My friend, Laura, the Organising Junkie, has a fantastic post up at her site about wedding dresses.
I left a comment, was number 86, came back 5 minutes later and the comments were already up to 99!
And just before I scheduled this for posting the comments were up to 125!!!
Clearly this is a hot topic.
Most people seem to feel that even if you do nothing with the dress, you should still keep it.
I read a lot of the comments and about 90% of the ladies still had their wedding dresses. If you don’t want to read all the comments, there are a few suggestions I really liked about what to do with your wedding dress if it’s 5 years past the time you got married (someone commented and said 5 years is about the longest time you could still sell your dress):
- make christening gowns for grandkids
- make ring pillows for use when your kids get married
- donate to organisations who make burial gowns for babies who die 🙁
- let your kids play dress-up in it and/ or have a photoshoot for your kids in your dress
- have a trash the dress shoot, assuming you can still fit into the dress (I can’t – I was super thin 18 years ago – weighed about 46 kg when I got married :))
Laura also asked 5 questions which I’m answering here instead of there.
Do you still have your wedding dress and how long have you had it?
I do have my wedding dress. It will be 18 years on 29th April 🙂
Where and how do you store it?
Mine isn’t stored in a particularly fancy way – it’s in a bag inside of a box at the top of my wardrobe.
Why are you keeping it?
I have no idea. I’m sure Kendra won’t want to wear it. Fashions change so quickly. I suppose the reason I’m keeping it is because my granny made it for me and she’s been dead for nearly 8 years so it’s very sentimental to me.
If you parted ways with your dress, what did you do with it?
If I do part with it, I’ll want to try and put it on and if I don’t look too ridiculous, maybe I could get some pics taken first. Otherwise, I’ll just take some pics of the dress like you see on the wedding photography blogs.
Have you ever regretted getting rid of it?
n/a
I still like the style – simple and elegant – and most of all, I love that I asked my granny on the phone to make my dress and said, “you know what I like” and she did. That, literally, was all the instruction she needed 🙂
Over to you…
Do you still have your wedding dress? Why or why not?
PS pics are scanned as we got married in the days before digital photography 🙂
Yes, I still have my wedding dress!!! I love it and can’t bear the thought of not having it (at least for now). Occasionally I still hang it up just to look at it 🙂
I’ve only taken mine out when we’ve moved houses and then it’s a brief look and back in the box 🙂
I still have my dress. I wanted my mom to make christening gowns but she doesnt want to cut the dress. I got married on the 30th of April.
I’ll remember you on your anniversary 🙂
wow, you look (were) so young!
I sitll have mine, but have no idea what I am going to do with it. Besides being the dress I got married in, it has no sentimental value. Maybe I should cut some of it up and stitch it into Little OL’s baby quilt. Actually I think that is exactly what I will do with it. I thought I needed to buy more white pieces to add to it anyway… Thanks
yes, very young… 20 🙂
I didn’t have one- I think I wore a sundress to the justice of the peace. We got married totally spur of the moment.
I did have a dress from my first wedding, it was also a quicky but we had a couple weeks to plan- I donated it to a thrift shop though when we divorced. It was just a cheap dress, nothing fancy or expensive anyway.
My mom cut up her wedding dress and made a christening gown for me.
Jayme, that’s perfect – exactly like you are! 🙂
I have my dress… I’ve had it about a month, and my wedding hasn’t happened yet 😉 I think that even though styles change and Kendra probably won’t want to wear it, it would be neat to use part of your dress in her wedding attire. If we had my mom or grandmother’s wedding dress I’d definitely try to use part of it. I know someone that couldn’t fit into her grandmother’s wedding dress, but as the only granddaughter her grandmother wanted her to have it. So she got a seamstress to make her a dress using most of her grandmother’s wedding dress and it was really beautiful.
oooh, all the best for the big day!
I love that that was all you had to say to your Granny! So wonderful!
I have my wedding dress still, and sometimes I use it in photo shoots as a backdrop…
Ronnie xo
I’ll have to go stalk your archives and have a look for those photo shoots 🙂
I always planned to alter my dress and create a short, cocktail dress, however, five years and three children later, I’m not sure there’s much chance I’ll fit in it (like you, I was tiny when I got married).
My mum still has her dress and although none of us girls used any of the material I know we loved getting it out and looking at it when we were younger and trying it on. Maybe my girls will like to do the same someday 🙂
You mentioned that someone recommended not to sell a dress after five years, why is that?
Really cool idea!
I still have my dress. I LOVED it. I do want to get rid of it though – it takes up space. I actually lent it to my one cousin who planned a last-minute wedding. She was going to get married in a hideous purple dress and I said “hell, no!”
It is on the to-do list – must say that even though I loved it, I don’t feel particularly sentimental about it. Lance says that I should hire it out and make some money off it. I think that is just WAY TOO MUCH work.
Yes definitely a hot topic for sure! You looked beautiful on your wedding day :). I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do with mine.
I still have mine, it’s in my husband’s closet because I gave him the walk in closet. I’m keeping it because I want to find a sewing project that I will love. It was one of the most important days of my life and I want to keep it until I find the best use for it. I’m an older adoptee, and stuff matters to me. I may not know what I looked like as a baby but at least I have my wedding dress.