Display, Store, Sell

drina0218

I am seriously debating what to do with my dress & accessories after the wedding (24 days to go!). A part of me wants to hold on to every little thing and another knows that it will just take up space that I don't have. Now, I would love to do something like this in my imaginary walk in closet, but our apartment isn't very 5'x7' shadow box friendly. What are you ladies doing/have done?

 

missdelilah

Edit: OMG! Paragraphs and jumbled text! I love the idea of having the gown framed. Or pretty clothes being framed in general. I actually once purchased a dress simply for this reason (a super cute cocktail gown from the 1950s that probably would have fallen apart after one wear). That said, directly sunlight is not your dress's friend, so if you do this, keep it in a hallway or such without a huge amount of natural lighting. I just can't see parting with mine, so I think it's going to be storing or framing. There were a bunch of ladies talking about donating theirs here: http://forums.theknot.com/discussion/comment/7359363#Comment_7359363 I just don't think I could bear to part with mine, although I have a few formal dresses that can probably go to one of those prom donation centers.

erinlin25

It would be nice for awhile but I do not see it as a forever decoration, so I would skip it.  Unless I lived in a ginormous mansion I think a dress in a huge shadow box would just look too random.  I have been married for a year and my dress is in the guest room closet (hanging from the top shelf so it is not stuffed in there).  Have not preserved it, but so far it is just fine where it is.

aggiespartan

It depends on what kind of dress you have, but the designer for my dress told me it would be very easy to have it dyed to be reworn for other occasions. If you have a long dress (like most people), it may be fairly easy to transform it into a short dress you can wear again.

missdelilah

aggiespartan said:

It depends on what kind of dress you have, but the designer for my dress told me it would be very easy to have it dyed to be reworn for other occasions. If you have a long dress (like most people), it may be fairly easy to transform it into a short dress you can wear again.

My mom did that, and still never wore hers again.  It wasn't a particularly fancy dress either, but she couldn't find an occasion she felt worthy of wearing her dress to.  I've worn it a few times, but it didn't turn out to be the great, multi use, sort of dress she was hoping for herself.  

chibiyui

I really, really, really like the idea of framing it. I currently have a pretty glorious walk in closet, and have told H when we build, he MUST give me the same amount of space or more, so I'm holding on to it for that purpose. But I need to take it and get it cleaned and preserved. I don't think mine would lend it's self to being shortended, and part of it ripped, so I'm not sure it would be okay to donate.

missdelilah

chibiyui said:

I really, really, really like the idea of framing it. I currently have a pretty glorious walk in closet, and have told H when we build, he MUST give me the same amount of space or more, so I'm holding on to it for that purpose. But I need to take it and get it cleaned and preserved. I don't think mine would lend it's self to being shortended, and part of it ripped, so I'm not sure it would be okay to donate.

The organization mentioned in this link (http://forums.theknot.com/discussion/comment/7359363#Comment_7359363) cuts them down for babies, so the rip wouldn't be a problem if you wanted to donate it.

The rip might also be easily fixed.  Have you talked to a seamstress?  it might be worth it, particularly if you want to frame it.

ElcaB

Right after the wedding my dress is getting cleaned and listed for resale. Ain't nobody got space for that! 

RebeccaFlower

I got mine cleaned and it's hanging in the closet in my home office. 

chasseuse

My mom hung her dress back in the icky, plastic garment bag from 1975 and then put it in a box in the attic for almost 40 years. Somehow the dress survived and I had it cleaned and pressed to wear in my wedding in December. I have no idea what I'll do with it afterwards.

tammym1001

I had my clean and preserved after the wedding. It's currently in a box in the guest room closet, but the plan is to eventually have it framed and hang it in my dressing room.

Maggie0829

I had always wanted to chop my train off and put it in a square shadow box.  My train was covered in crushed organic flowers so I thought it would look amazing displayed but I just can't bring myself to chop it off.  So instead it was cleaned and preserved and is sitting in its box on the floor of my closet and acting as a shoe rack.

Here is my train...

climbingsingle

Well, I'm contacting FI right now to tell him to build me a bigger walk in closet. I need to have my dress framed and hung like this. 

novella1186

My mom had her dress preserved and I got to try it on after I got engaged. It was a really awesome experience. She was married in 1982 (holy lace and high collar, batman!) so I won't be wearing her dress for my wedding, but I love the fact that it's still in the family. I'm planning to preserve mine so if I ever have a daughter, she can try it on, even if she doesn't want to wear it on the big day. 

[Deleted User]

Got mine cleaned & it's hanging in the closet. I wanted to sell it but discovered rips in the dress from someone stepping on the back of my dress. Here are some ideas of things to do with it if you don't mind cutting it up

• Use a portion of it as the background of a wedding memory shadow box. You can include your wedding invite, his flower if it dried nicely and maybe a few other mementos from the day
• If you plan having kids, take a piece and have it made into the baptism hat. Plus there are ways to do that so that way when your baby gets married it can be changed over to a hankerchief for the bride (something old)
• I read another great way to incorporate a mom's dress into childs wedding is to take a long piece and wrap the stem of the brides bouquet with it

 

buttercup1958

This is one of the reasons I like the idea of shorter dresses. I think one cute idea is to shorten it and wear it on your anniversary. That way you can wear over and over again and get your moneys worth.

PineapplePopsicles

chasseuse said:

My mom hung her dress back in the icky, plastic garment bag from 1975 and then put it in a box in the attic for almost 40 years. Somehow the dress survived and I had it cleaned and pressed to wear in my wedding in December. I have no idea what I'll do with it afterwards.

@chasseuse i would LOVE to see a picture of your dress!!!

caitlinmca

I plan on getting mine cleaned and then saving it. I wouldn't be able to part with it, as it was my wedding gift from my mom, we normally don't do a lot of things together and she was there when I went wedding dress shopping so I want to keep it as long as possible.

Dignity100

I plan on having my cleaned and preserved - probably not RIGHT after the wedding though (only because I know I already feel guilty about the $$ we've put towards the wedding and I'd like a few months to recover my savings account even if it's only by a few hundred!).