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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to sell my wedding dress

50 replies

sundaybest · 24/01/2012 11:12

I got married in 2009 and had a lovely pronovias dress. I've been thinking about selling for a while but then had a dd this year and thought that maybe she would like to get married in it one day...
So this is really wwyd. I'm so in two minds about it. But it takes up a lot of space. Also not sure how much I could get for it if I sold it.
Anyone with the same dilema?

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 24/01/2012 11:14

I'll be honest, I don't know any brides who have worn their Mum's wedding dress.

It'll probably be far too old fashioned for her...or like most brides she'll want to choose her own style.

Why not have a look at Ebay and see what they're selling for?

ChaoticAngel · 24/01/2012 11:15

Agree with Worra

FourEyesGood · 24/01/2012 11:17

Sell it! Would you have wanted to wear your mum's wedding dress?

sausagesandmarmelade · 24/01/2012 11:17

I'm not sure it's worth keeping for your daughter.
Styles change...and she might want to choose her own dress.

I got married in 2010 and my lovely dress is all professionally cleaned in it's box at the bottom of the wardrobe. Am definitely not ready to part with it yet...but it would be nice if it had another outing...and someone else could wear it for her wedding.

Molehillmountain · 24/01/2012 11:18

My dd loves looking at mine. I dare say in twenty odd years time she'd prefer looking at the balance of the account in which I'd invested the money I would have got if I'd sold it soon after the wedding Wink. If you don't want it then sell it while you can.

RuleBritannia · 24/01/2012 11:19

This is the sort of thing that could become an heirloom. My SDiL married in her mother's wedding dress and, yes, it did look unfashionable in the photographs but why has everything got to be fashionable? It was a 'family' event so it meant a lot to the bride and her mother.

Ephiny · 24/01/2012 11:21

I agree your daughter will probably want to choose her own dress (assuming she even wants to get married, or likes dresses, this is all very far in the future!)

It's a nice idea, but I wouldn't have wanted to wear my mum's wedding dress, and don't know anyone who has.

lottiegb · 24/01/2012 11:22

Check re-sale prices, get it cleaned (if not already) and sell. I don't know anyone who's worn their mother's dress either and people are more inclined to buy a particular style, rather than having one made to their own pattern, so incorporating part of another dress or re-modelling it is unlikely.

One friend just threw hers away, as she couldn't see the point of keeping it and the re-sale value wasn't worth the cleaning fee. Also she has sons. Her husband was a bit shocked, sentimentally, me for the waste but the point about it never being any use to her again was indisputable.

FourEyesGood · 24/01/2012 11:24

It's not the future untrendiness of the dress that bothers me about the idea of keeping a dress for a DD to wear; it's the pressure it could put onto the DD to wear it even if she doesn't really want to. Part of the fun of planning your wedding is choosing the dress, surely? And OP, won't it be lovely helping your DD to choose her dress when the time comes? I like Molehill's idea of putting the money into an account for your DD.

Original poster
sundaybest · 24/01/2012 11:25

I had it cleaned after the wedding and it's in a box so all good there.
It's a timeless simple lace design so I don't think it will ever go out of fashion really. But you are right if she ever gets married she might want to choose her own dress...
I think I'll need to check the resale value. If it's not much then it's probably not worth selling it...
Oooh I don't know....

OP posts:
Original poster
sundaybest · 24/01/2012 11:26

But like molehill said, I used to love looking at my mums dress when I was small...

OP posts:
bruffin · 24/01/2012 11:31

I sold mine and bought a keep sake wth the money and some more bits of china for my dinner service. The keepsake was a coalport figurine called The Romantic Bride which has a similar dress to mine.

sue52 · 24/01/2012 11:31

I can't see my DDs wanting to wear my 1980s wedding dress though at the time I was convinced it would be family heirloom and any daughters I had would be desperate to get married in it. Fashions change and every woman has her own ideas of what she wants.

Original poster
sundaybest · 24/01/2012 11:35

Just looked on ebay and I'll probably get £100 for it. £200 if I'm lucky.
Not much considering what I paid for it :)

OP posts:
thanksamillion · 24/01/2012 11:37

My Mum has got her dress and my Grandma's and now mine. I did briefly consider wearing my Grandma's dress but getting it changed slightly, but in the end decided I wanted something of my own. I like that we've got them all, but they are all quite simple straight dresses which don't take up lots of room. If you need the space then sell it.

bumbleymummy · 24/01/2012 11:37

I'd keep it but I'm a sentimental old fool :) I love my dress and couldn't part with it.

kelly2000 · 24/01/2012 11:42

I woudl keep it. I wanted to wera my mother's wedding dress, but sadly I woudl have to decompose before I fitted into it, and no-one would let me alter it. besides if you seel it you woudl regret it, and you probably woudl nto get too much money for it anyway, ebay is full of cheap dresses for sale from china. Juts pack it away, and keep it for sentimental value -who knows maybe your granddaughters or great granddaughters would wear it, or at least love to have it.

lollilou · 24/01/2012 11:47

I would keep it. I have mine boxed in the attic although it is pretty unusual so I don't think my daughter would wear it but I know she would like to see it occasionally. My Mum kept hers (never could have worn it though as it had an 18" waist!) One day in a fit of something or other she threw it away! I was so cross and upset, to me it was a family heirloom and had thought of taking a tiny piece of the lace to sew on to my garter.

NinkyNonker · 24/01/2012 11:47

I'd have worn my mum's as it was lovely...but too small! Both she and my Aunt wore it, they looked better than I did I think!

Anyway, I don't know what to suggest. I still have mine, but am thinking about selling.

millymae · 24/01/2012 12:20

Because we were only living in a small flat with very little storage it was never my intention to keep my wedding dress and I sold it 4 months after I got married in 2010 for just less than half what I paid for it. I had it professionally cleaned straight after the wedding and when it came back it looked like new.

I gave ebay a miss and advertised it on a couple of the wedding forums for free - my buyer who had already tried the dress on in a wedding shop and knew that it was the one she wanted travelled quite a long way to pick it up and was thrilled to pieces because she saved herself almost £750.

I may have been lucky to find a buyer so soon after it was advertised, but my advice to anyone thinking of selling would be to put it up for sale sooner rather than later - there are lots of brides to be around who are happy to wear a pre-worn dress, especially if it's still available in current ranges.

Original poster
sundaybest · 24/01/2012 12:27

milly - that's brilliant. I think you were very lucky to get such a good price for it. Well done.
I would sell it if I could get at least £400 for it. I would be very sad selling it for just £100.

OP posts:
LimburgseVlaai · 24/01/2012 12:29

My mother turned her wedding dress into a christening gown. My siblings and I and all my mother's grandchildren have been christened in it.

bruffin · 24/01/2012 12:33

I sold mine in a wedding shop, don't know if they still do it. But basically they didn't buy it from me, but just charged me a fee for them to sell the dress for me. We are talking 20 years ago, but I think I got back about half the price of the dress

Original poster
sundaybest · 24/01/2012 12:36

The other thing I was thinking about was to dye and shorten it and remove the sleeves and turn it into a nice summer dress that I could get some more wear out of.
Anyone has done that?

OP posts:
Ephiny · 24/01/2012 12:45

Honestly if you can sell it for $100-200, you could buy a very nice summer dress for that!

Up to you really though, if you want to keep it for sentimental reasons, there's nothing wrong with that at all.

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