18 Tips to Save you Hundreds on a Wedding Dress

Wedding dresses are not cheap, and couples spend serious bucks on buying a beautiful wedding dress. It is not uncommon for people to end up spending more than their reserved budget for the wedding dress and realize that they might have to postpone their dream honeymoon trip that they had planned because they overspent on their wedding dress. But the truth is you can avoid getting a dent in your pocket and wear a beautiful bridal dress at the same time if you have done your fair share of research and know a thing or two about wedding dresses in advance. With a little help from us, you can buy a very cost-effective wedding dress because let’s face it you only have to wear the wedding dress once in your lifetime so it isn’t wise to compromise on more important things by spending a ton of money on your bridal gown. Below are 18 ways that are sure to get you an elegant wedding dress without having to spend a fortune.

1. Rent a dress instead of buying it.

You can save all of the money you were going to spend on your wedding dress by finding a nice designer dress that you can rent. Renting a wedding dress might sound a cheapskate thing to you but it is a really smart financial decision and your pocket will thank you for this trust me. Some really expensive designer wedding dresses are available for rent at a fraction of their cost and all you have to do is find one that clicks for you. 

2. Choose a lightweight dress

If your wedding is during a warm month then it is obvious you would like to wear a light dress, to avoid sweating like you just took a shower. But there is a nice catch about light wedding dresses and that is a light dress with thinner fabric and simpler design is going to be less expensive. So if you are on a tight budget go for a dress with a less complex design and thin fabric and one way to do it is schedule your wedding during summer and blame the weather for your simply decorated light wedding dress.

3. Make sure to do your homework before you buy a wedding dress

We all agree that we hate homework but doing your homework about buying a wedding dress and doing research about what wedding dress to buy is going to do wonders when it comes to saving you a lot of money. Select your favorite designers and dress styles in advance, and see if the boutique you regularly buy clothes from has any similar dresses or if you are lucky you may even find the same exact dress you had selected. And since you are a regular customer of your boutique you can ask for a special discount as a wedding gift and we are sure they won’t say no to their regular customer on her wedding occasion.

4. Buy an unused wedding dress second hand

Now I know what you are thinking about how can you buy a wedding dress that is second hand but unused at the same time. There are plenty of brides who change their mind about their wedding dress after getting it made and buy a new one or some brides even get multiple wedding dresses for their wedding. So there are plenty of unused wedding dresses you can buy second hand because the brides would be looking to sell the extra dresses they have to recover the money they spent. If you look hard enough you can easily find such wedding dresses listed on a used items website. And if you are a tough negotiator you can get the price of the wedding dress low but make sure that the dress is according to measurements before spending your energy in being a shrewd negotiator.

5. Avoid Custom Alterations

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that getting alternations done to ready to wear wedding dress will cost a lot of money. So it is best to make up your mind on a ready to wear wedding instead of altering an existing design. Because the cost of even a slight modification such as changing the style of the embroidery will end up costing you more than the actual dress.

6. Buy a simply designed dress

It is common knowledge that the more complex the design of a dress is the higher its price tag will be. Dark bead dress with delicate laces are gorgeous and I agree with that but what I don’t agree with is their price because they cost almost as much as a car sometimes. If you are a thrifty bride and want to save money on your clothes, it’s best to stick to some simple dress maybe a classically styled one. Not only will you look more elegant on your wedding day if you choose a simple dress but you will have a lot more money in the bank as well and that is elegant in its own way.

7.Renew your mom’s or grandmother’s dress

You might have heard the saying that a daughter is an image of her mother so why not restore your mothers dress and give your mom a trip down the memory lane.Of course, your mother’s dress will not be as fashionable now but adding a few things to it will turn the dress into a classic. May I suggest a classic themed wedding to go with the old school wedding dress?

8.Choose the lace-up, corset-style dress

Getting your wedding dress to flawlessly fit you according to your size is going to take a lot of money. So how you can save up on this tailoring cost? Well by getting a corset style dress off course. Not only are corset style dresses trendy these days but they are going to cost way less than a custom-fitted dress.

9. Avoid shopping at big stores

Your local boutique is your friend if you are on a tight budget for your wedding dress. Shopping at a mass retail store is even better than buying a wedding dress from a boutique. This way you can get a simple and low costing dress and use the reserved budget to modify the dress by adding beads, laces, necklace and other accessories that it might be missing. 

10. Have your gown custom made

No, I am not crazy it is true that custom made wedding dress can be a great way to save a few bucks but the important thing is who is making your custom dress for you. Forget about fancy tailoring companies and custom wedding dress stores. Find a seamstress who has experience making wedding dresses and share the images of designs you like with her. Not only will you find a really good price on your custom wedding dress but you will also be helping a local business out.

11. Don’t try a dress that exceeds your budget

Living within your means intensifies when you are on a strict budget for your wedding dress. And if you are looking for a good deal on your wedding dress don’t even try wearing a fancy wedding dress from an expensive store because it is easy to give in and buy these fancy dresses since they are made to look good with the lighting and atmosphere in the store.

12. Hunt for discount vouchers and coupons

If you are social media savvy then you shouldn’t find any problems finding a discount voucher or coupon as wedding dress businesses provide updates for discounts and coupons on their social media. And if you can find a good discount voucher you may get the dress of your dream for a price that will also feel like you’re dreaming.

13.Request Substitute

This is a pro tip because using this trick will allow you to get the same look as an expensive dress but without stepping out of your budget lane. First, you have to find a mouth-watering dress for yourself and then it is time for your communications skills to shine. Ask the designer if you can get the same design as the dress you like with cheaper fabric or less expensive accessories and if you are manipulative enough you might end up with an expensive-looking dress at the price of a second hand one.

14.Buy a floor sample dress

This tip works very well because the stores also have an incentive in selling you a sample dress used as display so they can replace it with a new one. Find a wedding dress that is on display and it is also matching your measurements. Next, go to the store staff and ask if they are willing to sell the display dress instead of making a new one for you. Chances are this trick is going to get you up to a 50% discount if you are a shrewd negotiator.

15. Choose your fabrics carefully

Choose a less expensive fabric for your wedding dress because silk and lace are the go-to fabric used in wedding dresses and it is not a surprise that both of these fabrics are super expensive. So you can go to a tailor and ask around about what would be the cheapest fabric for the wedding dress that also suits the weather. This is where having a tailor friend comes in handy.

16. Opt for a short dress.

Since wedding dress fabric is expensive therefore you can use this to your advantage and get a shorter wedding dress for your wedding because shorter the dress the lesser the fabric used in it and cheaper the dress.

17. Shop at the end of winter or summer seasons.

Clearance sales are something you should be actively hunting for like an eagle because brands clear out their stock at discounted prices at the end of each season to make room for dresses for the next season. 

18. Pick a Less Formal Silhouette

Just like a T-shirt is cheaper than a dress shirt formal wedding silhouettes are more expensive than more casual looking dresses. So if you can go for a less formal wedding dress so that you can save some cash and you can decorate the dress with accessories to make it seem expensive.