Where’s Your Wedding Dress Now?

So, I've been wondering about this and did some research! Here are some options if you're not keen on just keeping it in a box:

* shorten it and wear it as an anniversary dress. You could also dye it and wear it as a cocktail dress

* Perserve it in a shadow box and put it on display - like this:

(intense, right?)

* have it made into a cushion, handbag or other accessory:

* make a piece of it into a christening gown for a baby (assuming you want a baby, and are Christian! Naming gown or whatever would work for this one too).

* keep just a portion of it to give to a son or daughter to wrap around their bouquet, have sewn into their dress or suit, etc

* have a wreck the dress session where you cover it in dye, go in the sea, etc

* donate it to an organisation that supports low-income couples

* sell it

I am using my moms wedding dress to make our ring bearers pillow and flower girls basket then I plan on putting a dark purple (one of our colors) on the cake table with her train draped over top of the purple as the table cloth.

View Quoted Comment Ok ok! I love the repurpose ans shadownbox. Which did you do?

View Quoted Comment Now that’s very unique!

View Quoted Comment I’m not married until the end of Feb so I’m still deciding, but I think having it as an anniversary dress could be super cute! I could cut it to a midi or knee length maybe!

View Quoted Comment Sadly my mom was absolutely tiny when she got married (like barely 100 pounds wish I had inherited her metabolism!!) So theres no chance of me or my sisters (both already married) so I wanted to make sure I used it in some way.

View Quoted Comment This is the vest advice. I truly want to keep it but didn’t know how.

View Quoted Comment So what did you do?

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Aww, that's a really sweet idea!

My mum was 15 years younger than I will be when I get married and probably 10kg lighter too, so I wouldn't have fit into her dress either, but she actually rented hers, so there's nothing to borrow! Shoes too, which I think is such a cool idea! Her dress is nothing like what I've chosen, and as beautiful as it looked on her, I don't think I would have wanted to wear it. My mum got married in the late 60s in a very Mod style, full-length shift dress, whereas I am bigger of bust and smaller of waist and need a lot more shaping than that - if she'd been married in the 1950's in a more boofy skirt, then I totally would have considered it!

View Quoted Comment That is awesome that your mom rented hers. Since I am the last one to get married my mom said if I wasnt going to use her dress that she was going to give it to good will. I asked her if she was ok with me cutting it up and making it into the different pieces and she said she was so at least it gets used. Honestly I am most excited about the cake table idea I cant wait to see her beautiful train draped over a darker fabric.

Mine is back in its David's Bridal garment bag in the back of my bedroom closet. I know it's going to need cleaned at some point because I saw some dirt on the bottom of the layers.

I kept mine in the bag. i did rewear it another time after for the wedding dress challenge haha if you never heard of it, it's basically where you randomly wear it and surprise your husband with it while recording his reaction to see how he reacts

I'm still undecided what to do with it, so I got it preserved for the time being. I've heard stories about dresses molding in bags over time, and be careful with "trash the dress" sessions in bodies of water as a woman in Canada actually drowned doing it from the weight of the waterlogged dress dragging her down.


If I want to make it into something, or daughter or daughter in law wants to wear it, or if my future grandchildren find in my attic 70 years from now, at least it's clean and preserved and can be worn/made into something down the line.
That being said, the post above about turning it into a cocktail dress is absolutely perfect and I love that idea!

View Quoted Comment I love the cocktail dress and shadow box ideas!
Repurpose instead of collecting dust in a box.
Genius.

I may actually give mine to my children (if my deities let me have kids). If not, I will dye it and reuse it as a fancy party dress

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GIRL!!! You having some gooooood ideas!!!! I love the idea to make it into another dress and wear it to the first anniversary date night.

Mine is currently tucked neatly into my closet. My daughter actually said she wants me to save it for her so that's what I'm doing. It's been re-worn already by my cousin on her wedding day that my husband officiated. So I think it may be one of those lucky dresses that get to be passed down

My dresses are in their garment bags in our closet lol. I need to take them to get dry cleaned, but I plan on saving them.

Mine was in a garment bag in a closet in my home office (a spare bedroom) until last weekend when my mom was nice enough to pick it up and take it to be cleaned (the salon I bought from offers this and is near her house, but an hour from where I live). It'll probably go back in the same closet when I get it back. I'm not planning on preserving it for now bc I still might want to do a photo shoot in it down the road and don't want to deal with pulling it out of a box - my hair fell really flat on our wedding day due to taking too many photos outside, so I'm still considering if I want any "redos."

Mine is hanging in my closet in a fabric garment bag. It's a Victorian design, so there's not a lot of potential to repurpose it to an anniversary dress or anything. But I also work in theatrical costuming. So, maybe it will end up in a production of The Phantom of the Opera or something someday. I'm also holding out hope that I might have a future daughter with interest in historical fashion like me or perhaps an interest in altering my dress into something that suits her tastes.