You spent all this money on the perfect dress, got married in it… now what?!
There are several options for things to do with your dress after the big day. Personally, I was too cheap to do anything but put it back into the bag it came from and leave it in my mom’s closet… I don’t really regret that decision either. I kind of like the dirt and weird coloring that happened on the day-of that now remains on my dress forever. I have no idea what I’ll do with it in the future, except show it to my daughter one day, but I like just knowing it’s at my disposal.
That being said, you might want to make some extra cash, reuse the dress or give to someone who needs it. There are a lot of great options that I’ll try my best to share with you below.
1. Donate it
Many places will accept wedding dresses as donations. You can gift it to a family member or save for their future wedding. You can also donate it to a charity such as the one’s below:
- Goodwill
- Salvation Army
- Adorned in Grace
- The Angel Gown
- Brides Across America
- Brides Against Breast Cancer
- Brides for a Cause
- Success in Style
- The Brides Project
2. Preserve it
This can cost from $200- $1000, so you may want to get some quotes from different places before committing. Preserving your dress essentially cleans it and packages it up to remain that way long into the future. The sooner you can take your gown in for this the better. Don’t put it off or some stains may not come off.
The Knot offers some more tips on dress preservation that may be helpful.
3. Make it into a cocktail dress
Want to wear your dress again, but don’t foresee a need for a full-length gown? Take it to an alterations specialist who can make it into a shorter dress that you can wear again. You’ll have the most special Little White Dress out there.
4. Use the fabric to make something for future babies
I love the idea of preserving bits of the dress to create a dress for a future daughter or baptism gowns. You can also just use pieces to create pillows or table runners- really the sky is the limit.
5. Reuse as a costume
If Halloween is coming up, and you were planning on trashing the dress or throwing it away, you can uses the dress as a costume. A corpse bride and groom can be pretty elaborate and fun idea for newlyweds.
6. Sell it
Make back some of that cash you spend by selling it. Lots of brides will purchase used dresses as long as there are any major damages and you had it cleaned. You can sell it on Facebook (in groups or just on your page) or on one of these sites:
7. Trash it
This can mean literally tossing it (if it’s too dirty to donate or reuse) or participating in a trash-the-dress event or photography session. You can use color bombs, paint or just run into the ocean in your dress… talk to your photographer when you book them about whether this is something they’ve done before.
