If you're a bride-to-be who's dreading having to part with serious cash for the wedding dress of dreams, we have some good news: research from online shopping site Lyst suggests that brides are spending less on a dress to take them down the aisle as they opt for high street favourites over pricier designers.
They found that on average, brides are spending £832 on their wedding dress. Yes, it's still a serious amount to spend on a dress that will probably only be worn once, but it's actually down 20 percent from £1,112 last year - and considering the seemingly exponential cost of the big day,' this news feels pretty refreshing.
Lyst used a combination of search, sales and browsing figures from its website and its 12,000 partner brands, and also surveyed 100 brides-to-be, to come to the conclusion that brides are starting to opt for more affordable high street wedding dresses over designer gowns with a price tag in the thousands.
Brands like ASOS, Whistles and Topshop have all recently launched bridal collections promising a mix of fashion-forward and more traditional styles in luxe fabrics, all with a price tag that won't raise eyebrows.
The online shopping site found that while users were still searching for designer names like Temperley London and Amanda Wakeley, demand for brands like Self Portrait, Needle and Thread and Whistles (where a dress is typically priced in the mid-hundreds) was on the rise.
Lyst did find, however, that some brides are prepared to spend about as much on their shoes as they would on the dress itself: 20 percent of those surveyed revealed that the shoes were actually more important than the dress. While the high street might be an increasingly viable option for bridal growns, this is one area where designer names still have the upper hand: Lyst found that Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo and Sophia Webster were among the most popular. We blame Carrie Bradshaw...
READ MORE: The Most Iconic Wedding Dresses Of All Time
READ MORE: These Are The Biggest Wedding Trends Of 2017