Eco weddings – Post 2: Buy a pre-loved wedding dress

With weddings seeming to cost more and more it's a great, eco-friendly idea to buy a secondhand wedding dress. You're probably going to only wear it once so spending less on your dress can mean more money for the honeymoon! And if you buy from a charity shop, you'll be helping them too as well as having a greener wedding.

Buy from a charity shop

Oxfam's Online Shop has a fantastic range of second-hand wedding dresses and one-off pieces for the groom, best man, bridesmaids, ushers and pageboys. Many dresses are donated by designers, so you can buy a wonderful dress at a discounted price, while helping to support Oxfam's wonderful work.

Oxfam also has eleven bridal departments across the UK if you prefer to try before you buy. These departments offer specialist advice and are located at:

• Bradford
• Cambridge
• Chippenham
• Coventry
• Glasgow, Clarkston
• Heswall
• Leatherhead
• Leciester
• Poole
• Shirley, Southampton
• York

Other places to buy secondhand wedding dresses

• Preloved has a range of wedding and bridalwear at bargain prices so there's something to suit every budget
• eBay

More wedding posts

• Handmade button bouquets make a unique alternative to wedding flowers

• Eco-friendly wedding stationery

• Recycle old jewellery and receive a gift voucher

• Who thought vintage haberdashery could look so beautiful?

Photo: Avivi