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?

I gave mine away. I have never regretted it.

Still got mine, despite now being divorced. Don't think ill ever bin it. Its not really taking up space.

My mum binned hers and I was always annoyed about that.

I have kept mine for nearly 36 years! It's been boxed up in the loft. Never worn it since and no way would I ever fit into it. It's old-fashioned, but in good condition and still with the post-wedding dry cleaning ticket attached.

I toyed with chucking it out when we had a massive clear out recently, but I couldn't bring myself to do it - Lord knows why. So someone else will have to bin it once I've kicked the bucket 🤣

Has anybody dyed theirs a different colour to make it more wearable ?

Agree, our local bridal charity shop is brilliant and has absolutely everything you could need but on closer inspection a lot of the dresses are quite dated.

A few years after we got married we were skint and a family member had moved to NYC and I wanted to visit so I sold the dress and bought a plane ticket. Had a fantastic trip and also reminded myself that I was an individual person rather than a wife and mother ( being busy and skint meant not much time or cash to spend on myself).

Zero regrets.

My mum kept her wedding dress for 23 years hoping I would wear it. It was beautiful, all over lace with a long train, a bit Spanish looking, typical 60s style. It had discoloured over the years and was no longer pure white, we washed it in the bath with net whitener, without success, so gave it away. I got married the week before Prince Andrew & Fergie and my dress was very similar to hers, embroidered satin with a full skirt. I sold it on return from honeymoon because we didn't have a loft to keep it in and I'm not sentimental (haven't kept any baby things either.) Unlike with Andrew & Fergie our marriage has been very happy, and it's our 40th wedding anniversary this July. The girl who bought my dress was jilted before the wedding, so I don't know where it ended up 🤔

I had mine dyed dark blue and taken up and it worked really well. Works for very posh occasions including a friend’s wedding

I wish I’d got rid of mine at the time, just been sat in the loft for years. If my DD gets married I would want her to have something of her choosing we have very different styles anyway. I think it’s unlikely the next generation would want it now, I think you probably have to keep them for a good 50 years for them to become fashionable and vintage.

No, I gave mine to oxfam and they were so excited it made my week! Love the idea that someone that couldn’t afford to spend a lot got it

Thanks for all the thoughts shared!
I think the general jist is that if I think I'll sell or donate it, it's best to do sooner rather than later rather than waiting several years.
I think I'll donate. I love Preloved stuff (would have got mine second hand if I could find one I liked enough). I like the idea of mine having another 'happy day' (my wedding day was such a happy day!) and maybe even more than one if the person who buys it also donates it! As people have pointed out, if I have daughters who ask what it was like then I have tonnes of pics!

No. Stuck it on Vinted and sold for £100. No b regrets.

I made my own dress. I took it apart 20 years later to reuse the fabric.

Donated dress 2 - it was fine. The first one was a non wedding wedding dress, and I made part of it into a cushion cover.

I still have both of mine (same DH!) from 2008. For the registry office, it was a 2-piece outfit from Monsoon, it was a bridal skirt (3 quid brand new from Ebay) but I bought the skirt that’s matching the top (both Monsoon outlet). I’ve worn it once for a company event, it would probably need to be taken out now to be worn again.

My wedding gown was also a two-part dress and not white (or glittery), I could wear the bodice again at the right event. Got it second-hand for £250 including veil, brand new and unaltered as the bride changed her mind and wanted a beach wedding (she had paid over £1k).

I think if the dresses were more traditional wedding dresses I’d have donated them.

I gave mine to a charity that gives weddings to terminally ill people at short notice. It'll be used several times and hopefully make an awful time just a little bit more special.

I've still got mine. It's a simple, fairly plain classic dress that I though i could wear for a ball (if dyed) as there's loads of them round here. Never got round to doing so and now have 3 teen dds so we'll see...

I got married about 18 years ago and sold mine not long after. No regrets.

That said we’re all different and some people like having it for sentimental value. It’s about balancing whether you think you’d like to look at it in the future against the pain of storing it in the house somewhere.

I kept mine. But it’s just taking up space really (20 years later). I was just thinking the other day maybe it’s time to get rid. Given its age, maybe it will be back in style!

Mines in a storage box in my mums house

I kept mine and DD wears the corset top sometimes :)

Mine is chiffon strappy empire line and I'd always planned to dye it red so I could wear to formal events...but I never got round to it. I wonder would my post baby back/ribcage fit into it now...

I sold mine to a fellow short lady who looked so lovely in it, me and her mum were both tearing up. In my defence I was pregnant and emotional! I hope she had a great day and don’t miss it at all.

Oh no, I gave my wedding dress away years ago.
I do have a DD but she will never be 6st.6lb. as I was when I married.
Besides she wouldn't want to wear my dress anyway, she would want one of her own!
I'm not one to collect or save things either, and it would just be clutter.
I do know women who keep their dress perfectly folded inside the box it came in, but honestly I've never understood why.

No, but I'm not very sentimental about things

I have friends who gave had dressmakers alter theirs and also friends who as pp had a two piece skirt/top so I guess some dresses could be altered to reuse half if not all.

I had mine made into a patchwork quilt also using some bits of my wrap and some other fabric from our wedding related things, plus the beads from my bouquet. It was badly watermarked because British weather/outdoor focused wedding so it couldn't really be donated anyway