Craigslist Wedding Dress?

WifeNMama

We ordered flowers from a grocery store and arranged them ourselves, had the ceremony and reception at the same place, and had our like make desserts instead of the caterers, no cake.
Also, I'm selling my size 12 dress on kijiji if you're interested. $300, I paid $1000. Lol My one giant splurge before we made up the budget.

baypathgradLyns

I have heard that somepeople rent their dress... I personally don't know if it is anything more than rumors but it could be true if you look into it.

There is actually this place near my fiance's house that rents wedding dresses, MOB dresses, bridesmaids dresses, does alterations, etc...so something like that is also an option if you research for one near you...

TurtleCrush

I did my wedding with $1000. That included renting tables, chairs, some food, party flavors, centerpieces, custom engraved wine glasses, my gown( $250 custom on ebay) , my husband's suit & shoes, and both of our engraved wedding bands (stainless steel @ walmart $29 each). Also if you plan on inviting family make it a potluck dinner where everyone brings a dish and that will save a bunch. I got married at my grandma's house because of the beautiful architecture but you could also rent a community center those are usually 200 or less. I also went to the bank to get my marriage (FREE) cerficate notorized and had a close friend do the ceremony (ALSO FREE).

Hellbent_Heidi

I didn't buy mine used, but I did sell mine through a resconsignment shop afterward, and was very happy that it could make another bride feel beautiful on her day! I completely agree about not spending a fortune on something you're going to wear for one day (or 1/2 a day), and doesn't a really fabulous dress deserve to dance for more than one night???

I'd say go for it!

Another great thing we did was that my bridemaids bought off the rack black cocktail dresses that looked amazing on everyone, and they were all thrilled to have something that could totally be worn again without looking like a recycled bridesmaid. We had two flower girls and found amazing white dresses with black flower pattern after Easter at Macy's for about $28 each (dresses that were originally closer to $100).

madubil

I also hope no one gave you negative posts on this subject- buy the dress you like and fits your budget, If that means its from craigs list- or somewhere else- so be it. Its your day, your dress and your checkbook. I think its really smart for people to buy and sell their wedding dresses like this. My best friend spent 1800 on her dress- and she really couldnt afford that. I know she loved it- but will wear it only once- and will likely be paying it off for a very long long time- which is a shame.

KES519

I got my dress at David's Bridal, thinking it was going to cost me a fortune but I've always wanted to shop there and felt "who cares"! But in the end the first dress I picked out was "the one" and it only cost me $560! That included the preservation, yay!! Then I got the shoes for my bridal party at a local store in town and had them dyed. Was fairly cheap and looked great! We made most of the decorations and centerpieces, wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be and we were able to put our personal touch on it. Plus having our reception at a local restaurant's banquet room was great, we didn't go with a "country club" or per say. (My last name is now Sullivan, so a little something special for everyone on the tables were little tins with skittles in them! They were so cute, since every piece had an "S" on it). Anything you do on your own that can put a little personal touch on the day will make it that much more special and won't cost you a fortune:) All in all, I THINK we spent about $5000 and that seems like a lot, but in comparison to some other people's weddings we've been to, I think we kept our budget small. By the way, we did not go on a honeymoon, decided to save for one on our 5th:) which is in 4 months!

smashatoms

Some people are really caught up in the whole grand idea of their wedding. Having a sensible wedding I feel, is the best way to start out a marriage. Imagine if those people had saved the 10 grand on their wedding that they spent-- they would have a great little savings started.

For a dress, look at bridesmaids dresses. They run cheaper and you can often add sashes, etc to them.
You can also go for a used dress-- why not?! I don't see anything wrong with it.

Also, as far as cutting costs, I found that the most expensive part of my wedding was the meal. Maybe try and pick a time after dinner so that you don't have to serve an entire meal to all your guests. Instead have finger foods and cake. (I got married on the beach and someone after the fact told me they thought it would've been cool to have a cookout on the beach, etc. I thought that sounded great-- but it was a little too late! I had already been married for like 2 years at that point!)

