What did you do with your wedding dress?

[littlegingerone]

I recently got married and I'm just trying to decide what to do with my wedding dress now. I thought about selling it on though unsure how easy that would be as I'm only 5'1 so, might be a niche market for it! I looked at getting it cleaned and boxed which is around £175/200.
Just wondered what other people ended up doing with theirs and if there are any other options I'm missing?

1st one - gave to charity shop (and sold my wedding and engagement rings too)
2nd one- sold on Ebay, but didn't have it cleaned as to do so would have cost 2/3 the price of the dress (when new).

Mine is currently in the spare room, scrunched up at the bottom of the dress bag I threw it in because we underestimated how long it was going to take us to empty our hotel room after the wedding and I couldn't find the coat hanger 😂 should really sort it out given 18 months have passed 😂

Thanks for all the useful replies! Before the wedding I was adamant I would sell it on as I know all of my friends wedding dresses are scrunched in the bottom of wardrobes etc. After the wedding I felt a bit sad putting it away and thought it felt a bit too soon to part with it.
After reading all these though, I think I am going to try and sell it, it would be lovely to think that someone else could get to enjoy it rather than just being packed away. And any money could go towards something nice for us together so, I'm decided thank you!

Gave mine to Oxfam
They sell them online.
The woman was happy when I gave it to them as it was not cheap, still in fashion and obviously only worn once.

No regrets and I hope someone else got to enjoy it.

I sold mine while it was still current stock and was pleased someone else got to wear it

Mine is in it's original garment bag in the loft. I meant to get it properly cleaned and boxed, but I could never justify the cost. There is zero chance it will fit me now, but I live in hope it will again. I know someone who gets hers out and puts it on once a year on her anniversary and just wafts around the house in it. I quite fancied doing that, but I'd need to get a zip put in rather than laces, which does feel like an extravagance too far.

DD might want it one day, but if she didn't, I like the idea of getting it put into a frame for display eventually. We'd need a bigger house though!

In reality, it will just sit in the loft forever. I'll never part with it. I still love it, and what it represents. I met DH quite late (DD was something of a miracle), past the point when I ever expected to get married. 10 years on, I'm still so thrilled about the whole thing.

Thanks for getting back to us OP, and congratulations on making a decision!

My sister sold hers and then bought a diamond pendant with the money, I think she got half what she paid for back. I will probably do the same thing ☺️

I was going to sell mine but DH talked me out of it. We paid to get it cleaned and boxed, I guess I will show my children someday? 😅

I was thinking about this just today! My dress is in an airsucky bag in the cupboard and as I'm
now divorced after 13 years I have zero attachment to it. I should either bin it, charity shop it or burn it but it was £5k roughly and I do sometimes wonder if it still holds any value.

I "designed" mine myself and it was made by a colleague's lovely mum so it was perfect for me but I don't know if it's a bit out there for anyone else. It's been hanging in a wardrobe for nigh on 25 years and will stay there I guess. DH suggested getting a mannequin and having it on display in our bedroom which was quite sweet (it's sort of Regency style so wouldn't take up too much room but I think our kittens would have trashed it over the years 😻).

I'm going to sell mine to the second hand dress agency in town. It was only last week but I know I'll never wear it again and as it was not a wedding-y shape necessarily but has white sequins it might do someone for a Christmas black tie or some such.

I donated mine to Oxfam bridal!

I kept mine in a box in the loft, then on my tenth wedding anniversary I ran 10km in it with dh in his suit to raise money for charity

Mine was a Jenny Packham design - sold it soon after the wedding and got half what is cost - which paid for my Welsh dresser

Lovely chap arrived to look at it, 30 mins later a lovely lady left wearing it - straight off to a party
I'm very happy with my dresser 15 years later!

Donated it to a charity that turns wedding dresses into custom dresses for stillborn babies for burial. The dresses they make are beautiful

I gave mine to a friend for zombie bride Halloween costume

Gave mine to British heart foundation. They have a section on their site specifically for wedding dresses. Or they did, this was a few years ago. Probably should have just burnt it. There was some major bad luck tied up in that dress as beautiful as it was 😂

I’m can sew . Made mine into a christening gown both my DSs used

Rest turned into various things over the years- hankie bag for posh cloth hankies, a couple of refillable lavender bags for undie drawers - small things I’d see most days

im divorced now. Most items ( bar christening gown) wore out, just like the 30 year marriage 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣

As of her people say there is charity that’ll turn them into clothes for still borns/ neonatal deaths. A few stitchers I know have made up some gowns. Look up on line

I'm putting mine in one of those charity bags that you leave outside the house tonight. Pointless keeping it. It takes up space and I'm never going to wear it again.

First one went to a charity shop.
Second sold on ebay.
There won't be a third :😁

@TheDogsMother

First one lived in the loft and when me and ex H split I gave it to Oxfam. It was a knee length one with layers of net in the skirt. I'd love to think a goth girl bought it, died it black and wore it with DMs 🤣🤣

Mine was knee length with layers of net skirt, worn with DMs 🤣🤣
It’s not black but about as far from white as possible! I’ve worn it once since, without the net skirt, to dinner then a performance at the RSC. It cost £50 from Blue Banana and I feel a million dollars in it. I always highly recommend getting a dress you can wear again

Mine was in a box in the attic until my DD got engaged and she asked if she could have it. She had some of the fabric from mine, some from her MIL’s wedding dress and some was used from her christening gown and made into her wedding dress as well as new some new fabric. My wedding dress had ruffles made from parts of my mothers wedding dress (I was married in 1987). It was really lovely to see my DD in a dress with parts of everyone’s happy days in it.

DD had the rest of the fabric from mine made into a memory bear for me and the fabric from her MIL’s dress made into one for her. She’s kept a few bits for a christening robe for her children.