From time to time there are great articles written that deserve to be shared. I found this article in dailyfinance.com. I thought you might be interested in finding out some other ways to buy your bridal gown that you may not have thought about.

Now starts the hunt for a bridal gown that will make you feel like the most beautiful girl in the world but won’t have you crying down the aisle because you’ve spent a small fortune on something you’ll (hopefully) only wear once. Don’t fret: We’ve explored the costs of buying a dress at bridal salons, retail chains, sample sales and online resale resources — and offered tips for landing a solid deal from each option.

Nothing will beat the service and pampering you’ll get at a bridal salon. And for many women, the experience of shopping at a store dedicated to their big day is a rite of passage — but at what cost?

On average, brides spent about $1,100 for a wedding dress last year, and an overwhelming number of them –58% — purchased their gown at a local bridal salon, according to The Real Weddings Study by The Knot, the wedding planning resource.

Dresses purchased at bridal salons will tend to be more expensive, Rachel Leonard, fashion director for BRIDES magazine, told WalletPop, “[because] they’ll be made to order.” It’s where you’ll end up with a dress that will fit you well with more exacting alterations because that’s the store’s specialty, she adds.

What’s more, Leonard offers, “They’ll make it more of a special experience, and you’ll be waited on.”

At a bridal salon, you’ll have a plethora of dress choices from a variety of designers, Amy Eisinger, associate editor of WeddingChannel.com, told WalletPop. This means dresses will run the gamut from formal, traditional and ornate poofy frocks to classic and modern looks.

If you’re looking for that pampered salon treatment but still want to land a deal, consider this:

Bridal salons range from the moderate to the upscale. To find a lower-priced dress, look for salons that include gowns in their collection that come from vendors that specialize in more affordable fare, such as Maggie Sottero, Allure and Watters & Watters, Leonard suggests. These suppliers, she says, “make good, classic wedding dresses ..and you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck.”

Dresses from these manufacturers will generally range in price from about $500 to $1,700, Leonard says, although there will be a wide selection at the lower end of that range at the moderately priced salons. You’ll get an even better deal if you buy one that’s on sale.

You’ll also pay less for a dress with a simple silhouette without a lot of embellishments, internal structure, or yards and yards of taffeta or organza, Eisinger says.

Another big way to save? “Avoid custom alterations, or keep them to a minimum,” Eisinger suggests. For instance, stay away from altering the neckline or changing a dress from short to long sleeves. Instead, try to find a dress that already incorporates these details.

If you must have alterations made, compare the cost of altering your dress at the bridal salon with the cost of using an outside tailor, who might be less expensive.

And then there’s that old rule: “If you stick the word ‘wedding’ on anything, the price tends to go up,” Eisinger says. If you do tap a regular tailor, get quotes from several different tailors before making your decision and make sure they have experience and are adept at altering bridal gowns.

National Bridal Chains

National bridal chains, such as David’s Bridal and Alfred Angelo, offer a huge selection of dresses in all different sizes and styles at mostly affordable prices. In general, these bridal chains sell their own brand of dresses, save for some exclusive and licensed collections.

According to Leonard, the dresses these stores sell are typically made from a less expensive fabric than what you’ll find at a bridal salon.

“But there’s no question that buying off the rack will save you a lot,” Eisinger says.

At Alfred Angelo, for instance, dresses range from $199 to $3,000, with most hovering in the $599 price range, says the chain’s spokeswoman, Amanda Sheronas. “The gowns that we create fit every woman’s price point and budget,” Sheronas adds.

At David’s Bridal, dresses are priced from about $299 to $1,400, but you can find sale dresses for as low as $100. If you’ve got your heart set on a dress from a big-name designer, the retailer now sells White, an exclusive line from none other than Vera Wang, with dresses priced from $600 to $1,400. The line was created to give more brides a chance to wear “the designer gown of their dreams at an attainable price point,” according to a David’s Bridal press statement.

Retail Stores Say “I Do” to Bridal

More and more non-bridal retailers, particularly specialty apparel chains, are getting into the wedding dress business — and their collections are typically less expensive than what’s sold at a bridal salon.

If you’re willing to step outside the bridal box, check out the wedding dresses at Ann Taylor, White House Black Market, J. Crew and Urban Outfitters’ new Anthropologie spin-off division, BHLDN (Beholden) to see if they strike your fancy.

