The gown of your dreams might have a pricetag from your nightmares. Many of the top designer styles are, of course, priced into the stratosphere, but you can find your dress or one just like it for far, far less. There are lots of tried-and-true secrets that brides have used to buy their dream wedding gowns at a fraction of the designer gown cost, and you too may soon be telling everyone about how you ‘beat the system.’ You don’t have to scout garage sales, looking for a used dress hanging from a tree limb, and you don’t have to settle for a ho-hum gown that doesn’t thrill you. It does take some extra time, and looking in the right place, but you can get a gorgeous wedding gown on a budget. Here are our top tips.
Budgeting
The tradition of "who pays for what" has changed somewhat, especially in today's modern world of dual income and independent couples who pay for the entire wedding themselves. For those who still consider tradition important in financing the wedding, you'll find this outline helpful in "assigning" expense responsibilities.
Who needs another expense when planning a wedding? You may. For a few hundred dollars, you can purchase special event insurance which will protect you from liability and loss.
Want to enter marital bliss in a big way without going bankrupt? Diane Warner, author of nine wedding-related books, including How to Have a Big Wedding on a Small Budget: Cut Your Wedding Costs by Half-- or More and Beautiful Wedding Decorations and Gifts on a Small Budget confides spending secrets guaranteed to slice that budget.
The do-it-yourself concept that raised an entire industry, from hardware conglomerates like Home Depot to lifestyle guru's like Martha Stewart, is a viable solution for controlling wedding costs. Adding personal touches to the affair is an affordable way to design an elegant wedding.
