by Julie Hockenberry Hicks

Created on: January 16, 2009

In an effort to make a memorable moment "perfect," I know many a gal will opt to go for a brand new wedding dress. And that is certainly reasonable - until you look at the price tag that's attached to some of those never-worn gowns. Yeeeesh.

I'll admit it. I'm cheap. Maybe frugal is a better word. I click coupons for things like frozen veggies and I am the woman you see standing in the beauty section of the grocery store, agonizing over the economical advantages and disadvantages of spending the extra change needed for one brand of shampoo versus another. And I'm also one of the many folks that has a bit of debt they're trying to knock out due to the combination of life and just plain bad choices (when you get a credit card offer while in college and convince yourself that you're only going to use it for "emergencies," things like pizza should not apply). And so, when I think of a brand new wedding dress, visions of me and my sweetie strolling down the aisle like our own stylish versions of Ken and Barbie aren't the first thing to come to my mind. No, I see a dollar sign. One that could probably be better spent on feeding hungry wedding attendees or giving extra cash flow into an awesome honeymoon.

While both me and the man that will make my last name go from four syllables to one have talked about the logistics of doing so, there is no official date looming over us just yet. That being the case, I admittedly haven't had to dive into the planning of such an event. I imagine, however, the whole thing ends up being like a kid's big birthday bash in that a lot of seemingly small things add up quickly: You rent a section at the skating rink for little Timmy, you try to reserve that cute place at the park with a gazebo for the reception. You manage to get someone dressed up as Barney for Suzie, you attempt to make your bridesmaids agree on the dresses they'll be wearing. You write happy birthday on the Sponge Bob cake, you place a little plastic bride and groom that looks nothing like either of you on top of a cake that better not fall.

Let's face it - no matter how big or small a get-together you plan to have for the moment of "I do," it's the memories that are going to stay with you. The dress, unless you really do plan on passing that sucker down to your daughter or another future bride-to-be, is going to basically be like a fancy prom dress. And what happened to our prom dresses, ladies? We wore it once and then resigned that beautiful gown to the closet (and possibly gave it to a consignment shop years later where it was bought by someone else for around the price of a tank of gas). The fortune cookie conclusion I have to offer is this: it is better to start a marriage with more money going in than to spend it away on a dress that will only make one appearance in the entirety of the relationship.

Even the cake gets a small comeback assuming the two of you do that thing where a yummy chunk of it gets stored in the freezer and devoured a year later.

Hmmm, I wonder if any caterers do coupons?

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