Bride Tip: Have a Custom Dress Made

“Lots of people I know blow $700 (average) to $1,000-plus on their wedding dresses—a dress that looks surprisingly like everyone else’s who had a wedding that particular year. I’m having my dress made. The material cost $100, and my dressmaker said she’d make it for $100, so for $200 I’m having a nontraditional, black velvet (I’m getting married in November) and white chiffon, 1940s Hollywood glamour-inspired dress that will fit me perfectly and will look like nobody else’s.” —Bridget, Rochester, New York