Outfit entire wedding party for under $20

HOUSTON -- Wedding season is here, and it's no secret that expenses can spiral out of control, especially when it comes to attire.

Instead of shopping brand new, we hit the thrift store to outfit an entire wedding party.

Thrift store shoppers and bloggers Pippa Williams and Jen Meneely put together the outfits on their website Too Cheap Blondes.

In a span of six weeks, the pair searched local Family Thrift Outlets a few times a week to find all the looks. At the outlets, items are a maximum of $2 apiece.

When it was all said and done, they managed to put together an entire wedding party for $18. They purchased six bridesmaids dresses, one flower girl dress, mother of the bride attire, and a wedding gown.

"These are very high quality well-made dresses and we didn't choose anything that was cheaply made," Williams said. "They say the average price is $150 per dress."

If you're looking to attempt this for your own wedding, you need to be open to mismatched dresses in the same color family.

"One idea is to take a paint chip and give it to your bridesmaids and let them shop for their dress in a color group," Williams said.

For the bridesmaids dresses, the ladies scooped up designer dresses for only $2 each. One purchased a $300 Shelly Segal strapless dress and another snagged a $150 Betsey Johnson dress.

The toughest part of the journey was finding the perfect wedding gown. But after searching, they came across a J. Crew wedding dress brand new that once retailed for $550. The thrift store had it for only $2.

Another problem you might encounter while shopping at the thrift store is stains. But if you find one, don't let that discourage you.

"It's worth the $2 investment," Williams said. "We took it home and took Dawn dish soap, it's our secret weapon, let it sit on for a couple of hours and hand wash it. Most of the time it came out."

After bargain shopping and a little cleanup work, the bloggers were able to put together like-new wedding attire for pennies on the dollar.

"We were shocked to see everyone line up and see how fabulous they all looked, and how the colors just blended. We really think it came out beautifully, much better than we planned," Meneely said.