Just know that you likely won’t find the pomp-and-circumstance-type gown that’s available in a bridal boutique. For the most part, these retailers are offering simpler silhouettes that generally won’t be as formal, Eisinger says. If you’re having a more casual affair, be sure to check out these retailers’ stock of non-bridal white dresses that can double as a wedding dress, Eisinger says, which is another great way to save.

And it’s the affordability factor that just might win you over. For example, wedding dresses at White House Black Market range from about $348 to $698. Dresses at Ann Taylor go for as low as $300 for a simple, tulle, strapless number to $896 for an all-over lace gown; many of Ann Taylor’s dresses hover in the $395 to $499 range.

At J. Crew and Beholden, the dresses tend to be pricier. Still, you can find a $300 dress at J. Crew, but you’ll also see ones that go for as much as $3,500.

There’s one big compromise to consider when shopping at these lower-priced retailers: Dresses at these stores are mostly online exclusives, which means you can’t try them on. (A few of these retailers carry bridal dresses in a handful of their stores.) So before you buy, be sure to check retailers’ return policies.

One slightly unusual source you might to consider is Costco, which entered the bridal business this year with its Signature collection of dresses from designer Kirstie Kelly. And while you can land a deal, you won’t necessarily land a steal: Costco’s dresses, which are being sold in a handful of stores, range from about $600 to as high as $1,400.

Sample Sales

Bridal salons — as well as off-price department store Filene’s Basement, with its Running of the Brides event — hold sample sales a few times a year, where brides-to-be can score dresses for discounts of as much as 80% off the original price.

These sales can be like frenzied sporting events, as shoppers compete to snatch up a limited supply of bargain dresses.

Just know this: “You should be prepared to pay in cash and buy the dress that day,” Eisinger says. Also, the dress will likely be soiled and need to be washed, so plan on factoring in that cost, she says.

Second-Hand Dresses

If you really want to save big on your wedding dress and don’t mind wearing something used, you have s a host of options.

For one, there are sites devoted to selling pre-owned wedding dresses, such as Encorebridal.com, OnceWed.com, and PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, which recently featured a new Oleg Cassini dress for $250, 72% off the original price.

While the assortment and sizes at second-hand resellers will be limited, Eisinger says, “this is where you can find dresses that are very inexpensive. In some cases, the brides have worn the dress only once, or maybe they never wore the dress.” Just remember, you most likely won’t have the option of returning the dress, so be prepared for the transaction to be a final sale.

You should also check out consignment stores and thrift shops for wedding dresses. Goodwill, for one, holds an annual bridal showcase, where used, designer wedding gowns can be snatched up for as little as $99. Check to see if the Goodwill in your area is planning such as an event.

And if you want to save on your dress but also want to give back, check out Brides Against Breast Cancer’s Nationwide Tour of Gowns. Most gowns in the collecting range from $99 to $799, and the tour features both new and donated wedding dresses, including some high-end designer dresses. Sales benefit Making Memories, a foundation devoted to brightening the lives of women whose cancer is terminal.

Now that you can breathe easy about finding a gorgeous wedding dress for less, all you have to worry about is…everything else!

Related posts:

1. A flip Wedding…Staying ahead of the Curve What, you ask, is a Flip Wedding? It is...

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Hi everyone:

I know that I have been lax in updating my blog, I promise to work harder at getting relevant info to you in a timely manner. That being said, I found this wonderful article, and though I have written about this particular vendor before, not all of you have been followers for a long time.

The article was found on a site called “Think like a bride.com”

I hope you like it, I know I did!

******************************************************************

I have built a reputation of being pretty spot on in terms of trend tracking, well here is the next one. I rarely take on clients for full on marketing campaigns anymore, but this one was too hot to pass up. I want you, my faithful readers to be ahead of the curve. In the coming months, your brides are going to be asking you about My Flip Wedding. What, you ask, is a Flip Wedding? It is the brain child of the wonderful folks at Storymix Media and it is a way for brides and grooms to capture the memories of their wedding (before and beyond) in a DIY way with amazing results. Storymix Media will rent the simple to use little Flip cameras as a package, your bride then gets them into the hands of the people who know her best, her friends and family. Once they have filmed the bits and pieces of the big day from their unique point of view, the cameras are packed up and sent back to Storymix Media. They upload the footage and then the bride can use their easy-peasy storyboard editing system to pick the scenes, the theme and the music. The Apple Certified Pros at Storymix then edit them into a wonderful highlight reel. Videographers, don’t panic. This isn’t to replace you, this is in addition to you. I think, even cooler than couples using it for their wedding are all the other applications I am seeing. Grooms are using them for their bachelor party, brides are capturing their shower and girls day. Couples are taking them on their honeymoon. The possibilities are endless. You see the thing is, sometimes your best friends and family see things that you (and your videographer) miss. It is like getting to be a guest at your wedding. You can find out more in today’s press release.  Next month, OffBeat Bride is doing a feature on My Flip Wedding. Here is another heads up. I am seeing some copy-cats start to climb out of the wood work.

