Melania Trump did it. So did rock star Avril Lavigne, with designs by Vera Wang.

Now, some regular women are following suit, deciding that one dress isn't enough for their wedding day. They want princess-like ball gowns as well as sexier sheaths for the party that they can dance in.

For her wedding in Palm Beach, Fla., Kathy Reilly wore a sweet, flowing gown for an afternoon ceremony and a sleek number for the party that evening.

"It's an overwhelming choice to try to narrow it down to one," said Reilly, 43, a consultant to luxury brands who lives in Manhattan.

On the other hand, "It's certainly a big deal to purchase two dresses and get them altered and pressed. It's a big economic consideration."

Still, brides say they like the idea of a second dress for comfort, to display another side of their personality and, of course, for show.

Some brides want to wear vintage gowns worn by their mothers or grandmothers, then emerge in their own dress later. Others seek to blend different cultures, changing from a traditional white gown into, say, Chinese or Indian bridal attire.

Mark Ingram, who runs the Bridal Atelier in New York, said he began noticing women buying a second wedding dress about two and a half years ago.

He said the first dress may conform to a parent's or fiancé's wishes.

"The second dress is more of a statement of who they are, as a young independent woman getting married."

For her ceremony, Stacy Deemar stepped into the same gown that her grandmother, mother and sister wore at their weddings. Then she changed into a more bubbly dress later. She even explained the reason for the change in the program for her 2002 wedding in Chicago.

"People thought I was nuts, but it was important to me," said Deemar, 36, a drama teacher and actress.

"I didn't want to ruin it dancing and having dirt scrape on the bottom," she said of the heirloom dress, a hoop-skirt satin with freshwater pearls and 6-foot train that had faded from white to ivory but otherwise held up since her grandmother first wore it in 1941. Her grandmother paid $66.75 for it, which included $5 for alterations.

For Swati Bose, 32, the challenge was including her Indian culture and her husband's Afghan one in their wedding in New York.

She donned a red sari for the ceremony and switched into a white dress with mermaid black lace for the reception. He changed too, from a traditional Afghan embroidered long shirt and pants into a tuxedo.

"Since it's an inter-religious, intercultural and interracial wedding, we wanted to find ways to incorporate both of our cultures," said Bose, a law student.

Even two dresses weren't enough for Jane Chew at her 1998 wedding in New York. In Chinese culture, she said, the more times a bride changes, the wealthier it shows she is. But she had other reasons.

"I wanted to wear a white wedding gown just because I was born and raised in the States," said the dermatologist, 39, who practices in Columbia, Md. "The Chinese dress is a nod to my strong Chinese heritage. It wouldn't have felt like a wedding without it."

Her three changes also displayed her thrift. She began the night in a Vera Wang ball gown, found at a sample sale for $1,500.

"It was very simple, no lace, no stones, with a princess bodice," Chew said.

A few courses into the Chinese banquet, she changed into the red Chinese silk with a mandarin collar and prints of dragons. The $250 dress was made for her in Chinatown.

After the cake was cut, Chew emerged in a red taffeta strapless dress with matching red shawl.

"I found the dress for 100 bucks at Saks, so I thought it was a good deal."