Finding Cheap Bridesmaids Dresses

When a bride considers the dresses of her bridesmaids, she has two major problematic areas to consider: style and price. If even one member of your bridal party is unable to afford the cost of a designer dress, you should consider finding something cheaper.

Rentals

If there is an issue with the affordability of the bridesmaids' dresses, a rental might be an option to consider. For about half the price of a new dress, rental shops offer dresses in current styles with all the cleaning and steaming done for you. The drawback to renting dresses for the bridal part is that there may be a problem finding matching dresses in various sizes to fit everyone. In addition, there may not be the option of performing alterations, as there would be on dresses you purchase. However, if your wedding party is on a tight budget, it doesn't hurt to investigate the possibility of renting dresses for the occasion.

Consignment

A consignment store that specializes in wedding wear is a good place to look for a cheap bridesmaids dress. Dresses that have been worn by someone else will cost much less than the original price. These shops are also an excellent source for designer dresses, especially if the shop is in an upper class part of town. Like rental shops, it may be difficult to find matching dresses in various sizes for everyone in your bridal party, and alterations may create a problem. This usually isn't a problem in consignment shops that specialize in outfitting weddings.

Another good thing about utilizing a consignment shop is that in the event you do pay full price for a bridesmaids dress, you can return it to be sold on consignment in order to earn back some of the money you spent for it. If you plan to do this, you must be very careful because it must be in excellent condition when you return it.

Department Stores

Quite often, your favorite department store is a good place to find a cheap bridesmaid dress. You just need to check either the formalwear or dressy dress department, and since department stores stock a large number of dresses in different sizes, there is a very good chance you will be able to find matching dresses for your entire bridal party. If alterations are needed, a seamstress can be hired if the department store doesn't have an alterations specialist who can do it.

Bridal Shops

Some bridal shops have clearances on dresses that are not selling well or from the previous year's line. The only thing to remember is when you are buying off a clearance rack, you may not find sizes for all your bridal party, so you may need to get a size or two larger and have the dress altered to fit.

Online

You can also shop on using the product search engine from Google, which is a great search engine for those looking for a bargain. Ebay (www.ebay.com) is also a potential source for affordable bridesmaid dresses. The problem with ordering online is that you can't try it on to see how it looks, and some discount outlets will not allow dresses to be returned.

Buying a bridesmaid dress can be expensive, and it seems so useless to spend so much money for something that you are only going to wear once. It makes it even worse if the wearer doesn't like the style, so it's worth it to take some extra time to find a cheap bridesmaid dress.