Wedding Blog
I’m on a very tight budget for my wedding. I’m not even sure of the final budget number (I’m dreading the “how much can you help me” talk with my mom) but I have a working number in my head. It’s going to come from leftover loan money, lots of extra shifts at work, cutting back in everyday spending, selling stuff on eBay, whatever Mom can give, and of course, Mr. Lab’s family.
I prefer not to list the budget number until after the wedding, where I promise I will break down all the wedding costs one by one. And if any of you are REALLY wanting to know how much I’m spending, I’m sure that you’ll be able to keep track with individual items as I book, reserve, and pay for them. But that would make you a borderline stalker. 
With all that said, I will routinely list ways I’m planning on saving money during the planning/paying process. One of those ways is with the dress.
I know a lot of girls would never dream of the dress being anything BUT the most important item on the budget. I’m not one of those girls. I’m willing to save on the dress to add to another area (photography!) on my wedding day. Brides wear their dresses for maybe 12 hours max, and then never again.
Don’t get me wrong. I definitely want a gorgeous gown that will illicit gasps & awes as I walk down the aisle. But I’m not willing to spend a lot on it. Period. This is where “The Running of the Brides” comes in. Once a year, select Filene’s Basements hold an event where thousands of designer gowns are marked down drastically for brides-to-be. I’m fortunate enough to be living a little over an hour outside of Atlanta where one of these events is held. So can you guess what I did on March 20th this year?!?!
The day before the ROTB, my girls and I had a sleepover so I could “drill” my mini army on what I wanted so they knew what to grab. I also outfitted my team with matching outfits so we got the full effect of the day. I already had a style of dress in mind and I had even found a designer that carried a lot of those styles. I’ll update later with more details of my dream wedding dress, but to hold you over, here’s an idea of what I wanted:
Did you purchase your dress at a deep discount? Where did you find it?
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That’s perfect! I love how you got your family involved! I am getting my dress made at a huge discount because I couldn’t afford the dress of my dreams, but I think that the ROTB sounds like an amazing experience! Can’t wait to see the results!
I got mine at the Brides Against Breat Cancer sale. It’s a 900.00 dress I got for 450.00. I LOVE the idea of not spending tons of money on your dress. I totally agree with you, I’d rather save on the dress and spurge on the photography.
Nice! I love these running of the brides stories- I don’t live near one of those stores so this whole thing intrigues me!
Such a pretty dress…. I can’t wait to hear if you found it for a great price!
Those Jim Hjelm’s are my faves. Hope it worked out for you!
I got mine at a deep discount, and I absolutely love it! My mom and I joked about going to one of these “Running of the Brides” events, but live to far away.
Glad you were able to find your dream dress!
ohh… Jim Hjelm, love it! I actually bought my Jim Hjelm (brand new with tags) on Ebay for less than I paid for my inexpensive veil. No Joke!
Oh, I love Jim Hjelm so much! I wish I could have found one of those gorgeous gowns within my budget…
Oh yes!! I knew I didn’t want top break the bank either! I couldn’t find anything I loved. Magically I found ‘the one’ when I wasn’t even looking-on-sale-$90. Oh yes. I loved it so much more than anything high end I had seen. It was prettier, sooo very me, and I would have paid $1000 for it. Score.
I got my dress on ebay! Talk about a discount!! I paid $300 for a $1800 dress!! (Shipping included!)
….and PS: What gorgeous choices!!!! I can’t wait to see what you got!!
I almost went to this but wasn’t brave enough - good for you!
Just a note, i bought my Jim Hjelm, brand new because I fell in love with it and HAD.TO.HAVE.IT. But it was almost double my budget. So, I decided that after the wedding I would sell my gown. And I did - I recouped over 50% what I paid for it and I didn’t even have to get it cleaned.
I am happy that in the end I actually stayed under budget and got to wear my designer dream dress!
