Should You Buy a Designer Wedding Gown?

The best part about planning a wedding is choosing the bridal gown. There is nothing quite like trying on all of those beautiful dresses and feeling like a princess. When it comes to time to actually buy a wedding gown, you will be faced with a big decision: designer or off-the-rack?

The most obvious difference will be the pricetag. Off-the-rack dresses can start at a couple of hundred dollars (or even less, during a sale), whereas designer dresses will start at a couple of thousand dollars and go up, up, up from there. At this point, you may be wondering why anyone would even be considering a designer gown. In fact, the price is not the only thing that separates the two.

Are you paying for the name if you choose a designer wedding dress? Well, the answer is yes and no. For the most part, you are not (and besides, many of the finest bridal gowns are created by designers who are not household names outside of the wedding industry). There are a few top name designers that command a premium based on their reputation, but not many.

So, if the price difference between designer and off-the-rack gowns is not based on a label, what is the reason? The answer is quality of materials and quality of construction. Country of manufacture is another. Many of the designer bridal gowns are handmade one at a time right in New York. The off-the-rack gowns are mass-produced in factories overseas.

Designer gowns will be made from natural fibers, mostly various weaves of silks. A mass-made gown will be created from artificial fibers, such as polyester. There is no doubt that silk is a superior material. It has a beautiful luster, comes in a soft natural shade of white, drapes well, breathes, and can be used to create more elaborate styles. Polyester has none of those attributes, but it is affordable, and it does come in a brilliant shade of white that some brides prefer. It also may wrinkle less than silk.

Probably the best reason to opt for a designer gown is the ability to have it customized just for you. Because each one is made at the time it is ordered, numerous changes can be made to allow for fit and creative expression. If the gown is too low-cut, the train is too short, you want to add or remove embellishment or lace, those are all options with a designer gown. The fit is usually the biggest concern. Not every bride has a sample size body. Let's say that you are a size 8 with a size 12 bust. If your gown is made to order, it can be fit to your exact proportions. If is is mass-produced, you will have to buy the size 12 and hope that the rest of the dress can be cut down two sizes, which can be a dicey proposition.

Of course ordering a made-to-order bridal gown takes time. Usually you need to allow a minimum of four to six months for it to arrive (sometimes rush deliveries are available). If your wedding is in a month, an off-the rack gown might be a better option for you.

Even for brides who have enough time, the cost of a designer gown can be a major stumbling block. Before dismissing the idea out of hand, however, take some time to tweak your budget. Sometimes funds can be shifted from one category to another. For instance, perhaps instead of diamonds, the bride could look into fabulous but affordable crystal bridal jewelry sets. The money saved could go towards your dream gown. Crystal bridal jewelry sets also make great gifts for your bridesmaids, but will look much more expensive than they actually are.

I have even heard of two sisters agreeing to share one very special wedding gown. After the first sister wears it, the second has it re-cut for her wedding. A classic gown with good lines can easily be altered to look unique, just by adding lace or beadwork. Whether you decide to splurge on a designer gown or not, in the end, it is all about finding the one gown that makes your heart sing. Feeling great will make you look your most beautiful on your wedding day.

Look to Bridget for advice on planning your wedding. Check out how we can help with your bridesmaids jewelry at SilverlandJewelry.com Bridal jewelry sets are available in a style and price to suit any bride and her wedding party.

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How to Choose the Right Podcast Hosting and Save

Talking about podcast hosting, there are two separate parts that every podcaster has to consider. The first one is podcast file hosting, and another is podcast site hosting.

Podcasters can host both of them on the same hosting account, but occasionally this is not possible for some reasons. Most sites, including podcast sites, consist of mainly text content. Podcast files, on the other hand, are audio or video content that consume much more space on storage device and bandwidth transfer to get from the server to the end users.

If your hosting account is capable of handling this kind of load, more power to you. Otherwise, consider migrate to another one. Alternatively you can use another hosting account to host the gigantic files and handle bandwidth issue.

For first time podcaster who started from scratch, selecting the right hosting is also important to keep both the files and site manageable and save cost.

1. Free podcast hosting

There are services that provide free space for your podcasts, such as ourmedia.org. The uploaded files should be released under Creative Common License. This solution is suitable for hobbyists who just want to distribute messages through them but don't want to invest money in it.

For the podcast site, there are free blog hosting service like Blogger.com and WordPress.com which can help you publish episode notes and other content easily.

2. Commercial web hosting

Podcasts don't use any proprietary protocol or standard so any web hosting that you use to host your site is good to go. The only consideration is that the web hosting server should be able to handle the load and have the disk space to transfer and store the files. Beware of the fact that hosting companies who promise unbelievable amount of disk space and bandwidth may not actually provide them without requiring you to upgrade and pay more.

Using commercial web hosting, you can setup WordPress blog to manage podcast site and also publish podcast feed.

3. Integrated podcast service

This is the easiest way to host your podcast. Usually podcast service provides file and site hosting in one account, with more other features. Choose service provider that know what they do so they can provide the level of service that you are expecting.

In this type of hosting, no further step is necessary other than signing up and start uploading and publishing.

To record a podcast is easy, but to publish it to the world and keep the podcast available is another different issue. It is very important to ensure that you it is available to listeners. Lousy podcast hosting not only causes listeners to go away because they can't download it or view the podcast page, but also can put your credibility at stake as a professional business.

Do you want to learn more about podcast creation and marketing? Have you considered podcasts as part of your business and marketing mix but are confused about the strategy?

Download your free 3-step podcasting guide and business case for podcasting from http://podcastingscout.com/subscribe

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