Costco Now Sells Weddings Gowns (1 of 3) View Photos

In February, the massive discount food warehouse Costco, began selling wedding gowns.

Using the exclusive celebrity designer Kirstie Kelly, the store will now offer her signature gowns from $700-1,400.

Only offered in some markets, to Costco members only, via a trunk show set up in the stores, members were thrilled when the store announced the sale of wedding gowns through their March wedding newsletter.

The store already has brides covered in the floral, jewelry, photo, food, alcohol, and even honeymoon departments, but now the final and most important component—the gown.

Borrowing from her couture style, the Signature line, Kelly’s exclusive designs for Costco, offer Alencon (hand-applied lace) and ruching, for the outside look of the gowns, and corsets sewn into the inside of the dresses--all done by hand and all designed to assure the dress hang correctly at the hips and fits the bust perfectly; techniques normally only available with couture dresses.

If you wonder where a bride might try on the dress, Costco has taken care of that by building special in-store “Salons”. A jewel-box style, with dressing room and lounge areas for the bride’s friends and family to help out.

Costco even provides an expert bridal consultant to work on-hand in assisting the bride with her fitting.

Alterations are handled privately by the bride, but all the gowns come with an “alteration tip card” that advises the bride what questions to ask and how to direct the tailor. If a bride’s in the Los Angeles area, then Kelly suggests her two favorite alteration businesses.

The gowns were first shown in a Costco in Reno, and the company says that by October, they will have crossed the country.

No word when the line will be available in San Diego, but keep your eyes on Kirstie Kelly's website.

“The thinking today is that women are not as focused on the gown as the central piece to the wedding. If they can save on the dress, then imagine the honeymoon they can take with their grooms, or even almost a down payment, almost, on a house,” says Heather Gordan, Kelly’s public relations person.

Two years ago Costco began selling caskets, so why shouldn’t the store cover all their bases and delve into the bridal arena?

Basically, the store sells everything people need most: food, toilet paper, clothing, and alcohol. Why not your wedding gown, too?