Dear Sugar,
I’m considering buying a used wedding dress; my friends think it’s a crazy idea; I would like to know the pros and cons to it.
- Rebecca Ade
Dear Rebecca,
This depends on two major things, Are you a bride on a budget? Or are you the type of bride that can’t justify spending hundreds of thousands of Naira on a dress that you will typically wear once in your life?
There are a few pros and cons to buying a used wedding dress.
Pros
The pretty obvious advantage of buying a used wedding dress is that you will only pay a fraction of what you could possibly spend on a new dress. By buying a used dress you’ll be making a huge savings and that’s definitely cheaper.
Designer dress galore:
If you have had an idea or had your eyes on a particular designer wedding dress or your favourite designer, there’s an 80% chance that you’ll find it when shopping for a used wedding dress at a fraction of it’s original cost.
Cons
Limitations:
You may encounter limited options when shopping for a used wedding dress, which means you may not eventually find your “idea” choice of dress in the end.
It belongs to another bride:
At the risk of stating the obvious, when you’re shopping for a used wedding dress, you have to be aware that another bribe has worn it before on her own big day so it totally takes out the emotional attachment that comes with having your “own” dress.
Accident-prone:
Wedding dresses are generally only worn for one day but it is a long day of different activities, a lot of things can happen in one day. No matter what the seller tells you, you need to be aware that a used wedding dress, has lost some value and it's definitely accident-prone, even if it is as minor as a pulled thread, it could cause a bigger damage when it’s your turn to use it.
Finally, you may weigh the pros and cons but it ultimately boils down to your personal preference or your budget.
All the best.