The budgeting bride - Buying wedding dresses online

I am not one of those girls who dreamed of trying on wedding dresses. It was the one part of bring engaged I looked least forward to. One day after a few too many mimosas, my Mom and 2 maids got me to do it. I was miserable. I do not like being put on the spot to make decisions and I cannot stand someone trying to "sell me a car". That is what I felt like the day I tried on dresses. While I love to buy things, I cannot stand shopping. It's why 99% of my Christmas shopping is done online. By the 10th dress, I was broken out in hives and having a minor panic attack. At least I knew what style of dress looked best on me at the end of the day - a one shoulder or strapless gown that was either mermaid or trumpet. I wanted lace, my Mom wanted me in satin.

Two weeks ago, I posted about purchasing my short wedding dress online. This is the dress I will wear in our engagement photos and post reception when we go down Bourbon St. I found the Allure 940 dress on eBay and it came to me in almost perfect condition, missing a button on the back which my seamstress can easily fix. The dress cost me $320 and retails at $999, saving nearly 70%. In case you missed the post, here is the dress:

After receiving the Allure dress, I did the unthinkable. I took a leap of faith, one many brides couldn't imagine doing. Every night, I stalk the weddingbee.com classifieds, not looking for anything particular. Last Tuesday at 11:30pm, I saw a listing "Guaranteed Authentic Designer Gown Liquidation, Watters, Maggie Sottero, Casablanca $249". The Maggie Sottero listed was one size too large for me and without consulting with my Mother or any of my bridesmaids, I purchased it, sight unseen without trying this particular style on. I woke up on Wednesday freaking out. Dang you wine!!!!!!

I love Maggie Sottero dresses but never thought to look at them since I knew it was out of my budget. When our wedding day arrives, I will be a 35 year old first time bride and the last thing I want to do is drain my parents retirement for my wedding. While they are being very generous with giving me $10k towards the wedding, anything above and beyond is out of my pocket. I took a chance with ordering this dress but for $249, the worst that could happen is me hating it and reselling on eBay.

On Friday afternoon, the dress arrived in perfect condition. I cried when I saw it. This dress is 100% authentic, never worn, all tags intact and words cannot express how beautiful it is. I cannot show you the entire dress today since Gabe sometimes reads my blog but what I can do is show you some of the amazing bead work and lace on this dress.

And the lace back and crystal work on the back. My Matron of Honor is going to have a field day with those crystal buttons (pay back is a beotch).

The dress is a little large on me and will need some alterations but that is perfectly fine with me. This Maggie Sottero dress retails at $1120 and I spent $270 after shipping, saving more than 80%!!!

I successfully purchased two authentic designer gowns online for less than $600 total. The two dresses together would have cost more than $2000 combined. I am living proof that you can absolutely get beautiful wedding dresses without breaking the bank. You just have to make sure you do your research and know what style of dress to look for.

My advice to those brides looking to purchase dresses online:

• Do not purchase your dress from China. I have heard countless horror stories and the stress you will put yourself in while waiting the 20-30 days to receive the dress is not worth it. I stressed over the 2-3 days each of these dresses took!
• Check weddingbee.com daily. I purchased my dress from Ruby, who has a website but all of her gowns are not listed on there: http://foundthegown.com
• There are plenty of pre-owned wedding dress websites. Many of which, I have seen people list gowns that have never been worn.
• Check eBay - save a search with the dress you are looking for. Make sure you filter out dresses from overseas.
• Ask for photos of every detail to make sure it is authentic prior to purchasing. You want to see the tag, the stitching, a closeup of all the detail work.