Wedding Dress Hacks
Hello friends! It has been a while.
I haven’t been in the mood to craft, create, or crochet lately and I apologize. 2018 was a very hard year for me. And I promise to do a full update post soon.
As some of you may know...I got married in 2018 (one of the only highlights of that year!), and just last week my sister got engaged. She has been asking me about some tips and ideas to save money, and how I planned my wedding. So I thought others might have the same questions as well. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t want to save money? Especially on such an expensive day!
This is the first post of many in a series I intended to do for “Wedding Hacks” to save money! First off is wedding dresses! Other topics I hope to address are accessories, makeup, and flowers. Maybe more ideas will come to me, or you guys will have suggestions!
Let me start off with dress shopping! Oh goodness! This was so much fun, and there are so many easy and affordable ways to have a beautiful wedding dress that doesn’t hurt your bank account!
I had 2 wedding dresses. I wore a white one for the ceremony. And a modern traditional Chinese dress for my reception.
I actually changed back into my white dress halfway through dancing because my Chinese dress was just so heavy with the beading and embroidery.
Let’s start with my white dress. It is a strapless A-line lace gown. And it’s a BRIDESMAIDS dress! That’s right! I ordered a bridesmaids dress in white. Did you even know they make bridesmaids dresses in white?
It was beautiful! The lace detailing was exactly what I was looking for. I was also looking for a dress that wasn’t so heavy. A lot of gowns that I had tried on were very heavy and made me sweaty just walking around the boutique! I wanted something lighter and simpler for my dress.
So I paid $300 for this dress! Such a smaller price tag then similar dresses I was looking at in boutiques in my city. This dress can be found online HERE, but a wedding boutique in my city ordered it for me.
There are LOTS of other online websites that sell bridesmaids dresses. The websites I have been looking at for my sisters wedding dress are Boutique 1861 and For Him and Her.
I have ordered off of Boutique 1861 before, not for bridal dresses, but for formal dresses, and their shipping and returns is super easy. And their dresses are beautiful as well.
My sister has ordered off of For Him and Her for a bridesmaids dress for a wedding that she was standing in. She liked their shipping and how you needed to put in your exact measurements to make sure they are sending you the correct size.
My only warning for ordering a bridesmaids dress instead of an actual bridal dress would be the range of styles. If you are looking for a simple gown with tulle, chiffon, lace, or a mixture of those, a bridesmaids dress will be perfect. But if you want a ball gown with a big skirt (like a Cinderella dress) this probably is not the route for you!
Since my dress was simple, I felt like it needed some sparkles, so Etsy was the answer! Find the exact belt listing HERE. The shops name is Bridal Gifts Design, but I can’t seem to find the shops main page. But there are plenty of options on Etsy for similar belts like mine. And do not be afraid to ask for a custom order if you like the shops work, but can’t find exactly what you are looking for, that’s what I did.
I found that a lot of wedding dress belts only had a few rhinestones at the front, then was tied onto the dress with a coloured ribbon. I did not like the ribbon look on me/my dress so reached out to the shop to ask for a custom order of a belt of just rhinestones! Fair warning though, custom orders can be more expensive, but I believe it’s worth the price. Not to mention you’re supporting other crafters! :)
So in total my white dress was $300, the belt was around $100. And luckily enough, I didn’t need alterations! Phew, what a money saver. So my white dress cost me around $400. This does not include the veil!
But $400 is a pretty good steal!
Let’s move onto my red dress!
It was my dad who said he did not have an opinion when it came to what colour dress I wore (either traditional or white), but he said he would love to see me in the traditional colours. Which is why I made sure I had one!
Chinese dresses can get EXPENSIVE! Especially where you choose to shop! But there are a lot of Chinese wholesale sites online. But REMEMBER it is in Chinese sizing which is typically 1-2 sizes smaller than Canadian/American sizing. So look at reviews, measure yourself, and if you’re doubtful, order a size up. A good tailor can make the dress smaller, but can’t make the same fabric appear out of thin air to make it bigger!
This is a traditional modern Chinese bridal gown. It has the same shape, with the high neck, colour, and embroidery on it. But is also modern with the mermaid fit along with a train. Find my exact dress HERE. I paid around $100. Find the main wholesale website HERE. I did not use any other website, nor have I researched any other wholesale websites. But I can say from my experience it was amazing! My dress did need some alterations, the neck was a little too tight, needed some extra buttons to secure the dress, and needed to be bustled so I could walk! But for such a gorgeous dress, I did not mind! My alterations for this dress came out to $90.
So my Chinese dress in total was around $240 (I added an extra $50 for American pricing and taxes!)
My FINAL tip to you savvy wedding dress savers and shoppers is to find a GOOD TAILOR! Often brides who buy their dresses in a boutique will often get their alterations done there as well. There are 2 ways to avoid this heavy wedding markup, also known as the “wedding tax”.
First, buying a bridesmaids dress as your wedding gown will mean you only have to pay for bridesmaids alterations at the boutique, which are MUCH cheaper than bridal gown alterations.
And second (this is the one I recommend) is to find a good tailor in your city! Often it will be family run, or just a smaller business in general. There won’t be as high of a markup price since they aren’t “technically” in the wedding industry.
So I got 2 wedding dresses altered to exactly how I wanted, and looking exactly how I wanted for $640! Not too bad!
Let me know if I missed anything for my wedding dress hacks, or if you have any questions!
Happy saving!
-em