Stress Reducer: Save Bridesmaids $$$ too!

With all the things to think about, whether your Bridesmaids will be able to afford their dresses doesn't have to be one of them. The goal is to make sure they look nice and coordinate with your wedding colors, so why make them pay $200 for a dress that they will probably never wear again!?
I looked to regular designers for great looking dresses at an affordable price & decided on Ann Taylor. She has great BM dresses and if you catch a sale, you can get them for a steal!
I had hoped to find a strapless, knee-length mocha dress, such as these:

The first one is $90 (Not too bad of a price) from Nordstrom and the 2nd one is from David's bridal for $149.

The dresses were actually priced well, but I knew I could do better. So my BMs ended up with these from Ann Taylor. We got the mocha dresses (Shown last) & they ended up paying $67! These dresses were originally $215! They are 100% Silk Taffeta. I think we got a great deal. 

Then the shoes. I wanted a mid-height peep-toe heel that was comfortable. So I shopped at Dillard's and found these suuuper comfortable shoes by Nurture. They were originally $90! We got them on sale for $31.99.

So, my Bm's total cost for clothing for my wedding was $99! 

I bought their jewelry (6 sets of pearls and earings) from Ebay for a TOTAL cost of (Drumroll...) $17 with shipping!! This for 6 sets!

I didn't include the cost of my BM's dresses & shoes with my bottom line since they bought their own. So my costs so far?

I had $2567 left from my last post. 

Deduct the $17 for the necklace and earring sets & I'm left with:

$2550 So far, so good!

The Laundry List (Literally)

The first subject of much bridal stress: Oh, what to wear?

Well, I gave myself a $400 budget for the wedding dress. I know this sounds preposterous to some of you brides-to-be. But believe me, it can be done. And here's another wrench to throw in the mix: I'm a plus-sized bride (Regular size 14, formal size 16)...and not to mention busty (36-E bra size). For the smaller brides out there, finding a dress at $400 might be a bit easier.

So, I had visions of a couture ball gown & I started researching online. I started at Ebay and even came across a cool site called Recycledbride.com where you can purchase previously worn wedding gowns. (They've recently changed their name to Tradesy.com BTW). I'm always hesitant though to purchase site-unseen. But at least the site offers a buyer guarantee.

Here are examples of what I had envisioned, a strapless tiered ruffle ball gown:

All of these dresses range between $1000 - $4000

So, I visited a couple local discount bridal shops and tried about 15 dresses before I decided to visit David's Bridal. I went with the hope to buy one of their $99 dresses, but I found that none of them fit the desired "Couture" effect. So, I shopped the sale rack and stumbled upon this very pretty gown, previously priced at $1150, and guess what? It was a final sale at the cost of $349.99!! On top of that, all the sale items had an additional $50 off. So my final price, with tax was around $325! And here it is, a Galina Signature Dress, (In which I found had been created by Viola Chan and is still sold in Europe for $1400.)

I don't think I'll have any problem feeling like a couture bride in this dress! & I came pretty close to my inspiration gowns, don't you think!?

All that was needed to complete my look was a mermaid petticoat (Also at David's Bridal for $49-regular priced), and shoes (I scored a pair of Vera Wang flats while at David's, originally $68. I got them for $49)

My mother told me it wouldn't feel real until I bought the dress, and I have to agree. It's all coming together now!

Dress link: Click Here

Shoe Link: Click Here

So my current tally (with tax) so far:

Dress: $325

Petticoat: $54

Shoes: $54

Total: $433 for dress, undergarments and shoes.

Budget left: $2567

Welcome!

Hello Everyone!

I'm not sure how you stumbled across my site, but I'm glad you did & when you leave, I hope you will be glad you did too!

I have designed this blog for those interested in saving money on events and ventures in a struggling economy.

My first blog is about having a (BEAUTIFUL) wedding for under $3000 for up to 180 guests.
I will blog about my spending and all the DIY projects I do.
I think it's ridiculous to spend the "American average $22,000" on a ONE DAY EVENT!
You can have a new car, paid-in-full for that amount, or a down-payment on a new house.

Caution: This should work for those that are not afraid of a lot of DIY. If you can't put a little elbow grease into your project, then it probably won't work. But if you don't mind getting your hands dirty to avoid paying someone to do things you are capable of doing, then you should be successful!