Repurpose That Wedding Dress
Wedding dresses can take on almost mythic significance both before AND after the wedding. Once the wedding bells have finished ringing and the party is over the wedding dress remains as one of the largest, most awkward pieces of memorabilia to deal with.
The pull of emotions and nostalgia are understandably very strong and it can make deciding what to do with your gown a challenge. A few years down the road you may be ready to reclaim the space the giant archive box is using in a closet.
A quick Internet search turns up lots of creative alternative ideas of what you can do with your gown:
- Create a keepsake from the fabric – a nice clutch purse, a framed section of lace, a holiday ornament, a jewelry locket, a teddy bear…Pinterest is a great source to inspire you creatively to save an essence of the dress.
- Repurpose the dress into something you can wear again. Have it altered and/or dyed to create a fancy party dress you can enjoy over and over. Have some custom lingerie made!
- Share the wealth! Donate your gown to a charity. Brides Across America provides free wedding dresses to military and first responder brides who couldn’t otherwise afford one. Another option is Brides Against Breast Cancer, who use the proceeds from donated gown sales to help cancer patients. The Goodwill is also a fine place to make your gown available to someone in need.
- Recoup some of the cost of the gown to celebrate a special anniversary. There are several sites specializing in selling pre-owned quality gowns. The Knot reviews their top picks here including options to rent gowns.
You might want to ritualize the departure of your wedding dress to get a sense of gratitude and closure. Reminisce a bit about the event, honor the role the dress played in making your wedding special and then feel free to transition it to a different existence – either in a different form in your life or intact to enrich someone else’s.
