Women strive to look their best on their wedding days, but this doesn't mean they have to spend a lot of money. After all, why spend thousands of dollars on a dress you only wear for a few hours? Instead, many consider used wedding dresses. In most cases the seller will offer the dress at an extremely discounted price; you can always have it fitted later on.

A common misconception with used wedding dresses is that they were all previously worn on someone else's big day. However, many 'used' wedding dresses are merely preowned. This means they could have been sitting on a rack for months, they could be closeouts, or it may have been a gown that was occasionally tried on in-store. As such, 'used wedding dress' shouldn't be synonymous with 'dirty wedding dress.'

Used wedding dresses are wonderful if you're looking to save money, but also if you desire a unique vintage gown instead of a more contemporary design. Whichever type of gown you choose though, you'll certainly want to clean it before your wedding day. While you may be thinking this is yet another wedding-related expense, it doesn't have to be.

Cleaning a polyester (not silk!) wedding dress can be done easily with laundry detergent and water. One thing you must be cautious of is to use a front-loading washer instead of a top-loading model. If you don't own one, a local laundromat will likely have one. Using the cold wash/cold rinse cycle in combination with a stain remover (if necessary), your gown will come out looking like new. To dry, just hang from a high place with the train spread out, and your gown will soon be ready for your walk down the aisle.