Affordable Wedding Dresses

The hottest affordable wedding dresses online

aBeauty — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:01:24 +0000

This last month I have seen literally hundreds, if not thousands, of wedding gowns featured with beautiful photos on web sites all over the Internet. Some are outrageously pricey, while others have been surprisingly inexpensive. I wanted to make a post about the hottest affordable wedding dresses online and gather links to inexpensive wedding gowns that I found the most attractive. But since I have been busy the post has had to wait until now. I hope you enjoy.

First a recap of how I define an affordable wedding dress. It really doesn’t have that much to do with price as it has with how good the deal is. If you find a cheap wedding dress that is made of the worst of the worst fabrics, looks terrible, and is priced at $59, would you call that an affordable dress? Perhaps, but it wouldn’t fall in to the spirit of what I am trying to provide on this site, which is advice on how to find the best deals for the most beautiful wedding dresses out there. So price really isn’t an issue, especially if you can get a designer wedding dress at 50% off the retail price.

Of course, affordable also means a price that fits the average wallet. This isn’t a site dedicated to the top “hollywood” wedding dress designers that create dresses that usually start at $3000 and above. But there are great deals out there, and you shouldn’t be surprised if you find affordable designer wedding dresses with prices cut in half, especially if you go hunting for older season’s collections.

Ok, so lets start of with a great resource for inexpensive wedding gowns. This online shop is best known for their books, and is none other than Amazon. Bare with me, because yes, they do have several wonderfully looking wedding dresses, and their customer service and return policies are top notch.

This first wedding dress is a Formal Evening Gown by Sean Collectionwhich is semi-simple, cheap, and very beautiful. I think it generally is a good idea to go for a less extravagant dress if you are looking for a sub $500 dress, because then most of the money doesn’t go to make all the details and different fabrics you often see on the more cinderella style dresses. At only $139 this Sean Collection wedding dress should be obtainable for just about any wallet.

The next Amazon wedding dress is made by Lady Roi Bridals and I just find it gorgeous. It is a bit more pricey than the prior dress, but still not outlandishly pricy.

Here is the product page: Lady Roi Bridals Gown. Style No. 8570

This semi-inexpensive wedding gown goes for $349, but has a list price of almost $800, so I think it i a pretty good deal for this beautiful ball wedding dress.

There are just so many great deals on the Internet if you do some looking that I can’t list them all here. But, I will try to get some more up on this site on a more regular basis. Now I want to shift focus to some of the designer wedding dress brands out there. Yes, they are extremely pricey, even at a steep discount, but I want to show you what you can get if you do some searching for affordable wedding dresses online.

Let’s start with one of the top wedding dress designers. Monque Lhullier wedding dresses aren’t gowns you usually link with the word “affordable” or “inexpensive”, and certainly not “cheap”. And that holds true even when you find them at a discount, as prices normally start at around $3-4000 at list. Now, there are two ways of getting a Monique Lhullier wedding gown at a discount, either strike gold by finding an online shop that is running a sale of some kind, or go for a pre-owned wedding dress. I will give you examples of both.

Bridecouture.com has two Lhullier wedding dresses at the moment at steep discounts. These are completely new wedding dresses:

“Sydney” Beautiful Monique Lhuillier ivory silk organza gown with stunning butter sash with light gold beading; chapel length train.

An Amy Chantilly lace gown from Monique Lhullier that is in ivory color, with a fit/flare shape. The list price for this dress is almost $4000 but they are selling it for $2290, almost a 50% discount.
A beautiful “Sydney” gown for Lhullier, made in ivory silk, with a chapel length train. The list price for this dress is $4100 and Bridecoutore sell it for $2010. That’s more than a 50% discount.

Both dresses can be found here. Both dresses are stunning, and I am sorry I can’t show you the pictures as they are copyrighted. I will see if I can get permission to put them up here, but you can always check them out at the link above.

