July 23, 2024

Choosing the Perfect Wedding Dress for Your Elopement

ver 62 percent of engaged couples would happily consider an “elopement-style” wedding, a recent survey showed. They crave intimacy, cost-efficiency, and a ceremony that celebrates their love rather than trapping them in a guestzillah-ish nightmare.

Whether you’re actually eloping (something we can probably define as a fairly last-minute and semi-secret wedding plan) or you’re planning a very small, intimate wedding with a few friends and relatives, you’ll need a dress. How do you choose?

“Elopement or not, it’s still your wedding — and the dress needs to be perfect.”

Let’s Define Some Parameters Here

Every bride is different, but if you’re looking for your perfect wedding dress for your elopement, chances are that you’re looking for:

A beautiful dress that makes you feel special, photographs well, and will still put a smile on your face when you look back at the pictures decades on.
An affordable wedding dress. Brides fork out an average of $1,631 in the US in 2024, and some aren’t shy about adding an extra zero. If you’re eloping, you probably hope to spend a fair bit less.
A practical and comfortable dress that matches the vibe of the venue where you’ll be tying the knot — whether that’s a beach, a mountain, or the city hall.
A wedding dress that can be ready (and fit you perfectly!) at short notice.

Beyond these common threads, some brides might want a lovely dress that wasn’t designed for weddings at all, while some absolutely won’t settle for anything less than a traditional white wedding gown.

Your search for “the” dress will still take a while, even if you’re eloping and doing everything at the last minute, but let’s look at some places to explore to speed up the process!

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Retail Stores That Have Fantastic Dresses

If you’re planning to buy your wedding dress from a main street store or major online store, some of the best options to check out for ready-to-wear wedding or wedding-style white dresses include:

Anthropologie, which has a whole bridal section that includes modern, romantic, traditional, and Boho wedding dresses. Anthropologie dresses go for as little as a few hundred dollars, although you can definitely splurge, too!

Mod Cloth’s special-occasion dresses section includes casual, chic, and slightly more formal options.

J.Crew might have the perfect dress for you, too, especially if you’re looking for something that’s recognizable as a wedding dress but has a romantic, casual vibe.

Reformation’s beautiful wedding guest dresses can work really well for elopements and small, intimate weddings. Buying a wedding dress from a main street store is a great choice if you’re in a hurry to get it right. You can browse the web to explore your favorites and then either try them on in person or order a few and only keep the winner.

Thrift Stores for a Hit-and-Miss Shopping Adventure

Thrift stores aren’t the place to go wedding dress shopping if you absolutely need the perfect dress within 12 hours — the risk of not finding what you’re looking for is simply too great. However, they can be great if you have a little more time.

Vintage or Antique Shops for a Timelessly Romantic Wedding Dress

Consider browsing vintage and antique shops if you’re looking for classically elegant (wedding) dresses for your elopement and you’re not in a terrible hurry. Your chances of finding a beautiful dress that fits perfectly and makes you feel like a million dollars are quite high if you look long enough. Plus, it’s a fun shopping experience!

Browse Online Marketplaces and Classified Ads for Second- Hand Wedding Dresses

There are plenty of second-hand wedding dresses to be found on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and eBay — and the gown of your dreams might just be waiting for you right there! The same holds true for your local classified ads or apps.

Be careful, though. These places are also packed with scammers, and there’s a chance that a dress that looked wonderful on camera has subtle (or obvious) flaws or damage.

Consider Wedding Dress Rentals

Some brides really want to hold onto their wedding dresses forever — and perhaps even pass them on one day. If that’s not you, wedding dress rental companies are an obvious choice for you. Rent-a-dress businesses will get you set up with a high-end wedding gown you’ll look beautiful in for a few hours while you get hitched and take pictures, at a fraction of the cost of actually buying the dress!

Still Looking? Try These Options (If You’re Brave)

Want to get extra creative? If you’ve looked around stores and browsed marketplaces, and you don’t fancy renting a wedding dress, you still have plenty of other ways to get your hands on a stunning gown. They’re a little “out there,” but they can definitely work!

Head over to the nearest airport lost and found store and see if they have a dress you love in your size. (Success rate: Low.)
Crowdsource your wedding dress by asking all your relatives and friends to offer up (wedding) dresses you’d look beautiful in. If a dress you love is yours to keep, you can consider having it altered to fit you perfectly. (Success rate: Depends on your social circles. You won’t keep your elopement a secret if you do this, though!)
Buy fabric, find a beautiful pattern online, and sew your own dress — or hire someone to do it for you. (Success rate: Guaranteed if you can sew. As a bonus, the dress will literally be made for you!)

Final Words of Encouragement

Choosing the perfect wedding dress is always an adventure. If you’re eloping, chances are that you hope to avoid the stress that so often surrounds wedding planning. Don’t let dress shopping turn into a mini version of that!

As you pick, it helps to narrow your options down by making a list of things you definitely want and don’t want — like length, color, sleeves, and fabric. From there, keep an open mind and let the dress pick you. You’ll know it when you find it!

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