$50-$150 off select wedding dressesNot valid in CA or UK. It’s been over five years since Michael and I got engaged, three since our wedding, and a little more than two since I started working professionally in the wedding industry. And in that time, I’ve learned something very important: the indie wedding industry can be just as dangerous as the mainstream wedding industry. It started when I was planning my own wedding. Michael and I were a couple of broke kids who wanted to have a different wedding than the ones we’d been to before. We wanted something informal and casual, something Michael could wear jeans to. But we also wanted it to be stylish. Just, you know, effortlessly so. (Because that’s a real thing.) So, armed with something like $5,000, we set out to plan a wedding that would feel like a giant party, that would look good in pictures, and that would feature ocean views to boot. At first, it was kind of fun. We enjoyed doing the research to find our awesome venue, I liked picking out the menu items for our reception (lobster stew, hell yes), and honestly, for a while it was kind of entertaining to make color palettes during work.

It was mostly a fantasy at that point, but with a few key elements completed we were beginning to feel like our wedding was going to be different and stylish and also, easy. But then our wedding started to require actual decision making. And things got more difficult. Our budget, turns out, wasn’t as lush as we’d originally thought (right…) and our DIY projects weren’t exactly finishing themselves (oh, DIY means DO it yourself? Need Help Moving Furniture UpstairsI didn’t realize there would be trying involved). Second Hand Reproduction Furniture For SaleAnd slowly I found myself in a prison of my own creation.Clean Air Vehicle Decals Ca I didn’t realize it at the time, but in asserting that we would do things differently or more consciously, I’d created just as many restrictions for myself as I would have if we’d decided to have a platinum wedding (see: refusing to buy invitations because they looked too “polished” and instead laboring sleeplessly for a week over a handmade invitations created using a stupid Japanese screen printer that now lives in the bottom of my closet).

But nowhere was this truth more evident than in my dress search. You see, the dress, to me, was the symbol of our wedding’s cool factor. I wasn’t going to have some generic ball gown from David’s Bridal. That’s what people having regular weddings do. (Retroactive apologies for my snobbery.) I had to have something cool and beach chic that no one back home would be able to imitate. Except it also had to hold up my boobs (not an easy feat) and it had to be less than $200. Until I started looking and (surprise!) couldn’t find my dress anywhere.  (I also refused to go anywhere that required me to make an appointment, assuming that an appointment automatically came with a $2,000 or more price tag. So I tried non-profit sample stores, department stores, regular every-day stores, and nothing fit the bill. I went to Nicole Miller and tried on the most magnificent dresses ever, but they were about $1,500 out of my price range. Finally I settled on this BCBG evening dress, a steal at $100.

And I loved it. Except two weeks before my wedding my mom and sister staged an intervention and expressed their concern that my unlined tiered dress and big boobs were a surefire combination for a wardrobe malfunction. And also, you could see my belly button. So in a frantic panic, I took to Google and went on a search for a replacement. Which is how I ended up in the showroom of the only David’s Bridal in Manhattan two weeks before my wedding trying on a dress made out of what I’m pretty sure was windbreaker material. And you know what? I have no idea what I’d been snubbing my nose at the whole time. I went in, I gave them a style number, they brought it out to me. When it was too long, they brought it out to me in a petite. It fit without alterations, and in my street size. No more crying in the dressing room because a size double what I normally wear won’t zip up.) I walked out $500 poorer. (Okay, my mom was $500 poorer. But I should mention they let me give them her credit card number over the phone.

So DB gets double points for ease.) And I carried my dress on the train home. It was hands down the easiest part of the wedding planning process. And the dress didn’t look too shabby either. What did I learn? Well, it’s easy to tell yourself you’re keeping sane by not buying into the big wedding industry business. But you can drive yourself just as crazy trying to have a cool indie wedding, too. Because you know what? Cool indie shit takes work. Also, sometimes the WIC does actually provide things to you that make life easier. Like, for example, a whole warehouse of dresses in your size and price range. Or a playlist you don’t have to think about. And the brilliant thing is, having a wedding that’s authentic to you and your partner means that you can participate in WIC-approved stuff without feeling guilty or suffering accusations of selling out. So whenever someone comes to me and expresses concern that David’s Bridal might be the only place they can find a dress in their size and price range with minimal effort, but they somehow feel that it’s wrong to go there (as if the wedding Gods themselves would be offended) I give them a virtual high five and tell them to go for it.