Another hot wedding dress designer is Vera Wang. Certainly, a Vera Wang wedding dress can’t be found at an affordable price? Yes they can! Bridepower.com lists a simple, princess, A-line, wedding gown by Vera Wang at only $499, with a list price of $2400. I haven’t been able to figure out if this is a used wedding dress or if it is new, because the description says that it has to be cleaned. This can be do to it being a pre-owned wedding dress, but it can also just mean that it has been in the warehouse for a long time and not been covered up properly. Take this dress to a dry cleaner and it might look as good as new. Here is the link to the dress. Be sure to check out their return policy before shopping their, or any other online wedding dress shop, because there are most likely fees involved if you need to return the dress.

Now on to one of my favorite sources of cheap wedding dresses. These are used wedding dresses, mind you, but there are few better ways to get a fantastic deal than to buy someone else’s wedding dress. Remember, they have only been used once, and are usually in mint condition. The wedding dress shop I am referring to is preownedweddingdresses.com, and they have an extremely wide selection of affordable designer wedding dresses.

At the moment their database has over 4000 dresses listed, and if you look at the designers they list, most of the big names are there. Reem Acra wedding dresses, as an example, can be found as low as $499 (the lowest I found, might find something even cheaper), with a list price of over $7000.

There is no doubt that the pre owned wedding dresses shop is a great place to go if you can get past wearing a used dress. On that subject, who will actually know that it is used except you? Not your wedding guests! I think they will instead think to themselves “wow, she looks beautiful in that Reem Acra wedding dress, I want one of those for my OWN wedding”.

Ok, I better wrap this post up so that I have something to write about in the future. I promise to post more often, as there are just too many beautiful and affordable wedding dresses out there that have to be talked about.

Affordable wedding dress

aBeauty — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 05:20:19 +0000

What is an affordable wedding dress you might ask, or at least that is the question I asked myself today. It really is a question that must be answered with a non-specific answer. Candidate answers could be it depends on your wedding dress budget. Another answer is that it depends on what you make for a living. But I don’t really like those answers to the question of what constitutes an affordable wedding dress.

You could of course give a more hard cash kind of answer. If the wedding dress costs under $1000 or just looks like a simple wedding gown, is it affordable? Or are consignment wedding dresses or wedding gown rentals a good answer to the question? I really don’t like those answers either.

In my book affordable wedding dresses are wedding dresses that you have picked out because they are what you want, and then you proceed to purchase it at a discount. I know, I know, look up the word affordable, because that isn’t what it means you might say. Well, I did, and the definition of affordable wedding dresses is that they are “believed to be within one’s financial means” source Dictionary.com

So my definition of an affordable wedding gown is slightly different than the dictionaries. That fine by me as long as I get my point across. And my point will soon be explained in detail.

Too many brides to be focus solely on the wedding dress it self and do not take the time to educate themselves about the process of buying an affordable wedding dress. If you simply start looking for the dress without knowing your options on where or how to buy it, you will end up purchasing it a retail price.There is nothing wrong with retail priced wedding dress, except that you most probably could have bought it a lot cheaper. Perhaps I am mixing the cheap wedding dresses with affordable wedding dresses, but for me they are almost the same.

There we are back to my definition of an affordable wedding dress, as I personally think there are differences to a cheap wedding dress. The difference is that cheap sounds cheap, is cheap and only cheap. The word doesn’t imply any quality, only quantity. In this context I define “Affordable” more qualitatively in that you get the most perfect wedding dress you can for your money.

As an example, “cheap wedding dresses” is to buy a low priced wedding dress at retail price, while “affordable wedding dresses” is to buy a dress that at retail is over your budget, perhaps way over, but by knowing where, when, and how, you are able to buy the dress at a lower price. THAT is an affordable wedding dress in my book!

Say you would die for a Christian Lacroix or Monique Lhuillier wedding dress. These can be pretty expensive, and most women would probably give up owning one of these on their wedding day if they couldn’t afford the retail price. But do you really have to buy these at the most expensive stores, and at retail when there are so many other options?

