LilyWedding.com and Etsy.com

I have to say, my greatest bridal discount discovery has to be Lily Wedding. I can't take full credit; my childhood friend Jen K. blogged about it when she bought her wedding dress, and I was very impressed. Here is the dress she bought online:




















Dress link

Cost? $238.00, plus $30.00 shipping, made to her measurements for no extra charge, AND with a free veil and petticoat. Here's what she looked like in it:



















Gorgeous! I had to try them out, so when I needed a formal dress for a wedding I was invited to, I checked them out. I found this beauty:



















Dress link

I was a little worried about spending $198.00 on it, but I definitely didn't end up regretting it. I got it with a lace-up back (they'll switch it to that from zipper for free) and the cord they used had tons of extra length, and the top was a tiny bit baggy for strapless, so I had a seamstress turn the extra cord length into halter straps, for only $14. Here's the final result:



















I've worn it two or three times now. Awesome investment!

Now I turn to Lily Wedding for my wedding gown. I know them, I trust them, and they are the best damn dress company selling inexpensive stuff from China. ;) I've changed my mind about a dozen times, and I still need to go to David's Bridal with my cousin Darcy and try some different styles on, but I have fallen in love with this one:




















Dress link

I never thought I'd like a halter, and I still need to see one on me, but looking at Darcy's wedding photos again convinced me it can be flattering on our body type. But beyond that, look at the detail on the bodice!!!



















It's $398.00, which is more than most of their dresses but definitely still reasonable. I'd be getting it in ivory, and it has champagne satin trim.

My other go-to wedding shop is Etsy.com. I love handmade items, and I've already bought tons of jewelry and home decor from various sellers. I found this veil on Etsy:



















Veil link

I know, suddenly I want a veil, when I had no interest in one before. It seems the more time I spend planning, the more traditional my wedding becomes! So that veil is $58.00, and she can make it in ivory with champagne satin trim. Perfect! I also found a headband to attach the veil to, since I want my hair down so a veil comb won't really work.












Headband link

The headband is $65.00. My friend Jenni suggested a thicker headband like this, as a simple, thin one may got lost in my thick, long hair.

I also decided, if I get this fancier dress, that the original jewelry I wanted (and already bought) would not work. I can definitely wear it for something else, so it's fine that I already bought it, but I had liked how it had both our birthstones in it:














Now that I'm looking at a fancier dress, I feel like this set would work better:












I don't have a particular vendor in mind, but I put it up on my WishList with the note that if people want to go in on this together for my birthday, that would be awesome. =) Diamonds would be amazing, but the more affordable created white sapphire version works just fine.

So that's my new plan, which always seems to be changing. But hey, I have just under 13 months left, plenty of time! I'm hoping to go try on some dresses with Darcy on October 3, so if that works out, there will definitely be pics for you all to comment on.

What do you all think of the dresses and accessories above?

















And on a final note, how do you think these three dresses look together?

Bridesmaids dress link