To Rent or Buy Your Wedding Dress

To many people, wearing the perfect wedding dress is an important deal. It can represent how you feel on your special day, how you choose to present yourself, and it’s going to be in all the pictures you can look back on years later. Wedding dresses can be remarkably expensive, though, so fortunately, you have more options than buying one that costs $5,000 because that’s what TV tells you to do. So now the question is: do you rent, or do you buy?

The benefits of renting

Renting your wedding dress definitely has some great financial perks. Some dresses cost $500, and others cost thousands, but there are retailers who will rent you the dress for a fraction of its price. This way, you wear the dress on the day, look fabulous in all of your pictures, and then give it back.

You don’t even need to rent from a store near you. Companies like Borrowing Magnolia will ship you your dress, and then you return it by mail (and shipping is included!). Some people hold on to their dresses as mementos, but if you’re willing to part with it because you never plan on wearing it again, do you need to keep it?

Debt is not a fun thing to be in. Creditrepair.com makes a great point: “Amassing a large amount of debt isn’t a great way to start a marriage. Money is one of the most common subjects of marital arguments—so why start your marriage on the wrong foot?” You don’t want to rack up so much credit card debt that you end up actually regretting how you planned your wedding. It should be as stress-free a day as possible (though if you do accumulate a substantial amount of debt, a balance transfer may be a suitable course of action)!

The business is booming

You certainly don’t need to feel guilty about renting your wedding dress. It has one purpose, and you’re definitely not alone. According to the New York Post, a business named One Night Affair located in Los Angeles rents around 1,500 dresses by appointment only. One bride rented a $7,000 strapless lace gown for under $1,000 with them.

Renting also opens the option of getting a high-end designer dress for the same price as buying a low-end one. Meg Keene, author of A Practical Wedding, says, “It just makes more sense to me to pay $400 and get a dress that’s unique and a total knockout than to spend the same amount and get not-even-the-best that David’s Bridal has to offer.”

If you still desire to buy, sites like Azazie are a good way to go. You also have your bridesmaids to think about too, and Azazie caters to them well.

Not just dresses

Many tux or suit-wearers rent their outfits, too. TheSimpleDollar.com notes, “It’s often useful to rent the tuxedos as a group through the same business, as you’ll often get a group rate.” This route makes sure that whoever is not wearing a dress in your relationship isn’t left with an outfit they won’t have further use for, either.

The cons of renting

If you chose to rent from an online source, trying on different dresses will be more challenging. Many let you try more than one at a time, of course, so the likelihood of not being satisfied with anything your order is slim. However, it’s still something to be wary of.

The other cons of renting a dress tend to be more emotional. Some brides like to hold on to their dresses for forever, maybe even keeping them in the family. If you want to retain your dress for sentimental reasons, renting is not the way to go.

Also keep these questions in mind, as suggested by InspiredByThis.com: Is your gown cleaned in advance, or will you have to do it yourself? Will you need to have it professionally pressed? What are the return deadlines? 

Middle ground: resale

If you’re not quite comfortable with either renting or buying, resale is a third option. Companies like Preowned Wedding Dresses enable you to buy dresses someone else has worn for a cheaper price than its original value. And if you desire to keep it, you absolutely can.

You can also sell your own wedding dress through them. If you wish to keep a dress for longer than renting will allow you, you can buy it outright, and then sell it when you’re ready (this is also a good way to reimburse yourself eventually if you pay full price for a gown). Wedding dresses are works of art in themselves, and sometimes it’s good to let them be loved and used by someone else.

Do you plan on renting, buying, or re-selling your wedding dress? Whichever option you choose, say so in the comments along with the reasons why!