Re: Symbolism of the red dress
no, but i think if you were to remarry, you wouldnt wear white a second time, just like you wouldnt wear red again either if you wore it to your first wedding if you were pakistani. so i think he meant, its worth it to spend that money because its a once-in-a-lifetime purchase for a once-in-a-lifetime event.
as for the monetary thing, well we spend enough on our wedding dresses and how do we pay for them? with savings usually, no? so white people save up for their wedding dresses too so that they can have the dress of their dreams. and if you budget for it from the start, and you know you won’t wear it again, then its ok cos you know what you’re getting into. and you can always give your wedding dress to a charity if you wish so someone else can have her dream day in something that maybe she couldnt afford otherwise. these days, you can also rent a wedding dress if you cant afford to, or dont want to, spend 1000’s of dollars on a dress.
plus with the monetary thing, if what you say is true about lower/middle class people not being able to afford to make a pricey dress and only wear it once, then a) why make such a pricey dress, and b) if people were truly so budget conscious, shouldnt it reflect in other aspects of the wedding too? we still have huge 400 people parties with tons of food going to waste at the end, we give lots of jewellery to our brides (whether they wear it or not is another story), theres lots of jaheyz given etc… those things can be considered wasteful too but they’re not. if you’re gonna play the budget card, it has to be played across the board, not just with your dress. especially considering the value of the dress is what, 5% of your total budget? less? you wearing it multiple times isn’t really gonna affect the overall expenditure on the wedding.