
Yes, on-line is cheaper, yes there’s a larger range to choose from, but just take a peek at the images below and imagine yourself in their position, and these are not isolated incidents. Occasionally I will rock up at a brides place of preparation, ready to take some rocking wedding photography when lo and behold they unwrap their bridesmaid or wedding gown, not having opened it in fear of dirtying the fabric and it wasn’t what they ordered :/ Different size, colour, style, whatever, it wasn’t what they wanted. So if you want to know how to save on your wedding dress, why don’t you first support local vendors, and then not have to pay through the nose for a last minute dress or crazy shipping costs.
2. Know your price range before you shop
Buying a wedding dress is often a highly emotional affair, which vendors can pick up on and cause you to start spending over and above what you expected, or budgeted to pay. If you’re familiar with the TV show Family Guy (s10e21), there is a scene about this exact scenario. The dress was out of their budget, but the salesman talked them into buying it all the same because he picked up on the bride’s emotions. Try to only try on dressed that you know you can afford, do not get tempted by that more expensive dress as you know once you put it on you’ll have to cut back on more important things, like a few extra nights on your honeymoon.
3. Check out ‘Trunk Shows’
Trunk Shows are wedding dress designers and vendors showcase their new styles in a bit of a fashion show, and try to offload their old designs for sometimes as much as 50% off. Adelaide holds such shows quite often in the form of the bridal fairs at the Adelaide show grounds, or even the convention centre, just keep an eye out for them.
4. Get lucky with sales and changing stock
The bride that I mentioned at the beginning of this article found that closing down store on a whim, and I’m sure you all know the feeling when you find an amazing deal in a sale and how lucky you were to find it? Well what if I told you that many brides I’ve met have had a wonderful secret on how to save on your wedding dress, and that is to purchase the floor sample of their dress. Sometimes stores will be offloading their old stock and the floor sample is always the hardest to offload, so that particular dress would more often than not go for a song.
5. Plan way ahead of your wedding
Planning months in advance of your wedding will save you money in a number of ways, first you know what you want, you have a reasonable budget and you can take your time choosing and hoping for that amazing bargain. Second if you leave it too late you may have to spring for huge express shipping fees just to make sure your gown is with you on time.
6. Use your credit card
If for no other reason than to gain more frequent flyer points when you make your wedding gown purchase so you can stretch out your honeymoon!
