Wedding dresses - storage & kids

[leebee]

If you don't want to keep your wedding dress and are considering donating it somewhere, can I suggest a local theater group or ballet company? I do costuming for a small non-profit ballet company, and we are always happy to have wedding dresses donated; there are tons of uses for all the fancy fabrics and elegant beadings. Our white swan in the year's production is going to have the prettiest tutu, thanks to a wedding dress donation (actually just the bodice, the original owner still has the skirt to use for christening gowns for her future kids). There's no way we could have afforded to buy those beaded appliqués; I bet it would have cost me $50, at least!

 

[Lassie Lynne]

I'm not a very sentimental person. I got married twice and tossed both dresses when I moved to a new house. I just don't like holding onto things that I won't use again. I could have donated them, but I just didn't.

But, if you are more sentimental than I am then by all means hold onto it.

Me too.....I still had prom dresses too, they didn't make the move to the new house! I mean, who wants some from 1981??

 

[QVCshopper]

My dress is currently hanging in the closet in my daughter's nursery because that's the only closet in the house with any room left in it. I have no particular attachment to the dress and I have no thought that my daughter will ever want to wear it. Personally, I wanted to sell it on eBay or something, but just never got around to it (10 year anniversary this summer). DH, though, gets emotionally attached to "stuff", and has told me he'd be disappointed if I got rid of it. Sigh.

I'm with you, but I don't want to sell it. Mine was only $200, so I never bothered preserving it or getting it cleaned. I guess I could just donate it, or take a piece off of it to save. But I really don't want the whole dress anymore.

 

[QVCshopper]

I donated mine to an organization that turns them into burial clothing for premie babies that pass away.
The founder is a nurse who worked in a NICU for years. She had to watch parents struggle not only with the idea of having to get burial clothing for their babies, but then not being able to find anything small enough to fit.
Her team and her make gowns for even the tiniest micro premie.
Having two premise myself (who pulled through and are healthy kids today) made my heart go out to all those parents not as lucky
They sent back a piece of my gown and an angel pendant which was a really nice gesture.

I realize this is a sad thing most people don't want to think about but it gave me a peaceful feeling knowing my dress may make one thing a little easier for other parents who were going through such a difficult thing.

Do you know the name of the organization? I think that's a lovely idea for my dress. Thank you for the idea.

 

[ChitownFamily]

I would like to find a seamstress who can convert my dress into a Christmas tree skirt. The skirt portion. We get fake trees so it wouldn't get ruined & every year it would be an important part of our holiday.

 

[Hoodie]

I had mine made into a Christening gown. It's beautiful and we already used it twice.

 

[Pooh67_68]

Had mine cleaned but not preserved, 18 years later I got tired of looking at it and donated it to The Salvation Army.

 

[StephMK]

I have a dry cleaner's box in our spare bedroom closet. - It supposedly contains my preserved wedding dress, but I've heard stories of the process not being done correctly, or dresses being mixed up, so I guess I won't really know until I open it?? Anyway, I will offer it to my nieces if any of them want to wear it.

Mine is in a closed box too and I wondered the same thing. I may open it this summer since it sounds like there may be another windowed box inside. I also wonder if any stains really came out or will show up now.

Does it have an outside box and an inside box, maybe? My dress is preserved in a gold box with a window in the front so that you can see it. But that entire box is inside of the dry cleaners box.

Thanks! I'm going to look at mine & see.

My mother's dress was also worn by her sister (my aunt) a few years later. My mom kept the dress even though there was never a sense that my sister or I would wear it.

My aunt died from cancer in her late 40s, about 12 years ago. Recently my cousin got married; his sister was also in the wedding party. At the bridal shower, my mom presented my cousin's fiancee with a drawstring bridal purse and my female cousin with a pillow for her young son. When it was announced that they had been made from their mom's wedding dress, there wasn't a dry eye. I don't think they knew that both our mothers had worn the same dress and that my mom still had it all these years later. I'm glad my mom was able to use it in a meaningful way.

What a sweet story!


I will probably hang on to it. I could not have worn my mom's but it would have been nice to use part of it. Maybe my girls will want to cut it up into something but I certainly don't care if they don't.

 

[bjscheel]

Mine is in a Rubbermaid tote. I got it out last year (it's been 16 years) and it looked just fine. My mom made it. I plan to keep it. When my grandparents had their 50th, they brought out her wedding dress and it was neat to see.

Mine is not a dated style and I could see my oldest DD wearing it, we'll see. I'm sure my youngest will want something much fancier! Although at the moment my oldest says she wants a dress with a white bib overall top and a tulle skirt (bib overalls from the farm store are her weekend wear). I guess she could use my tulle skirt but I have a feeling she'll change her mind about the overalls part

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I, too, have an early 90's Dynasty, over the top, beads, lace, sequins, puffy sleeved, long train dress. I LOVED my dress; couldn't imagine if I ever had a daughter that she wouldn't want to wear it. OMG, it's gorgeous. Of course she'll want to wear it. Well, I had a daughter and you'd think it was made from poop the way she gags and fake vomits when I mention it. She has NO intention of ever wearing it. It's still preserved and I love the ideas some of you have posted for repurposing it. Of course I wouldn't dare have cut it up for her christening gown (because she might want to wear it some day) but maybe when she has kids, or for her wedding bouquet, etc.