Cheap centerpieces-- look into seeing if there is a Flower Factory in your area. They have a lot of things for this. My friend did cheap little bud vases with flowers for her centerpieces, and then had purchased picture frames from the dollar store and put photographs of her and her husband in them. I thought that was a beautiful, personal touch-- and it was really cheap.

Hope I helped!

PegasusDeb

What size are you? My friend was just married in Oct & we were just talking about what she was going to do with her dress. It was very pretty. Simple but elegant. She's about 5'2" and maybe a 12-14.
PM if you want pix or info.
Congratz on your day & heck yeah, save the money on things you can, it's crazy nuts the price of a wedding!

Oh yeah, also check E'bay for linens & candle holders. Thats what she did as well. She wanted elegant, but classy on a budget!

KES519

Oh yeah, we got our invites at A.C. Moore and printed them at home. For about 100 people, we only spent about $20 on them!

Lizajane42

Also, make sure you watch for the David's Bridal $100 dress sale. This is how I got my dress (my amazing Maid of Honor actually paid for it). You can really find some good stuff in this sale, and if they don't have your size, they will check other stores and have it shipped in.

My wedding, overall, was not super thrifty, but here are some of the budget friendly things I did.

*Made my own save the dates/ wedding invitations/ thank you cards- waited for the paper and ribbon to be half price at Hobby Lobby before buying anything. Ordered envelopes from Amazon.
*I watched the bridal section at Hobby Lobby and waited for 50% off sales to get guest book, fake flower petals, etc.
*Even though I had some alterations done by the store (added a corset back), my aunt did the last minute alterations for me to take in the top of the dress where I had lost weight since my fitting.
*Checked with friends about borrowing veil and petticoat- I have one friend who skipped the petticoat under her dress and it looked fine without it. Depending on how picky you are, you can find some great deals on lightinthebox.com. Friends also recommended oncewed.com and 100layercake.com- I didn't end up looking at the last two at all though.
*I made fun, quirky centerpieces instead of buying loads of vases and flowers and beads and whatnot.


There may have been other things- we got some awesome deals on things, so for the wedding we had it was cheap!

smashatoms

Yes, David's Bridal! My friend got her dress from David's Bridal for $99. They have a yearly sale, but I cannot recall when it is.

Having your wedding and reception at the same place generally saves a bit of dough too.

nmerley

I did a very budget friendly wedding(we got 4kids and I was laid off 6months before out wedding) and had the dance, meal, whole family and tons of friends. It is your day do what u want and who cares what others think. In the end if u do what u want and r happy so will everyone else. I got my dress and my bridesmaid dresses off ebay(spent like 100.00 on all 3) Did fake flowers and did em myself(hobby lobby 50% sale), made our own invites, prepared our own food(got food at sams club) and got friends to serve it. We had our weddin in the local park(free), had reception with dj at local bar(bar owner paid for dj cause we had bar open to public so it would bring her more business). The most expensive thing for us was prolly the beer we bought for everyone to drink while we got married. LOL We ended havin tons of people show up and we got married in 2009 and the whole town still talks about how much fun our wedding was. Do what u want its YOUR day noone elses!!! FYI my dress is still hangin in closet never worn since.

countrygirl_717

I bought my wedding dress off of Craigslist. I got the dress of my dreams for 1/4 of the cost and the dress was in pristine condition. Great experience!

charmainecurrie

you only wear if one day....go for it

jenhenning219

Let me just start off by saying, the idea of spending a ton of money on one day makes me feel ill. What are your thoughts on a previously used wedding dress?

