Cheap Wedding Dresses: How To Get Your Gown For Less
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Planning your wedding? Buying a dress a big part of the process – here are my tips for keeping things budget-friendly when shopping for your dream wedding dress. Cheap wedding dresses can be found in a number of places and cheap doesn’t need to mean tacky or horrible. Plenty of cheap wedding dresses are absolutely stunning!
The cost of a wedding dress can vary dramatically and can be based on so many different factors, including where you buy it, the style and of course whether or not it has that designer price tag. How much you spend, is of course, entirely up to you and how much money you have in your budget.
Cheap Wedding Dresses: Get Your Gown For Less
It is worth remembering it’s likely you’ll only wear the dress once – so spending two or three months wages on it may not be the wisest idea.
I think when wedding planning it is so easy to get overwhelmed and make bad money choices due to decision fatigue and stress. Setting out a budget ahead of time can help avoid this and help keep spending under control. Looking at cheap wedding dresses is also a great way to save some cash.
Want even more Wedding Savings? Check out all my money-saving wedding posts here.
1. Buy Your Dress Second-Hand
While buying second-hand may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it is worth considering – especially if there is a designer dress you have your eye that’s out of your budget.
Before looking at second-hand dresses it’s worth getting an appointment at a bridal boutique to try on some dresses so you can get an idea of what suits you – so often brides have a particular style or shape in mind only to discover it isn’t really flattering in real life. If you fall in love with a designer dress at this stage it might be time to start looking for it second-hand to save some cash.
The most popular online stores to buy second-hand wedding dresses are eBay and Pre-Loved – especially when you are looking for a particular dress by a specific designer. The downside – and it’s a pretty big one – is the location. This may prevent you from being able to try the dress and check the condition is as described.
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Facebook selling groups for your local area are a great place to search for second-hand dresses – being closer to home this should enable you to see the dress in person and maybe even try it on.
Charity Oxfam has some dedicated wedding boutiques that only sell wedding dresses and accessories and sometimes suits too.
This is a great way to find more retro or vintage-inspired dresses without the hefty price tag – plus your money is going to a good cause.
2. Try discounted Wedding Warehouses such as Wed2B
Wed2B is one of the largest bridal retailers in the UK. It has 23 stores so finding one close to you shouldn’t be an issue – plus many of them are open seven days a week so getting an appointment shouldn’t be too difficult.
Wed2Be Stores are much less formal than your usual boutique – there are often several brides trying on dresses at the same time. However, all dresses come in at under £600 so there are definite savings to be made.
Dresses bought from Wed2B are off the peg – so no waiting for them to be made – but also means you may need to make a decision there and then to avoid losing the dress of your dreams. As dresses aren’t made to measure you may also need to factor in the cost of adjustments and resizing too.
3. Finding a Sample Sale could save you a fortune
When buying a wedding dress, usually the dress you try on is a sample and your actual dress will be tailor-made in your size. The whole process can take around six months which is why brides will start dress hunting so early.
However, when new dress designs are released each year, many boutiques will have a sample sale, where these tried on sample are sold to make room for all the lovely new dresses.
Like the dresses from Wed2Be these are always off the peg and of course, will have been tried on a fair bit. However, it is a great way to bag a dress, possibly even a designer one, for much less than the original price tag.
4. Should you buy from China via eBay?
There is a huge Wedding dress Market in China where copies of designer dresses are made for a fraction of the price and then shipped over to the U.K. While some people do seem to have had success with this, there have been plenty of disaster stories too.
Here are some tips if this is a route you decide to go down:
- Always ask for a sample of the material being used. Reputable sellers will always be happy to send this.
- As the item is being handmade it is unlikely eBay will refund you if you are unhappy.
- Check seller’s ratings and ask in Wedding groups and Forums if other brides have recommendations.
- Don’t get caught out by UK sellers ordering cheap from China and then selling on
- Be aware that even if you send exact measurements the dress may still alterations
- You may need to pay customs charges for the dress.
- Don’t be fooled by the pictures – often the sellers will use pictures of the designer’s dress and not the copy they are making.
5. Consider wearing a Bridesmaids Dress as a cheaper alternative to a wedding gown
If you’re looking for something simple and budget-friendly, you might want to consider a bridesmaid dress instead of an actual wedding dress.
This could save hun dreads of pounds, especially if you can find one second-hand that you love. If you have plenty of time to plan, the end of July and August is a great time to hit up department stores for mega discounts on this year’s designs.
6. Have a dress Tailor Made
If you’re not a fan of a traditional white wedding dress or are looking for something a bit more quirky and interesting going direct to a dressmaker could be a great, and much cheaper, option. This process essentially cuts out the middle man meaning that savings are passed directly on to you and you get exactly what you want.
7. Watch out for Hidden Costs
- If you’re going to buy a dress second-hand online be sure to factor in the cost of postage and possibly dry cleaning in-case the dress isn’t in the state you would expect it to be.
- As mentioned before do be aware of customs charges if ordering a dress from China
- Many Bridal boutiques will charge for an appointment to try on dresses – this will then be deducted from the cost if you end up buying a dress and prevents them from having too many time wasters.
- Some Bridal boutiques charge for things like dress covers, storage, insurance (in case of fire or theft) and steaming before collection.
- Remember to factor in the cost of dress accessories such as hoops and petticoats and a good bra! As well as thinking about Veils, Tiaras and shoes.
Looking for cheap wedding dress inspiration? See how Lee From Homely Economics got her Wedding Dress for just £10!
