What to do with the wedding dress after the wedding?

knottie54e47b9e8c0e9366

Hi. I didn't want to rent a dress for my wedding, so I decided to buy my wedding dress. That way they could fit me perfectly. I don't regret doing so, but I think that this beautiful wedding dress deserves more than to be worn just once.

What did you do with your dress after the wedding? Any ideas on what I could do with it? By the way, the  wedding dress is an Orea Sposa model.

MesmrEwe

A friend of mine wears hers every year for Halloween!  (She also got married that weekend so there's that element too...)...  Some donate them to a program that turns them into burial outfits for stillborn babies (Rachel's Gift, Angel Gowns, are a couple of the programs)...  There is a "Prom Closet" in Wisconsin that takes donated gowns/formalwear and uses it as a fundraiser for the local Special Needs/Community Prom (it's become a huge county-wide event)...  Others take it to the dry cleaners then resell them on Craigslist/Ebay!/Marketplace...

short+sassy

I had originally been planning to wear mine on occasional anniversary dinners at nice restaurants.  Weird, I know.  But I'd be wearing it for myself and my H, so I wouldn't have really cared if strangers mistook me for a bride.

Unfortunately, I must have brushed against a purple flower or something during my reception.  Because there is a quarter-sized BRIGHT PURPLE stain, right on the front around the waistline.  Super obvious and no way around it.  Oh well.

@MesmrEwe, thanks for the info about donation programs.  I love that dress so much, I hate to get rid of it.  It has this gorgeous red embroidery on the top of the bodice and on the bottom hem that I totally fell in love with.  But because of the stain, there is nothing I will ever do with it and the box just takes up room in my closet.  But there is tons of fabric that is neither stained nor has the embroidery on it, so I assume an infant outfit or two could be made from it.

I have a matching shawl with the same embroidery!  At least that could be my remembrance of my awesome dress, lol.

ILoveBeachMusic

I had mine, along with my veil, preserved. DD wore the veil for her wedding. I had baptismal outfits made for my grandsons out of the dress.

knottie25e58da743a2a290

I decided to keep it, one day maybe my daughter will wear it.