For that matter, does anyone have any ideas on how to do a "budget friendly" wedding?(I still want to have the dance and the dinner and the family there)

I would really appreciate if there was no rude or insensitive comments on this thread. Thanks!

try salvation army for a wedding dress, i know the one near me has a ton of them and i am sure they would be cheaper than craigslist

ctalimenti

I got a $1200 dress for $100 from the clearance section of a bridal store. It was an awesome dress. The first one I looked at. Alterations were another $100 maybe. You can totally do this. Our wedding was in my sister-in-law's beautiful backyard and she catered it. We found a JP online who came to the house.

mummy_gerdes

forgot to add - why dont you make your own cake? i had my grandma make the fruit cake and then we made 50 sponge and 50 fruit cupcakes bought all the icing and decorations from lawsons (uk) and decorated it our selves it looked amazing and people got to eat what they wanted to!

SyntonicGarden

my wedding was in august and my husband and i paid for it ourselves, so we did it very much on the cheap -- i got my dress from david's (it was a discontinued style), so it was cheaper than the same kind of dress in a current style. i've also heard that going to bridal shows and buying a dress displayed there is way cheaper (a friend of mine did this!) and her dress was GORGEOUS.

...our photographer was just starting her business, so her prices were way lower than anyone else in the area and she gave us all the rights to her photographs ... we just had to write a testimonial! to save a little more, we didn't have dinner but had appetizers and desserts --a cake, cookie table, and candy table.

I picked up a discontinued dress at David's as well. It was almost $500 and I picked it up for less than that. Beware of buying a dress from one of those places that makes replicas, overseas...

I also had a friend who is starting a photography business. I LOVE her work and made a deal with her. She took the pictures and gets to use them on her site. I got a great deal on the prints - less than what she charges other people. My pictures are AMAZING.

We had a really limited budget. Over the course of a year, we put together about $6000. We followed the rule that if we couldn't pay for it, it didn't happen. We were able to do a small sit-down brunch just for family (35 ppl) at a resort (family member is the catering manager there, so we were thankful to get a HUGE discount) and then we did a BBQ style wedding at the Legion Hall for about 150 people. People told us that the BBQ buffet-style wedding was a LOT of fun. Having two events was the only way we could afford to invite everyone.

If you have cool friends and family who can help you instead of buying you a gift, don't be afraid to ask for help.

Other ways I saved:
Champagne toast: We did sparkling cider instead. I just explained that several famly members didn't drink (which they don't) and that I wanted them to feel comfortable. Sparkling juice is usually less expensive (and tastes better, if you ask me...)

Cake - The Shoprite by me has an AMAZING buttercream frosting. We got three full sheet cakes (Bavarian cream, Chocolate Pudding, and Strawberry Shortcake) for about $150 total. We didn't have anything written on the cake. We just had them put a LOT of flowers on them. (I'm gluten-free and had a friend (who is also a chef) bake "my" cake as her gift to me.)

Flowers - Shoprite to the rescue again. The floral department in our store is AMAZING. We got 8 single roses for the dads and groomsmen, three wrapped stem carnation bouquets (with blue accents) for my bridesmaids, 4 wrist corsages with 2 roses each, a dozen wrapped stem roses for the BBQ ceremony, and a cascading bouquet with mostly heat-resistant flowers (ivy, carnations, daisies, baby's breath). Looking at the pictures, you can't even see that there isn't a single rose in the cascade, other than the fact that nothing wilted. We got ALL of the flowers mentioned for $200 plus tax.

Flowers, part 2: Initially, I was going to do silk flowers, but I got pushback from family. My response was that if someone felt that I needed to have something, that I would if they were willing to help with the cost. (B*tchy? Not intentionally. Effective? YES.) I did go with artificial flowers for the tables at the smaller wedding (and bulk crayons in small pails/ paper on the table for the big one). Check the website for the craft store. Most of them have a coupon for 40% off one item. Get a girlfriend or two, print out a coupon for each. (Or print 2 each and go into the store again) It might take you a few trips, but it's 40% off your flowers.... Or centerpieces...

