by Amy Wilber

Created on: February 23, 2009   Last Updated: July 22, 2009

In the current economy status, buying a brand new wedding dress is not an option for some people. Penny pinching is a common practice with an emphasis on getting the best deal without burning a hole in your pocket. I wore a pre-owned dress at my own wedding years ago. The principle has not changed but the means are very stretched all over the country. Who says that the dress you pick and love has to be brand new? Your choice in the dress is of your own volition. Yes, you are looking for a certain style, texture and length but whether it came from a previous owner or not makes no difference. This is your special day and who is going to know it was pre-owned if you do not tell them? No one will know the difference. You just have to be careful on the condition of the dresses that you look at.

Making sure that there are no rips, tears or stains on the dress is very crucial. Who wants to pay ten thousand dollars or more on a dress you will only wear once (hopefully). Your dress is another extension of the type of person you are and if it was previously owned by someone else that just means they share the same style and interests that you do.

Being the oldest of five children, there was never money to burn. Pinching that last dollar was important to save for the things we needed most. So when it came time for my wedding, we knew that I would only be wearing the dress for one night and even though my parents did not have enough money the dress had to be special appealing to my interest in the style I wanted.

In our small hometown there was a dress boutique that sold gowns and accessories. They were going out of business and offering prices that we just could not pass up. I figured if the dress is what I want and at an affordable price that would save more money for the alcohol and other things that we needed to prepare for the wedding. Who is going to know the difference, right?

So my mother and I trekked to the store and started to look around. Some of the dresses just did not appeal to me and I did not think they would look right on me. They had over fifty dresses to look at. We ventured into a back room and there it was. The most beautiful dress I had ever seen and it was the style I had dreamed about.

My mother was quick to say, "Hold on. Let's check it out first." We looked it over and it was not stained or ripped and the size looked right. I was a little nervous about trying it on since the first thought that ran through my mind was, "Did they clean it?"

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