Vintage-Style Wedding Dresses On A Strict Budget
Most women have THE dream dress in mind when they start the great bridal dress hunt. But with a jittery economy a lot of couples & parents are rethinking their wedding budget, & rather than scale back on the party they're chopping the dress budget. If you're about to start hyperventilating, please relax ... cutting back doesn't mean you have to go from dreams of Monique Lhuillier to a David's Bridal $99 gently worn special. You can get a stunning vintage-style bridal gown at Unique Vintage for UNDER $350:
[PLEASE NOTE: I had to shrink & darken the pictures of dresses shown against light backgrounds A LOT. For actual color & detail closeup, please click links]
I'm starting with my favorite ... the Vintage Inspired Champagne Floral Taffeta Wedding Dress, which is decorated with small chiffon flowers on the bodice & lightly dotted with silver and clear beads and sequins, for only $340:
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Next is the elegant 30's Style Champagne Ruched Taffeta Gown, which is perfect for a garden wedding or to bring out spring in the dead of winter, with brilliant flower beading, ruching & a built in tulle underskirt for the perfect bottom swoosh! On sale for only $168:
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This stunning Antique Wedding Dress in Champagne with removable straps (not shown) & satin strips gathered at the waistline with a rhinestone brooch, looks like it comes from a haute Parisian vintage collection. Only $300:
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Or for a similar look with a bit of a twist try the Satin & Tulle Champagne Cinderella Gown with removable straps, shimmery rhinestone "leaf" brooches & embroidered with sequins scattered throughout. for only $275:
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Even though this isn't specifically a wedding dress, the Vintage Inspired Ivory Embroidered Tulle Gown would be exquisite! It has all over embroidery & beading, & the halter has beaded tassel ties, for only $170:
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And the brilliant Antique 30's Style Ivory Silk Wedding Gown with an ivory bone colored silk over a shimmery cream colored slip. The bodice has a sheer net neckline with beautiful pearls, beads and rhinestones, and the back is ... well just see for yourself. Only $258:
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And if you love the look of the last dress, but want to shave a few more dollars off the price try the 1930's Style Antique Wedding Dress which has the EXACT same detailing, but polyester instead of silk for a brighter white, for only $170:
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Please Remember:Â Â If you purchase a dress online, you may have to bring it to a local seamstress or tailor for hemming &/or fitting, which can add anywhere from $50-$100 to the final price.
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These are beautiful!! I can't believe the prices on some of them. Why not just get a cheap one if you're only going to wear it for one night, then save the money for other stuff you want!
Exactly!
If I knew then what I know now, I would have asked my parents what they were willing to spend MAX, taken a check for the amount & thrown it into CDs & Bonds, grabbed my fiance (now husband) & eloped. And when we got back we could have thrown a kick-ass BBQ in the country with a band, some kegs & actually ENJOYED our own wedding party (well, ok, to be honest my husband would have wanted a formal sit-down ... so we could have had place-cards at the buffet table <g>)!
These are beautiful!! I can't believe the prices on some of them. Why not just get a cheap one if you're only going to wear it for one night, then save the money for other stuff you want!
i've never seen a ugly bride on her wedding day....something about the love all around.....they always look beautiful to me.....no matter the dress, and i love the dresses you are showing,especially the 30's style
I've never seen an ugly bride either ... but I've seen some ugly fights. Â And I still don't know what goes through some people's minds when they start in at weddings. Are they THAT insecure & needy that they can't go one day without causing drama to get some attention???
Errr, woops, sorry for that tangent ... bad memories. Anyhoo, yes, yes I love antique gowns ;~)))Â
I love wedding dresses. My daughter is a bridesmaid in a wedding in August and is so upset because the bride and her mother chose $700 dresses for the attendants. My daughter is 6' and hers cost another 10% more because of the additional length. So I think she will elope to some exotic island when she gets married. She is thinking of places she can wear her $770 dress(which she doesn't like in the first place). She said she was going to start formal fridays at work instead of casual friday. My favorite was the 30's style ivory silk.
$770??? ... yeah, I'd be kind of upset too.
Can it be worn as is, but just shortened? If not, she can have it reworked (sleeves or straps added or taken off, bodice cut a bit, etc) & use it as a party dress. And if the color isn't her style, several bridal salons offer coloring services too, so she can check into whether they can take it to a nice navy, deep espresso or black if it's too pastel (I don't think they can lighten dark ones though).
And if it's really un-re-usable, she can donate it to several charities like Goodwill, for a full tax write off! (so she could make it up against taxes & help someone who may need or want it)
The '30's style Ivory Silk would be MINE if I could do it all over. Same guy-different dress. Ugh, mine had puffy sleeves and too much froo-froo. Early 1990's-what do you expect-HA???
I thought I was the only person thinking 'if I could  only do it over...'
And I actually looked like Scarlet O'Hara in Gone With The Wind complete with extra tulle underskirts to poof me out. Â So, yeah ... <g>
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Simply elegant and enchanting.
Those dresses are exquisite!!! Totally bookmarking the site.
If there's anything specific you can always do a fashion find request -- I just need to figure out where the request link is here. I'm sooo discombobulated since we changed formats ;~)
sorry - double post ;~)
Thank you so much for posting these. My dream wedding includes a vintage theme and some of those dresses are just beyond gorgeous.
My pleasure!!!
I priced vintage dresses when I was in the market & nearly keeled over  ... well, since my parents read this, let me be honest, I kept saying "ok, that's cool", it was my Daddy who kept popping his nitro, & mumbling, "Why not?  Throw another 10k in ... after all, what's life without a 10k dress, who cares what Daddy pays. Hey that one's only 7k, it's a steal why don't you get 2?" (then my Mom yelled at him & he went to wait in the mens lounge with the other malcontents).
The first dress is amazing!
THANK YOU!!! I'm so in love with it I want to buy it & see if I can have it dyed a deep espresso or rich blue, just so I can wear it.
I want them just to play dress up for!
I sooo need a daughter to play dress up on .. well, till she develops her own taste (probably@3 or 4) & starts refusing any of my suggestions (probably @6), topped off by the "don't stand near me or talk to me in public" stage (@9 or 10) & the cherry on the icing will be when she comes home from freshmen year at HS looking like Safie from AbFab & won't even go shopping ... hmmmmmmm ....
On 2nd thought, Booyah, will you play dress up with me? Â
I went to one wedding where the otherwise lovely bride was completely coated with body glitter. I will never, ever forget it.
Amy, you just made my day! ;~)))) Â ... Last year IÂ grabbed the wrong lotion before a very serious briefing & realized 1/2 way into the Power Point that I was sparkly. I feel so un-alone now!!!!
OMG those are gorgeous. I have the typical princess dress that I scooped off Ebay for a rediculiously low cost and I would love to have #1 or #2 to change into for the dance.
For dancing, even though I'm addicted to #1, I'd have to go with the second dress.
It's MUCH easier to walk & dance in ... & for some reason reminds me of a dress Audrey Hepburn wore in Sabrina when she comes bak from Paris, & I'm a sucker for the pure elegance.Â
Yes I agree #2 would be better for dancing. I love old movies and have Sabrina in dvd !
Just beautiful! Love #2 and #5!
Vera where were you before my wedding? I love my dress, but this would have been much cooler and much less expensive! lol
Hey, Do you long to get married? Do you wish you could find the right woman to match your personality and life long dreams? Are you tired of seeking after, wasting time and energy looking for a great companion in the places you thought you could find her?
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