Secrets to Finding Your Dream Dress — Cheap

Perhaps you're already used to being the center of attention for hundreds of people at a time. But if not, the experience of walking down the aisle as the bride at your own wedding is bound to be a new and heady one, with all eyes on you.

For many brides, the longing for this moment starts young. They dream of what they'll wear long before the engagement — possibly, long before they graduate from sixth grade. In response to these dreams, the wedding gown industry has grown into an enormous entity, offering brides thousands of styles, colors and price ranges — but also guaranteeing a somewhat overwhelming experience for a bride at the start of her shopping process.

Fortunately, for most brides, finding the perfect gown is simply a matter of hanging in there and doing the numbers — trying on dress after dress at two, three, or even ten or more bridal shops before the ideal one finally comes into view. Finding that gown at the perfect price, however, can be trickier.

If you're comfortable with a gown in the $500-800 range, or your budget is large or flexible, your task is relatively easy. Just start shopping six months or more before the wedding, since ordering and shipping can take up to four months. After that, you may need several fittings to get the best possible fit. Respect the usual time frame, and you should be fine.

But if you're one of those brides with "champagne tastes on a Miller budget," you'll definitely want to give yourself more time to track down the perfect dress. Here's how many savvy bridal shoppers do it.

Many bridal stores have crazy sales once or twice a year during which they sell all kinds of gowns (including designer labels), sometimes at eye-popping, throw-away prices; other times at stiff discounts. How do you stay abreast of the sales? Keep your eye on the local paper, where the ads are sure to turn up — or if you're in love with a certain store, simply call and ask when their next sample sale might take place. Ask a roomful of brides about sample sales, and you'll hear a chorus of enthusiastic voices regaling you with their great finds. Many women find this strategy works best if their gown size is extremely common, like a size 8 or 10.

Even the designer labels get cleared out at sample sales, and you can get in on the action if you're up for a wintertime trip to New York City. Look for rock-bottom clearances at "little-known" names like Vera Wang or Saks Fifth Avenue.

Perhaps the mother of all sample sales, affectionately known as The Running of the Brides, takes place at Filene's Basement in Boston (and several less famous locales). Enterprising women, some of them having a vision in their heads but no rock on their finger, line up by the hundreds outside the store hours before it opens. When the doors part, brides-to-be literally storm the racks in search of the perfect dress at the perfect price. If you planned ahead and have your label, style and color in mind, you're bound to score a great steal at one of these clearance events in just about any city.

Just take care to restrain your excitement long enough to check the dress over closely for tears, stains, and sizing before heading to the cashier's line. Sure, too large is better than too small when it comes to alterations, but substantial tailoring of any kind can add up. What's more, removing stains from silk or satin can get costly, and a rip in the wrong place could prove irrecoverable.

eBay is a treasure trove for the bride with designer tastes and more time than money. If you can trade the pleasure of donning a never-worn gown for that of sauntering down the aisle in the Amsale, Lazaro, Badgley Mischka, Vera Wang, Reem Acra, Monique Lhuillier or even Ulla-Maija of your dreams, eBay may be just the place for you.

Just a little bit of eBay lingo will get you started. "NWT" means "new with tags," meaning you're dealing with a wholesaler. Prices will often be lower than off the rack, but not nearly as low as a used gown. To find used gowns, start by plugging the name of your designer plus the word "size" into the Ebay search field. For example, try this search: Vera Wang wedding size

Some brides have never bought on eBay, and feel daunted by the prospect. But the process of doing so safely is easy. If you're buying from a wholesaler, they'll have plenty of feedback ratings that should give you a good idea of their customers' satisfaction. If you're dealing with a newlywed, she probably won't have many ratings, but your dress is likely to be much cheaper since it's used.

The way to protect yourself in either case is to order early, so you can launch Plan B if needed. And most importantly, always pay with a credit card. Your creditor provides you with powerful consumer protection that you just won't have if you pay with cash or check. They can even provide you with a full chargeback if your dress turns out to be a JCPenney special and the seller disappears off the face of the earth.

The seller won't take cards? No sale, no exceptions. Stick with this rule and you'll be fine.

Oh, and one last caution — never, ever do business with an eBay seller who "wants to make a deal off eBay" for any reason. Even more so, do not wire money to such a person. If you take these foolhardy steps, eBay won't even count it as fraud.

Yes, brides have taken these jaw-dropping risks and no, they never saw the dress. One "seller" even went so far as to say apologize, saying the scam wasn't personal — "I was the predator, you were the prey." Don't be prey!

They usually won't be as cheap as sample sales or once-worn gowns from eBay, but many brides swear by online bridal discounters, who offer low prices with a minimum of fuss, and often include a price-match guarantee. Some of their favorite stores include:

www.netbride.com/
www.chrissyobridal.com/
www.pearlsplace.com/
www.rkbridal.com/
www.gownsales.com/
www.brennansbridal.com/

A creative bride with a few basic sewing skills can take an off-the-rack dress and make it look like Versace himself dropped by. Feeling doubtful? Hit the books! Take a look at some professional wedding planners' offerings, such as Jo Gartin's Weddings, in which the regular InStyle and Vogue contributor takes five $500 gowns and makes each one look like a million dollars, most of them with less than four hours of work and $50 of additional cash. Our favorite is the custom tulle wrap variation, which requires no sewing to speak of.

Before you go bargain-hunting online or off, make sure you try on a variety of dress styles, no matter how clear a vision you started with. The dress that isn't so inspiring on the model in the bridal magazine may inspire oohs and ahhs or even tears of joy once draped over your own unique frame.

What's more, many dress shoppers and their posses of friends and family are literally shocked to see how gowns change from one woman to the next — a phenomenon they sometimes see when two brides try on a popular style at the same time. Wedding gowns, like perfumes, have their own unique and unpredictable alchemy when they combine with the individual. But you'll never experience that unless you venture to try different styles.

Feel you're stuck with white? You aren't. The color of your dress is a real option that many brides overlook. As any woman who's ever had her "colors done" knows, not everyone looks great against a mass of snow-white satin. As a result, creams and champagnes are positively sizzling this bridal season, and some brides are taking things further with contrasting sashes, or dresses that break out into reds, pinks, blues and other bold hues.

Finally, it's good to keep in mind you don't need to choose your wedding dress alone. Bring along some company to offset overeager sales associates and inject a little realism. Traditionally, brides tap the maid of honor for this task. You could also invite all your bridesmaids, a sister or your mother.

Don't get too caught up in the moment, though. No matter how high the enthusiasm rises, give yourself a cooling-off period before you pull the trigger. Come back a day or two later — alone — to buy that dress if you're still sure it's the one. Even in the unlikely event that it's been sold in the meantime, you should still be able to get it online, and probably for less.