Defer by hefty thousand-dollar-plus pricetags in local stores, thrifty brides-to-be are flocking online for frocks, snapping up custom-designed gowns on Ebay as low as 99 cents each.
The tailor-made dresses, that can come in the selection of designs, colours and fabric, are being auctioned off at super cheap prices by Chinese clothing manufacturers keen to capitalise around the western wedding market.
Despite hefty postage fees of $130 to $150, bridal bargain hunters say it's worthwhile for your overall price.
Toowoomba woman Allison Mcphee, 38, couldn't believe her luck when she purchased her dream dress on Ebay for 99 cents. With added postage of $140, the custom-made strapless, hand-beaded gown was still being a lot less than 10 per cent from the cost of anything she could buy locally.
"I couldn't believe it when I watched it, in regards up with a dress for 99 cents your going 'are you currently kidding me, this cannot be real'," she said.
"Should you bought that dress within Australia it might need to be at the least $1500 worth, this is a beautiful dress. I own a friend who's a dressmaker and she was like 'my dear god you couldn't even purchase the fabric for that'."
The paramedic, who's marrying fiance Greg Doyle, 33, in October pick up, said she expected the worst when she received the gown in the mail just six or seven weeks after emailing off her measurements.
"I'd been very worried, I thought I'd unwrap it and it also could be manufactured from cellophane or something but it is beautiful, the workmanship is superb and it fits perfectly," she said.
"We would definitely be telling others to do it."
Newcastle insurance worker Cheryl Gibbons, 36, can be planning on buying a dress on eBay to be with her 2014 wedding - a romantic lace v-neck with a cathedral train for $16.66 plus $138 postage.
"I've looked in shops near me and dresses that had been the same with lace and also the train, one I really liked was $2600 and another was $2800," she said.
"That way I figure if worst comes to worst and it doesn't fit properly I've only lost $160."
Adelaide designer greater than three decades George Georgiou, whose tailor made Alexis George gowns start at about $3500, said brides trying to find bargains online probably know they may be ripping off local designers.
"These sellers take photos of other designers' work - a photograph of 1 of my dresses, worn by considered one of my models - then sell it for 99 cents as well as a bride will think she's getting an Alexis George dress," he said.
"Sixty you just aren't obtaining original product. They deceive people."
Mr Georgiou said online shoppers run the risk of poor fits and cheap fabrics.
"You won't get a good fit, the fabrics could be inferior. You receive everything you purchase," he was quoted saying.
Sydney bridal dress designer Karen Willis Holmes, whose made to order gowns start at just over $2000, said buyers should question the ethics of Chinese manufacturers offering such cheap products.
"There's a serious question regarding how ethically these 99 cent gowns are produced, I would like when you consider that men and women do spare a thought about the moral precepts with the output of these items," she said.
"If a bride is following a bargain with your ex bridal gown, online bridal dresses are a solution, however they must be aware actually taking certain risks such as quality, delivery delay, sizing and fitting."
Melbourne wedding dress designer Anna Campbell, whose custom gowns start at just under $2000, said buying online was a risky business.
"For any bride that orders a dress on-line that's perfect, there's another that isn't happy in any respect," she said.
"You could be lucky with all the fit, you would possibly fluke it, if there is a standard figure you'll get away by it quicker but you absolutely are becoming what you purchase."
Brisbane bridal dress maker of 12 years Jennifer Gifford said choosing a made to order dress without having to be capable to fit it had been a risky business.
"Unless you are a small standard size, you will have problems," she said.
"Generally what you get from China their sizing can be small compared to Australian sizing so in case you send measurements it will eventually often retort too small.
"I've seen brides caught with that, and they try to on flip it, or it sits inside the cupboard and becomes a distressing memory on the resulted in their big day."