So this is another option for money saving 
I can’t wait to see more of your posts. I am also on a tight budget and don’t see the need of paying so much for a dress that your wear once. I gave myself a budget of $200 for my dress and I just bought mine online in the David’s Bridal Outlet. It was perfect! No alterations needed at all and I came in way under budget.
Happy Planning!
I LOVE JH. Haven’t tried any on yet so hopefully it looks as good on me as I love it!
I got my dress at Neiman Marcus Last Call a year and a half ago. It is a Tadashi white gown marked down from $900.00 to $61.00!!! I walked in, saw it, loved it, and bought it. Since I had a year to shop I have done the running of the brides and tried on a bunch of other dresses but this is still the winner! I am getting married on the beach in May in my fabulous $61.00 dress!!!!!
I feel the same way about the dress! I want something fabulous, but, most importantly, cheap. I’m raring to go to the RotB in Boston this August. My friends want to make matching T-shirts and go at the crack of dawn, the thought of which terrifies me. I’m convinced I’d end up curled up on top of reject gowns in the fetal position. So I’ll probably go in the afternoon.
Can’t wait to hear more about your running adventure!
I was one of those CRAZY brides last Aug. I did the running of the brides in DC. I had a team of 8. I arrived around 3:30 pm the day before and I was 3rd in line. We had a great time and my game plan was great. We collected over 80 dresses and I purchased 1.
I’m the same way. Give me an inexpensive wedding dress I can tailor to fit me perfect and I’ll be okay, I just want the Photography!
i think the rotb would help u and your bms come closer together, it looks fun!
I’m from Atlanta and did the RofB’s. I found my dress. It was awesome. It was brand new, with tags and stuffing inside it. All for the lovely price of 268 dollars.
It looks like I’m going to head down the Etsy Alchemy route and have mine made. I fell in love with a Jenny Lee but alas it’s 5k. Not in my budget.
I did the same thing!
And had those as inspiration photos too!
I like you so much already! I am on the same page about the dress. I love nice dresses but after a while, they all kind of look the same. I seriously could not imagine spending $3-4K for an item of clothing. Props to those Bees who can afford it, though.
a matching mini army? Wow! That was smart! and now Im going to have to keep checking back to see what happened!!
Oh yeah, and I got my dress for half off! I found a bride that was selling hers on craigs list. I also got the petticoat included.
Jim Hjelm is one of my favorite designers! I love the lace work and think it’s perfect for a southern wedding!
I got mine at ROB last week in Rockville MD! It was a 1300.00 dress and I got it for 250.00. FYI, for all of the brides thinking of going, I went around 1100 and they had tons of dresses left. Just remember to bring a mirror!
I found my **dream** dress at a Brides Aganist Breast Cancer Sale! It was meant to be…right size….exactly the right length… and cheaper than in a bridal store!!
Ooooh… I can’t wait to hear what you found!! I went to the ROTB in nyc at the end of Feb. I actually went later in the day by myself and really didn’t have the high of expectations. But I found a Melissa Sweet (I was dying for anything from Priscilla) dress (Daphne) and picked it up for 500!! I’m so proud of myself for not getting an uber expensive dress!!
That sounds like so much fun! Gorgeous dream dresses, can’t wait to see the real one. I LOVE that yall were in matching outfits
I found my formal pic wedding dress on ebay for about $100! It’s brand new and currently over $900 in stores. I was so excited when I saw it on ebay! I may just rent my wedding day dress.
I am in love with those dresses. I’m taking in pics of Jim Hjelm’s dresses when I go shopping for my wedding gown. I can’t wait to see the dress you ended up with!
What a tease! Finish the story! =) I desperately wanted to go to the RoTB, but none of my peeps would go with me. Fortunately, I found my dress at the Bridal Garden (a shop that sells samples and donated dresses, with the money going to charity) a few days before, so I didn’t have to Bridezilla them into action!
I havent been dress shopping yet..May 2nd!! I hope you found something close to the images because I just love the lace and the bow!! I’m looking for lace as well as some beading…I love how the lace looks on most gowns. Sounds like a fun but crazy thing ROTB!!! I cant wait to hear more. And I understand what you’re saying about spending more money on Photos…these are things you’re going to be looking at 30-50 yrs from now and want them to look the same as the first year you got them.
