海角大神

Congratulations! You're engaged! The easy part is over--you found someone to spend the rest of your life with--now聽you have just few short months to plan a wedding, and perhaps most importantly, find a dress that makes you look like the queen you are without bankrupting yourself.

To make things even harder,聽, which found that 32 percent of married women "cringe" when they remember their wedding dresses.聽If you're a bride-to-be, the last thing you want to do is spend too much money on聽a dress you might not even like in a few years. While the聽modern, frugal-minded bride might head to the internet for a cheap dress that'll stand the test of time, online shopping for a wedding gown can be a risky business of its own.

To help you make this process as cheap, quick and painless as possible, we聽talked to three seasoned bridal industry experts:

• Danielle Salazar聽-- Kennedy Blue marketing specialist at the St. Paul, MN聽bridal salon聽.
• Hedy Lapkin聽-- executive director of the聽, which runs聽, a website devoted to exposing online dress聽stores that sell shoddy or counterfeit gowns.
• Courtney Sims聽--聽Brad's Deals own social media analyst,聽聽and bride-to-be on a budget.

With the help of these knowledgeable聽ladies, we came up with a list of 7聽essential聽tips for buying an inexpensive wedding dress...without getting ripped off.

1. Pick a budget that works for you (and stick with it).

Too many brides get caught up in the moment and end up spending a small fortune on their dresses.聽It's an easy mistake to make--especially聽if you're watching shows like "Say Yes to the Dress" in preparation for your own dress shopping experience. You might think it's normal to spend upwards of $5,000 on a gown, but according to a survey of over 13,000 brides done by聽, in 2013, the聽average bride spent just $1,281 on her聽wedding dress.

"Don't be embarrassed to stick to your budget," said Sims, who recommends being as upfront as possible with your budget while shopping for a dress. "Yes, [salons]聽are there to make money, but they'd rather you spend $600 on something you can afford than have you聽walk out without spending anything."

One聽way to figure聽out how much you can and should spend on a wedding dress is to first聽calculate聽how much your entire wedding is going to cost. In an聽,聽blogger Kim Fusaro said a good rule of thumb is to allocate "no more than 5 percent of your wedding budget" towards the cost of your wedding dress and alterations.

2.聽Be realistic.

Make sure you're well aware of聽what kinds of styles and designers fall within your聽budget, because if you don't, you're at risk of getting scammed.

"If you think you can get a聽$5,000 Vera Wang for $300, you're kidding yourself," said Lapkin. "That's聽just not the way it works."

Salazar agreed with this sentiment, stating that if a deal you stumble upon online seems too good to be true, it probably is:

"Most designers don't allow their dresses to be discounted below a certain margin," she said. "So if聽the price is significantly lower from other websites that you've come across, I would recommend to keep looking."

3. Be SERIOUSLY careful聽when online shopping!

Think shopping online for a wedding dress is a good way to save big and get what you want? Think again. Online wedding dress shopping can be a veritable land mine of scams and rip-offs, and often brides who order online are shipped something that looks completely different than the picture on the site.

If you want to see these disasters first-hand, check out the聽, and the聽Facebook community pages聽听补苍诲听聽(not affiliated with the IBMA). Online dress stores often steal images from real designers, and try to pass off their shoddy counterfeit gowns as the real thing.

Lapkin聽says shopping at聽local salons听颈蝉聽a much better bargain in the end, because along with allowing you to physically try the dress on and make sure it's to your liking, most salons have an in-house tailor, a sale rack, and a way to get your money back if you're not happy. Most scam sites won't respond to emails or phone calls, so the only way you can potentially get a refund听颈蝉 by attempting to stop the payment on your credit card. (If you've been the victim of an online scam,聽check out聽.)

If you must shop online, heed these warnings:

• "Shop local. And when I say 'local,' I really just mean within the United States," said Salazar. "The majority of fraudulent websites are shipping their goods from China, so聽make sure to check the website's contact and shipping information to see where the merchandise is coming from."
• Salazar says the greatest piece of advice she can聽give is this: "Always聽verify that the website you are buying from is an authorized retailer. It might look like a legit site, but it's really easy to fake just about anything nowadays. If you're having any doubts--even the slightest inkling that it could be fake--go to the actual designers website and they will have a list of authorized retailers that you can refer to. If the site you were shopping isn't listed, move along."
• Make聽use of聽, and the Facebook pages聽听补苍诲听. They're all good聽resources for brides who are unsure whether or not to order from a certain website. They've got testimonials from unhappy shoppers, pictures of some pretty horrible dresses people ordered thinking they were getting discount designer duds, and Brides Beware聽.
• 聽if you come across a fraudulent site while shopping.

4. But legitimate online stores and resources DO聽exist.

Of course, not all online stores are scams. In her search for the perfect dress, Sims has come across quite a few with great deals: "听颈蝉's聽wedding聽website and they offer beautiful designs, many under $1,000," said Sims. "听补苍诲听聽also both have options under $1,000."

Sims also recommends looking at sites offering pre-owned wedding dresses.

"Buying pre-owned online is different than buying knockoffs," she said. "Sites like聽聽offer the same dresses from the salon, but they've been worn once, or sometimes not even at all as some people choose to sell their dress if the聽wedding聽didn't work out or if they found聽another dress."

5. Utilize聽national shopping events and holiday sales for big bargains.

"If you want to guarantee low prices from legitimate online retailers, shop holiday sales," said Salazar. "Most shops offer great discounts around holidays such as Memorial Day,聽4th of July, Labor Day, BlackFriday, and occasionally Christmas. Shopping those holiday deals will usually guarantee you the lowest possible prices on great gowns."

6.聽Look out for trunk and clearance sales at聽local salons.

"All stores have sale merchandise," said Lapkin. "There isn't a store in the world that doesn't have sales. I mean, manufacturers discontinue their products several times a year because they always have to get new samples in the store. So the best place to start is your local salon."

Sims keeps track of trunk and clearance sales by following her favorite bridal stores on Facebook, and frequently checking the events section of their websites.

"You'll have an easier time if you pick a handful of designers or dress styles that you like," said Sims. "Find out when the designer is having a trunk show, or find when the shops carrying the dress styles you like are having sale. Most salon websites will list their sales and trunk shows in the 'Events' section on their website. It also never hurts to call and ask or check on Facebook."

7. Be prepared to pay up front, especially if you're shopping consignment.

"Some shops offer discounts if you pay in full, so save up before you go shopping," said Sims.聽"You can usually find details about discounts in the FAQ section on the shop's website."

Consignment shops are the best bet for brides who are short on time and money, but聽because you'll be taking your dress home same-day,聽most don't offer long-term payment plans. Like Sims said, save up and be prepared to pay for the dress up front.聽Consignment dresses are significantly cheaper than anything you'll find at a salon, and they often have more sizing options available as well. Check out聽聽from the DC area wedding blog聽聽for more tips on consignment shopping for your聽dress!

As you prepare for your big day, just remember that choosing聽a dress should be fun, not stressful! Maybe you'll聽look back on your dress and cringe, or聽maybe you'll be聽so obsessed that you'll wear it around the house for fun聽for years.聽At聽the end of the day, what really matters isn't what you wear, but the聽love that exists聽between you and your聽spouse before, during and long after your wedding has passed.