What do Monique Lhullier, Vera Wang, and Carolina Herrera have in common? They'll leave you broke faster than you can say, "dress you'll only wear once." Expensive wedding dresses are a dream come true for most brides, who have been envisioning their wedding day hotness since childhood. The key to snagging a designer dress for your own wedding without paying the full sticker price requires a little bit of time spent pounding the pavement and a lot of patience.

Visit the Expensive Wedding Dresses in their Natural Habitat

In order to truly understand the world of expensive wedding dresses, you need to visit them where they live: in high-end bridal shops. Some brides who want to do their weddings on the cheap default to shopping at low-end bridal salons, leaving them at a distinct disadvantage when selecting the final dress. Put on your best dress, grab a fancy bag, and head off to the salons that carry the designs that you've admired online and in magazines. Bring a camera, notepad and pen along with a discriminating friend to enjoy the fun.

Try Before You (Don't) Buy

Once you show up at the bridal salon, try on every dress that strikes your fancy. That dream dress you saw in a bridal magazine? Try it on and have your friend snap pictures. I'd be willing to bet that nine out of the ten expensive wedding dresses that you try on will not be your thing once you see the finished product. The point of this exercise is to allow yourself to have what you want for a moment instead of leaving you pining away for a dream dress that isn't really your style. For all of the dresses you do like, have your friend write down designer names and style numbers as well as take pictures. This information will come in handy when you get back home.

Samples Are the Gateway to Owning Expensive Wedding Dresses

Once you know what you want, it's time to jump online and find it for less. Start by looking for bridal salons that are currently selling their samples in order to make room for new inventory. You can do this by typing the style number of your dress into a search engine and adding the word "sample." A friend of mine actually scored a $6,000 Carolina Herrera dress for $1000 by using this method. The caveat? Make sure you are small enough to fit into the sample size that's up for grabs. Don't allow yourself to play the "it will fit when I lose weight the day before the wedding" game. Having to drop twenty pounds to fit into a dress is not the kind of stress you need in a time that's supposed to be full of happiness.

Become a Copycat

If you can't find the sample you want, it's time to bring in the big guns: a local seamstress. Dig out those pictures that you took while trying on your dream dress and show them to a reputable seamstress who is known for his or her ability to copy famous looks. Consider downgrading your fabric choices to keep the price in the affordable range. Make sure you have plenty of time before your big day if you go with this option, as you'll likely have to go in for several fittings before the process is complete.

Fact: Expensive Wedding Dresses Have Been Worn Before

I know, it probably shocks you that someone has already worn your dream wedding dress. Jump on eBay, type in the style number, and cross your fingers. If you're lucky, dozens of options will appear on your computer screen at a price that says, "maybe it's not so bad to wear something twice." If you're worried that buying a pre-owned wedding dress will give your future marriage bad karma, throw some salt over your shoulder and get over yourself. A dress is not going to be the thing that makes or breaks your life together.