I have written about several ways to get a hold of the perfect wedding dress at an affordable price in the past. In my most affordable wedding dresses list I give you the top 10 tips for buying affordable wedding dresses, but will give you a couple of the best here right now.

Back to the Monique Lhuillier and Christian Lacroix wedding dresses. Yes, they are expensive, but with just a little look see on the Internet you will see dresses from these designer discounted hugely. The Internet is a wonderful place to find an affordable wedding dress because the online shops don’t have to rent expensive brick and mortar showrooms, usually meaning lower prices for you. One site I was on listed an assortment of one of these designers’ dresses at up to 50% discounts from retail. And that is if you have to have a new dress.

Consignment wedding dresses, which I often talk positively about on this site, sell even more affordable wedding dresses. It isn’t out of the question to see wedding dresses discounted +50% off retail.

The whole point of this post is to get across the notion that women get a lot more for their money than they think. Getting the most for your money isn’t a worthy goal in it self for such an important decision as a wedding dress. I am talking about the women that have a perfect wedding dress in mind, but can’t afford it at retail. And that is my point, there are options, and these options must be understood.

I better wrap up this post before it gets epic, but hope my message came across. In my book, an affordable wedding dress does have a low price relative to your income or budget. But more importantly, they are more beautiful than what you could afford at retail.

Affordable Wedding Photography

aBeauty — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:25:46 +0000

Weddings can be very expensive, but couples naturally want the day to be as special as it can be. Many people don’t like to cut corners with many things for their wedding, but photography is thankfully an area where you can get great quality for a lower price. Affordable wedding photography is available if you know where to look. Finding out where to look for affordable wedding photography is easy. Word of mouth, yellow pages listings, and the internet are all invaluable resources when it comes to finding affordable wedding photography and also affordable wedding dresses.

Ask your familiy and friends for a referral

A wedding will be more special if you know that you were able to save money on some things without sacrificing quality. Ask around to see if anyone you are acquainted with knows of an affordable wedding photographer. Sometimes this is the best way to find someone good. If your friends or family have used and are willing to recommend a good photographer for your wedding then that should be the first person you call. You know that your loved ones would never suggest you use someone who wasn’t professional. The photographer in question may even be willing to offer you a discount just based on the fact that you were referred by a previous satisfied customer.

Try the yellow pages

If you don’t have any luck finding an affordable wedding photographer through friends and family, check your yellow pages listings under ‘photography’. When you make the call be sure to tell the photographer that you are on a budget and ask if you qualify for any discounts. You may be surprised to learn that you can get a good portion of the price taken off this way. Another outlet for finding affordable wedding photography is the internet. Do a Google search on photographers in your area. Many photographers have their own websites so that they can show potential customers their past work. This is great because you’ll be able to see for yourself how your pictures may turn out. When you make the call inquiring about pricing be sure to ask if you qualify for any discounts.

Inexpensive weddings

Just because you want your wedding to be special doesn’t mean it has to be very expensive. It’s OK to cut corners where you can as long as you know that you aren’t sacrificing quality for a lesser cost. Saving money on things like dresses, photography, and food will allow you and your spouse-to-be more money for your honeymoon or to get your first home set up.

Top 10 most affordable wedding dresses

aBeauty — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:02:24 +0000

So you are getting married and want to save a bundle on your wedding dress? Then you have come to the right place, because this is the Top 10 Affordable Wedding Dress list! The focus of this list is to show you the best ideas for buying the perfect wedding dress at an affordable price. It really doesn’t matter if it is a cheap wedding dress or an expensive wedding dress, as many of these tips will work for both.

Now, let’s see the list already!

10 – Full priced wedding dress

Ok, let’s start with the least affordable option, buying a wedding dress at the retail price. Who wants to do that?

9. Dress on sale

Now, this is better! You can save a lot by purchasing your wedding dress on sale, either offline or online. Online you will probably get a lot better price than at your local mall or wedding dress shop.

