What are you doing with your wedding dress?

[Rainbow Brite]

Now that the wedding is over, I'm debating what to do with my wedding dress. I'd planned to just keep it out so that I could put it on every anniversary (teehee, yes I'm silly)...but it takes up a LOT of room in my closet and we need all the closet space we can get. I need to have it dry cleaned, cause the areas where my deodorant got on it are turning yellow - but after that should I just have it boxed up do you think? I don't think I could stand to sell it or give it away :(

[neebelung]

I'll either end up doing a trash the dress shoot, or Ebaying it. I'm a mushy, sentimental romantic, but I don't see that I'd ever really put it back on again, other than just for a moment to see if it still fit or something.

For now, get it cleaned and box it up. Hang on to it for a while, and maybe 6 months or a year from now, you'll decide you don't want to hang onto it any longer. Don't rush yourself into deciding NOW, however; you don't want to make a snap decision you might regret later on.

[RosieAngel]

I'm planning on donating mine to Brides Against Breast Cancer when/if I can bring myself to part with it.

http://bridesagainstbreastcancer.org/

[Nekochanpurr]

I might keep it for if i have a daughter..

[RosieAngel]

I might keep it for if i have a daughter..

I was thinking the same thing. But if I have a son, or my daughter is tall, or she thinks the dress is tacky because strapless won't be popular by then...

[Nekochanpurr]

Then salvation army it goes!! Haha.

[Deanna2112001]

Now that the wedding is over, I'm debating what to do with my wedding dress. I'd planned to just keep it out so that I could put it on every anniversary (teehee, yes I'm silly)...but it takes up a LOT of room in my closet and we need all the closet space we can get. I need to have it dry cleaned, cause the areas where my deodorant got on it are turning yellow - but after that should I just have it boxed up do you think? I don't think I could stand to sell it or give it away :(

I have already told my photog that I want to do a trash the dress. He is just as excited as I am.

[NowAShelton]

i saw in a magazine article a lady used the lace of her dress to decorate her first born's baby blanket or cradle or something like that. i think that would be really cool, but i dont know if i could deconstruct it...i would be really sad

[NOTKT]

I think I'm going to keep it. My best friend and I are going to visit a grocery store and shop one day. :)

[Deanna2112001]

i saw in a magazine article a lady used the lace of her dress to decorate her first born's baby blanket or cradle or something like that. i think that would be really cool, but i dont know if i could deconstruct it...i would be really sad

Well to me its not about the wedding Dress. Its not even about the flowers, that I am so anal about. Its not about the cake, not to mention all the DIY I am doing. Its just a dress. That just so happens to make me look very pretty.. lol.. I do feel that part of me will be sad. But look what I get to keep. ( my Husband)

I hope to fill my wedding dress memories with loving memories as a husband and wife.

[Whitewater]

The first time around I kept my dress, intending it to be a heirloom, since (even at cost, and with my seamstress throwing in half her labor as my wedding present) it cost about $1200, and I knew there would be SOMEBODY down the line who would want to get married in it.

When I learned that my mother hadn't fulfilled her contractural obligation to my seamstress, I gave her the dress back. It was the least I could do.

My seamstress displayed it for a while as an example of her craft -- nothing beats good advertising! -- and then sold it to another bride.

This time around, since my dress won't look like *just* a wedding dress (it's an Edwardian replica, in gold silk with a white silk underskirt etc) and will look more like a really extra-fancy Edwardian ball gown, I will be wearing this dress to various Edwardian re-enactments and costume balls. There's a re-enactment ball every winter here in town, and finally I'll have a fabulous dress!

I've planned to wear this dress more than once -- I'll be paying somewhere around $1000 again, but this time I intend to see that I get a dress that I can use for more than one day. Part of the beauty of making your own gown! You can wear it again -- over and over.

(Most of my re-enactment clothes are now a good decade old and still look practically new, because I only wear them on weekends in the summertime. I expect that I'll be able to wear this gold silk gown for the rest of my re-enactment life!)


Whitewater

[Tadswife]

I have been married a little over two years and it is still in my closet in my white bag...hmmmm I was thinking of using it for our vow renewal in a couple of years... not quite sure what I want to do with it..haha

[RosieAngel]

I think I'm going to keep it. My best friend and I are going to visit a grocery store and shop one day. :)

That sounds like so much fun! :D

[Marissa]

If you're planning to give your dress away, do a trash the dress photo shoot first! I did one with our photographer a few months after the wedding and I love those pictures as much as the original wedding pictures. If you don't have the available funds to pay a photographer for another shoot, I'm sure there are plenty of newbies around that are looking for willing models to shoot.