Wedding Dress Rental: The 21st Century Bride
For some, their wedding day is the most significant and memorable day in their life. Little girls (and boys) dream about this day all their childhood and adolescent life and create a fantasy wedding either in their head or in a scrapbook. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford their dream wedding: some wedding fantasies need to be tweaked and adjusted for a smaller budget. A great and easy way to save is by renting your wedding dress. Honestly, this symbol of “purity and womanhood” is old-fashioned and outdated. Not to mention that your dress will probably never see the light of day again after the wedding. Find out why a wedding dress rental is the key to a blissful and worry-free (ok, less) wedding!
You save money
Do you really feel like accumulating tons of debt because of a wedding dress? You might think a 10 thousand dollar dress is worth it when you’re in the store with the saleswoman cooing at your angelic beauty but once you get home and the magic (and champagne buzz) is gone, you’ll realize going on vacation or renovating your bathroom sounds much nicer than spending that much on a dress you will wear for about 7 hours. If you were set on purchasing a designer dress for your big day, know that it is possible to rent one without the huge bill. Renting a dress is not a taboo thing women are embarrassed of doing anymore. We know your wedding is special and you want to look and feel good in what you’re wearing but this doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune to feel this way.
You don’t need to preserve or store the dress
If you buy a dress, after the big party you’ll most probably need to dry clean it since an open bar + big, poofy white dress = a disaster waiting to happen. Dry cleaning a wedding dress can be quite expensive and you don’t want to spend another hundred dollars after you’ve already spent too much on everything else. Since most dress rental places clean the dress for you, you have one less thing to worry about. However, this doesn’t mean you can arrange for your dress to look like a Pollock painting when bringing it back since you could find yourself paying a large fee.
After you’ve dry cleaned it, you also need to think of how you will preserve and store it. Wedding dresses take up space and you can’t just fold them and stuff them in a drawer. You don’t want the delicate fabric to deteriorate or get damaged. An airtight seal, where all the oxygen is sucked out and replaced with nitrogen, is the only way to keep that dress looking white and exactly like the day you bought it. Preserving your dress properly can cost you up to $750. Yikes.
The options are limitless
As mentioned before, renting a dress is not like what it used to be. More and more women choose to do this so this means there are plenty of shops to find THE perfect dress. Designer, prêt-à-porter, vintage, the options are limitless! Just because you’re renting doesn’t mean you won’t find new and off the runway models. If you don’t know where to start, here are a few websites to peruse.
You are helping the environment (Hey! You’ve got to start somewhere!)
Yes, renting a dress is much less expensive than buying one but it is also much more eco-friendly! You’ve heard of “Reduce, reuse, recycle”? You can now apply this great mantra for your wedding dress rental. There’s something quite wasteful, when you think about it, of buying an expensive dress just to wear it once and then leaving it in your closet forever. The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Do your part and buy less! Also, you do need something borrowed…
So, renting a wedding dress has never been easier. There are tons of international and local options for you to choose from that offer gorgeous and affordable dresses in many sizes. Whether you like something a little bit more bohemian, classic or chic, you’ll find the right dress to rent. Remember, you want your husband to be forever yours, not necessarily your wedding dress!
Cover photo: borrowingmagnolia/Instagram
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