My sister and I both bought our wedding dresses at I Do Bridal in Wallingford and had great experiences. I tried Cicada when I was looking and had a negative experience with my sales associate, but it looks like plenty of women had luck there.

Ditto on the Cicada, J Crew and bridesmaid dress suggestions.

My wife got her's in August from Cicada. Couldn't tell you the address except that they're downtown somewhere, and they were excellent. Plus I believe they've donated a gift to Strangercrombie.

I also had a good experience at Cicada - they require less turn around time than a lot of regular bridal stores because they make the stuff in house. So, it's custom-made to your body and tastes AND quicker. I can share pics of my dress if that would be of interest - it's sometimes nice to see something "real" than what's on the website/on the models.

http://www.cicadabridal.com/

I custom ordered my dress from cicada and couldn't have been happier with how it turned out. Their dresses are mostly hand made and pretty affordable, and if she wants them to alter anything they are more than happy to oblige. They could probably even make her a pretty sweet looking suit if she wants to wear pants.

I second the J.Crew option, but you'd have to shop online or in another city. They're great dresses for low-key brides.

I got mine here in Seattle at a second-hand bridal shop called Blue Sky Bridal. I had a great experience there and adore my (low-key, perfect for a tomboy) dress.

Cicada Bridal in Belltown is great. They have lots of simple styles, and they are all made in the shop. You can buy them off the rack or they will design a custom dress for you.

You should call to make an appointment, though, because then you will be guaranteed a dressing room and an employee who can fit her into the dresses so she can really get a sense of how they'll look once they're altered to fit (they do alterations on all dresses as needed).

Blue Sky bridal in Greenlake. it's 2nd use dresses (worn once and cleaned) and WAY cheaper than boutiques. she has a variety of dresses from summer destination weddings to the princess stuff in a variety of sizes. there was a lot I saw that appealed to me when I went here, and I found something I liked for $450.

i wish i had gone for it and had a tom wolfe 3-piece white suit made for my wedding like i had really wanted to instead of going with a stupid dress (which was lovely and cheap from the jessica mcclintock store in westlake). i would have gone to Kuhlman on first. run that one by her - if she's a tomboy and doesn't want a dress, she doesn't have to have one. otherwise, i second the vintage.

I would check out Belltown Bride. Well, if you are a size 8 or smaller. It is a small shop (by appointment only) and specializes in designer dresses at large discounts. Basically they only have dresses that were formerly samples, worn in shows, etc. So there is only one of each dress and what they have varies from month to month. It's the kind of place where you may not find anything, but you may find something great. And the woman who runs the shop is really nice. I lucked out and found my wedding dress there and I loved it!

I had looked at I Do Bridal, Bellevue Bridal, Cynderellie's closet, and Cicada before going there. I did find some dresses I liked at Bellevue Bridal and at Cicada. I felt like Cynderellie's closet, while more affordable, was mostly princess dresses. Bellevue Bridal also has a decent selection of non-princessy dresses.

I came across this recycled wedding dress website when trying to find my own dress and fell in love with their blog:
http://www.oncewed.com/
Though I didn't end up buying a dress there, it was a great place to start to get an idea of the kinds of dresses out there.

If you're into the non-wedding-dress dress, I'd say try a vintage store. Lots of options for simplicity and style. I bought a little cream-colored cocktail dress at Red Light that was in impeccable condition and only $30.

Craigslist. And I'm not being sarcastic...

http://www.stopstaringclothing.com/sunshop/

http://www.whirlingturban.com/

I was one of the tag-along friends when we went to a place up in Edmonds called Cinderellie's Closet. http://www.cynderelliescloset.com/

They were very low-stress, and I was with a bride-to-be who doesn't like lace or beading, and they had a lot of stuff for her to try.