If You Search, It Will Come...

First, I would like to apologize for the lengthy hiatus I have taken from writing. There is no excuse for leaving you waiting for help, but nonetheless, I will share a few:

1. I started a new job that doesn't allow any time for me to waste the company's dollar.


2. I sprained my ankle at the church game night


3. My company-owned laptop was stolen out of my car in my driveway.


4. I took up painting...for two days.


5. I've buried myself in wonderful books about castles and lobster-fishing.

I will not promise that it won't happen again because as you'll notice in Excuse Number Four, I have trouble sticking with things. But I will promise that I will try.

So it was recently Bridal Fashion Week and as much I love procrastinating and scrolling through all of the latest trends from Oscar De La Renta, Anne Barge and Jenny Lee, I often find myself rolling into a snowball of despair when I look at the prices. For example, my dream dress is a De La Renta from a few years ago. It was even featured in an article about what types of dresses to wear if you're flat-as-a-board in Real Simple Weddings. (How perfect is that?!) Cost? 10,000 buckarooskies...

Fear not my brides-to-be! There are websites and secrets to gown shopping that will enable you to find the dresses you drool over at a fraction of the original price:
Craig's List: Did you know that you can find wedding dresses on Craig's list?? Seriously, go to your city, and search for "wedding dress". You will find TONS of bridal gowns that may or may not have been worn by brides who want to make some money off of a dress they only wear once, or cancel her wedding at the last minute or just change their minds. Whatever the reason, they are usually marked way down, saving you hundreds of dollars.
Once Wed: One of my favorite websites of all time is Oncewed.com. In addition to being an awesome wedding blog, it also features a page where brides can sell their gowns after the wedding. These are beautiful, designer dresses for as low as $100! The great thing about this site is that the selection is always changing, so if you don't see anything that tickles your fancy, check back in a few days.
Brides Against Breast Cancer: Why not combine dress buying with charity? The ladies behind Bridesagainstbreastcancer.org travel to cities all over the US selling used or donated dresses and part of the proceeds go to breast cancer research!
Designer Sample Sales: Most designers have annual sample and trunk sales, where you can snag a $3,000 gown for $300! All you have to do is go to the websites of your favorite designers, check out their event calendar and/or get on their email list to receive notifications about these awesome sales. Just be prepared to throw some 'bows at out of control bridezillas. Tip: You may want to camp out the night before so you can get first dibs on the selection.
A strategy I've considered is making an appointment at designer salons, solely for the purpose of trying on different types of dresses. Once you have an idea what kind of shape and style looks best for your body type, you can be a more efficient shopper on the websites above.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or information I'm missing. I'll make sure to update these posts as I come across new websites and resources. Happy shopping/saving!