Our two youngest daughters had been dating their respective boyfriends for at least four years, so we knew that it was only a matter of time before we would be getting the news that one of them was engaged. So a little more than a year ago our youngest was the first of the two to announce her engagement. We thought, "OK, we can handle that", but it wasn't long after that announcement that the other daughter became engaged also.

Now this was a little bit of a problem. How were we going to pay for two weddings within four months of each other? They both deserved nice weddings but the average wedding cost these days for U.S. couples is $27,690. This does not include the cost of the honeymoon, engagement ring, bridal consultant or wedding planner.

I had to find some options because even though I wanted my daughters to have nice weddings, shelling out nearly $60,000 just didn't make sound financial sense to me. There had to be an option to paying out that huge amount, so I started doing some research on the internet looking for ways to help my girls have the wedding of their dreams without spending more than I spent to raise them.

Here are some of the things I found out. The dress can be one of the major expenses. The average cost of a wedding gown in the U.S. is $1500. When my oldest daughter got married her dress cost over $3500. I thought that was a bit excessive and I knew I could do better.

I started looking on ebay and other online auction sites. There were many beautiful dresses on those auctions sites. A lot of them had great prices. There are many designer dresses listed that past brides have decided to sell and you can pick up some great bargains. However, if you decide to go this route, be sure you know what you are doing.

Wedding dresses are an emotional item and brides see just the dress they are dreaming of, get carried away on the bidding, and bid more than they really should. But the biggest risk is fraud on auctions like wedding dresses. You forget to check the feedback of the seller, you get carried away with the bidding and you really want that dress and it looks like a bargain. Before you know it, you have sent someone hundreds of dollars for your dream dress and you never receive it.

Don't get me wrong. I love ebay and it is a perfectly safe place to buy great items and if one of my girls had found just the dress she wanted, I wouldn't have hesitated for a minute to purchase one. But I have purchased many things on eBay and I know the signs to watch out for. Just do your homework first so you know what to watch out for too and then you can buy with confidence.

For our two youngest daughters, we found the dresses they wanted at a major wedding retailer. The dresses were on sale and the girls ended up with what they wanted for hundreds less than we expected to pay. Also, there are a lot of major retailers that have started to get into the wedding business and there are some surprisingly good prices out there on some really nice merchandise.

Don't be afraid to do some legwork and research ideas so you can have the wedding of your dreams. Having a truly memorable wedding is great. However, if the wedding costs so much you could have put a nice down payment on a house or you have to go into debt that takes years to pay off, that dream wedding could end up being a nightmare.

I have started a blog where I am posting some of the information I found out while doing research for the planning of our girls weddings. There are wedding ideas for everything including the place you decide to have your wedding, the budget, the photographer, the flowers, the food, wedding attire, the cake.....well everything you will need to create the wedding of your dreams. Check my resource box for more the link to my blog.

If you would like to learn more about how to save on your wedding and create the wedding of your dreams without going into debt check out my website at http://save-on-your-wedding.com There are money savings tips on how to save on wedding attire, the location, the photographer, the flowers, the cake and tips on making the plans on a budget.

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