My Friend Spent $4,000 on a Wedding Dress and Is Still Paying for It 3 Years Later

My friend Maggie likes to joke that she got married in the nick of time. And no, it's not because she was secretly pregnant. Rather, she and her husband tied the knot in early 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Many people told them it wasn't a good idea to have a wintertime wedding, but clearly, they somehow knew better.

Now, there were certain aspects of her wedding that Maggie was very relaxed about. She didn't care about having the fanciest venue and hired a DJ to save on the cost of a band. She also had a friend videotape her big day to save money on a videographer. She even made her own centerpieces, knowing that she and her husband would largely be footing the bill for their wedding with minimal help from their parents. 

But one thing Maggie wasn't willing to compromise on was her dress. She wanted to find the perfect one, and once she did, she decided money wasn't going to be an issue. 

In the end, she found a dress she loved -- with a $4,000 price tag. And while she insisted it was worth the money back then, she's since changed her tune.

A $4,000 wedding mistake

Buying a wedding dress isn't the same thing as buying a cocktail dress. You're going to spend considerably more, even if you try your best to keep your costs down. 

The average cost of a wedding dress in 2022 was $1,900, according to The Knot. So while my friend did pay about double for hers, it's not like she spent $4,000 on a purchase that would normally cost $300.

Still, buying that wedding dress is a move Maggie regrets to this day. And the reason is that she's still paying for it. 

Maggie charged her wedding dress, among other expenses related to her big day, on a credit card -- because she felt she had no other choice. Three years later, she's still carrying that balance. And while she's not sure exactly how much interest she'd paid on that dress over time (namely because she's added to that balance in different ways), she knows it's a lot of money. 

Not only has that $4,000 wedding dress cost Maggie a bunch in credit card interest, but it's also prevented her from meeting certain goals. She and her husband, for example, won't attempt to buy a house until they're free of their credit card debt. That's a smart move. But since they still have that lingering balance, clearly, homeownership is not yet in the cards. 

A lesson learned the hard way

Maggie admits that if she could go back in time, she'd choose a more budget-friendly dress for her wedding. But at the time, she felt that since she was compromising and being frugal in so many other ways, she deserved this one splurge.

As her friend, I've told her time and time again not to beat herself up. I'm also working with her to try to help her budget more carefully this year so she can eliminate that credit card balance and move on.

A wedding is a huge milestone. And it's unfortunate that not everyone gets help paying for one. But Maggie's advice to anyone in a similar situation is to remember that it's not worth taking on tons of debt for a single day. And she's also asked me to send this message to other budget-constrained brides: "No matter what dress you end up with, you're going to get loads of compliments."