Perhaps you are planning a large wedding and have quickly run into budget issues. Typically, bridal planners say to spend 10 percent of the total budget on the dress. That could run into thousands of dollars. Splurge on the reception or go to Fiji for the honeymoon and get a terrific gown--for less. Here's how.

Check out a manufacturer of bridesmaid dresses and purchase there. To add something special to the gown, try adding a fabulous veil or train. Alternatively, put on a piece of wonderful glittering jewelry or maybe a tiara. Whatever you add, make it something special and glamorous. If someone in your circle of friends is a good seamstress, ask her to add special effects to your inexpensive wedding gown.

Of course, big department stores all have sample sales every so often. If you know you are getting married six months or a year from now, you have plenty of time to shop the sales. There you can find something really special, a designer gown for much less. It helps in the sample sales if you have a really good figure as these dresses usually come only in smaller sizes.

Many large, well-known department stores also have outlets where the same or similar garments can be purchased for far less. The décor is lacking and the crowds can be gruesome, but the bargains are real. Searching out either a department store outlet or even outlet malls which have cropped up close to big cities, near by resorts and almost everywhere in-between, could also produce a great wedding gown for far less as well as great shoes, bags, and other items needed for a wedding.

Auction sites like eBay surprise with the amazing items for sale as well as amazing prices. Wedding Gowns are a whole category on eBay. Many brides are not sentimental and offer their pricey gowns at bargain-basement prices. To shop this way, it's better to have already tried on plenty of gowns so you will know your exact size as well as exactly what you are looking for. If you can't find it on eBay, did you know there are plenty of other auction sites?

A related way to purchase a beautiful wedding gown at a fraction of the price is to find one on "once worn wedding gown" sites. Some of the sites may point you to an actual store near you, especially if you live in or near a large city. But, others will showcase these gently-used and properly-cleaned dresses available for purchase online. These sites are newer than E-bay and perhaps do not offer quite as foolproof a guarantee, but the bargains are terrific.

Probably the first place many brides-to-be look for that inexpensive wedding gown is in the closets of their mothers if they are sentimental or their sisters or cousins in the same age group. Many times members of the same family share similar features and figures. What looked great on your sister for her wedding may with a few personal touches of your own look just as great for your wedding.

No matter where or how you find your wedding gown, the most important factor is how beautiful you feel while you are wearing it. Their wedding is a very important day in the life of any couple and both certainly want the day to be as perfect as possible. The marriage begins after the wedding, though, and for those couples on a budget [and who isn't these days] saving on the gown means more money for the honeymoon, for the reception, or even for the down payment on a house.