Shoes: Instead of buying into the myth that I needed to get white satin dyeables, I went to the outlet shops and picked up a pair of white leather strap sandals. They're wedges with a cork heel (my dress covered the heel) and they're a brand that usually buy anyway. They're incredibly comfortable, fashionable, and I wore them for several months after the wedding. I shop the clearance racks, so I think they ended up costing me $45? (Clark's - They usually start at $65 if you don't buy clearance.) I couldn't find dyeables for less than $60 and all of the pretty ones that I found were $80 and up. Dyeables seem to pick up grass and other stains, aren't as comfy, and usually don't get worn again. My sandals are coming out again in the summer.

Freecycle: If you haven't already checked it out, consider taking a look and posting what you're looking for. It's like Craig's List, but everything HAS TO be free. (Use the same caution about meeting people, of course...)

Using my local freecycle group, I found my veil and vases for my centerpieces, plus a few other items. When I was done, I used Freecycle to get rid of extra decorations...

Favors: For the small wedding, we hit the dollar store and got these HUGE glass rootbeer float mugs and put two of the straight stick blueberry candycanes (the old fashioned ones) in and tied them with blue ribbon. My mom found see-through fabric draw string bags and we put the glasses in the bags. For the big wedding, we ordered custom labels for playing cards in plastic boxes. We had to put the labels on ourselves, but the cards came out to less than a dollar a pack. Playing cards = more useful than a single candle holder that doesn't match anything.


Like I said, if you'd like more info on other ways that I saved (especially with the BBQ part, send me a private message. I'd be glad to share.

tashjs21

If you love the dress, go for it!!


We are doing our wedding AND a Hawaiian honeymoon for about $5500.

My mom bought my dress (I just have to pay for alterations) Even with her buying it, I found one that was being discontinued so it was on clearance so it was 1/2 price.

We have found a cheap site for invitations (I've had friends tell me they regretted spending so much on invitations cause they end up in the trash) I found a style that fits our wedding and is really cute and won't break the bank. We did the "save the dates" online and sent out emails. For people that don' t have email we texted or called. We have decided against RSVP cards. Instead we are including our wedding website address that gives people a place to RSVP online. A lot of married friends said they were a waste of money on RSVP cards and postage because hardly anyone returns them. People just assume you "know they'll be there" :noway:

We are ordering the flowers online wholesale and my bridesmaids and I are putting together the centerpieces and bouquets.

Most of the decorations are DIY. What I don't make I have been finding at garage sales and estate sales and have even found some amazing stuff on "recycle your wedding" blogs and sites. The favors are real simple and inexpensive.

Instead of cake, I am having family and friends make pies and cupcakes.

We are doing our wedding and reception in one place to save money. (the venue is amazing and very affordable. We lucked out in finding everything we wanted in one place for 1/3 of the price of other venues)

A friend of my fiances is in a band so they are going to learn some of my "must have" songs and play for $100 plus beer. :laugh: And we are making some mixed cd's to play while they are on break to through some dance music in.

Our biggest expense wedding wise is the photographer. But to me, that is worth it because we will only have the pictures once it is all said and done.

For all that have the disc from their photographers. Find a nice site to print your photos. It'll be so worth it to spend a little bit more on prints from a place like mpix.com or other sites than ordering from Walmart or Walgreens...trust me!

All in all, it is your day, do what you want! :drinker:

mp13cat

I bought my dress and the thing didnt even get cleaned after......and it is still shoved in a bag in the back of the closet....LOL....it is YOUR day....dont add more stress by conforming....do what YOU want. Congrats!!!:)

^ Ditto

CynGetsThin

My cousin got a custom-made dress on eBay for under $200! Just go to ebay, search custom wedding dresses and you'll find a ton! My cousin's dress came from China, which took about a four weeks in shipping to arrive, but once it got here it looked amazing!

dalgirly

I am totally with you on wedding savings. A friend of mine bought a used dress for a few hundred, and then tailored it. Another friend of mine did the breast cancer wedding dress (a store where you can donate your wedding dress and then they re-sell it and the proceeds go to breast cancer).