8. Wedding Dress Outlets

Large malls, designer wedding dress brands, or distributers often have outlets where they sell overstock, last years designs, or sample items. Expect to see prices at 20-40% discounts to the retail price.

7. Offline consignment shops

Consignment shops offer to sell wedding dresses on behalf of private owners. They add the extra protection for you, the customer, in that they often check the dresses thoroughly for defects and might even have a return policy. Expect to see prices anywhere from 40-70% off retail prices.

6. Private seller

If you contact a private seller, through for example a local newspaper ad, you can get your hands on really affordable wedding dresses. Beware though, buying private gives you few options if the dress has defects, stains, or other faults that you didn’t see when buying it. Some sellers are downright scam artists, so be aware of fake designer dresses also.

5. Online consignment shops

Online businesses often have a lot lower overhead than their offline counterparts. This could mean an even more affordable wedding dress for you. Look for the established and trustworthy online shops, through customer reviews and ratings.

4. Wear a (non wedding) dress

Even though you are getting married, it doesn’t mean you MUST wear a dress that has the word “wedding” in it. There are many dresses that on the one hand look like and feel like wedding dresses, but on the other hand do not have a wedding dress “price”.

3. Rent a wedding dress

Renting a wedding dress is a fantastic way to get a designer dress for an affordable price. Since you are literally sharing the cost of the dress with others that rent it before and after, you can afford the dress that is normally out of reach, without robbing a bank.

2. Borrow a dress

Ok, this one is a bit of a long shot, but can mean extremely affordable wedding dresses. If you have a friend that has saved their wedding dress, why not ask to borrow it? If it is a while since she got married, and you have a different set of friends and family, no one will even notice. Here you can probably get away with the dress for your wedding with only paying the dry clean bill afterwards.

1. Your mothers wedding dress

At the number 1 spot of the Top 10 Most Affordable Wedding Dresses is: You mothers dress. It is not uncommon for brides to take care of their wedding dress in the hope that the next generation will want to use it for their wedding. If you mother has a beautiful wedding dress, ask if you can wear it to your wedding. Better yet, send her the dry cleaning bill after the wedding, and you have the most affordable wedding dress there is…which is FREE!

Consignment wedding dresses

aBeauty — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:58:35 +0000

I touched upon the topic of consignment wedding dresses in the article Buy wedding dress online and want to talk a little more about the topic. It is just such a great opportunity to get a hold of affordable wedding dresses, so I thought I would write a “beginners guide”, and here we go!

Consignment means that a dress is put up for sale on behalf of the owner, usually through third party, like a consignment store. If the item is purchased, the middle man gets a percentage of the sales sum, and the owner gets the rest. This means that the owner of the dress doesn’t lose possession of the item until the wedding dress is actually sold. The consignment shop simply agrees to display and sell the dress for a fee. If the dress isn’t sold it goes back to the original owner. Consignment wedding dresses have been around for a long time, but are gaining popularity as a means to being able to buy beautiful, yet affordable, wedding dresses.

Search for consignment stores near you

If you want to check out if a consignment wedding dress could be something for you, start looking around in your local area for a consignment shop. You obviously want to find a shop where the quality control and assurance is high, so try asking around and see if anyone can recommend you a shop.

You might also want to do a search on the Internet for consignment wedding dresses. Add your local town or state name to the search phrase and your results will be more relevant for you.

Online consignement shops

One of the great advantages with buying a dress at a consignment shop is that you can see the dress in real life, try it on, and then make your decision. But, that doesn’t mean that buying a dress online should be discarded as an option. There are several Internet-based consignment stores that look great. I found one that has received good reviews, Preownedweddingdresses.com, but remember to do your own research before buying though an online wedding dress consignment store.

Final tips

Some final tips are to check the wedding dress closely before purchasing it. Make sure it is free of stains, has been dry cleaned, and that there are no apparent flaws. You should also ask the consignment store about their return policy, and what constitutes ground for a full or partial refund.

