Whether you love the look of a big ball gown or prefer an elegant sheath, what can you do if your vision doesn’t quite match your budget? Don’t pay full price. Here are some of the best ways to save:

Shop early to avoid extra fees

Bridal salons suggest shopping for your dress nine to 12 months ahead of the wedding. That may sound insane but, unlike off-the-rack options, each dress ordered at a salon is custom made to fit your figure, and that can take time. When you shop early, you can avoid any potential rush charges. 

Sample sales offer deep discounts  

Where can you find a $2,000 dress that’s selling for $299? At a sample sale. Bridal stores hold these special events to clear out their inventory and make room for new styles, according to Brides. You may have to wait in line for a few hours before the bridal salon hosting the event opens but to get a dress that’s a fraction of the cost may be worth it. ​A sample dress may need repairs done by a seamstress, such as replacing a few buttons or fixing tulle, or dry-cleaning, according to Annalise Bridal, a dress shop in Richmond, Virginia. You can put a few hundred dollars into repairing the sample and you’ll still be saving a bundle.

Trunk shows tempt with giveaways

While a trunk show doesn’t offer big discounts like a sample sale, your budget will still come out ahead. The shows, which take place in bridal salons throughout the year, let a designer show off their new dress collection to an intimate group of brides and guests. At Bridal Reflections, a New York bridal salon, if you decide to buy a dress at a trunk show you will receive special pricing only available during the event. At other stores, designers may offer giveaways like adding buttons to a train or sewing a lining into the dress at no extra charge.

Your fabric choice will impact a dress’s price.

Here’s where you can save considerably: Go for a less-expensive dress material. According to the Knot, a fabric like polyester will be a savings over a luxe fabric like silk.

Invest in a pre-owned dress

Buying a dress online from Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace or at a thrift shop can save you a ton. Many times the seller is a bride looking to recoup some of the big bucks she spent on the dress or a bride who decided the dress wasn’t to her liking and bought another one for her wedding. (Before buying online from a stranger, research safety guidelines.)

The price usually goes up when you customize

You may think changing a detail on a dress, such as removing or adding sleeves, taking off or putting on beading, or altering the neckline is no big deal but, as the Knot reports, it could cost up to $300 per adjustment. Instead of creating a dress that fits your vision, keep looking for a dress that already does.

Buying the right “stock” could pay off

What does a store do with a dress that’s damaged but still wearable? Or one that was never picked up due to the wedding being canceled? It may be sold as a stock dress, and the savings could be substantial. A store may only have a few but if you find one you love, it’s yours to take with you that very day. Like sample sale dresses, stock gowns are purchased as is.

Follow the money on social media

The best way to find out about upcoming savings opportunities is to follow your favorite wedding dress designers, bridal shops, department stores, and bloggers who post regularly about trunk shows, sample sales, promotions, and pop-up shops.

Think about borrowing a dress  

Paying nothing for a dress is the ultimate way to save. This works well if your budget is tiny and you’d rather put less emphasis on the dress and more on another wedding detail like the flowers or the cake. Ask friends and family members who wear the same size as you if they’d like to see their beautiful gown take another walk down the aisle. Make sure the dress is still current—a racerback neckline, for example, screams “1998!”

Bet you didn’t know there were so many ways to save? With some flexibility, patience, and a commitment to keeping on top of sales, you’re on your way to walking down the aisle in the dress of your dreams.

The post How to Spend Less on Your Wedding Dress appeared first on Stash Learn.

The groom’s parents were under no obligation to cough up any money except for the rehearsal dinner, a casual affair whose “wow” factor was purposely kept at a low setting to avoid stealing any thunder from the wedding the next day. When young women started moving out of their parents’ homes and becoming self-supportive, they also began chipping in for their weddings, breaking with tradition and effectively ending the bride’s parents’ reign as the sole wedding sponsors.

Today, if an engaged couple wants to have a wedding they can’t pay for in full on their own, they turn to both sets of parents for help. And they’re getting it: A recent Wedding Wire Newlywed Report found that parents pay an average of 52 percent of the wedding bills while the couple shells out about 47 percent. Given that the average wedding in 2020 cost $19,000—down from a pre-COVID-19 high of $28,000 in 2019, according to a Knot Real Weddings Study—it may make sense for multiple parties to hand over their credit cards.

But how do you broach such a delicate subject as money? You can do it with honesty, respect, and a polite demeanor. Awkward, yes, but a necessary step since you need to know how much your budget is so you can start planning. Your folks love you but will that translate into them paying for the bar, the wedding cake, or (hopefully) more? Here are a few tips to make the talk go smoothly:

Give them a heads up

If you think that blindsiding your parents with a monetary request is a good idea, listen closely—it’s probably not. A better, proven strategy is asking to have a conversation with them in the near future. “This allows them time to get their thoughts together and give you a constructive answer,” says Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute, in Burlington, Vermont, and cohost of the “Awesome Etiquette” podcast. “Say, ‘Hey Mom and Dad, I want to set up a good time to talk with you about wedding finances and any potential contributions you were thinking of making. [Spouse-to-be] and I are figuring out what we’re working with.’ This leaves room for them to say, ‘We wish we could pay for the whole wedding but can’t. This is what we can do.’” The best place for the talk is their home or a quiet restaurant, Post adds.

Talk to them separately

Rather than making it a team effort, consider whether you and your partner should talk separately to your respective parents. “It might make some families feel a little more comfortable talking about money with just their own child,” says Post.  “Especially if they’re delivering bad news.” Include each other in any subsequent money talks with your parents.

