A bride’s wedding dress will be the most vivid memory of her wedding day for the rest of her life. However, some brides will remember how much their dresses cost rather than how they looked in them. While some dresses can cost as much as $5,000.00 or more, even dresses that run more than $1,000 can be a steep investment for some brides.

In an effort to help brides find ways of getting wedding dresses that might cost them way less than those types of dollars, an interview was conducted with a local wedding dress designer, who offered her take on how upcoming brides can work on keeping costs down.

1. Use less beading and sequins. Adding these kinds of accessories takes time for someone to sew onto a dress, although they can help to enhance the beauty of any wedding dress. If you’re going to make the dress yourself, however, these items can make your dress truly unique.

2. Use more draping. Draping can make a wedding dress look flowing and luxurious, but it also uses more fabric and reduces the number of extras that takes time in sewing them on, such as zippers, closures, buttons, etc.

3. Don’t go for a long train. Trains can be expensive to make because they have to fit into the style of the dress, and it can take a lot of time getting the flow of a train to work properly.

4. Add a simplistic headpiece. If you’re going to go for one, making sure the headpiece doesn’t have a lot of added detail will save you a lot of money.

5. If you buy a dress that’s already made, make sure it’s as close to your present size as possible. There’s a lot of work involved if a dress has to be reduced too much, and even more work if a dress has to be made larger. If it’s too small to begin with, the cost might be as much as having an original dress made, as new fabric might have to be purchased, and it will have to match what’s already there.

6. Go with a cocktail length dress instead of a longer dress. A shorter dress uses less fabric.

7. Find your own wedding dress pattern and, if you have sewing skills, make it yourself. If you don’t have sewing skills, finding the pattern can still help keep costs down, as long as you choose a simplistic pattern.

8. If you’re having a dress made, using satin-backed crepe is the easiest fabric for a dress maker to use. It’s also the least expensive because it doesn’t need a lining.

9. Buy a regular white dress, and then add wedding type accessories on the back end. Lace can make almost any dress look like a wedding dress, and adding other touches can make wondrous impacts to make a dress look like it was meant for a wedding.

10. Sleeveless or cap sleeves can help to keep the price down. Less fabric, and less seamstress touches.

These are only ten ideas for helping to keep costs down. Read our follow up article for ten more ideas on keeping the costs of wedding dresses down.