What to do with your wedding dress after the big day!

So, you spend the best part of two months’ salary (six in some cases) on THE dress. The one that will guarantee that you feel like a film star, model, princess, rock star; delete as appropriate.

The one that will have ALL eyes on you as you saunter gracefully down the aisle.

The one which will have your better half so in awe that they instantly forgive you and eliminate from memory all the grief and aggro you’ve bestowed upon them through the engagement period.

So the day comes and goes, the champagne has been drunk, presents opened, thank you notes sent, pictures cried over etc etc.  But the dress is still very much with you. What do you do then? We have some ideas and, for once, I can’t even claim credit for all of them!  These tips come to you straight from the horse’s mouth so to say.

1.    Redesign it
A friend, whom I shall not name, once said she plans to dye her wedding dress black and wear it to her husband’s funeral! She also said that she may shorten in and wear it as a cocktail dress. Radical you say! To be fair, either option is perfectly viable to me as when the dress is couture Vera Wang you want, actually NEED to get your money’s worth.  Just don’t waste it.

2.    Sell it
For those of you who are not sentimental about such things (and could do with the extra wardrobe space and cash) then selling your dress is a really good idea. Let’s be real, for half of us those dresses would never fit both thighs in now anyway so why not let some other beautiful bride benefit.

Great sites for selling second hand wedding dresses are;

Bride 2 Bride                             www.bride2bride.co.uk
Sill White                                   www.stillwhite.co.uk
Preloved                                     www.preloved.co.uk
Sell My Wedding Dress           www.sellmyweddingdress.co.uk

3.    Hand it down
Save your wedding dress for your own daughter to wear. This is ONLY if it’s a timeless classic. Not if you’ve opted for a baby pink feather and sequin ensemble which is befitting of only your personal and individual style……..

4.     Reuse it
Wear it every year on your anniversary, dance around and drink champagne. Only joking. But wearing it to a milestone anniversary celebration would be perfectly acceptable and rather sweet.

Whatever you decide to do, don’t do what I have which is to put the dress under the bed with promises to go and get it cleaned.  Have your dress professionally cleaned and keep it stored carefully until you decide what to do with it.

We’d love to hear what you did with your dress and better still we’d love to see some pics!