What to do with wedding dress after wedding?

heatherda1986

My wedding dress is still hanging in my closet waiting for me to decide what to do with it.  I really wanted to do a trash the dress photo shoot, but my family told me I would regret it.  My husband also had a snow camo vest custom made for the wedding.  I would like to do something really creative with them both instead of putting them in a box but I can't think of anything.  Do you guys have any suggestions?  Thanks! 

 

SJU1982

Meanwhile, my dress is still balled up in the back of my closet...2+ years and counting.

I've seen pictures on Pinterest of wedding dresses framed in a display case and hung in a walk-in closet.  If you have the space, I thought it was a very cute idea. 

lasposa425

I've never heard of a trash the dress photo shoot.  I would just preserve it and save it.  There are some good display ideas I've seen online too.

DakotaMN

Mine is still in the closet as well at more than 2 years, that being said, I will most likely be having it made into something for a baby (if we have one).  My grandmother does amazing quilts or my aunt used part of hers as a christening dress for her babies.  I don't want it boxed up, seems like a waste, so if you want to keep it as part of your future something like that would be an option.

chicagobride_07

I had it preserved but it sat in a box for over a year. Finally, I listed and sold it on preownedweddingdresses.com.  If it is a popular designer, it should have resale value.

I just christened my baby girl and we bought a beautiful gown off the rack for that.

cjspencer35

I think this is the wrong answer, but I sealed it up in an air tight storage tote (beer, make-up smudges, and all!) and threw it in the back of the closet, 2 years ago...

I say go for the Trash the Dress session!!!  The photos will last forever, and the dress will probably never see daylight - seems like a better investment to me, something you can enjoy!  AND, you can actually do awesome shoots that don't really "trash" the dress.

TheNewMrs0907

I'm preserving mine, but a few friends or friends have done that photo shoot and the pics came out pretty cool! your choice 

Arcadia1114

I have mine hanging in my basement. We recently celebrated out fifth wedding anniversary. I tried it in for giggles. It still fits!

mooshagirl

This wedding dress cleaning place was recommended to me by a friend. It's online at www.wedclean.com. It's a flat $150 fee and they send you a box with a prepaid shipping label and you send your dress to them. They clean it, preserve it, and put it in a nice box for you and then ship it back. It has a 100 year guarantee that your dress will not yellow and if it does they'll clean it again for free. I highly recommend it!

RachelG4625

I would go for it and do the Trash the Dress photo shoot. You will feel amazing doing it and you will always be able to have those pictures. He could join you in the shoot with his vest. This would be so much fun. 
My dress is too precious and too sentimental to me to do anything with it. I spent a ton of money preserving it and it is in my closet in a box. I hope that one day I can give it to my daughter to wear or something. 

You could donate your dress to a woman who doesn't have the means to get her own. 

kgainer1

Donate your dress or just offer it to a bride to be.  That is what I plan to do.  That will save someone the expense and headache of finding a beautiful gown. :>

MrsChanceW

I offered mine to my little sis. Her and her man don't have a lot of money and she likes my dress. So when they set a date it is hers.

Jennycolada

I will likely get my cut, altered, and dyed, and then wear it as a cocktail dress.

MarySmithy

I want my daughter to wear my wedding dress someday if she'll have it so I guess the best way to go is keep it at a safe place. It depends on the situation... but I might be tempted to modify it for fun.

amyabel68

I gave it to my daughter.

formerlyGDaisy09

What style dress is it? My dress was fairly traditional, a-line ivory lace with a sweet-heart neckline and corsetted back. it's not trendy at all, and I would love for my daughter (if I have one) to wear it one day.  So I had all the beer, wine, sweat (it was 104 and 90% humidity on my wedding day) clean out of it and had it preserved in a vacuum sealed box.

However, if your dress was really trendy (i.e. my mom's dress from the 80s with the big poofy sleves), and it's unlikely that someone would want to wear it several decades from now, I say go for the trash the dress photo shoot.  Shop for a good photogarpher, beacue you only get one shot and you want to be sure you get lots of good photos. 

OwningAHome1981

lasposa425 said:

I've never heard of a trash the dress photo shoot.  I would just preserve it and save it.  There are some good display ideas I've seen online too.

I don't really understand the whole TTD thing... you spend all this $$ on a dress and then trash it? That doesn't make sense to me. I had mine cleaned and preserved. The hope is that maybe if I ever have daughter she can wear it. I wanted to wear my mom's dress but it was stole out of my grandparents house when they were robbed.

JrsyLwyr

I may donate mine to a charity in Texas that makes outfits for angel babies.

adafox3312

I will likely get my cut, altered, and dyed, and then wear it as a cocktail dress like this one

watermelons

You can take it to the dressmaker, ask her/him to change the wedding dress to formal dress, then you can dress it in special occasion like a party or dinner.

amelietremblay6

I have preserved it don't want to thrash it out!

Joyce&David

I have mine properly stores in a box. I think that wedding dress is a very special thing for any girl and that should certainly not be sold. If you want you can store it like what I did, else your idea to do something creative is good as well. Selling it should be no option.

avi0lpz

I would love to do a trash the dress photoshoot for like a 5th anniversary or maybe the 10th? If it still fits. Lol But I never thought about saving it for future baby clothing. Which I love!

Tough choice. I'll most likely just leave it hanging. Lol

futuremrsba

Mine is hanging in the closet, but I am also considering having it cut, altered and dyed so I can wear it again. Either that or it's just going to sit in my closet for years and years and years. 

marleyjustine

A couple of weeks ago, while getting ready to go wedding dress shopping, I got ahead of myself and started looking at "post-wedding dress options" (and of course, had to blog about it). Even after posting a number of possibilities, my mind still is not made up and as great as some of the options are, I won't be surprised if five years from now the dress is still hanging in my closet

Marley
www.marleyjustine.com

YoutubeVloger

Love Interest TV: I still have mine in a garment bag. I'm thinking about revamping it and wearing it again in 10 years for a vow renewal.

marriedonmaui

I did pretty much all of the above - http://www.bybrea.com/blog/2012/07/a-dress-you-only-wear-once/

I trashed it, got it cleaned, wore it again to our reception back home (we got married in Hawaii), got it cleaned again, got it shortened, and now I wear it on our anniversary each year.  

I figure one of the most fun part of wedding planning for me was shopping for my perfect wedding dress, that I wouldn't want to deprive my future hypothetical daughter of that opportunity. I also don't see much of a point of spending that much money on a dress to only wear once - so I love that I get more use out of it