Don’t go there. Mike and Ariane at Storymix Media have been doing this since 2006 for pros and consumers alike. The new part is that now they have launched a wedding division specifically for the bridal market. Trust me, the team at Storymix Media knows what they are doing. For the record, no this isn’t a sponsored post but they are a client of mine.

Now, go and have a wholesale flower filled day!

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A good friend of mine recently asked me my thoughts on a new trend. “What trend is that I asked”

“Having a Wedding or some other type of event in a Funeral home”.

“Are you kidding me”? I asked.

“No”. she said….and she sent me this article.

I want you all to know that I run a big fundraiser each year, Halloween themed, the week of Halloween, and even for that I don’t think I could bring myself to secure a Funeral Parlor for the host location.

What do you think? Read the article below and send your thoughts.

Would you get married in a funeral home in order to save money?

Tom Barlow
Jan 25th 2011 at 1:00PM

For many of us, the nicest place we’ll ever spend a night is the funeral home where our friends and family pay their last respects. In an era where cremation continues to eat into the funeral home business, it’s no surprise that purveyors are looking for ways to leverage their beautiful properties to increase cash flow. One surprising way? Host a wedding.

Or replace the term funeral home with community center, as some entrepreneurs have done. And why not? If you can get past the thought of what might be in the basement cooler, you’re usually looking at a facility completely equipped for the festivities, a facility with lovely decor, great parking and plenty of mingling room.

Using a funeral home for other community functions is nothing new, according to a spokesperson for the National Funeral Directors Association, James Olson of the Lippert-Olson Funeral Home in Sheboygan, Wisc. Olson tells WalletPop that his facility, for example, has been used for charity events such as cocktail parties, for group meetings, murder mystery dinners and wedding receptions.

Local laws could also play a role in the use of funeral home facilities. Olson explained that, in some states, it is illegal to have food in a funeral home. So, in order to serve families that want to put on a spread after the funeral, those homes have built separate facilities. Once they have those facilities, it only makes sense to look for new ways to leverage them by making them available for banquets, family gatherings and … weddings.

Is a funeral home wedding a rare occurrence? According to USA Today, the Community Life Center owned by the Flanner & Buchanan Funeral Centers, in the Washington Park East Cemetery is scheduled to host almost 100 weddings this year.

And the events provide a benefit to the host home beyond the rental fee. Olson said that by hosting people for more pleasant events, (and what is more pleasant than a wedding?) he hopes that they will remember his home in times of more dire need.

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We want to thank Ellen for all her hard work at getting this powerpoint presentation to work, so that we could share it with all of you.  If you should have any photos of work you have done with your bridesnblooms.com flowers, please, send them on to us, and we will add them in!

Have a wholesale flower filled day!

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We’re so excited here at bridesnblooms.com. We found an amazing vendor with an even more amazing product!

Chic Unique Inc. is a company that specializes in custom made aisle runners. What a fantastic addition to your wedding (or any other occasion where you want to be the “center of attention”).

Chic Unique Inc. creates the most beautiful, handpainted aisle runners, unique to you. You get to pick the colors, the style, the ribbons, the verbage, and, best of all, what you will do with it after you walk on it.

It almost seems a shame to walk on such a beautiful work of art, but, hey, that’s what it’s there for. Once you have come down the aisle, you can choose to reuse the runner in various places at your event.

Beth recommends using it for a backdrop behind your sweetheart table, and then, once you return home, have it shortened and framed, or have a pillow made, for a keepsake that everyone can admire for years to come.

This is one of those items that “not everyone and their sister” will have. Be unique, be yourself!

So, if you are looking to step up the look of your ceremony and have a wonderfully beautiful keepsake for years to come, check out www.chicuniqueinc.com I’m sure you’ll be glad you did.

Now, have a wholesale flower filled day!

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Hello Everyone!

Just back from an amazing vacation…Hope you didn’t miss me too much. Below is an article that one of my previous blog notables sent to me, I thought it was very relevant for our readers. Let me know what you think…

Bowling alley wedding: How creativity is priceless in a bad economy

(CNN) — It wasn’t the dream wedding Rachel Sifuentes, 28, envisioned as a little girl.

