What to expect when shopping for a bridal gown (part 7)

More Gown Options

Custom made

You can get the style and quality you want by hiring a skilled seamstress and purchasing the fabrics and trims. This is also an option to come up with a more affordable version of a dress you love by substituting less expensive fabrics for its silk and handmade lace. If you go that route, you must be completely certain that the seamstress can have the dress done in good time for your wedding. Give yourself a bit of a window by requiring the dress to be done 2-3 weeks earlier. Do not plan to save money by making

the dress yourself unless you are very skilled at sewing. Working with slippery silks and fragile trims is not a project for a novice. You could end up ruining $350 worth of materials with nothing to show for it but lost time and money. Expect to pay a minimum of $250 for the sewing alone. The more elaborate the dress, the more it will cost you in materials and labor. (see Selecting-the-fabric-for-your-gown and Bridal-trimming). So while the final product should be exactly what you want, it is not necessarily the most economical option.

Online

You will find far lower prices on gowns you see in salons from internet sites. However, just as for salons, these dresses will have to be ordered months in advance, and you may not have that much time to spare. Also there is some risk inherent in ordering a dress you have not tried on. But if you recognize it as one you had tried on and were considering, you can offer the retail store the opportunity to match the internet price. They may just agree to it in order to secure the sale. But going to a bridal shop just to try on gowns with an intent to order elsewhere is definitely gneivas da’as [deliberately misleading] of the salespeople in the shop.

Borrowing

It is also possible to look picture perfect in a princess gown that costs you next to nothing. The most cost-free option, of course, is borrowing the gown from a friend or relative. Be sure you obtain full permission to alter the dress if you are planning to do so. Your cost for this would be alterations you will need to make the gown fit you perfectly. You can expect to pay $50 to $300, depending on if you need it taken in a tad, wish to add on decorations, or if you need major changes. The only other cost you would have is cleaning. If you get the gown clean, it is only civil of you to return it clean. If it was not cleaned after the owner wore it, put off your own cleaning until after your alterations are done, so that you will get it pressed and cleared of any dirt it might have picked up in the seamstress shop. Professional dry cleaning prices for wedding gowns vary widely – from about $100 to $250 and even higher, depending on how much fabric and detail is in the gown and the pricing scale of your cleaner. So do ask around for recommendations and prices.

Gmachs

Another borrowing option is a bridal gmach. There are gmachs throughout New York, New Jersey, as well, as other areas in the US and Israel. You can find out if your own community has one, or travel out to the many that you will find listed in directories such as the one on www.kallahmagazine.com. Gmachs do not conform to any universal model. Some are supplied by kallahs who donate their gowns after wearing, while others actually purchase new dresses. Given the differences in operation, gmachs will not all have the same upkeep costs. It behooves you to ask upfront about fees. Some gmachs really lend out the dresses and only require that they be cleaned. Others charge fees; these can range from just covering the cost of the cleaning to something that verges on what bridal salons charge for their rented bridal gowns. However, whereas the rental charges at a salon generally include any alterations, that is not likely to be the case for a gmach. You can also choose to rent a dress, though do carefully price your buying options before doing so to be certain you will not pay as much for renting as you would to purchase.

For an index of wedding planning articles see http://kallahmagazine.com/WeddingAdvice.html

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