For a bridesmaid, the average cost of a wedding is $1,695. They’re no longer a two- or three-day affair. They have become year-long traveling circuses with an outrageous entrance fee (and God help you if you’re in more than one). From the moment you receive your customized DIY gift invitation to be in your best friend’s wedding, you start to calculate what this all going to run you—and it hurts.

It starts with the dress. Sure, most of us have had a dress we’ve worn once and never worn again. They were called prom dresses. The upside to a prom dress: we got to choose it. They fit us. They were the right color for our complexion and they accentuated the parts of our body we wanted.

A bridesmaid dress is a whole different monster. Minus fees for alterations and shipping, the average bridesmaid dress costs $150. Again, this is for a dress you will likely only wear once—unless, of course, a clever group of friends throws an ironic party celebrating the single life where the dress code is ~*~BRIDE$MA!D DRESS~*~. Good luck with that. Most likely you’ll end up donating it for thrifty hipsters to cut up into something “reclaimed.”