If finding a wedding dress is still near the top of your planning list, now might be a good time to take another look. InWeddingDress has officially launched a month-long online Sample Sale, with select dresses up to 70% off, prices starting at just $59, and sizes ranging from 0 to 26W.
The sale is live now, and it goes beyond wedding dresses. Bridesmaid dresses, mother-of-the-bride dresses, and flower girl dresses are included as well, so it’s worth browsing if you still have a few members of the wedding party to shop for.
There is one important difference between this event and a typical seasonal sale, though: these are sample dresses.
That means sizes and quantities are extremely limited, and many styles are one of a kind. Once a particular dress in a particular size is sold, there’s a good chance it won’t be restocked.
Why Is a Sample Sale Worth Shopping?
Sample sales offer a different way to shop for bridal, particularly for brides who care more about finding a dress that feels right than buying something from the latest collection.
The dresses included in this sale range from discontinued styles to pieces previously used for display or photography, as well as designs that have simply left our regular inventory. During the sale, you have the chance to find one of these dresses at a significantly lower price without compromising on the design that made you love it in the first place.
For the InWeddingDress Sample Sale, select styles are marked down by as much as 70%, with dresses starting at $59.
There is, of course, a trade-off: you won’t have the same freedom of choice that comes with shopping regular bridal inventory.
When buying a made-to-order or regularly stocked wedding dress, you usually choose the style first and then find or order your size. A Sample Sale works the other way around—you’re choosing from the dresses that are already available.
The wedding dress you fall in love with may only be available in one size. In some cases, there may be only one dress available at all.
For brides who already have a good sense of what they want, that limitation can actually make the decision easier. Instead of comparing dozens of nearly identical gowns, you can focus on a much simpler question: Does this dress work for your body, your wedding, and your budget? If it does, it may be worth claiming before someone else does.
There’s More Than Wedding Dresses to Discover
One of the things that makes this Sample Sale worth browsing is the range of dresses included.
Along with sample sale wedding dresses, you’ll find bridesmaid dresses, mother-of-the-bride dresses, and flower girl dresses.
So if you still have a few important wedding-day looks left to figure out, don’t stop after browsing the bridal section.
The limited nature of a Sample Sale does mean it may not be the best option if every bridesmaid needs to wear exactly the same dress. If you need six identical gowns in six different sizes, for example, regular inventory will usually give you more flexibility.
But if you’re planning a mismatched bridesmaid look—with different dresses tied together by a shared color palette or overall aesthetic—the one-off styles and limited sizes can actually work in your favor.
The same idea applies to mother-of-the-bride and flower girl dresses. Think of the Sample Sale as an opportunity to find one special piece rather than a collection you can count on being able to reorder later.
The Sale Lasts a Month, but the Dress You Want Might Not
The InWeddingDress Sample Sale will run for a full month, but that doesn’t mean every dress you see today will still be there when the sale ends.
With one-of-a-kind pieces and limited sizes, the real deadline isn’t the final day of the sale—it’s how long the particular dress you want remains available.
When you find a gown that works with both your measurements and your wedding style, replacing it with something identical may be much harder than it would be with a regularly stocked dress.
That’s why it pays to do a little preparation before shopping a Sample Sale. Know your measurements, have a realistic idea of what you’re willing to spend on alterations, and read the details of each dress carefully before making your decision.
After all, the best find at a bridal Sample Sale isn’t necessarily the dress with the biggest markdown.
It’s the one you would still want to wear down the aisle even without the sale tag.