CMH24

Davids Bridal has some pretty inexpensive dresses to!! I think I spent 600 and that is on the higher side of their prices as far as I remember! They have a $99 dress sale a couple times a year too!

bstamps12

My wedding cost $3000 total, which was still a huge number for me to swallow, but according to a wedding planner friend, it looked like a $15000 wedding.

--I got my dress at the David's Bridal $99 dress sale and it was perfect for me. It was simple but elegant, which is what I wanted.
--I used the Michael's coupons in the paper every week to get 50% off one regular priced item, then of course shopped Hobby Lobby & Michael's sales on anything wedding related.
--I got my veil online & LOVED it. Paid $50 instead of the $175 for one that looked exactly the same at David's Bridal.
--I got my shoes at Payless! I know, right? But I had a summer wedding so white shoes were everywhere for Easter & summer so it was easy to find nice white shoes at any store I walked in to.
--Found glass vases at thrift stores for centerpieces, used Hobby Lobby sales to get flowers for cheap.
--Family friend & college student did the photography & videography. If you don't have a family friend, ask some college students in the area, I guarantee you they know someone who would do photography for $200 or so.
--We also had a morning wedding (I got married outside, in July, in the South...so it had to be morning) so it was a light lunch for the meal at the reception instead of a $20 per person dinner.
--Rented the men's vests, tux, etc. at a local store instead of a chain store and they gave us a great deal that saved about $400.
--Used the iPod for music. Set up a different play list for the ceremony, pre-reception, and reception. It was tucked away in the corner hooked up to the speakers and no one ever saw it or thought about where the music was coming from.
--And the big one: we got married in a Rose Garden that is upkept by a local civic club, so we literally did not have to have a single decoration at the ceremony itself but it was the most GORGEOUS location with all of the roses and an adorable gazebo

CrazyDaisysMommy

I bought mine on eBay for $75! It wasn't used though. I loved it!

tdaddybarlow

Our wedding was right around $2000.00 with about 50 guests. My wife (only4mebarlow) would be able to give you full details on ways to really stretch your money. And by the way, her wedding dress was a craigslist find that she got for 150.00 and everyone always says how beautiful the dress is.

kryshouston

I say absolutely I spend $1000 on my wedding dress and regret it like crazy sure it was beautiful but its a dress, if you find one on craigslist you like get it, and can be fit to you, DONT waste your money, I feel mine was a waste a simple or used dress would have done just fine

Suzymo3

I truly believe in recycling of all forms. We have freecycle here and I get a lot of stuff that way. We also go to goodwill and salvation army. My daughter is all excited to get these name brand jeans etc. and wants to brag about how cheap she gets them and i have to tell her not to tell her friends etc. She's like "why mom? it's just recycling" Love that girl!

I love this! I am the same way and am all about buying used. You can have nice things and save a lot of money

emccand

I saved a ton of money on my wedding by being thrifty. I got my tiara brand new davids bridal originally 149.99 for $25, davids bridal corset for $10, davids bridal crinoline for $30 and flowers for me and the entire wedding party for $260 all off ebay, and got my centerpieces, mirror, glass votive holders, and candles, flower petals and confetti all for about $30 and other items like cake cutting set $3, ect off craigslist. Craigslist, ebay, and thrift sales are definetly the way to go, like you said you only use it for 1 day lol, and you can turn around and resell it on craigslist when you are done
Also got my daugters flower girl dress off ebay for $50 instead of $120, my veil for $20, and made our own invitations and rsvp cards for about $50.

Everything looked super nice and I got exactly what I want just for way way cheaper. The 2 things I recommend NOT skimping on is the dj and photographer, I went with a cheap $300 photographer and he sucked!

latinahada

I bought my wedding dress off of eBay for $80 new, had it fitted for $50...So that was a total of $130 for the dress! AND I must say, it was beautiful Good luck to you!