Wedding Chic On The Cheap

~*Plushroom*~

Bronnie wrote: »

Love the hairstyle....think the price is amazing too! Well done!

I know, never had a wash, haircut, blowdry and style for that cheap! Think I've got myself a regular hairdressers now, unlike the £31 for a wet cut one two minutes down the road!

Bronnie

Wow! That was for a wash and blow as well? My bill is nudging £50 for that and that's in a small town salon.....i'm saving a lot now I'm growing my hair!! Mind you I suspect the wet cut price of £31 is supposed to be a bit of a deterrent to try and encourage you to have a blow dry too. I susopect a lot of salons want you walking out of their door fully coiffed (if that's the right word!!)

goanmad

Well I can recommend Poundland for tissue paper, they've also got quite a funky range of gift bags in our local store at the mo.
Not sure about seamfree knickers but if you've got an Ethel Austin their undies can be quite good.
Really looking forward to seeing photos. I'm gonna be off-line this weekend so shall take a peak on monday!

~*Plushroom*~

Right so it's the last day before I head off to the base. With all this stress I haven't had time to get excited about going to Silverstone tomorrow!

So how have I done:

Green dress (£2 Primark but counts as £0 as bought long in a sale rail before being invited)
Purple tights (£1 Primark)
Black heels (Free as they were a Christmas gift)
Quinoderm cream (£2.79 Lloyds Pharmacy)
Headbands (£1 for 6 Poundland) Will work out moneysaving as once I've finished making my headband I will make up a few more using my supplies and sell them.
Glue for feathers (£1 Poundland)
Hair dyes and gel spray (£6 various stores)
Haircut (£20 including tip)
Gift and wrapping (£2 various stores)

Total £33.79 (Though some money will probably be made back from the headbands I'll make in a couple of weeks).

I don't think I've particularly skimped here, but I have worked hard shopping-wise to get the best deals. If I had had more than a week to do all of this (Thank you OH for your last minute change of holiday time! :rolleyes::D) I probably could have gotten it under £30.

I shall post photos of the clothes later on today, but now I must go bleach my hair so I can apply the blue dye later.

lisawood78

Where's the pics?!!?
:-)

~*Plushroom*~

Photo's of everything are coming tomorrow as my internet went down when I was uploading them the day I was leaving for my "holiday" and due to a lot of sleep deprivation I haven't the energy to do it properly right now! So they should be up by tomorrow lunchtime!

Lobell

Really interesting thread, Plushroom. I look forward to seeing the pics.

Oh, and I love the hairstyle...I have been growing mine just becasue I have no idea what I want to do with it but I really love that cut so I may have found my next hairstyle!!

~*Plushroom*~

I just wrote a very long post with the photo's summing up how the experience went, and of course MSE lost it :rolleyes:

So for now I will repost the photo links and do the summing up again later on. Can't believe that, spent 10 minutes typing that.

Dress: http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z201/likklegothicgirl/?action=view&current=DSC02634.jpg

Shoes: http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z201/likklegothicgirl/?action=view&current=DSC02636.jpg

Feather headband: http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z201/likklegothicgirl/?action=view&current=DSC02637.jpg

goanmad

Stunning, Plushroom! Bet you looked fabulous in that ensemble. The headband/fascinator is inspired...well done!:T

~*Plushroom*~

goanmad wrote: »

Stunning, Plushroom! Bet you looked fabulous in that ensemble. The headband/fascinator is inspired...well done!:T

I do love the headband, sadly I don't think it'll work for everyday use. But I will be wearing it again and again.

So like I said yesterday MSE lost my long post summing up the experience of trying to do an impressive look on the cheap, so I shall try again today!

---

There were a few problems that arose during the week I was doing this experiment, nothing major but the following did happen:

1- There was an air bubble in the dye tube meaning it was only half full, so cue a trip to the nearest Wilkinsons from OH's base to buy more after I had partly done my hair. Not impressed by this, have since e-mailed the company and been given an apology and offered free colour remover wipes (Will be politely declining these because I don't need them, won't use them, and I had to waste £6 extra on dye because of their tube problems so will probably not buy from them again).

2- The weather was cold and wet on the day of the wedding so had to switch out the dress in the photo for a red dress I picked up years ago in a charity shop as it was long and warmer and saved the green one for the reception. Not the biggest problem in the world, just glad I had organised a back-up dress incase the weather turned on me (as it did).

3- New shoes needed breaking in more than they had had. No big deal but feet were sore the next day!

Overall I think 3 mishaps is pretty good as this was all organised last minute really, I did end up having to spend £6 extra on hairdye which took me over budget but it was worth doing so just to make sure I didn't look silly on the day.

I've heard of people spending a lot more on being a wedding guest than this so under £40 is still very good, and once I make the rest of the feather headbands up I will sell them on and make a little of the money back so it's also an investment really.

All in all, a wedding outfit on a budget can be done, and it doesn't have to look cheap. The tips I have come across from doing this are:

1- When you see nice outfits dirt cheap in shops, even if you don't need it right now, if you know you might end up with a wedding coming up pick it up. My red dress was £3 in a charity shop a couple of years back and the green one was bought in Primark for £2 in May. They haven't taken up much room but made things a lot easier.

2- Make a list of what you need. Do you need new foundation, tights, stockings, etc. Make a list and cross things off ASAP so you don't leave it to the last minute.

3- Plan an alternative outfit incase of weather changes - I would have frozen in my green dress if I hadn't had a spare option.

4- Keep things simple.