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Would you sell your wedding dress?
I'm in limbo at the moment, on whether to sell my wedding dress or not!
Josh and I are trying to get out of debt (we're about $24,000 in the hole) and selling my wedding dress would go towards that (hoping I can get $800 or more for it).
It would be tough to sell it! I love it and it's really sentimental to me. In the back of my mind, I think of my girls and maybe, maybe one day...if one of them wanted to get married wearing it...?
However, I believe that, if one or both of them get married one day, that they will want their own wedding dress. I mean, the style of my dress might be really outdated and lets face it...no matter how much you might love your mum, every woman wants their own dress to shine in, right?
So, what are you thinking of doing with your wedding dresses?
Re: Would you sell your wedding dress?
I voted that I hope I have a daughter one day who will wear it, or one day I'll have a grandchild and we can make a christening gown or something out of it. If nothing else, I'll wear it playing dress up with my future daughter (or with Ryan if he likes that kind of thing, lol).
My TTD photographer Sara Wall said she has had over 2000 brides and only 2 of them wore their mothers wedding dress!
I voted for the first one, although that's not exactly true. I don't want to literally be buried in it, but I do love it!
The truth is that my sister bought my dress as a gift for me. I asked her at one point about selling or donating it, and she pretty much said she'd kill me. And I think it's her choice what happens to it, since it was such a generous gift, so I respect her choice.
For what it's worth, I probably wouldn't sell it to get out of debt. While I'm all for doing what it takes to get out of debt, I wouldn't sell sentimental objects. My father left my mother when I was just a baby, and my mother pawned her wedding ring to pay for bills and such. When I was about 13 I asked about it, wondering what happened to their wedding rings (they are not together, but on good terms now). I was hoping to maybe wear it, or at least see it. She starting crying (I felt terrible!) and told me she sold it. I guess my point is....even if your girls don't end up wearing it for their own weddings, I'm sure you'd still like to show it to them someday, and tell the the story of the day you wore it. I'm not trying to lay a guilt trip, but it's just my two cents. I, personally, feel like I would regret selling my dress if the main point was just to make a little money. Now if I didn't have any sentimental attachment (some people don't), and just wanted it out of my life, I might consider it.
I chose "SQUIRREL" cause it was fun and none of the answers fit my situation. While it is a nice thought to have my future daughter (if I have one) wear my dress, I find it highly unlikely that she will either want or will even fit in my dress. I'm 5 feet tall married to a man that's around 6 feet tall so I doubt any of my kids will be exactly my height.
Also, since I move around a lot, I figure the dress will end up getting ruined some how during the move. So my plan is to donate my dress to charity .... I just have to get up the nerve to do it cause it's hard to let go of it.
Squirrel is just too freakin funny of an option, I had to vote it!
I will never have a daughter (no more kids for us), and my dress is in the bottom of the dress bag and has been for 2 yrs now. Like you, I am not sure if I am ready (willing) to sell it though. I think that whatever you decide will help me make a decision, deep down I know it is time to move on, just need some encouragement or a 'sign'. I like the idea of donating it to charity, but I don't think I could walk away from it like that, not knowing if it will get into someone's deserving hands and not the hands of a volunteer or volunteers friend, you know? I only say this because I know several involved in charity work and I hear first hand how volunteer's/workers take the best stuff for themselves (or their friends/family).
So, what about your veil? I wear mine to do dishes and will NEVER get rid of it. My mom picked it out and bought it for me and I just can't let it go.
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I'd absolutely sell it. I haven't even gotten it cleaned - that's how UN-sentimental I am. I loved my dress, but it wasn't my dream dress. My mom totally burst into tears when she saw it on me so that's what I got.
I don't really know how I'd tell someone the size though. I had it taken in quite a bit because I lost 20 pounds before the wedding. Meh....who knows....maybe I'll turn it into ruffly pillows or something. I thought about having it hemmed and dying it black or deep purple so it'd be an evening dress that I could wear another time or 2.
haha. I loved my veil! Or rather, the veil that I wore - a friend lent it to me, so I had to give it back to her after the wedding. If i had it, i would totally wear it to do dishes
this is exactly how i feel, except that my dress is actually the thing i liked least about our wedding, and it probably took me 1.5-2 years to get over feeling sad about it
...i think i'm over it now, finally. hah. but yeah, it's been in the dress bag, dirty, since it got packed up in hawaii - it hasn't seen the light of day. i always intended to clean it and sell it, but have just been too lazy to do so. maybe this is the kick in the butt i need to get it done!
I sold it already! To another Knottie (Diane). :-) And after she wore it, she sold it to another girl (Annie). And that girl planned to sell it too. I assume she did, but she was kind enough to e-mail us previous owners to let us know and share her wedding photos! We're like the club of the traveling wedding dress... THE dress is the Amsale Bali. It is stunning.
