CHEAP FRILLS
Less is more — especially for these brides.
Rachel Connealy, 26, snagged her ceremony and reception dresses for just $3 and $5, respectively, from Goodwill.
“I knew that I wanted something a little bit different,” Connealy, an avid thrifter who lives in Tampa, Fla., told The Post. For her ceremony, she opted for a silky midi dress, and for her reception, a shorter frock with a textured skirt and billowing short sleeves. Both required only minor alterations, which the bride took as a sign that they were meant to be.
“I wanted to feel like myself on my wedding day, and that would not be with me wearing a dazzly, fancy gown,” she said.
While the average cost for a wedding dress was $1,800 last year, some Gen Z brides are saying “I don’t” to spending four or five figures on white gowns they’ll never wear again. Instead, they’re opting for far more affordable options from thrift shops and online retailers. The TikTok hashtag #CheapWeddingDress has nearly 400,000 views, while #CheapWedding has 4.2 million.
“I feel like a lot of younger people now want to travel more, or they’re like, ‘Wait, I can put this toward my honeymoon, or I can put this toward an experience,’ ” said Connealy, who went viral on TikTok.
When Tianalei LoLohea got married nearly two years ago, she found her dream dress on the massive fashion site ASOS. A coupon knocked a significant amount off the $300 price tag. While the 26-year-old’s mother was initially “pissed” to not have the traditional try-on experience, she quickly got over it.
“At the end, she loved the way my dress looked, too,” said LoLohea.
Shifting priorities
To prevent such issues, Emily Lewis, 24, held a fashion show in her living room, so that family members could watch her try on dresses from budgetfriendly websites.
The winner was a $130 intricately beaded sleeveless gown from Lulus.
“I never thought that I would spend that little on a dress and love it that much,” she said. “I would much rather put that money into my future or my kids or my home.”
Ann Reckley, 25, also didn’t buy into the expensive wedding hype. She found exactly what she was looking for on Shein, a site specializing in cheap, chic fashions. She paid just $39 for a satin, mermaid-style frock with an open back.
“I kind of proved you don’t have to spend $10,000 to look good,” said Reckley, who lives in Canada and works in finance. “It’s all about the confidence.”
Reckley went viral on TikTok with the dress, which garnered 4.2 million views and tons of compliments.
Jazmyn W, who got hitched in a $75 intricately beaded gown from ASOS, sees cheaper wedding dresses as a sign of a generational shift in values.
“I think that, in the past, a lot of times people did things for others and not for themselves,” said Jazmyn. “I think younger millennials, and especially Gen Z, they really just don’t care about what other people think, and they’ve sort of put themselves first.”
The Los Angeles comedian, who got married five years ago, said she and her husband wanted their love and the act of tying the knot to be the “focal point” of the day.
“I think the dress is becoming less and less important,” she said. “I think the way that we think about how we spend the money that we really work hard to make is becoming more important.”