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Would I wear a pre-owned wedding gown? Well yes I would; because I did!

My husband had been married before and had always told me he would never marry again. So imagine my surprise when he proposed to me after three years of being together. I thought I had been content enough to be with him and it did not matter that we were unwed. But I found I was completely thrilled at the thought of being a bride!

My future husband was a low-paid army NCO and with four children to pay child support for we were never going to have a great deal of money for the wedding. As we discussed the alternatives I reminded him that it had been a girlhood dream of mine to elope. I thought an elopement would be the most romantic way to start our married life and money could then go to a deposit on our first home together.

So it was agreed and then not too much planning was required from there on.
Our wedding date was set for a year on from our engagement. I knew I would miss out on much of the tradition of a typical wedding but the romance was going to make up for it.

My husband arranged the venue, witnesses and a video camera to capture the day. All I had to do was get a dress. But there was very little money for a dress. What was I to do?

Pre-loved wedding dresses were my only option. There are many bridal shops out there with a great range of beautiful wedding dresses. The cost of pre-loved can still be quite high but fit within a limited budget far easier than brand new. Besides saving money it could also be the traditional "something old" from the maxim most brides adhere to of "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."

Still, being an indecisive girl I had not set on a wedding dress even one week before our due date. My husband knew me well and had already been making arrangements weeks in advance.

One day I arrived home from work and he asked if I had chosen a dress yet. Of course I hadn't though not through any lack of trying. And I was still very willing to wear a second-hand dress.

He took me to our wardrobe, covered my eyes, opened the door and said to take a look. Hanging up was a stunning and classic 1950s style wedding dress. It was floor length, full-skirted, with a cinched waist, sweetheart neckline and covered buttons down the sleeves and back. And the most beautiful thing about this wedding dress? It was pre-loved. It was my mother's wedding dress. How beautiful was this gesture of my husband? The last time I had seen this dress it was in pieces and terribly stained from age. My mother had been reworking it many years ago to be worn in religious duties. It was never going to be fit to be worn. But my husband took it to seamstresses and drycleaners and it looked as good as new.

My mother died when I was fifteen so here was a very real link to her for my wedding day. I have never forgotten the love my husband showed by providing a way for me to feel close to my mother on our wedding day. I would have worn any pre-loved dress on my big day but this was better than I could have imagined.

So how did the day pan out? As the most memorable and gorgeous day I could ever have hoped for. It was at our local registry, with army mates as witnesses. I had made my own bouquet and husband's buttonhole of white roses touched with splashes of greenery. We took our own photos and videos at the local botanic gardens on a warm, sunny day in August. And I wore the most special pre-loved dress imaginable and felt like a queen.

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth R Nelson.
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