This is not a sponsored post, however, this post contains affiliate links.  All opinions are completely my own!

Approximately two weeks before my sister’s wedding, I realized that I didn’t have anything to wear, and I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired to purchase anything.  Everything I saw didn’t quite grab me.  I remembered that a friend of ours, for our wedding, had doing something called Rent the Runway, a neat merchant who allows you to browse designer collections and have them shipped to you the day before a big a event.  You get to go to your fancy event in your dress, ship it back (in a container that RtR sends you), and you’re not stuck with an expensive dress that you can’t wear again.

So for Debbie’s wedding, because she was having her wedding at a pretty nice museum, I went with something that was longer, and appropriate for a black or white-tie event.  For some reason, I had the idea that sequins would be fun, especially with the event being so close to Christmas.  I was able to sort dresses by size, by color, by length, and by the fanciness of event.  Once I found the dress that I had my heart set on, I picked a pair of earrings for them to throw in, and I picked the dresses in two sizes, that way, if one didn’t fit, I would have a backup.

The dress showed up the day before the event, and I immediately tried it on to make sure it fit!  I sort of forgot that designer clothing is really true to size, so I ordered a 4 and 6 Long.  I tried on the 6 first, sure that it would fit like a glove, and since I’d ordered the 4, I had the backup to wear to the wedding!  The finished product was here…

The dress was a Badgley Mischka, and normally retails for $700 – I was able to get a dress and earrings all for about $100. I did not stop getting compliments on the dress, which I promptly shipped back, easy peazy, the day after the wedding.

Once again, my experience was so good I rented again for some holiday parties I had last week…

The second rental was a Slate and Willow romper, the Jessica.  This one was really fun. It allowed for me to show off some leg, and still be holiday-esque without going full-on Beyoncé.  This one, I rented along with some earrings as well.  This beauty retails for about $470.  Once again, I was able to get the outfit for about $100, and this time, I rented for about 8 days, so I could be super cheap and wear it to multiple parties.

As a girl who mostly live in workout clothes, it’s so nice to splurge, even a little, and look like a million bucks, even if for a night, all to the tune of a benny.

So if you’re interested, the holidays are an awesome time to try this out. Use promo code HAPPY2015 to receive 20% off your order’s subtotal of $50 or more here.  If you’re down for a free backup size, head over here.  And for $40 off of an order, $100 or more, head here!

What’s your favorite way to do a fancy outfit on a budget?