Find out if the funds are conditional

This happens more than you might think: A bride’s mother could offer to pay for the wedding dress but with one stipulation: She gets to choose it. Or she and Dad might want to dictate the guest list, the event location, or some other major aspect of the wedding. “Whether a parent offers to pay for something specific or write a blank check, you should ask if any strings are attached,” says Post. “Ask that question as though it’s perfectly fine if there are conditions—it lets you know their expectations so you can say, if need be, ‘I really want the freedom of choice on this one so I’ll respectfully decline your help.’”

Don’t bring up how much more they gave your sister five years ago

No, it’s not because they love you less—the reason may be that they simply had more to give back then. Now they may be saving every penny to retire in a few years, have a huge medical debt to pay off, or are earning much less. Whatever the reason, don’t dwell on it; instead, keep your eye on creating a spectacular wedding with the funds you do have. “The more you keep focusing on how great you’re going to make your wedding, the less you’ll think about what your sister had,” says Post.

Be gracious, even if they offer nothing

As disappointed as you may feel, you should be understanding—they may feel worse. “If they say, ‘We can’t do anything for you,’ say, ‘I’m so glad we asked,” says Post, “so now we know how to move forward with the planning.’”

The post How to Ask Your Parents For Money for Your Wedding appeared first on Stash Learn.

The pandemic has affected every aspect of planning, from where and when you can exchange vows to how many people you can invite to the reception. Want to book a venue for a Saturday night? Probably not going to happen. How about in 2022? Maybe, if you hurry. But that’s the roller-coaster, unimaginable world of weddings these days. “The pandemic has affected every industry and region differently, so there isn’t a one-size-fits-all playbook for how to navigate these times,” says Jason Mitchell Kahn, an event planner in New York who runs the event planning company Jason Mitchell Kahn and Co.  “Couples would like to lock down as much as possible for a sense of security but many larger operations still don’t have their full teams [like waitstaff] in place. Some businesses have yet to be given the green light to book large groups.” 

What’s a couple to do? You’ll want to stay on top of evolving COVID-19 news since the guidelines keep changing. One bright spot: The number of vaccinated Americans keeps rising along with the size of the guest list in many states. Bright spot number two: Delaying your nuptials gives you more time to save for your dream wedding. Here’s what you need to do to make planning easier:

Find out how much things cost

Back in 2019, the average wedding cost $28,000, according to a Knot Real Weddings Study. That number took a nose-dive in 2020 and dropped to $19,000—not surprising since there were fewer weddings. As a result, some vendors have raised their rates “to protect themselves now from ever being caught off-guard again,” says Kahn. Other businesses have increased rates “to cover costs related to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment,”says Amy Nichols of  Amy Nichols Special Events, a Santa Barbara, California-based wedding planner. To find rates, do your research on what things cost in your area. “National averages are not going to be very accurate if, for example, you’re in an urban area where the cost of living is higher,” says Nichols. Talk to some planners. Many are happy to give prospective couples an idea of what realistic budgets are for their given area, Nichols adds.

Create a wedding budget

Once you have some current numbers to work with, you can come up with a budget. While it would be nice to have $28,000 to spend—or even $19,000—not everyone does; don’t let this deter you (or upset you). Figure out how much you already have to contribute, how much more you can save by the time the bills come in, and how much, if anything, your family members will contribute. Next, prioritize your funds—maybe you care more about having great music or incredible flowers and less about engraved invitations or top-shelf liquor at the reception. This should give you a true sense of how much you can spend for each wedding good or service.

Control costs

A few ways to keep wedding costs from spiraling: Substitute affordable blooms like baby’s breath, chrysanthemums, and carnations for more expensive flowers. Borrow as many things as you can from recent brides—a veil, tiara, vases, cake cutter. Order a simpler wedding cake.

Be flexible with the date

After being closed for much of 2020, many wedding venues are now fully booked for Saturday nights through 2021 and, for some, well into 2022. Many couples whose 2020 weddings were cancelled last year grabbed these coveted spots for 2021 already. 

Some brides and grooms, though, have had to go with Plan B—or C or D—when their original date fell through. When Amani Boudriga and Rashad Omar’s June 13, 2020, wedding at a Washington, D.C., hotel was cancelled because the hotel had closed, they picked a new date—September 5, 2020. But that date was eventually cancelled too because the hotel still hadn’t reopened. New date: June 5, 2021. It looked promising so Boudriga mailed wedding invitations to her 150 guests. But in April 2021, D.C.’s mayor banned dancing at large indoor gatherings, which didn’t sit well with the bride and groom. Their new—and last, they hope—wedding date is in June 2022 at a northern Virginia venue on a lake. “Virginia doesn’t have the stringent rules that D.C. has,” says Boudriga. “We pushed the date so far ahead because we didn’t want to lose all the deposits we’d already paid to vendors, and it took a lot of time to find a date when everyone was available.” Other 2020 couples have eloped or picked a non-Saturday night date. “If you’re determined to get married this year,” Nichols says, “think outside the box. Consider a Friday or a Sunday, or better yet, mid-week, and you might be able to recoup some savings as a result.” 

Pare down the guest list

With venues still sticking with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) social distancing guidelines to ensure staff and guests’ health and safety, you may be hard-pressed to find a venue that could accommodate a large group. That means downsizing the guest list. Who to cut? Anyone you haven’t spoken to in the last year, feel obligated to invite, or those third cousins you’ve never actually met.

Be smart about charging expenses

Your credit card is a convenient way to pay for your dress, put down deposits, and buy favors. But don’t let these items cost more because of an interest charge or late fee. According to Business Insider, 28 percent of Americans go into debt to pay for their weddings. Whenever you charge a wedding expense, be prepared to pay for it in full the month it’s due; if you know you can’t, look for something similar in your true price range.

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