I had a friend who actually wore her husband's grandmother's wedding dress when she got married, so you never know who might be interested in it.

Somewhere on the DIS is a picture of my gown. I'm not very good at searching but if anyone is interested in the hideousness of the early 90's, have a gander.

 

[Sal]

A good friend made ring bearer's pillows for both of by daughters from my dress. I still have lots of it left and have always thought of having something else made from the fabric. An aunt made teddy bears from my father's old quilt and I think that would be very cool.

 

[WDSearcher]

My dress is laying on the basement floor, in a heap, in the plastic bag it came in from the bridal store.

It's never been dry-cleaned.

No, I don't expect my daughter to wear my dress. Why would I?

Because in some families, that's a custom.

But why is your dress still in a non-dry-cleaned state in a plastic bag heap on the basement floor? Saving it for rags?

 

[ManyMinnie]

Because in some families, that's a custom.

But why is your dress still in a non-dry-cleaned state in a plastic bag heap on the basement floor? Saving it for rags?

After we were married, I didn't have the money or the inclination to have it dry cleaned.

I honestly don't even know why I still have it. It won't ever be worn again and I have no attachment to it. It's a dress I paid a lot of money for and wore for a few hours, one day a long time ago.

Maybe this summer I'll cut the Italian silk skirt off and dump the rest.

 

[Southernmiss]

I had a beautiful dynasty
style 1990 wedding dress. I kept it for a while but then decided to reclaim the space it was taking up and gave it to goodwill.

Honestly, before I got married I did try on my mom and my aunt's wedding dresses. Neither fit and would have needed serious alterations and cleaning. That helped me realize that if I had any daughters they would not want to wear my dress and would want their own.

Dd is 11 and will be taller than I and probably a different body type too. So I don't see her being disappointed that my dress won't be available.

 

[WDSearcher]

After we were married, I didn't have the money or the inclination to have it dry cleaned.

I honestly don't even know why I still have it. It won't ever be worn again and I have no attachment to it. It's a dress I paid a lot of money for and wore for a few hours, one day a long time ago.

Maybe this summer I'll cut the Italian silk skirt off and dump the rest.

You can always donate it. There are plenty of organizations out there who would be happy to have it so that someone who can't afford a wedding dress can get one cheaply. Plus ... you can take it as a tax write-off. You don't even have to clean it first.

 

[crz4mm2]

MIne is in a Rubbermaid tote.

DH wanted to renew our vows at year 25.. I got it out (it was in the plastic cover and in a box at that time) and it was YELLOW... Looked horrible. I figured it was ruined anyway, so put some Oxyclean in Hot water in the bath tub and soaked it x2. Then rinsed it well and hung it outside in the sun to dry.
Looked good as new
Course, I was too fat to ever get in it again.....
If DD wants to wear it, she can, or if she wants a piece of it, she can have that too.

 

[DebbieB]

When I was cleaning out my family house last year, I found my mom's wedding dress in a box. They were married in 1956, so it's over 50 years old. It was beautiful in their pictures, lacy with a hoop skirt. It had yellowed with age but I just couldn't part with it. I took the box and placed it in my upstairs linen closet with my parents funeral memorials (bag from the funeral home with the guest book, cards, etc).

My SIL wore her mom's dress and I guess because it was old, the arm seams ripped out at the reception.

 

[spacemountainmom]

I know my grandma saved hers. My cousin wore it one time for an "old time bridal fashion" show when she was very young. None of us six granddaughters wore it and I think my aunt still has it, but I don't know for sure. I doubt any of us could have ever worn it as adults.

My mother rented hers in 1967. It used to disappoint the daylights out of me that she didn't have a dress for us to possibly wear.

I was married in 1991 and my dress screams it. It is hanging in the basement closet in a dress bag. My daughter thinks it's absolutely hideous. She did love to wear my veil when she was little.

I did "recycle" my mom's dress that she wore in my aunt's wedding in 1961. It was a stunning red velvet tea length dress with red satin stripes at the waist that created a cummerbund look. I was complimented many, many times when I wore it to Christmas parties in 1985. I wish I could still get into that one.

 

[PaulaSue]

I saved it for me with the thought of making something out of it for my girls weddings ( or sons if I would have had) or eventually my grandchildren christenings.

 

[Patience]

My wedding dress is hanging in a garment bag in a closet. The last time I looked at it, it was still white and not yellow. I told my 18 year old daughter that she was welcome to cut off some of the lace when she gets married someday and use it to wrap her bouquet stems or to make a ring bearer pillow or whatever. The dress is very early 1990's, very out of style and there is no way my daughter would ever wear it.