Lastly, consignment wedding dresses can be the difference between a dress that you are only so-so happy with, and a usually way to expensive and beautiful, designer wedding dress. Snoop around and see what you can find, and don’t forget to come back here and tell us how it went.

That’s about it, for now. Happy wedding dress hunting!

Buy wedding dress online

aBeauty — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 03:24:48 +0000

Online shopping revolutionized business by bringing business to the web, where shoppers previously had to purchase products in person. It was really only a matter of time before shopping went cyber. The question that remains is if it is smart to buy a wedding dress online?

Though it perfectly complemented the use of credit cards and the desire to perform actions easily with as little effort as possible, there is still some reluctance to buying items that need to fit properly to be of use. Buying a CD or books online is relatively risk free, and you are certain that what you get is what you want. But, to buy wedding dresses online is a completely different matter. Here are some tips that can help you buy a wedding dress online and be happy with the choice to do so.

Have your measurements taken

Before you go searching the net for the perfect wedding dress, have your measurements taken. That way you won’t be tempted to buy a dress that looks fabulous, but ends up the wrong size. Make sure you are wearing the same type of bra that you are planning to wear on your wedding.

Bigger is better

When having a dress altered for a better fit, it is a rule of thumb that bigger is better. Sewing the dress in usually results in a better fit than sewing the dress out. Buy a wedding dress online that is a little larger than you measurements and you should be fine.

Research the seller

If you plan on purchasing a dress from a smaller online store or private seller, be sure to do some research before clicking the buy button. Although there are many large, reputable, retailers on the Internet, there are a fair share of less honest people who you don’t want to give your money. Try doing a search for customer reviews on google, or check out the Better Business Bureau for any complaints regarding defects or non-deliveries.

Money-back guarantee

Be hesitant to buy a wedding dress online that does not come with at least a 30-day money-back guarantee. One of the drawbacks with purchasing online is that you can’t try the dress on before you buy it. The guarantee will ensure that you can have it sent back with a full refund. This leads to the next tip, start out early.

Start out early

Begin looking for your wedding dress online as early as possible. As mentioned above, one of the drawbacks with purchasing online is that you can’t try the dress on before you buy it. This means that if you have to return the dress, you need to start the process over again. Have a nice time-buffer before the wedding will make the whole experience less stressful.

Online shopping

Buying a wedding dress online has become an option many women use to purchase the gown of their dreams. With relaxed return-policies, and improved virtual dressing rooms, it can also be an experience close to buying a wedding dress at your local mall.

Dresses and Gowns

aBeauty — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:05:05 +0000

Most women have an assortment of dresses and gowns stashed somewhere in their closet, even if they do not wear them very often. Most save their wedding dress, though that may be preserved and out of the way. Others have dresses from events they have attended, and they may have been a bridesmaid a time or two for friends. Those that live solely in jeans and tee shirts still have a few in the back of the closet for things like funerals and job interviews because they know they are going to need them from time to time. No matter how often you wear these items, you need to know how to care for them so they are there when you need them again in the future.

Often neglected

Dresses and gowns can often go neglected because they are not worn as often as other items in the closet and are pushed back and forgotten until they are needed. This means that when someone pulls out a gown from the back of the closet, it has a distinct smell that tells you that it has indeed been hibernating inside of a small space with little to no ventilation. You may have to take your gowns and dresses out to be dry cleaned if this is the case. That smell will ruin your look for sure. If your closet is easily accessible and aired out often, you may not have this problem.

Always have it cleaned

Next, never put a dresses and gowns away until they have been cleaned. Some need a special trip to the dry cleaner to be cleaned, and some people put this off until later. Though the gown or dress may seem clean to the eye, there are still things that get into the fabric that will stain or cause odors that no dry cleaner will be able to remove if left dirty for a long period of time. Everyone sweats, and other oils from the body are also released all of the time. No matter how briefly you wore an item, it has bodily fluids on it that will ruin your dress or gown. Do not put something in the closet to clean later. Leave it out until you get it done, and then stash your dresses and gowns away in good shape.

