Monica Razak’s wedding dress is a dress DONE of honor
Before she got engaged last October, the local girl only sewed small things like hair accessories and sundresses.
But after falling in love with a $10,000-plus dress at Kleinfeld, NYC’s prettiest bridal boutique, she got creative to save some dough.
“I made my own wedding dress,” Razak, 29, of Hoboken, told The Post. “It only cost me about $700.”
The millennial and her boyfriend, whose name she chose not to reveal for privacy purposes, tied the knot in front of 30 guests at a New Jersey bar in May. The sweethearts just enjoyed a 12-day honeymoon getaway to Italy with thousands saved on her dress.
“I had no idea wedding dresses were so expensive,” said Razak, a small business owner, noting the high price of big-day regalia and the almost inevitable expense of alterations.
“But the confidence I had at my wedding, knowing that I had made the dress myself – you can’t buy that.”
In this post-luxury wedding era, keeping costs low is the name of the game for frugal brides and grooms hoping to stay out of the red.
While sweethearts nationwide are dropping an average of $26,665 on their wedding, including over $2,000 on fancy party wear, money-conscious couples are finding unique ways to spend less.
Pennywise Poughkeepsie bride Maria Cortese, 32, told The Post she saved $5,000 by enlisting ChatGPT, instead of a human wedding planner, to coordinate her holy grail in August. Bronx-based lovebirds Nova and Reemo Styles, 30, raked in $70,000 after selling $333 in tickets, per person, to their June 2023 exchange of vows.
And now, crafty courtiers like a Razak — and Ohio bride Tymesha Triggs, who crocheted her and groom Ricardo’s white dresses — are following suit.
DIY divas like Beth, a newlywed from the UK, managed to save close to $5,000 by sewing together her “dream wedding dress” with absolutely “no sewing experience.”
But taking on the challenge is no small undertaking.
Even with previous dressmaking experience, Seline Meisler, 30, a former Diane von Furstenberg designer, says creating her first wedding dress for her November 2023 ceremony was “risky”.
“It took a lot of time and sketches and redoing,” Meisler, of Nolita, told The Post. “But it was so worth it.”
Instead of spending $15,000 to $25,000 on wedding dresses from Marchesa or Vivienne Westwood, she chose to make her own elaborate design with duchess silk satin, French lace appliqués, Valentino-inspired cords and embroidered rosettes. by hand. However, Meisler received sewing help from a pattern maker and atelier in NYC.
After eight months of construction, the final product cost about $10,000, freeing up an additional $5,000 from her original costume budget. She and her husband, Blake, used the excess funds for more decor for their ceremony in Palm Springs.
Expenses aside, Meisler — who, thanks to the process, is launching a demi-couture bridal line in October — says the pride she felt walking down the aisle in her creation was “priceless.”
Rachel Amoako, who exchanged her I Do’s for a handmade mermaid-style dress on Sept. 8, agrees.
But she tells The Post that putting together the $600 number, just two months before her wedding, came with a ton of tears, pricked fingers and Hail Mary prayers.
“Making this dress was a wild ride,” said Amoako, 28, from London. “Every morning, I would pray, ‘Lord, I need your direction.’
And, lovingly, the eldest son delivered, empowering him to kill bones, embroideries and beadwork.
“As beautiful as the dress turned out, I would definitely do it all over again,” said Amoako, who saved over $2,700 thanks to her superior work. “It’s a dress with a story.”
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Image Source : nypost.com