by Elaine M. Doxie

Created on: April 17, 2010   Last Updated: April 18, 2010

There is a time I would have said definitely no to this question.  However, that was before I found the most beautiful gown I had ever seen in a small second-hand store for $55.  It was a perfect fit when I tried it on, as if it had been made just for me, and I suddenly felt like a bride.  It was ivory lace with an asymmetrical hemline and a large bow in front.  The bow had a rhinestone brooch attached, which I did replace with a newer, more up to date one, but other than that, I wore the gown as it came.

Needless to say, I bought the gown, took it home, and saved it for my wedding that was still over a year away.  As my wedding grew nearer, I looked at other gowns, but none of them fit my personality and sense of style better than the gown that I already had.  I found a pair of ivory satin shoes to wear with it, and my husband found a little ivory dress with pretty burgundy flowers for our one year old daughter.  She also wore little burgundy velvet shoes, and had a little satin covered basket to carry.  I put flowers in her hair, and put it up in a little half ponytail.  Even my husband wore ivory for our wedding to match my dress.  In fact, my dress created the theme for my entire wedding.  The dress was vintage, so we got married in a very vintage little wedding chapel as well.

I wore flowers in my hair instead of the traditional veil, and I felt every bit the beautiful blushing bride as I would have had I gone out and spent $10,000 on a brand new dress.  It's not the dress that makes the wedding special.  It's the joining of two hearts and lives together that makes weddings as special as they are.  It doesn't matter if you wear a dress from your mother, the second-hand store, or a couture boutique.  What matters is that you feel special on your wedding day.  I don't know who wore this dress before I did.  I don't know if her marriage worked out, ir if it didn't.  All I do know is that I had a beautiful gown for my wedding day, and I was happier than I had ever been before on that day. 

We put way too much emphasis on the wedding, and not enough on the marriage.  You can have the most beautiful, expensive gown in the world, but if you don't take care of your marriage, you just wasted your money.  On the other hand, you can wear jeans to your wedding and have things work out well if you're truly in love.

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