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Original poster

What did you do with your wedding dress?

99 replies

EggyPegg · 27/01/2021 17:13

Our loft conversion work starts in a couple of weeks. Currently my dress is hung up in a wardrobe in the loft, but that's being dismantled.

I don't know what to do with it. I love it and felt amazing in it, but realistically I'll never wear it again. I got married 12 years ago, so I'm open to parting with it for a good cause. To make christening gowns maybe?

What did you do with yours?

OP posts:

thesugarbumfairy · 27/01/2021 19:56

Mines in the wardrobe. It only cost me 50 quid on ebay, but I loved it very much. Its probably gone mouldy or something as I haven't checked it for 16 years!
I have put on 5 stone since it was worn, but I don't really want to get rid. One day I will fit into it and laze around the house in it :)

Whatdoyoudowhendemocracyfails · 27/01/2021 20:05

Gave it to a charity shop after I got divorced.

KarensNotMyName · 27/01/2021 22:09

Sold it on the StillWhite website the week after we were married and paid for our honeymoon!

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Kottbullar · 27/01/2021 22:25

It's in the loft. I wanted to get rid of it but DH was horrified, he bought a special box to keep it in.
I loved wearing it but I don't see the point in keeping it at all.

StephanieSavetowin · 12/03/2021 14:08

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Wormwoodgal · 12/03/2021 15:25

I bought mine for £25 from Oxfam over 30 years ago and gave it back to Oxfam after the wedding. The marriage is still going strong!

DialsMavis · 12/03/2021 15:30

I gave mine to a charity shop, I hope someone else had a lovely day in it too

StandardPoodle · 12/03/2021 17:33

Mine is still in the wardrobe in our bedroom, though it wasn't a formal wedding dress, but rather a cream knee length dress bought in the sales.
I've worn it since and think it would still fit.

CounsellorTroi · 12/03/2021 17:49

I still have mine, I got married in 1990. It's too recent to be vintage but not remotely fashionable now. Bit of a meringue.

CounsellorTroi · 12/03/2021 17:50

And not a cat in hell's chance of it still fitting me!

Sparklingbrook · 12/03/2021 17:54

Sold it 3 months after the wedding for more than I paid for it. Got the photos of me in it so no need to keep it.

DoverSoul · 12/03/2021 18:01

I wasn't allowed to get rid of things, even things that were mine from years before I met my husband. I took great delight in my wedding dress being the first thing I got rid of when he left to go and live with the OW. I took it to the charity shop in the place they live and said it would look good in the window

sanityisamyth · 12/03/2021 18:02

I took mine into the school where I worked as they were doing a wedding dress fashion show type thing. I don't think I collected it again ... 🤷‍♀️

HelebethH · 12/03/2021 18:06

EggyPegg.
I know of 2 UK charities that use donated wedding dresses to make
Outfits for Stillborn babies. They are caĺled Angel Gowns and Cherished Gowns. I think there may be others.
Pl21

HelebethH · 12/03/2021 18:16

EggyPegg there is a wedding dress shop in Exeter called LaBoutique one of a kind wedding dress shop who sell donated wedding dresses. It is staffed and run by volunteers and all profits go to
The Wedding Wishing Well Foundation which organised and funds wedding for people with a terminal illness before it's to late.

AdventureIsWaiting · 12/03/2021 18:19

Gave it to a charity shop. It was £36 in the sale, so I wasn't worried about getting anything back for it.

BunnyandBee · 12/03/2021 18:37

Local theatre group here too. Bittersweet to see it gone, but as I am now divorced I didn't want to keep if for the DC or anything like that.
I approached a few of the charities but they seemed to have a waiting list to donate

DarlingWithoutYou · 12/03/2021 19:23

Honestly couldn't wait to get rid of mine as it cut my armpits and caused me a lot of stress on the day! (Happily married though).

I cut the top layer of glittery fabric off (didn't affect the dress) and sent it off to cherished gowns, who make gowns for babies who have died.

Sometimes I feel a bit wobbly about my decision since it was £1,500... but glad it went to a good cause.

happymummy12345 · 12/03/2021 19:55

After the wedding I knew I wanted to keep both, and that they would never be worn again. I couldn't ever get rid of them or do anything else with them. I didn’t bother with getting them cleaned as I didn’t feel the need. Both stayed very clean as the photographer had a large white plastic sheet for me to stand on for the photos. And I would never want it folded in a box, I feel that would ruin it.
Both the dress and veil are in the dress bag the dress came in from the bridal boutique I got them in, no acid proof paper or anything else, just the bag. Both are laid flat under my childhood bed at my dads house. (It’s a divan bed with full slide storage. You open it, slide the dress bag in completely flat and that’s it. Both are still as good as new.

AnneLovesGilbert · 12/03/2021 19:58

First one I gave my mum who took it to a charity shop when I left him.

Second one is hanging in my wardrobe. I love it and I’ve worn it a few times since. It’s bridesmaid style rather than a huge gown, it’s gorgeous.

Original poster

EggyPegg · 12/03/2021 20:00

I think I'm going to donate it to the charity shop. I don't think it'll be much good for gowns having looked at it again because the skirt is covered in tiny little beads and sparkly bits as is the very structured bodice.

It's very much a princess dress (not what I imagined myself wearing at all) so hopefully someone else will get some joy from it.

It is grubby though, will the charity shop wash it?

OP posts:

hazandduck · 12/03/2021 20:03

This thread has just reminded me...I got married in my parents’ garden and I literally stepped out of it on my wedding night (we stayed at their house that night) left it in the spare room and haven’t thought about it since. Whoops! My wedding will be 4 years ago this August. I was 7 months pregnant at my wedding and it was a massive extravagant dress I had made by a friend...I’m tempted to try it on now as I am actually much smaller than I was when I got married! It ended up really stained and ripped as it dragged on the ground behind me...think blackberries and brambles and all sorts 😄

Not sure if anyone has said but Cherished Gowns is the company I’ve heard of that make tiny dresses for babies born sleeping, they have a page on Instagram and they make beautiful thoughtful pieces from donated wedding gowns.

Dancingalong · 12/03/2021 20:04

My friend turned mine into a gorgeous christening gown for my daughter. We will keep it for the children to use for their children if they wish.

Onwardsandupwardswego · 12/03/2021 20:04

The day I left out it on the bed

hazandduck · 12/03/2021 20:07

@Dancingalong that’s a sweet idea. I’m tempted to do something similar, make dresses from the fabric of mine as I now have two daughters.

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