I got married in a £20 wedding dress I bought in a charity shop – I bought it before I was even engaged

ONE bride has proved that wedding dresses don’t always have to cost a fortune.

Maranda Vandergriff married in November 2020, but her wedding dress was purchased long before then, in 2014, before she was even engaged.

tiktok/@marandavandyMaranda bought her dress in 2014 for just £20[/caption]

tiktok/@marandavandyAdding some alterations she made it into her dream dress[/caption]

Maranda has recently posted to TikTok, sharing the story behind her dress, including the alterations she made to make it even more fitting for her big day.

Speaking to Insider the thrifty bride revealed that she and her family had been volunteer models in the Goodwill Vintage Fashion Show for over a decade, and it was thanks to this that she found the dress of her dreams.

As part of the 2014 show she tried on a ’70s-style wedding dress, and although she didn’t end up walking the runway in it, she did eventually walk down the aisle in this dress.

After the show the dress went on sale for $30 and as a model Maranda received a further 20% off and promptly purchased the dress for just $24.

Explaining why she made this purchase she says: “Since I’ve been thrifting my whole life, I know that when you find something special in the thrift store, you either get it or you may never see it again.

“I bought it even though I was not planning to get married at any point in time. It was just an option that I had for the future.”

When her boyfriend proposed in 2019, she knew that this was the dress she wanted to wear on her big day – with some alterations of course.

In her TikTok video, Maranda explains some of the process of altering the dress: “I knew I wanted to make it more me, so I drew up a sketch of what it would look like with bishop sleeves.

“I set to work with the help of my mum and grandma, who taught me how to sew.”

Maranda isn’t the only member of her family to have got creative with their wedding dress.

“My mum actually hand sewed her entire [wedding] dress,” she adds.

Wanting to honour this, and her parents’ wedding, Maranda added some of the beads from the dress to her own, adding these to the sleeves she had created.

“I definitely took a risk going this non-traditional route,” she finishes, “but I ended up with my dream dress that combined my love of vintage clothes and a piece of my parent’s wedding too

“And ultimately, the dress was as unique and personal as our special day.”

Maranda sketched up the alterations she wanted to make –tiktok/@marandavandy

tiktok/@marandavandyShe added some beads from her mum’s hand-sewn wedding dress[/caption]Fashion – latest style news and Fabulous trends | The Sun