A few months ago...
I found an amazing wedding dress, the perfect dress of my dreams!...for a few thousand dollars.
If you're pretty much like my fiancee and I, we're stingy with our money because we almost have none, then a dress that's a few thousand dollars is totally out of the question!! For us, a few grand can buy us a car, a half of a year full of groceries, or even pay off a part of our student loans! So, no... that beautiful dress that would look amazing on anyone is one that can not be bought.
Wedding dresses are crazy expensive and are only worn once!!! I'm not going to buy a car just to drive it once! That's ridiculous! So anyways, I put on my research thinking cap and went to work.
And FINALLY!!!!
I found the dress of my dreams for $200!!! That's amazing, right?! It's the exact look that I want and everything that I pictured! While I was working this evening, I thought "Surely there must be other Brides-to-be that are struggling to buy the dress of their dreams because of expenses!" Henceforth the title:How to find the Perfect Wedding Dress on ANY budget!!
A) You NEED TO KNOW your budget!!
If you don't know your budget for your wedding, how are you supposed to know how much you can spend on everything? I'll do another post on my fiancee's and my budget but the gist is that our total max is $5,000. We have percentage'd out our attire to be $500 +/- some.
That's to include my dress, his suit, 1/2 the bride's maid (I only have one female) and the guy's bow ties & suspenders. That's a lot for $500 but I'm super determined that we can make it work! Knowing that we only $500 to work with, that means my dress has got to be LESS THAN HALF!!!
Whew! That's all out now. Once you figure your budget, you'll know what to spend. Here's an awesome link to another blog that helps out with an inexpensive wedding and it totally worth the quick read: https://themttm.com/2015/08/11/our-low-budget-wedding/#like-32
B) Forget the budget & lookup dresses!
Now that you have how much you can spend on your dress, put that aside and take out a legal notepad (or whatever). You should probably make a list on MustHaves and NotHaves for your dress. I love the idea of a long, floorlength dress but despise the long train or any trains. Personal preference is what makes your dress a part of you and what can make the day special as your husband/wife-to-be (not wanting to offend any sexual orientation) looks down the aisle and sees you in all your beauty just for them.
If you're a brilliant artist, drawing out what you're looking for can definitely help you not forget or get lost in all the wonders and wows of looking at dresses and you can stay tied to what you think will make your dress you.
It's also good to go online and just type in wedding dresses. If you have no idea whatsoever on what you are looking for in a dress, do the research with your significant other so they can help you with types of dresses that they know would look great on you because they see you in a different light than you may see yourself.
Knowing the types of dresses you are looking for can give you a great start on what you are interested in and DON'T GET CAUGHT UP WITH PRICES YET!!! Right now, you're just looking for What It Is that you like and your style! (I dared to look at a $2000 dress! Oh. My. Stars!)
C) Find a good price range & don't EVER settle
If there's a dress that covers almost everything you like but you're still just not feeling it, then don't pressure yourself into buying that dress.
UNLESS your significant other sees it and knows you'll look amazing in it! I almost left a store without buying a beautiful blue dress because I didn't like how it sat on my hips but my fiancee saw it and told me to buy it. He wouldn't let me leave the store until I bought the dress. I told him that if it sat in the closet, he would have to pay me back. But he was right, after giving the dress another try, a belt, and some accessories, OH MY GOODNESS!!! I loved this dress!!! Still do! It's great!
Besides your SO telling you that you'll look amazing in this dress and you don't know it yet, then you need to trust your gut about what you like and don't like.
D) Go back to the Budget!
You will always be able to find the dress that you dream of, for a cheaper price. You'll just have to do the research and be patient! Always look in places you won't normally look too! It's totally fine to just browse. You don't have to commit yourself to any one brand or nonbrand, online store or walk-in store. Nothing is permanent so don't worry too much about it.
E) In the End everything will be just fine!!
Don't forget that the whole point of a marriage isn't the dress, the decor, the reception, or the music. It's actually about two people who have found one another in this vast universe and declare their love to all their families!
If you truly love your future spouse, what you wear doesn't matter. All they want and all you should want is to love them for the rest of your lives because this is your (your as in you two) life together!
I hope you enjoy this post and I'll be adding more posts soon!