I bought my dress at the Running of the Brides! And I also LOVED Jim Hjelm dresses and was hoping to find something similiar (or a Jim Hjelm dress…). I found only TWO dresses that were simple, mermaid-cut (like yours!). No beautiful alencon lace though. All of the dresses there were way toooo over the top for me (princess type stuff). The one i went home with was a simple mermaid cut. I had an alencon lace bolero made, the neckline changed (to a sweet-heart neckline), some basic alterations (it was too big), and some more alencon lace added to the hem. Can’t wait to find out if you were lucky enough to score your dream dress!
Yeah, I really wish there was a Filene’s over here just to have that experience. Fortunately for me, there is a Jessica McClintock outlet nearby and I was able to get a beautiful new dress for $75!!! Online it’s still going for $270 off the original $500 price. The sad part…went back a couple of weeks later and they tacked on an extra 50% off the $75!!! Can’t be mad though, they didn’t have my size anymore =) Hope you get to be as lucky on your hunt!
I nearly went to that event, but fortunately I already owned two gowns by that point (one of which I need to sell!), and I couldn’t justify braving the madness!
Beautiful inspiration! Nowadays it’s crazy to buy a dress at full price when there are so many deals out there! ((and knowing me I’ll end up paying full price too haha))
I found the dress that I wanted from David’s Bridal on eBay for $100 from a bride that bought that dress, but ended up buying another one for her wedding and wasn’t able to return the first.
I wish I lived near a bigger city so that I could have access to opportunities like that! I lucked out and found a Vera Wang showroom sample on eBay for $750. I bought it, loved it, then changed my mind.
I cannot believe all the deals you ladies have gotten on your gowns! As a bargain shopper, I feel like I’m in elite company. I’m especially impressed by all you girls that got your designer duds at deep discounts. I sometimes wonder if people who pay the original price on big ticket gowns are completely oblivious to the deals out there or just genuinely don’t care that they’re throwing away money, you know? I mean, I don’t think I’d spend too terribly much even if I were a millionaire. (but it’s easier said than done, lol)
And don’t worry about me leaving you hanging. You’ll get the rest of the story soon, I promise!
beautiful choice. can’t wait! ROTB posts are always so exciting!!
Yes! My gown is twice worn, so it’s definitely deeply discounted. I love JH! I can’t wait to see the outcome of your ROTB experience.
Ho scovato in rete un’altra iniziativa di wedding running a milano,
riporto la notizia e il video su youtube.
SOLOSPOSEFELICI
In Amore tutto è lecito e spesso ci si trova a confrontarsi con un’agguerrita concorrenza!
Per tutti quelli che disposti a tutto, ma proprio tutto, per raggiungere il proprio obiettivo.
Are you ready to do everything for the love of your life?
Even running with a wedding dress to catch the perfect partner?
Who’s gonna win the challenge?
you look this funny video, it is a wedding running in Milan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGz21kXCegI
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Mrs. Labrador Retriever, Athens/Savannah
Age and Occupation: 24, Student/Sports Reporter
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Physical Therapy Assistant Student/Future Dr. of PT
Engagement Date: December 31, 2008
Wedding Date: November 2009
Venue: Whitfield Square/Savannah Station
About Me: I'm working on my second degree from UGA (Go Dawgs!). I'm a self-proclaimed attention-w****. If it involves a camera, I'm in front of it! You'll never meet a girlier tomboy than me. I can go toe to toe with any guy on the subject of college football, and lift more than any girl in my gym, all without chipping a nail. I hope to someday be the only person you want delivering your sports news. My FI and I are the loving parents of three Labrador Retrievers (one of each color) and are planning a "Southern Romantic Charm" wedding in the beautiful, historic city of Savannah. I'm not extreme in anything except moderation... and wedding planning.
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