While the bride should be encouraged to take pity on her attendants and choose a dress that each of them can actually afford, in the end, this is not really your problem. Neither you nor the bride will be responsible for the cost of the bridesmaids' dresses. You'll be looking for your own dress and helping the bride to find her best look. Some brides (and MOBs) opt to put their dress near the top of their financial priority list, thinking that they'll be on display all day and that they only get to buy this kind of dress once. While this may be true, there are ways to dress to kill without emptying your wallet in the process.

Take Your Time

Starting early is, of course, going to make things easier on you when you're looking for your own dress, and it's going to give the bride lots of time to mull things over when she's looking for hers. If she decides to order through a dress shop, she'll need to do so at least six months prior to the wedding, so the sooner she gets moving on the search for the perfect wedding fashion statement, the better.

Encourage her to explore all avenues before she decides on a dress. If she's dead set against buying a gown through a bridal store, she should start looking for a dress as soon as the ring hits her finger. Sure, it takes less time to purchase an off-the-rack dress from a boutique or department store, but if she doesn't find anything there, and she's only started looking a couple of months before the wedding, she's going to be in trouble.

Hunting for Bargains

Obviously, buying a gown at a bridal warehouse is going to be cheaper than buying that same dress through a bridal shop; that's why prospective brides place themselves in the middle of the competitive atmospheres that are a part of these shops. One word of advice you should offer to her: Cheap is good; flattering is mandatory. She might snag a designer dress at a rock-bottom price, but if it doesn't look good on her, the money she's spent on it is a waste. No one will be reading the tag of her dress, after all, or be gossiping about the designer of the gown; guests will either be in awe of the bride's beauty (if she has chosen a complementary dress) or confused as to why she chose a gown that doesn't suit her at all.

If she'd rather not slog her way through the racks in the warehouses, she might opt to visit the local bridal shops. Are there bargains to be found here, or should the two of you resign yourself to paying full price for any dress within the confines of those walls? You could get lucky and find a real deal — but you may also have to ask for the specials. Bridal stores run end-of-season discount sales; sometimes they have off-the-rack sample gowns for sale. Sales are usually advertised; the leftovers from these sales may sit until someone specifically comes looking for them.

A bride who is looking for something a little less formal might find the perfect dress in the bridesmaids' racks. Some of these dresses are very elegant and are available in ivory — at much lower prices than the typical wedding dress. If your daughter is pursuing this option, she should also take a look in department stores and boutiques for evening gowns that could double as wedding wear.

Here Comes the Dress … Again

While many brides are insistent on having the dress of their dreams to have and to hold (in a box in their closet) from this day forward, others see the logic in spending far less for the dress they'll wear for one day and then pack away. These brides don't even care if their dress is brand-new, which opens up another world of opportunity for them.

Bridal consignment shops specialize in recycling wedding dresses. If your daughter is in the market for a used dress, she can pop into one of these stores and browse around. If there's nothing to her liking (or nothing that fits), the storeowner can keep her eyes peeled for something that meets the description your daughter has given her.

Rental shops are one way to really keep costs low. Some bridal shops offer rental gowns, while some shops send their older gowns out to be rented. If you and the bride are dealing with a bridal shop but are thinking about renting, ask the owner about these other options.

Renting a gown has its disadvantages, however. The bride will be choosing from a smaller selection of dresses (which is also one disadvantage to shopping in consignment stores); also, many shops won't do extensive alterations on their rental dresses, so the gown may not fit her as well as a purchased dress would.

Is it wise to buy a dress online, either through an auction or a designer or shop's website? These dresses may be incredibly cheap, but the bride obviously can't try them on; it's also likely that she won't be able to return a dress that just doesn't fit. (Though she can, of course, resell the gown if need be.) If she can handle the possible negative outcomes of this transaction, it may be worth her time and effort.