Reader Bridget sent me a budget wedding dress story that was so good it needed its own post. Bridget fell in love with and Amsale dress that was, errrr, a little pricey.
Since she wanted to send her kids to college one day, she decided to skip the crazy expensive dress. Instead she bought a simple J Crew wedding dress, which she found on ebay for just $71.
But she wasn’t done yet! Bridget took her new simple dress to a seamstress, and told her to “hack this dress,” and the seamstress added the details she loved.
The total cost of her dress was $471. She got exactly what she wanted, found a creative and affordable way to do it, and saved a small fortune. As far as I’m concerned, this story lands Bridget on the Practical Wedding wall of fame for doing something so clever and determined. I like my brides with chutzpa, thank you very much.
And don’t tell Amsale, but I like this dress is better! It’s simple, it’s chic, and its got soul.
23
The Great Wedding Dress Hack
Sep
2008
Go Bridget! :)
I did something sort of similar. I fell in loooove with a Romona Keveza, but of course can’t afford it. So I put the picture up as an Etsy Alchemy posting, and had literally a dozen people bid to make the dress for about 10% of the retail price ($550 was my asking price). Yay Etsy and hurrah for budget dresses! :)
September 23, 2008 5:58 am
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Simple genius – which is of course the best kind.
September 23, 2008 6:05 am
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All I can say is WOW. I am beyond impressed, it is GORGEOUS!!!
September 23, 2008 6:57 am
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GORGEOUS dress! I agree: straight to the Hall of Fame she goes.
September 23, 2008 8:07 am
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The first wedding dress I bought was a BEAUTIFUL Jessica McClintock from overstock.com for $55!!! But it was strapless, and I realized that it wasn’t entirely me. So I bought a Nataya (www.nataya.com) for around $150 at a small locally-owned store in my hometown (Mendocino), and it was super timeless and gorgeous, and more “me.” Check it out in the “Kate and Coalmine” wedding featured here on A Practical Wedding! Thanks again for that. . . very exciting.
September 23, 2008 8:28 am
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This really is SUCH an amazing dress. And I love her for putting the work and the love into it. Makes it so extra-special.
September 23, 2008 8:30 am
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i love it! the actual wedding dress looks stunning!
September 23, 2008 11:08 am
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AWESOME.
September 25, 2008 12:03 am
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I have the original JCrew dress. It is a great dress but very plain so I decided to go with something else. But seeing this gives me hope of transforming mine!!!
September 25, 2008 6:49 am
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I think it is both beautifully logical and more creative than most. I do this all the time, myself, sometimes with thrifted garments, sometimes with brand-new garments right out of the shop – and even jewelry, sometimes. It’s all about making your things YOURS.
November 21, 2008 10:04 am
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I did this – it was so wonderful! In a similar vein, buy the sample, i.e. floor model. They run in the hundreds instead of the thousands. Or check Craigslist.
November 29, 2009 2:39 pm
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I did exactly the same thing my dress. That said, yours has turned out amazing and so similar to the original Amsale dress. I got my dress preloved at http://www.stillwhite.ca
December 7, 2010 6:58 pm
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[...] well over budget and have to trim elsewhere. Here’s a great post about how one bride “hacked her wedding dress” to stay within her wedding [...]
December 27, 2012 4:09 am
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