Do you regret not keeping your wedding dress?

[Klmno]

Not really AIBU but need experiences!

Thinking of giving my wedding dress to charity (there's an Oxfam bridal store not too far from me). I got married 2023 and I loved my dress, think it's stunning and it's the best I've ever felt in something but.... obviously I'm not going to wear it again! And it's just taking up wardrobe space.

My sister was like, but what if you have a daughter and she wants to see it?!
My thoughts are, would she really be that interested??

Interested in people's thoughts about whether they sold/donated theirs and regretted it?? If you wish you hadn't got rid, why? And if you kept, what are the reasons you're glad?

I got it for £1200. I am not usually that decadent but kept trying to find one for ages and just kept coming back to this one. Obviously that's an absolute tonne of money but tbh I'm not sure I can be bothered with the faff of trying to sell it. I think the fact it was so expensive makes me want someone else to wear it too so the cost per wear is less. Plus reduced environmental impact I guess if two people get some use from it?

Gave my first one away, funnily enough to a close friend of exH. My second one is in the loft. DD has joked about using it to get my moneys worth and she is more than welcome to, but it may be outdated by the time she gets married. It’s only 2 years old, DD is 19, and cost silly money which is why I am reluctant to get rid but I do love it.

I wish I'd given mine to charity straight after the wedding! Instead, 20 years on I've still got it and have no interest in it anymore. Daughters aren't interested either and it's not a current style anymore so I doubt a charity shop would sell it for much.

My mum got me mine and she was the only one to see it and see it on before the wedding. She died 4 months before our wedding so I can't get rid of it. Silly because it's just a dress but it has an extra special tie for me. I do often wonder if there is something practical I can do with it so it's not being wasted but can't think of anything I'd like.

I finally got rid of mum’s after she died.
She had hung onto it for decades and through many house moves It was scrunched up in the bottom of her wardrobe for years .
When she moved to a nursing home after COVID I had it professionally cleaned. I like to think that gave her some pleasure.
I kept it for a while after she died and eventually donated it to Oxfam.
I sometimes feel a wee bit sad that I didn’t hang onto it but am hopeful someone got some use from it.

I got married in 1991, we moved from England to Ireland in 2003 and I gave my wedding dress and daughter's communion dress to charity shop. Never regretted it. Kept child's christening robe but it hasn't been used for 25 years

No, I've never regretted it for a moment.
I hired my wedding dress and I'm very glad that I did. Hiring a dress enabled me to wear a dress that I couldn't have afforded to buy.

I still have mine nearly 30 years on. We’re very happily married and I’ve never taken it out of the packing since it was put away.

It does, in retrospect, feel like a bit of a waste, I should have donated years ago (although I remember being a bit appalled when a friend sold hers before her first anniversary).

I have a DD in her late teens. I don’t think it has ever occurred to her to ask to see it and it certainly wouldn’t be something she would consider for her own wedding in years to come as we are entirely different shapes.

I do know a couple who get dressed up in their wedding outfits every year in their wedding anniversary which sounds fun!

I do think hiring is actually a really good idea.

I sold mine to a wedding dress shop after my divorce, needed the money at the time. About a year later I saw photos of the dress being worn by my friend's MIL, not long after that the MIL's husband died. That dress was cursed for sure 😱

I’ve still got mine, I thought I’d wear it again as it’s not actually a wedding dress, but I haven’t! Its too white to wear to other people’s weddings, but maybe a suitable occasion will come up to wear it again at some point.

We got married eleven years ago and I sold mine to a wedding dress shop after about six months. I wanted the money - it cost around £2500 new. I have two DDs and neither have ever asked to see it, and I have no desire to prance around the house in it, it was pretty but bloody uncomfortable.

I recently binned mine. I didn't store it well so it went a bit gross and it wasn't expensive. It was beautiful but I have lots of photos and see no point whatsoever in keeping it. I've certainly never been bothered to see my mum's wedding dress (whether she has it or not).

I think it's a lovely idea to donate it to a charity shop because it will be reused by someone who perhaps can't afford an expensive dress.

My niece wore a beautiful wedding dress that she’d bought from the local hospice bridal shop. She looked gorgeous and it felt appropriate she was supporting the same organisation that had supported our family too.

I bought a dress I could wear again. And I did, quite a few times. Not sure what happened to it in the end, it wouldn't have fit me for the last 15+ years anyway. Can't imagine I would have enjoyed it hanging in my closet if I couldn't wear it. I got a lot of great times out of that dress and have many photos that I look on with pleasure when they come up on my photo stream.

bought mine for £300 second hand from ebay, sold it for £300 on ebay. It was an Alfred Angelo dress about £1250 in the shop

Nope. I sold mine and bought jewellery (emerald and diamond earrings). My dress was a Sassi Holford, and I had my fittings with her personally...I sold it about 2 months after the wedding so the style was still current and got a significant % of the value back.

My daughter is a completely different shape to me so would never have been able to wear it, and it would have been a travesty to make a christening gown out of it, so selling it and buying something I can wear when I feel like it, and which reminds me of my wedding day, is perfect.

No, I sold mine 3 months after my wedding. I didn't see the point of keeping it as I will never wear it again. I thought my best chances of selling it would be whilst it is still a fashionable dress. No regrets.

Donated to charity right after wedding. No regrets. Still in good condition and a current design. Someone got a bargain for their big day and the charity would have got a decent sum. Still married over 20 years later.

I don't know what to do with mine. I m going through a divorce, not my choice, well, I'm not willing to stay married to a gay man, so maybe it is my choice. Its not bulky, all te peticoats were seperate and have been used multiple times since, but its sitting in a box and I'm just not sure

I love my wedding dress, and I'm considering dying it. Its 50's style, knee length and would be gorgeous in emerald or deep purple. but I'm not sure how the lace would dye. I mean, I've got nothing to lose by trying to dye it and if id doesnt dye well then I've lost nothing, other than the ability to donate it. Although I'm not sure if it would fit as I've lost quite a bit of weight since then.

I’ve kept mine for 15 years. And it has become so much more sentimental to me. I have a 3yo dd so never envisioned that I would have a daughter 12 years down the line and it’s somehow become more precious to me.
in fact, I did a newborn shoot for her and draped my veil around her and it is one of my treasured photos ever.
keep it !

@BasalGanglia I done the same . I had a stillborn daughter and really struggled to find something suitable to bury her in so I donated my wedding dress to a charity that made gowns for stillborn babies .

It woukd be best to give it to charity now before it dates and they can make the most money from it.

Maybe your husband would like it! 😉

I donated my first wedding dress to a charity shop when I got divorced, after hanging onto it for years. My second one I sold on the StillWhite website pretty much straight after the wedding, it was a gorgeous dress and I wanted it to have another outing whilst it was still fashionable, rather than sit and get dusty in the loft! Its a nice idea to hang onto them for your daughters, but I know I wouldn't have wanted to wear my mum's wedding dress from the 1970s, no matter how I re-fashioned it!

Did anyone else’s get so filthy on the bottom and not manage to get the stains out?