"Used Wedding Dresses Around 100,000 Won Also OK" Open Run by US Brides-to-Be

American brides are rejecting expensive wedding dresses and even lining up at secondhand wedding dress stores at dawn to cut costs starting from their once-in-a-lifetime weddings. As this "frugal wedding" culture spreads in the U.S., David's Bridal, the country's largest wedding dress chain, laid off more than 9,000 employees last month and filed for bankruptcy.

On the 30th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the number of brides refusing multi-thousand-dollar wedding dresses is increasing, citing the case of Simone Biles (26), the "Olympic four-time gold medalist gymnast," who got married on the 22nd of last month. According to WSJ, Biles purchased her wedding dress online, and the price was $119 (about 160,000 KRW).

American brides are rejecting expensive wedding dresses and even lining up at dawn for "open runs" at secondhand wedding dress shops to cut costs for their once-in-a-lifetime weddings. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Pixabay]

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Not only Biles but also prospective brides across the U.S. are generally reducing wedding-related expenses. In March, hundreds lined up from 6 a.m. at a secondhand store "Goodwill" in Charlotte, North Carolina, to buy used wedding dresses priced between $99 and $499 (about 133,000 to 669,000 KRW) at a wedding goods sale event.

Goodwill's sales from the used wedding dress event reportedly increased by $20,000 (26.82 million KRW) compared to the 2019 event. Similarly, the event dress sales of "ThredUp," a secondhand goods seller, rose by 23% compared to four years ago, and "Poshmark" reported that sales in the wedding category increased by 35% compared to last year.

Amid this spreading "frugal wedding" social trend, James Marcum, CEO of David's Bridal, wrote in the bankruptcy filing submitted to the court on the 16th of last month that "an increasing number of brides are choosing secondhand wedding dresses."

This appears to be influenced by growing concerns about an economic recession in American society, leading to an overall reduction in wedding expenditures, as well as the increase in single-person households. There is a clear tendency to choose unique dresses over expensive, extravagant ones and to allocate more budget to honeymoons.

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