I posted this in the general Virginia forum, but that board is dead. I thought I'd share it here...
I thought I'd share this here. A few weeks ago, I decided to stop into a charity bridal shop in Lynchburg called Church Street Bridal. I live in Charlottesville, about an hour north of there.
What I found was SHOCKING. Sample gowns with big designer names (think Pnina, Monique Lhuillier, Rivini, Reem Acra, Amsale, Lazarro, etc.) being sold for $300-500. The clearance racks had dresses from $50-200.
I have loads of pictures on my blog and I fear The Knot makes pictures so tiny that there's no point in posting them. Trust me when I say that this place is worth the trip. I post about the place on Wedding Bee and girl from Ohio already drove down and got a Monique Lhuiller for $400 and her veil for $15. A girl from Australia is working with the manager by email to buy a Pnina gown.
Here are links to the blog posts I wrote about the place, which have lots of pictures:
http://bitly.com/ilQznE
http://bit.ly/lRwdwB
http://bit.ly/jGrT0e
If you go, the J. Crew headquarters has two stores there where you can get great deals on wedding gowns, bridesmaids dresses, shoes, etc. They are not outlets, but stores full of catalog returns.
Here's the info for the J. Crew stores: http://www.smallchichome.com/2010/05/trip-to-jcrew-factory.html