The Fake Dress Roller Coaster Ride

So I have decided on my dress- but it's a secret! I might not be a traditional lady but I do have certain traditions I hold true to. The only problem is in my heart of hearts, I am a penny pinching granny. Seriously guys, the Mr. makes fun of me all of the time for how cheap I am. Now don't get me wrong, I love beautiful things- I just refuse to pay top dollar for them. I am the queen of TJMaxx, Marshalls and Ross. I LOVE me a clearance rack. And generally speaking, the word "boutique" is considered a trashy swear word!

(The Frugal Wedding Project)

This cheapness comes out in full force when it comes to trendy purchases or purchases that won't be used often. A wedding dress doesn't fall into the same "trendy" category as my peacock feather headband I chose to make over buy. That wedding dress does fall into the category of "won't be used often".

(personal photo)

So what will this cheapy bride do? Turn to the Weddingbee forums- duh! I found great information about ordering a replica dress from China. I have read horrible posts about deals gone wrong and great ones about deals gone great. I have contacted dress makers and gotten quotes. So here begins my journey to get a cheap replica dress and I want to bring all of you other brides on this journey with me.

Here is the way I look at it. I could spend about $175-$200 on a replica dress and love it. Well the real designer dress is about $1200. This would save me about $1000, that is a big save. At the same time, if I get it back and hate it, an extra $200 on top of $1200 when I buy the real dress isn't as noticeable of an expense. In the end, the risk is worth the reward.

This being said, I have come up with some guidelines for this process and I will share my roller coaster ride of a wedding dress search (ups and downs) with my fellow brides. I know others have thought about doing this but may have been too scared to take the risk. Well here I go, I am climbing the ride and I am about to go over the first drop!

(Thunderbay)

How about you? Did you think about a replica or did you know you wanted the real thing? Are you scared for me for taking this risk?