Secrets to Finding Affordable Bridal Gowns: How to Save Money on Your Dream Wedding Dress
by
Michelle Ellingsworth
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Secrets to Finding Affordable Bridal Gowns: How to Save Money on Your Dream Wedding Dress
by
Michelle Ellingsworth
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Michelle Ellingsworth
http://www.sane-wedding-planning.com/
michelle@sane-wedding-planning.com
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
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Secrets to Finding Affordable Bridal Gowns: How to Save Money on Your Dream Wedding Dress
Contents
Chapter 1 - Why Read This Book?
Chapter 2 - Why Most Brides Go Over Budget on Their Wedding Dress
Chapter 3 - How to Find Your Perfect Wedding Dress Style
Chapter 4 - How to Save Money Shopping at a Traditional Bridal Store
Chapter 6 - How to Successfully Buy Your Wedding Dress on eBay
Chapter 8 - How to Choose Bridesmaid Dresses and Still Have Friends After Your Wedding Day
Chapter 9 - How to Take Your Wedding Dress and Bridesmaid Dresses from Simple to Fabulous
Chapter 10 - Your Wedding Attire: How Formal are You Really?
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Chapter 1 - Why Read This Book?
Where are you right now with your wedding planning? Concerned about throwing a wedding bash in this economy? Worried it will take too long? That you’ll go over budget and into debt?
You’re not alone. Each year 2.2 million couples in the US get married and more than half will do it all wrong – debt, crisis, and regrets.
In the creation of my website and books, I surveyed recently married women from all over the country and noticed some consistent wedding planning problems.
The Big One: Most couples don’t properly budget for their wedding. And many couples who do budget have trouble staying within their budgets.
They may diligently search online for money saving tips, but the very nature of the internet thwarts them. How a web site gets ranking from search engines (Google) makes researching a subject like budget wedding planning completely insane.
Let me explain. For Google to rank a web page high in search results there must be a density of keywords related to a very specific subject. Therefore, you only get a narrow slice of information per page (even I have to do this on my site). Not to mention that websites often break long articles into very short slow-to-load bits so you’ll search deeper into their site and be exposed to more advertising.
You could spend hours researching on the internet only to gather a few small nuggets of information. And when it comes to saving money while planning a wedding, you need a lot of information.
Secrets to Finding Affordable Bridal Gowns: How to Save Money on Your Dream Wedding Dress presents you with concentrated information on how to save money on a wedding dress without considering keywords. I spent months researching and interviewing former brides and wedding planners so you don’t have to.
Please enjoy the bonus chapters on wedding shoes, tips for choosing bridesmaid dresses, and a wedding attire etiquette quick guide.
Why read this book? The wedding dress is one of the biggest budget busters you will face while planning your wedding.
Celebrity culture and magazines have created an environment where everyone feels they deserve a custom Vera Wang dress (I know I can’t flip through InStyle magazine without feeling that urge). Handmade designer dresses are amazing, but is there really any reason to spend the equivalent of a down payment on a house for a dress?
Nope.
The new economy has ushered in a new era for weddings – they are less conventional, less expensive, more personal… and what matters most is that you and your guests are relaxed and happy.
This is a good change. You really can look amazing on your wedding day without spending a fortune on your wedding dress!
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Chapter 2 - Why Most Brides Go Over Budget on Their Wedding Dress
There are two main reasons why a majority of brides go over budget on their wedding dress:
1. They don’t fully understand what is included in the attire budget.
2. They fail to make a budget for attire in the first place.
Many brides assume that the entire budget for their attire (10% of total of wedding budget is the norm, more if you purchase the bridesmaid dresses) is only for the dress. Not so!
The attire budget includes:
• The bride’s dress
• Alterations
• Shipping (if dress is special order) plus any related rush fees
• Shoes
• Gloves
• Headpiece and/or veil
• Petticoats
• Lingerie
• Jewelry
• Bridesmaid dresses if you are purchasing part or all of them
• Cleaning and preservation of the dress after the wedding
• The groom’s tux or suit
• Grooming services (makeup, hair, manicure, pedicure)
If like many brides you do go over budget on your dress, just know you will have to sacrifice something else from the budget to make up for it. Grooming services is one of the easiest line items to cut. There was a time not so long ago where brides and their attendants did their own – or each other’s – hair and makeup.
Don’t go crazy
It’s okay to flex your wedding dress budget a bit and then adjust for it, but it’s not appropriate to buy a dress and shoes that cost almost as much as the catering for your reception.
It may sound simple, but the first way to save money on your wedding dress is to draw up a budget (50% of couples don’t do this!). Know how much you actually have to spend on the dress before you go shopping. For example, if your wedding budget is $10,000, you will have an attire budget of $1,000.
Out of a $1,000 budget for wedding attire, you may have less than 50% for the actual wedding dress.
Be sure to check your numbers carefully before running out and falling in love with a dress you just can’t afford.
For more information and making your wedding budget, see the wedding budget section on Sane-Wedding-Planning.com.
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