Because sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to keep yourself sane while planning your wedding. Shame blasters at the ready.When I got married, I was looking at wedding dresses under $500. And I try not to have any coulda woulda shouldas about our wedding (because spoiler alert: they’re not timeless, y’all). But sometimes… sometimes I wish I got married now instead of five years ago. Not because we’re more mature now than we were when we got married (we are). Not even because we could afford a nicer wedding (we could). No, it’s because 2015’s affordable wedding dresses are so much cooler than the dresses in 2009, and I’m jealous. Anika Tulle Skirt & In Perpetuity Camisole via BHLDN ($160-500) When we got married, the most expensive dress I’d ever purchased before my wedding dress was my prom dress (for a whopping $75 dollars at Marshalls, thankyouverymuch). So the idea of spending a few hundred dollars, forget a few thousand, on a wedding dress was just out of the question, logistically and emotionally.

I might sing a different tune now, but that’s neither here nor there. At the time, there were maybe a handful of wedding dresses under $500, and most of them were a knockoff of Cinderella’s ball gown (aka not for me). But lucky for you, the future is now, and affordable wedding dresses have exploded the market. So today, we’ve rounded up forty of our favorite wedding dresses under $500. But first, a few tips before you buy: Even though I can’t go back in time and throw sequins at my former self, the sheer number of badass wedding dresses that show up in our real wedding submissions each month makes it all worth it. And if I see just one of these come in this year, I’ll consider my work here done. Hot Tip: For more affordable wedding dresses that get updated regularly, check out the APW Dress Boutiques right here. Monique Lhuillier Bridesmaids One-Shoulder Draped Tulle Gown via Neiman Marcus ($398) Brianna Gown via J.Crew ($450) Juliette Dress via BHLDN ($275)

Appliqued tulle dress via The Outnet ($193.60) Deep V Neck Jersey Gown via Bloomingdales ($425) Illusion Neck Beaded Gown via Neiman Marcus ($495) Paper Crown by Lauren Conrad ‘Hannah’ Lace Bodice Crepe Gown via Nordstrom ($298) Long Sleeve Lace Mermaid Gown via Neiman Marcus ($343) Drape Back Maxi Dress With Belt via ASOS ($132) Annabelle Dress via BHLDN ($260) Sequin A-Line Gown via Nordstrom ($358) Sequin Mesh Strapless Gown via Nordstrom ($348) Embellished Mesh Gown via Nordstrom ($349) Isabel Dress via Reformation ($288) Annabelle Dress & Marnie Topper via BHLDN ($220-260) Alyse Strapless Ruched Skirt Dress via BCBG ($338) Closet Tie Front Dress with Kimono Sleeve via ASOS ($70) Metallic Lace Dress via ASOS (on sale for $115) Clara Gown in Silk and Chiffon via J.Crew ($354) Long Mesh Dress with Illusion Beaded Neckline via David’s Bridal ($199, available in sizes 2–18) Chloe Dress via BHLDN ($250)

After Party Vintage 54th Street Satin Jumpsuit via NastyGal ($178, currently out of stock, but worth getting on the waitlist for) Lucca Gown by Watters via BHLDN ($480; for sizes 18–24 shop Joielle) Short Lace Dress with Feather Trim Detail via David’s Bridal ($100) Beaded Tulle Halter Gown via Neiman Marcus ($275) DB Studio Cap Sleeve Long Beaded Sequin Dress via David’s Bridal ($299, available in sizes 2–18) Strapless Ruched Gown via Bloomingdales ($350) Lace Cape Dress via BCBG ($298) Lace Dress via Lord & Taylor ($330) Hawkins Dress in Swiss Dot via J.Crew ($198) Ruched Mesh Panel Maxi Dress via ASOS Wedding ($51) Sue Wong Gown via Bloomingdales ($448) Long Jersey Sheath Dress with Illusion Back via David’s Bridal ($229, available in sizes 2–18) Lela Rose Crinkle Chiffon Gown via Joielle ($300, available in sizes 00–30) Astralis Gown via Anthropologie ($398) Parker Black Strapless Stitched Bodice Gown via Bloomingdales ($450)