Find a wedding dress for Samples, overstocks and Filene's frenzy

When Leslie DeAngelo got married 16 years ago, she yearned for a designer dress. But her eyes were too big for her wallet. So after she said “I do,” she started selling sample and overstock dresses at discount prices at her store, Vows, in Newton, Mass. Now her racks are stuffed with gowns by Reem Acra, Lela Rose, and many others. (Neiman Marcus recently closed most of its bridal departments, and guess who got the goods.) Dresses are at least 50 percent off the original prices, which means that some of them still sell for thousands. Click through some of the store's inventory on its Web site, www.tootoomart.com


If you don't mind waking up at 4 a.m. (or earlier, depending on how far you live from Atlanta) and trying on dresses in front of news crews and other shoppers, Filene's Basement's semi-annual Running of the Brides sale on March 20 at the Lenox Marketplace store might be your best bet for scoring designer duds on the cheap. For the flagship event held in February in Boston, more than 3,000 gowns – priced at $249-$699 (originally $900-$10,000) – were for the taking. A note on strategy: Know that shoppers barter for sizes. So if you can, pair up with another bride who wears a smaller or larger size than you do and trade with each other.www.tootoomart.com