No walking down a church aisle. No DJ at the reception. No white dress.

Instead, Sifuentes and her husband followed their attendants dancing down the center lane of a bowling alley where the neatly lined-up pins faded into the background. The ladies didn’t carry flowers, but waved long ribbons. The bridal party relied on an iPod for entertainment. The bride wore a silky deep-blue gown — the groom’s favorite color — purchased at a discount.

“Luckily, everything turned out to be great,” said Sifuentes, who lives in Chicago, Illinois, and wanted to save money because her salary at the law firm where she works had been reduced.

Sifuentes’ bowling alley wedding in January may not have been traditional, but the creative ceremony saved her thousands of dollars at a time when wallet tightening has become necessary for many American families. Her offbeat wedding is representative of a growing trend, wedding experts say, as brides are discovering cheap can be chic, and also inspire innovative party ideas.

“Necessity breeds ingenuity,” said Ariel Meadow Stallings, a writer who runs the online bridal site Offbeat Bride.

She explains what has ushered in the recent trend of frugal yet creative brides: “It’s the combination of the economy with the fact that through the ’90s, there was a big explosion of the wedding industrial complex.”

Weddings remain a multibillion-dollar industry and summer is the busiest season. There were about 2.2 million weddings in 2009, with each event averaging 128 guests, according to The Wedding Report Inc., a research company that tracks the wedding industry.

But the wedding business may slowly be eroding in the fragile economy. The average cost for a wedding dipped in 2009 to about $19,500 from a peak of $28,700 in 2007, said The Wedding Report Inc. So far this year, wedding spending has improved — with the economy — to an average of $23,800.

Sifuentes’ bowling alley wedding was a bargain: She spent about $5,000, which included the ceremony and reception.

Websites and blogs — such as A Practical Wedding and 2000 Dollar Wedding — have surfaced over the last few years to help brides creatively pinch their pennies.

In Maine this summer, one bride substituted a baked potato bar for a traditional five-course meal at the reception. Other brides have replaced costly gourmet cakes from bakeries with homemade Rice Krispies treats and chocolate chip cookies.

Some couples recommended switching from a dinnertime reception to a brunch or hosting the wedding on a weekday night rather than on the more popular Saturday. Other brides have abandoned expensive venues such as private hotels or banquet halls for public buildings, parks and libraries. One New York bride spent less than $600 on her wedding in 2007 by keeping the guest list short and having the ceremony in a public library. What a great idea!

When it comes to invitations, place settings, decorations and dresses, the brides have learned the power of DIY, which stands for “do it yourself.”

But it’s not always easy to have an offbeat wedding. Some wedding experts caution the bride may not have enough time to handle the extra responsibilities. Other brides say they still feel families and friends expect them to throw a lavish, traditional wedding.

“There was so much pressure on everything,” said former bride Meg Keene, founder of the blog A Practical Wedding. “Everything was presented as obviously this is the option you’ll chose, if you want it to be a good wedding.”

For Sifuentes, throwing a bowling alley wedding came with some hesitation. She worried about what some guests would think about her cutbacks.

“I was concerned that I was going to come off as a cheap bride or not having a very nice wedding,” she said. “I didn’t want it to be a tacky wedding.”

But her bowling alley wedding turned out to be classy, she said. About 70 of the couple’s closest friends and family members joined them to feast on an Italian buffet. There was plenty of dancing, but they also found time to bowl.

A Brides.com survey in 2009 also found brides are watching expenses. Four out of five couples set a budget for their wedding. Half the brides will spend time researching financing for the ceremony and reception, the survey said.

“People are being smarter,” said Ali Phillips, owner of a wedding planning boutique firm, Engaging Events by Ali, in Chicago. “They are asking themselves: Do we really need to have the fancy chairs? Do you really have to give wedding favors?”

Phillips, who has been a wedding consultant for nine years, said she noticed clients making cutbacks to guest lists and choosing fewer upgrades this year. For example, five years ago, the average guest list contained about 180 people. This year, the guest lists have about 120 people.

Jennifer Crawford, 30, of Huntington Beach, California, kept her wedding budget a priority. At her wedding in April, she shaved costs by having a seamstress copy the style of her dream gown that retailed at $2,800 at a boutique. Her handmade replica was a fraction of the cost — $650. This is genius, most people believe that a custom made dress is out of their price range, but, as it turns out, it’s actually much more economical than paying for a “name”.

