Eco Bride

A few thousand pounds for a dress? Of course, it's a wedding dress! That is what they are worth.

Or are they? Isn't it a fact that most wedding dresses are ridiculously overpriced because that is what brides are willing to pay for them?For a dress she will only wear once. 

Totally reasonable.... I mean, they are made of 100% silk, nothing but hand-stitches, lined with the finest satin, designed by world famous fashion designers. Not so much, not most of them. 

For those of us who wants the perfect dress, but is not willing to pay an arm and a leg for it, there great options that doesn't require down-payments and depleting the savings account. 

I'm talking about second hand shops. Yes, you do in fact find great wedding dresses at thrift shops and vintage stores. For my big day I wore a dress I found at a thrift shop in East-Finchley. I just happened to drop by on my way to the movies, and there it was; the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. 

Red Cross have a fantastic bridal shop, you get the most incredible dresses for a tenth of the original price. I told a fellow thrift-store-shopper/bride-to-be about this second hand bridal shop, and this is what she found for her big day:

It had only been used once on the catwalk for a bridal show, now it was waiting for the perfect owner. Neither the bride or I liked the Star Trek arms, but otherwise it was a winner. The bride wanted plain spaghetti-straps, and it had to be taken in a bit. Not a problem.

 

After the few alterations it was a perfect fit. Why pay more when you can look just as great for less?

Here is a picture from the big day:

Which was only yesterday! Some of the guests thought I had made the entire dress, so I go a lot of unfounded praise. 

I'm so pleased it turned out so well, she was positively stunning. 

Below is me on my wedding day:

I paid the total sum of £25 for this dress.That's more like it! I might add that it had the original price-tag on it,  obviously it had never been used. The previous owner had paid something like 1800 pounds for it. Gheezus. 

If we are getting so good a recycling plastic and paper, buying organic food and drinking fair-trade coffee, why not be an Eco Bride? You save the environment and your wallet. This is a no-brainer, even  for a bride on Cloud Nine.