Now that I have an idea of what kind of dress I am looking for, the only question left is "where can I get it for cheaper?" I already held an account on Ebay, and decided to check out my options there. There were thousands of ads for custom-made dresses, made to order, from high-quality bridal materials, from China. The cost was on average about $150.00. I hummed and hawed about it for awhile, but eventually decided to give it a shot. The way I reasoned it is that a large portion of designer dresses are made in China anyway, and the sellers and their dresses were getting very high reviews. I picked a dress that I really liked, and placed my order. A month later my dress arrived, and overall, I wasn't a huge fan. My fiance saw it on my face right away after trying the dress on in private, and he insisted that I would have to get another one, because he didn't want our wedding day marred by me not feeling like a hundred bucks. The moral of this part of the story: to anyone out there who is considering buying a custom-made wedding dress from China, really think hard about it. This is one of those cases where "you get what you pay for". The workmanship was just ok, the material was definitely not up to bridal quality as claimed, and every bride deserves to feel amazing on her wedding day.
However, I hadn't lost total faith in Ebay. Although I decided that a dress from China was out of the question, there were still lots of sellers that were selling honest-to-goodness designer dresses for a fraction of the cost. Then I found it. It wasn't quite what I had been expecting to wear on my wedding day, but it was beautiful, and I was drawn to it. I saved it to my "Watch" list, and checked on it numerous times a day to see if it had sold yet. Finally, I told myself "maybe it isn't what you expected, but you're hooked on just looking at it; how much more proof do you need that this is your dress!" So, I bought it! But wait, there's more!
There was another issue that I had been wrestling with in my mind. See, the dress that I had fallen in love with already is a ball gown, with an asymmetrical waistline, a sweetheart neckline, with a long train. Perfect for my formal ceremony. But while on my search around local bridal stores for my perfect wedding dress style, I also fell in love with the more informal, destination wedding dress style. I love the flow of chiffon, and the classic simplicity. So not only did I buy the perfect ball gown, but I also purchased an informal wedding dress for later in the reception. It's chiffon, with a sweetheart neckline, draped chiffon straps, and no train. Exactly what I wanted for later in the evening.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself "what kind of frugal bride is she? She doesn't stop at buying one dress, but she buys two! That doesn't sound frugal at all!" But, for the two high-quality, designer, new-with-tags wedding dresses, I paid $300.00! In case you didn't get that, it was THREE... HUNDRED... DOLLARS! How is this possible? This wonderful seller has designers donate dresses to her, so that she can sell them and give a portion of the profits to breast cancer research. If you ask me, it's a win-win: a bride gets a beautiful designer gown for a fraction of the cost, and you can feel good knowing that a portion of the cost is going to help a cause. If anyone out there is interested, here is the website:
www.pinkribbonbridals.com
I will be sure to post pictures of my dream dresses later.
No comments:
Post a Comment