Say Yes to the Vintage Dress

After flipping to the back of the shopping guide of Martha Stewart Weddings and perusing pages and pages of Brides.com, it became apparent that I would not be able to afford a brand new designer wedding dress.

You know how items on the Internet can be labeled with a different number of dollar signs to denote how expensive it is? Well in designer wedding dress land, one dollar sign is roughly less than 2k. $=less than 2k. You don't even want to know the price range for $$$$.

To cut costs, I could potentially 1) buy a brand new designer dress, than resell it, 2) buy a used designer dress, then resell it, 3) have a dress custom made, 4) buy a new wedding dress from a designer whose name isn't Vera, Claire, Melissa, or Monique, or 5) buy a used wedding dress from a designer whose name isn't Vera, Claire, Melissa, or Monique.

Buying a dress has never been so confusing.
But here's what I'm thinking so far.

My current fashion aspirations for the wedding:

+ a short, lacey, vintage dress, preferably above the knee and under the price tag of $500, that will make me look and feel fun and fabulous

+ a colorful and large hair accessory which involves either tulle, fabric flowers, bejeweled brooches, or all three together

+ red, green, purple, or yellow kitten heels

+ very simple jewelry that won't cost me next month's rent

Three lovely and fashionable brides who have inspired me:

[Stacie and Geoff, photography by Sloan Photographers, found via Once Wed; Leann and Zach, photography by Carina Romano, found via Once Wed; Shoko and Julian, photography by Max Wanger, found via Once Wed]


I know very little about vintage fashion and vintage boutiques since I shop the sales racks of J. Crew and Anthro. I've looked at Yelp for vintage stores in San Diego, but does anyone recommend any great vintage stores in SoCal? I'm willing to make the drive to L.A.

And, in general, anyone have any vintage wedding dress shopping tips? Anyone else finding creative ways to cut wedding dress costs?