Weddingbee Blog

I bought a dress today. (Insert girly shriek here. OK- I’m done now. No I’m not. eeeee!)

The story starts in December:

After drawing out the dress saga for many months I turned to Weddingbee for help. I had settled on buying used, and even had an idea of the specific dress I was looking for. After dwelling on the Nicole Miller HG0013 for a few weeks, I found the IK0004 online and just kept coming back to it. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It’s just so pretty without being too formal, and comes pre-wrinkled! I looked online at the pre-owned websites, but even a used IK0004 was well out of our budget. It also seemed to be a pretty in-demand dress, only a few out there and many brides wanting it. I thought I’d throw it out there to the hive to see if anyone had any ideas.

So, my pre-bee self posted a question to the boards. “Anyone have a used IK0004?”

I didn’t have high hopes.

But a few days later, this:

After a few emails it turns out that she had gotten the dress from another bee (who also maybe got it used?). Wait—pre-pre-used? That’s even better than pre-used. And since this dress is in it’s third (or is it fourth) generation as a gown, she offered it to me for a great deal. A hmm…-I-can-actually-afford-this-dress-now deal. Yes, yes, yes.

All I had to do was wait until she got married at the end of February.

Fast Forward to March 1: She said she was getting married at the end of February… would it be too early to email her? I better wait a bit.

March 2:

Um, hi. Is my dress (I mean your dress), ready yet? Oh it is? Hooray! Oh you have pictures from your wedding? Do share!

Without further ado, OUR dress, as worn by the beautiful Adriana in her February wedding. It was shipped out last Thursday and is making its way across the Pacific as we speak. I suspect it could be here as early as Monday. (eeeeek!)

All photos by Katie Rivers Photography

OK, enough of the girliness, lets get down to business. Because, for me, more important than getting a specific dress, was getting an ethical dress with a small eco footprint. So how does mine stack up?

• Sweatshop free? Yes. Nicole Miller is an advocate of fair labor practices.
• Eco-fabric? No. Metal taffeta does not sound even remotely eco, but I feel better because…
• Reused? Yes. In at least 2 other weddings. Hooray!
• Low price? Eh. Low for a designer wedding dress, yes. But still way more money than I’ve ever spent on a single piece of clothing before. But the price is within our budget, and is a number I feel comfortable with. Plus, since the dress is in demand, I think I’ll be able to resell it and pass it onto yet another bride (Assuming I don’t spill red wine down the front).

Did you purchase a pre-owned dress? How much money were you able to save over a new dress?