Brides-to-be who don't have the funds, or the stomach, to spend thousands of dollars on a dress they'll wear only once don't have to pass up Italian silk for plain polyester.
If you're willing to sift through lots of frocks and forgo the champagne treatment a bridal boutique often provides, you can find a gorgeous gown for much less than the $1,505 the average bride spends.
Here are tips for scoring Madison Avenue glamour on a real-life budget.
•Hit sample sales: At the sales where designers unload excess merchandise to make room for next season's garments, you'll find gowns discounted up to 75 percent. Most sales happen in early fall and spring, but you should e-mail your favorite designers and the bridal salons that stock them to ask about planned events, says Heather Levine, fashion editor for wedding-planning site TheKnot.com.
Just be prepared to dig through racks of less-than-perfect merchandise: Many of the dresses are floor models with sweat stains, ripped trains or other damage.
•Buy off the rack: Skip couture and buy ready-made from retailers like J. Crew, Ann Taylor, Nordstrom and White House Black Market, which have expanded their wedding collections. Nordstrom.com offers two dozen wedding dresses under $400. The silk Sophia gown from J. Crew is a simple, elegant choice, and for $250, you could afford to embellish it with a sash or hand beading.
•Embrace secondhand: Brides have found unusual vintage gowns at consignment stores for generations. Now you can find once-worn dresses online at sites such as PreownedWeddingDresses.com, OnceWed.com and RecycledBride.com or on general resale pages of Craigslist, eBay or regional parenting websites. Request a certificate of authenticity or a copy of the receipt to ensure that the used Vera Wang gown you're interested in is the real deal.
Just beware, says the Knot's Levine, that a dress marked size 8 may have had three inches taken off its waistline or be otherwise altered, and some hemline stains are hard to purge, even with professional cleaning. Also, if you're superstitious, you may want to avoid a gown put on the market by a jilted bride, divorcee or someone who broke off an engagement.
•Relive prom: Consider a snow-white dress intended for another occasion. Early spring is a good time to shop the prom section at department stores and discounters. For a casual wedding, a bride could wear a bridesmaid dress.
•Rent your dream dress: Consider doing what grooms have done for decades: Borrow. RenttheRunway.com lets you wear a designer dress for 90 percent less than it would cost to own. Accessorize with a statement piece from Adorn.com, where a $15,000 pearl-and-diamond necklace rents for $75, including insurance.
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