Anyway, when the most recent girl to wear it learned that I had just had a baby girl, she offered me first dibs if I wanted it back. Cost would have been less than what I originally sold it for. But the girls who wore it after me were SO THIN that I didn't want a dress that was so tiny because what if my baby didn't fit it or didn't want to wear it? Also, we have baby expenses that are more important to us than a dress right now.
Sometimes I am sad that I sold it... But it would just be sitting in a closet somewhere for years! And I'm happy knowing that it was worn on two other very happy days. My dress was a gift from my MIL and I had not planned to sell it but Diane came along and the opportunity presented itself... My MIL was very supportive when I asked her about selling it. She said to go for it! We used the $1K to buy a new sofa.
I would add that I did keep my veil in case Alexa will one day want to wear it. My veil is a floor-length lace-edged veil that cost a pretty penny from Kleinfeld!
I also have a gorgeous cream-colored BCBG number that I wore at our East Coast reception that she can have someday. It's a short dress, so she could wear it for anything, not necessarily a wedding.
And finally... I also kept some fabric from my wedding dress that was cut during alterations. I have heard of girls sewing a piece of their mother's wedding dress into their wedding dresses, so I have that option for her if she wants to do that. Or she could use the fabric to make a hair piece or ring cushion.
Oh, and I am also keeping my pearl and rhinestone flower hair pins that I wore on my wedding day (and my sisters and I all wore on my sister's wedding day) for her as well. :-)
Malia & Dave & Alexa
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I completely agree with this. I have 2 friends that have sold their wedding rings and other wedding stuff to help their current debt situation and it just boggles my mind. Their theory is, "when" they get out of debt, they will just buy a new ring. I feel like we will always have some kind of debt and could never imagine selling precious items to assist with this debt. I would much rather look for other alternatives, like exhaust all efforts. Sad thing is my mom has my dress, so I will probably not have the thing in my possession till the far off future. But I remember as a kid always looking at my own moms dress and playing dress up. She loved it and she has pictures of it. If/When I have a daughter, I will get that dress back and play dress up with her too!!
I laughed when I saw votes for SQUIRREL! You girls are a riot!
Thanks for your feedback, it's given me food for thought. I have been thinking about the whole 'using the money to pay off some debt' thing and the thoughts you expressed have crossed my mind too. As in, it'd be a shame to sell something so sentimental and beautiful to make a small dent in a big debt.
Kinda like tossing it in the ocean to make a leaky boat lighter.
Oh and Beth, I think we're back at square 1, sweetheart lol! I think I'm gonna hang onto it for a little while longer until I'm positive I can part with it and not regret it lol.
Funny thing is, I can usually part with stuff easily because...it's just STUFF. I'm one of those "Could sell most of the trimmings in my life, pack up my kids and husband and go travelling with whatever we can carry on our backs" kinda person (whew, that was a long sentence lol). My belief is that material goods weigh a life down but there ARE things that are worth keeping because they contain love.
Just need to decide whether the dress is one of those things, not just for me but for my girls.
LOL! I now have a vision of you with a white tuft behind your head as you scrub those pots and pans.
Thanks for reminding me, I lent my veil to a friend (the one who's wedding served as my first wedding photog assignment). I need to get it back off her. I wasn't a huge fan of it but I do want it back.
I voted SQUIRREL! too! It is so random and hilarious. On top of that, my hubby is currently obsessed with squirrels. Since we grew up in Hawaii, he never saw one before. On a trip to Seattle, we actually went driving around UW looking for them. He has been obsessed ever since.
Hmm, and about the dress. I posted this question on the knot a couple days ago because I'm debating what to do with mine. I haven't cleaned it yet, and it is taking up space. I'm not overly sentimental about it, but I think it would be fun to put on every once in a while and watch tv, nest, rollerblade, etc.
I winz?!
I serenade you all and make you into my haremz!
I vote we all wear our wedding dresses (or A wedding dress) to the great Hawaiian meet up (when is it again, 2013?)
That would be awesome! Especially if we could get a photographer to do a photoshoot with all of us. Plus, it's a great incentive to make sure I still fit it in 3 years!
THIS! I also voted for the first one, although I don't want to be buried in it. But I do love my dress. I also am a nostalgic pack rat, so it's pretty impossible for me to sell anything of sentimental value.
HAHA, that would be fun! I'd never though I'd fly with that dress again =P
Well if anything, we had some good laughs! SQUIRREL! Thanks for nuttin' honey!
YOU totally WONZ! Love it!!
YOU totally WONZ! Luvz it!!
Ah, this post was too good! I just dropped my dress of to be cleaned so I can wear it again to my AHR. The place I took it to also does dress preservations, and said they would clean it again when I was done for free before they boxed it up for me.
I searched high and low for that dress and could never part with it.....though it did cross my mind, as we are in the same debt situation right now. It sucks, but I know that I would always regret selling it. I would totally consider selling my shoes, jewelry, veil, etc though.
There is a Hawaii bride meetup in 2013? I need to start saving now!! Haha! Awesome!
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