After months, perhaps even years, of anticipation, your wedding day is over. The confetti has been swept up, the cake has been eaten and all of a sudden, you have so much spare time left, you almost wonder what you did before you became engaged. You’re married and looking forward to the future with your new spouse. It can’t be denied that for many of us our wedding dresses are a really big deal – a purchase in which we invest a great deal of emotion, as well as money. We have perhaps shopped with friends, Mums and family members, carefully chosen something we feel ‘represents’ us and often felt a lot of pressure to choose the perfect ‘one’.
Your wedding dress is likely to be an outfit that leads to you receiving more compliments than you ever have before – compliments that boost your confidence and make you feel your most beautiful. But what on earth do you do with it once your wedding day is over?
Unless you chose a dress which isn’t a traditional wedding frock then its unlikely you can, or would want to wear it again in its current form. Do you sell it? Donate it? Box it to collect dust in the attic? Re-model and re-wear it?
Lucie and Joe’s handmade 1940s vintage inspired wedding
Photography by Mark Tattersall
Do you follow the traditional route of using it to create a Christening gown for your children? What if you already have children? Or don’t plan to have any at all? What if you aren’t religious, or if the style of your dress simply doesn’t lend itself to that? What if you just can’t bear to see it cut up?
My own Mum’s gown ended up in the dressing up box, and was later made into an angel costume for a primary school nativity play. I played the Angel Gabriel. After that, I have no idea. I assume it was thrown away when it became too tatty to wear anymore.
A Beautiful Halfpenny London Gown
Photography by Barney Walters
A friend’s mum made hers into a summer dress, then a skirt, then a short skirt and finally, dolls clothes for her daughter. Other people I know have given their wedding dress away for others to wear, packed them away in wardrobes for daughters to potentially use and of course, there is a big second hand market for wedding dresses, so selling it is always an option.
Let’s explore the options shall we? This might be one of those features you’d like to bookmark for future reading…
Amy and Burt’s bohemian inspired magical woodland wedding
Photography by Emma Case
Keep it
Almost two years on from my wedding, my dress is sat on top of a wardrobe in our spare room, lovingly wrapped in acid-free tissue paper and placed in a very beautiful box from The Empty Box Company, who provide exactly as they say; beautiful and sturdy empty boxes for wedding dresses, ball dresses, hats, memories etc.
I adored my dress and like many, it was the most expensive item of clothing I have ever purchased, so it seemed only right to store it away and keep it safe in the most beautiful box I could find. What next though? I don’t have children yet, and even if I do have a daughter someday, who is to say she’ll even like it? For now, I’m keeping it because I love it, and I can’t imagine getting rid of it. There is certainly more than a touch of sentimentality about it for me. We’ve discussed this very topic before in fact in our ‘To have and to hold; Will you treasure your wedding dress forever?’ feature.
For me, it’s more to do with the fact that it is the most beautiful dress I have every owned, and I can’t quite believe I won’t have the chance to wear it again someday – even if that means just standing in front of the mirror and reminiscing. On the other hand it does make me sad that it is effectively a dress without a function; a dress which can’t be worn, and I often wonder what the other options are.
From this wedding on Love My Dress
Photography by Sara Reeve
Sell it
Many brides, including our blog founder herself, Annabel, go on to sell their dress after the big day. Some brides sell their gowns because they don’t like the idea of it sitting around the house doing nothing, others because they want to see it used again, and others because they bought it always knowing they would need to sell it to justify the cost.
Are you planning on selling your own wedding dress? How are you planning to do this if so? Will you be using EBay or perhaps one of the second hand dress companies?
From this amazing taxidermy wedding on Love My Dress
Photography by Kellie Wilson
Donate it
If you can’t bear for your dress to be sat in your house taking up space forever, or perhaps if you feel less sentimental about the gown now the wedding has been and gone, or feel strongly about giving and helping others out, then donating could be the ideal option. Charities such as Oxfam have some shops specifically dedicated to wedding dresses and are always thrilled with any donations. All income of course goes straight into the charity once it is sold.
The bride wore Belle & Bunty – see her wedding here
Photography by Christopher Currie
Remodel it
Obviously remodelling and re-wearing only works for certain styles of wedding dress, but it’s certainly an option. I suppose this is really just a different take on using your wedding dress for a christening or naming ceremony gown, but I’m thinking in terms of having the dress remodelled into something you could wear yourself, perhaps as an evening dress or ballgown.
A dip into the colour dye bucket and reduction in hem length could completely transform the gown into something up to date and easily wearable for a glam-night out? Satin or silk dresses take dye particularly well, but please do talk to a professional before experimenting!
A Florists wedding
Photography by Caro Weiss
For those of us with more voluminous skirts, perhaps your dress could be shortened to cocktail length, and some colour added? Or, if you have a train, then this could be removed, and the skirt shortened into a ballgown style? Necklines of course, can always be altered by a skilled seamstress, and straps added or removed, sleeves put in or taken out, and shapes and silhouettes altered completely. It’s certainly worth finding a skilled seamstress to talk it through.
From this wedding on Love My Dress
MiKi Photography
Whatever you chose to do please please think through it carefully. Unless you didn’t particularly love your dress (in which case, go out and buy something special that you love for your anniversary instead!) then you will likely have an emotional attachment of some kind to your wedding day outfit. For some people, its enough to keep the shoes and the photos and selling or giving away your frock isn’t an issue, but for others, the guilt of choosing an expensive dress and the idea of justifying the purchase by selling it and regaining some of the money is overwhelming, but leads to regrets…
I sold my wedding dress because at the time, we really needed the money. I’ve regretted it since though and do wish I’d have held on to the gown and kept it as a family heirloom – I have two daughters who would have loved it! And to be honest, I only sold it for a third of the value I paid for it in the first place, even after it had been professionally cleaned and tidied up to perfection. My wedding changed my career and life and so the dress holds even more significance to me now than it did back then. (Annabel Beeforth, Love My Dress)
Annabel on her wedding day. She wore a Jenny Packham gown.
Photography by Karen McGowran
There is no huge rush – give it a few months to think about it. Who knows, if you wait long enough, fashion might come full circle and your dress will have become a vintage classic!
Has anyone else done anything interesting with their wedding outfit? Do you plan on keeping yours safely tucked away in a beautiful box of your own, or tossing it into the dressing up box? Is charity calling for you or are you planning on remodelling the gown for other purposes? I’d really love to hear what you might have in mind. Please do share…
Love Shona x
