7 Reasons Why Buying a Used Wedding Dress is Better than Buying New

This post was created in partnership with PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, a wedding dress resale marketplace. All opinions are our own!

Bride on a budget? Learn how to score your dream designer wedding dress for less.

We always say to start by identifying your wedding vision, setting your budget, defining your priorities, and then getting to the planning part.

One thing we also recommend keeping in mind when making wedding decisions:

Does this item/service impact my guests, or just me? – Wedding Budget Tip #50

When it comes to an item like your wedding dress, you may have your heart set on a designer gown. But if your budget is slim and you’re left with choosing between inviting an extra table’s worth of your loved ones and a spendy designer wedding dress, I have a feeling that that dream dress might get put on the backburner in favor of your guest list.

Luckily, there is a great way to save money on your wedding dress while still scoring the designer gown you’ve dreamed of: buy a secondhand wedding dress!

Why Buying a Used Wedding Dress is Better Than Buying New

Buying a used dress is better or at least just as good as buying new. Why? We reached out to our friends at PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com to get some valuable insight into the benefits of purchasing a previously-worn wedding gown for your big day.

Huge Cost Savings

You’ll save an average of 58% off the retail price of the same gown if you purchased it new.

In fact, 80% of the dresses sold are priced at $1000 or below!

Try browsing wedding dress resale sites by the highest % of savings to find the best deals on used wedding dresses!

Get a Designer Wedding Dress at a Savvy Price

Popular and top designers are available used, too! Many brides choose to re-sell their wedding dresses after their big day to recoup some of the cost! You could score a highly-covetable designer dress from designers like:

Hayley Paige – 385 dresses
Berta – 224 dresses
BHLDN – 247 dresses
Pronovias – 1562 dresses
Mikaella – 139 dresses
Monique Lhullier – 405 dresses
Vera Wang – 299 dresses

Used Doesn’t Mean Old

Just because a dress was previously owned and worn by another bride doesn’t mean it is out of style or old. Browse over 4,000 dresses that were purchased in 2019 for sale.

Not All Dresses are Actually “Used”

You might not love the idea of wearing a dress that was worn by another bride, but you can still shop on a wedding dress marketplace. You’ll be surprised to know that you can actually find brand new wedding dresses listed for sale!

Monique Lhullier - designer wedding dresses for less on PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com

Reusing a Dress Makes it More Eco-friendly

Re-using a wedding dress that was worn by a previous bride is one small way you can be less wasteful with your wedding plans! Do your wallet and the earth a favor by choosing a used wedding dress for your big day!

Pronovias - designer wedding dresses for less on PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com

Used doesn’t necessarily mean cheap

Just because it’s used, doesn’t mean it’ll be cheap. 10% of used wedding dresses are priced above $2,500. You may even find some high-end designer dresses that are still quite pricey at over 50% off the retail price, such as this Vera Wang wedding dress for $11,000! ?

designer wedding dresses for less on PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com

Used Dresses Come in a Range of Sizes

Whether you’re a size 0 or 20, you’ll likely be able to find a gorgeous gown you’ll love on a wedding dress resale site. On average, 36% of used wedding dress listings are size 10 or larger.