FASHION : Some Wedding Gowns Travel Down Aisle More Than Once : Many brides are now married in rented outfits, while others sell the gowns they once would have made keepsakes.

In this non-traditional age, we look to weddings for rituals we can still count on. It’s reassuring to know that troths are still plighted, cake-feeding techniques are still cheered; getaway cars are rudely marked, wedding gowns are folded away in blue paper forever.

Or, they are recycled.

Yes, recycled. It’s happening right here in Ventura County. It starts with “R”’ and that rhymes with far, and it seems far-fetched. But women, we have learned, are renting their wedding dresses--or are buying gowns that have already been down the aisle. And they’re passing them on. The gowns and the trend.

What happened? Only grooms are supposed to get an outfit for the day and walk away from it--like yesterday’s newspaper--un-bonded. Brides treasure things. They press bouquets until they look like something at the bottom of a cereal box, and freeze bits of wedding cake for their silver anniversaries.

Maybe not. Maybe wedding gowns are like spotted owls: You can’t save them all.

“You are just going to wear it once, and you’re going to shove it in the closet,” said Deborah Holguin of Oak View at the thought of investing in a new gown.

For her wedding this past September, Holguin rented a gown from Heart to Heart Bridal in Ventura. She had called “a bunch of shops” to find the service.

“I saved my bouquet and my garter,” said the bride, who considers herself a traditionalist in spite of her untypical bridal wardrobe.

“I had a long train, lace, puff sleeves and sequins all over it,” she said, “A lot of people thought I’d bought it. They were surprised to see that kind of gown rented out.”

Gloria Kordel, owner of Heart to Heart, has been in bridal sales for 35 years. She began the new service last winter after searching her soul.

“I thought, ‘What do I want to hassle with this for?’ But I had so many calls. I had calls every day . . . “ she said, her voice trailing off.

“I thought with the recession and the fact that girls would like to have a nicer gown--$700 for a gown today is a medium price. They can rent that gown for $200 or $250.”

In a few short months, Kordel’s business has gone from straight sales to half rentals. She has several dozen designer gowns available, and plans to get more.

Yet there is still lots of attention paid to details. Alterations. “Back to back” weddings for the same gown on subsequent weekends. (Brides are charged $50 a day for keeping dresses overtime.) Stain identification--champagne spots must be treated differently than blobs of oyster sauce. So far, client cooperation has been great.

“The girls take the rentals as serious as buying a dress,” she said.

Even large, formal weddings might include a rented gown, said Shari Schultz of New Directions Event Planning in Simi Valley, a firm that arranges about 30 weddings a year.

“It is definitely being done over the last couple of years; people have turned to that to help with their budgets,” she said.

There is also a practicality factor.

“In the past, people would get married and keep their gown for their daughter’s wedding. But, daughters are different sizes . . . styles change; some people have sons,” Schultz said.

Less practical brides who want to keep their gowns but save on expenses, have found another solution: “previously loved” gowns.

The term was coined by Diana Lunde, owner of Fancy Things Boutique in Ventura. Until six years ago, she had a new-merchandise-only mind-set. But she started thinking about several brides whose finances made it hard to put together a wedding.

“I put a little ad in the (classifieds): ‘Wanted: wedding gowns to sell,’ ” she said. “I was inundated. I was mobbed. I had five people a day coming in bringing me their wedding gowns. I had to move to a new location.”

One-third of her gowns and bridesmaid dresses are now “previously loved” merchandise, with very basic gowns starting at $75.

Maybe 5% to 10% of her customers are shocked to be offered recycled dresses, the owner said, but, “most are delighted to get more dress for their money.”

“Girls are always going to get married, but they are spending less and less on the wedding,” Lunde said. “And the time of Daddy paying for it is long gone. Most of (these couples) have already been living together for two years.”

A few of the brides consign their dresses back to the shop after the wedding, she said. They’re satisfied to have owned them for a while.

So, it’s a sign of the times.

Not that romantics are an endangered species. They’re just as sentimental as ever. And they have the video of the whole scene to prove it. It’s compact and it’s got its own soundtrack.

It’s an heirloom for the ‘90s.