Are you considering buying a used wedding dress? A used wedding dress can certainly cut down on wedding costs, allowing you to save money on more important things, like a honeymoon or even a down payment on a house. However, there are certain things you should consider before purchasing a used wedding dress.

Think Before You Buy a Secondhand Wedding Dress

Author: Nicola Ray

There are hundreds of secondhand and used wedding dresses available these days which makes finding a bargain for your cheap wedding easy.

Many brides these days choose to sell their wedding dress after their big day, and why not, when it's only going to be catching dust in a box on top of the wardrobe.

Second-hand or used wedding dresses are easy to find from charity shops, online auctions, dress agencies and online bridal stores. They're also one of the best ways to pick up a cheap designer number. But before parting with your cash, make sure you think about:

Brides have a good time

All brides are carefree on their wedding day. They relax, have a good time and often don't care whether their dress gets dirty; after all, they're not going to wear it again. If you're buying a secondhand wedding dress, check the dress carefully for stains. Food, wine, watermarks and general dirt from the floor are the usual culprits.

This is particularly true for long trains and full skirts, as they drag along the floor all day. If you're buying blind (i.e. from the internet), ask as many questions as possible from the vendor to establish the condition of the dress. Are you able to clean the dress? Do you mind having a few marks on the dress? Can you disguise them with extra beading or other embellishments?

Be careful with the sizing

Most wedding dresses have been altered to fit the previous owner perfectly. Perhaps they were a size 14 on the bum and a size 12 on top, or maybe the other way around. Ask the owner if they had alterations made and determine what size the dress really is. If you're not sure, buy a dress size bigger and alter it to fit you perfectly. It will make you and the dress look a million dollars.

Try before you buy

There are two very important reasons for this. First, seeing a dress on is very different to seeing it on the hanger. You may be surprised what suits you.

Secondly, as I mentioned before, most brides get their dress altered to fit them perfectly. The dress they bought was a 14, but got it altered, so in fact it's a 12/14. Trying will allow you know if you get can alter it further.

You buy "as seen"

When buying a used wedding dress, it's important to check all the above points, because once you've paid your money, you're unlikely to get a refund if it's not right. So, check for stains, ask the seller lots of questions, try before you buy and go a size bigger so you can make your own alterations.

Follow these tips and you should grab yourself a beautiful bargain wedding dress! Happy hunting!



About the Author:
Nicola Ray is the owner of Cheap Wedding Success, a website dedicated to planning and creating the perfect cheap wedding. With lots of advice, tips and ideas to lower the cost of your wedding, Cheap Wedding Success is the perfect place to start.

Synonyms:   Sed, sued, uused, ued, uesd, ussed, usd, usde, useed, use, and usedd are typos for "used." Ress, rdess, ddress, dess, derss, drress, drss, drses, dreess, dres, dress, dresss, dres, and dresss are typos for "dress." Weddnig, weddin, weeding, and weding are typos for "wedding."