Repair before storing

If something happens, you should always mend or repair your dresses and gowns right away, just as you should have it cleaned right away. You may think that you would fix it later, or that the small tear or missing button is no big deal, but you may not think that the next time you get it out to wear. As with the cleaning detail, do not stash the dresses and gowns away until you have fixed them. In many cases, you may pull your item out expecting to wear it right away only to discover that you forgot to fix it and it is unwearable. That is not the best discovery when you are in a hurry.

Pass on to the next generation

You may be tempted to throw out old dresses and gowns when cleaning out your closet, but that is not always the best idea. Your wedding dress should stay with you as long as you are still married, and though it may not seem like it, it may be something your daughter will want to wear, even if she turns her nose up at it when she is younger. Older dresses can be hemmed and altered to make them into more modern dresses, and things come back into style every so often. If a dress is special, don’t let anyone tell you that you have to get rid of it. Just part with dresses and gowns that are out of date and have no particular sentimental value to them. That is the way to keep your closet in manageable order.

Affordable Wedding Dresses

aBeauty — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:01:33 +0000

I want to welcome you to affordableweddingdresses.net and tell you about what we have in store for this web site. Weddings are notoriously expensive, and one of the most expensive items on the wedding list is the wedding dress. Being able to pick a dress that is both beautiful and feels perfect, without breaking the bank, can be a challenge.

Our main goal here is to present you with tips on how to find an affordable wedding dress that is also the dress of your dreams!

Wedding costs have skyrocketed the last decade as the standard of living has increased and credit has flourished. An upward spiral that never seems to plateau, many couples struggle to put on the wedding of their dreams. With all the expectations of society, friends and family, how are you to meet not only your dreams but also the dreams that your guests have for you?

In the midst of rising costs for goods and services is the wedding dress, which fits nicely in between. A creation priced partially for its fine fabrics, and craftmanship representing the rest. For some brides the wedding gown is the most important feature of the wedding, perhaps even make or break.

Being able to find the wedding dress of your dreams at an affordable price can therefore be a challenge. Sometimes taste and preferences simply exceeds the budget. That is exactly when you should put on your creative hat, think out of the box, and go new ways to get what you want. Perhaps it would be a little extreme to rob a bank, so here are some friendlier and law-abiding tips to get you started.

Second hand

This is definitely the best route to explore if you want to get the best “bang” for your buck. But, it is also a route that will give many a bride-to-be mixed feelings. You want you dress to be “yours”, unused and untouched. It is of course natural to feel this way. However, consider the following: Wedding dresses are probably the most carefully handled clothes on the planet. They are expensive, they are usually only used once, and many brides have them cleaned right after their wedding.

How’s that for a defense second-hand wedding dresses? If that’s not enough, consider that wedding dresses are commonly knocked down at least 50% from their off the shelf price. You can probably get it at a further discount if the deal is done privately (not through a second-hand shop).

I have to admit, when I first thought about the idea of purchasing a used wedding dress it really rubbed me the wrong way. But then I thought about what you can actually be able to afford, together with the fact that the dress will look as new. The prospect seems a lot better now, and can be a great way to get your perfect, but affordable wedding dress.

Discount dresses

If second-hand isn’t your “thing”, a discount dress can be a route you can take to find an affordable wedding dress. There are tons of discount retailers both online and offline that offer great prices all year long. But if you really want to make a bargain, try these tips:

Search for off-season sales. Often retailers discount when volume is low
Be on the look out for last year designs when retailer start moving in this years gowns
Annual bridal sales at your local store
Outlets often have the same goods as their mall counterpart, but at steep discounts.

Rent a dress

Renting a wedding dress might just make sense. After all, if all goes as planned you will only be using the dress once. Why not make it affordable and beautiful, at a fraction of the cost of owning?

Do a search online for affordable wedding dress rentals in your local area. Be sure to ask specifically for any hidden costs, like post-wedding cleaning.