Wedding week is here and I can’t be more excited about it!
This year, Stephen and I are celebrating 3 years of marriage, and I thought that it would be a great idea to blog for an entire week about all things wedding.
Whether you’ve been married for some time, gearing up to tie the knot or just love anything wedding related, this week’s for you.
Today I thought that I would focus on what to do with your wedding dress after the big day.
I spent months dreaming about and looking for my prefect dress. But I didn’t think much about what to do with it after the wedding was done and over with.
Most people end up keeping theirs in a box that they store in the closet–and admittedly, that’s what I did for a time. But it just seemed so silly to keep such a beautiful dress that I paid all this money for locked up away.
So I looked into 5 creative ways to store and display my wedding dress and I’m sharing them with you here today!
Repurpose your dress
After your wedding is over and done with, you might not need your dress to be a wedding dress anymore. So try giving it new life by repurposing it.
Take it into a seamstress and get the dress cut down into a cocktail dress, evening gown or even lingerie. Some may cringe at the idea of hacking away at their beautiful gown, but this idea will give you extended wear for an item that you’ll only wear once.
Dye it
If you just can’t bring yourself to cut your dress, then you might want to try dying it if your wedding dress was white (mine was pink and gold so this wasn’t an option for me)
Especially for brides who opted for tea length or more form fitting styles, dying the dress may also make easier for you to wear it more frequently.
Display it
If you don’t want to alter your dress in any way, you can always put your dress up on display. I personally thing this is a great option especially for fashion loving brides.
While there are a few different options for displaying your dress, the main two ways are to either 1) put your dress into a shadow box (this is more expensive and requires more space but will protect your dress) or 2) place your dress on a mannequin.
Make jewelry/art
If you ended up going ball gown style like me, then you have a lot of dress. If you don’t want to display your whole dress, then consider cutting piece from the back or from underneath and using it to make jewelry or to line a shadow box that you can then use to display some of the best parts of your wedding.
Trash it
If you want to get real creative and wild, you can always rash your wedding dress.
I know this is popular with those who are going through a divorce, but this could be fun for those still happily married as well.
For an anniversary shoot, take your pristine gown and have a fun paint or mud fight with your hubby. The shoot will be fun and memorable and you’ll get great photos out of it.
Bonus: Donate/sell it
If you’re just not that attached to your dress, you can always sell or donate your dress.
If you opted for a designer dress and kept it in great condition, you can get as much as $1k from selling your dress. Equally as nice, and more charitable, you can donate your dress. There are many great charities out there accepting dresses. Heres a list to get you started.
Personally I decided the display my dressing in my office using a mannequin and I think it’s lovely. But all these options are prefect ways to get a second life from your dress.
What will you do with your dress after your wedding is over with? Let us know!
Like this idea? Feel free to pin it!
