by Glyne Oliver

Created on: September 14, 2008   Last Updated: September 30, 2008

I am a practical person. I know that the cost of a new wedding dress can eat through the biggest of wedding budgets. Therefore, I would have no problem whatsoever wearing a pre-owned wedding gown. For years I have been asking anyone who would listen, "If the groom can rent his tuxedo, why can't the bride rent her dress?" I still have not gotten a satisfactory answer to that question.

I don't see the point of buying a wedding dress that you will, in all likelihood, wear only once. If you should get married again, would you really want to wear the same dress you got married in the first time? Surely you could leave the dress to your daughter. What if the dress cannot fit your daughter when the time comes? What if she's not crazy about the dress? What if you don't have a daughter? Can you count on your daughter-in-law to wear your dress on her day? Besides, who wants all the headache of cleaning, storing, and preserving a wedding gown for years?

Unless you elope, get married in Las Vegas, or have a simple ceremony at the courthouse, a wedding these days will cost you a pretty penny. Choosing to wear a pre-owned wedding gown can save a lot of pennies which could then be spent to upgrade the honeymoon, to accommodate additional guests, to purchase more lavish floral arrangements, to book a finer reception venue, or even to procure a second dress for the bride to change into at the reception.

Because all brides want their wedding day to be both special and perfect, the idea of walking down the aisle in a pre-owned gown is unacceptable to most. Since someone has worn it before, it is not considered special. I believe what makes a lightly-used gown perfect and special is that its fit makes the bride feel and look beautiful. Now she has put her stamp on it and it's as if no one else had ever worn it. I don't believe the specialness of the day comes primarily from a gown, but from the love and happiness the bride and groom share, as well as the love and support of family and friends.

Because a dress has been worn previously, does not mean that it is "cursed" or that bad luck will befall the current wearer. When my sister got married, she chose to wear a pre-owned gown because she wanted to keep wedding costs down. She also knew she wouldn't be wearing the dress again, so why buy it? She and my brother-in-law were debt-free before they went on their honeymoon. They did not want to start their marriage in debt. They knew their wedding was just one day, but their marriage a lifetime. In spite of the dress or because of the dress, they have been happily married for 14 years now.

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