In Oklahoma, bride-to-be Ashley Heckathorn, 24, estimated she will save up to $15,000 by making her own bouquets, (She must be using bridesnblooms.com) which will save her from whittling down the guest list. She is relying on Craigslist and friends’ talents to find deals for her wedding, set for June 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Some wedding experts say the wedding industry is recovering. Xochitl Gonzalez, a wedding consultant at Always a Bridesmaid in New York, said her guests aren’t as afraid to spend money on the ceremony and reception as they were when the economy initially plummeted.

Rebecca Dolgin, executive editor at The Knot.com, said weddings are recession proof. But Dolgin said she noticed brides are shopping more carefully and comparing deals for their weddings.

“People generally only get married once,” Dolgin said. “There may be ebbs and flows in the economy, but they are always going to look back on their wedding day.”

Hope you enjoyed the article, I know I did. Now go and remember you can save hundreds of dollars on your wedding florals by simply using www.bridesnblooms.com . Have a flower filled day!

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Calling all DIY, budget, and techno-savvy  brides, have we found the site for you! What if I told you that you could get a professionally edited movie from the amateur video footage taken at your wedding at a price that won’t break the bank? Or that you could create an e-save the date and have it hosted in a private gallery? Looking for an affordable wedding slideshow to show at your reception?, This is the place!  Ariane will show you how can you easily capture photo video clips taken by your guests at your wedding. All this and more is available at Storymix Media.

Wedding video filmed on Flip camera from Ariane on Vimeo.

a look at this…

Unique Products with You in Mind

One of the interesting things about Storymix Media is that they create products specifically tailored to help make your wedding day easier and more memorable.  Creative Director Ariane Fisher says, “After speaking with a lot brides and reading through many bridal forums, we realized that our expertise in creating custom, personalized media products that tell a story would be of real value to today’s brides.”  So, they created a site focused just on wedding couples.
Save Time, Effort, Money, and Enjoy Your Day for a Lifetime!

Here are some of my favorite ways Storymix Media will make your wedding just a little bit better.

Guest Uploads – for only $9.99 you can get all the photos and videos from your guests in hi-resolution files.  It’s easy (just send your guests a link) there is no sign-up required.  Great as a compliment or alternative to a pro photographer or videographer.

e-Save the Date - save some money and trees using a private online gallery to send a personalized slideshow. Just imagine how happy your out of town relatives will be to see you and your beloved, if they are unable to attend.

Slideshows - these are great to tell your love story, but rather than spending hours struggling to make one yourself or hope your cousin will do it, pick from 8 professional themes and know it’s done right.

Custom Movies – if a pro videographer isn’t in your plans, then you can either rent Flip cameras or use the footage from a camcorder.  The best part is you’ll have a 15-20 minute highlight video of the best moments, without the scenes of the camera sitting on a table forgotten to be turned off.

BridesnBlooms.com Special Offer

Storymix Media is offering their BridesnBlooms.com readers a 50% coupon to the first 10 people who order any product.  Just use coupon code BNB50 in their ordering system.  As a thanks for their offer we’d appreciate it if you would provide some feedback if you are contacted by Storymix as they want to make sure you loved every aspect of your experience.

As a National company, Storymix media can make ANYONE’S dreams come true!

You guys know that we love you and always try to bring you the coolest trends that we find. We think Storymixmedia is the epitome of what we stand for.

Go, record your wonderful events, incorporate Story Mix Media into your everyday life and have a wholesale flower filled day!

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Hi everyone!

I have another fantastic vendor to introduce you to. I bet, unless you are a celebrity or a very high end bride, that you thought you couldn’t have a custom sketch of your wedding gown. That’s right, a true artist, skilled in fashion design will sketch out your gown, just for you!

What an amazing keepsake for you! You may not wind up keeping your actual gown, but, for all eternity, you will have a sketch of the gown you wore.

Is that not totally cool?

Here’s what Heather needs from you…

-Pictures of your dress-you can email or if you only have hard copies you can mail them
Any specific details you would like to focus on (if this is beadwork you must make sure it is clear in the pictures)
-She will also do a front view or a back view, or can do both for an extra fee
TIME:
-You should allow 2-3 weeks for the sketch to be completed and in the mail to you (so if this is a gift, please contact Heather at least a month in advance)
What you will receive :

-Either an 8×10 or an 11×13 picture of your sketch

Please Note: Heather’s sketches are an artistic interpretation of your dress as she sees it…..It will not be an exact replica.

You can reach Heather and check out some of her other masterpieces on her website.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/gownsketch

So, go ahead, have your gown sketched and have a wholesale flower filled day!

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