A Non-Wedding Dress Option

Instead of buying a bridal gown, Alissa Harvey chose this lovely white bridesmaid's dress. "My dress was actually a bridesmaid dress that cost less than $250--a great tip for budget-savvy brides. Many of those bridesmaid dresses come in lots of colors including traditional ivory or white. Mine had a gorgeous sapphire sash around the waist to coordinate with my sapphire wedding and engagement rings."

Non-wedding dress options often require less fabric to make and are easier to recycle. If you or your maids wear bridesmaid's dresses consider donating them after the wedding to The Cinderella Project or The Glass Slipper Project.

Handmade Dress Fiasco

Even if you are good at sewing or have a close friend that is it might be best to let a professional make your wedding dress. A friend of mine is a designer and I hired her to make my dress. It ended up being more expensive than I expected and did not fit perfectly. Needless to say it was a very tough situation. - Anonymous

Note from Kate: If you do want to use a friend - or anyone really - it is probably wise to ask them to make you something else first. If they do a great job you can ask them to do the dress. If you are less than thrilled they don't even need to know you were thinking about asking. Also, If you sew yourself and you really want to be involved, but don't want the pressure of making a perfect dress, you can have someone else make the foundation of the dress(or buy a very simple dress) and do the embellishment by hand yourself.