Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Dress - Now What?

Even before the wedding I pondered what I might do with my dress after it was all said and done.  The way I see it, you've basically got 3 options.

The first option is to keep it.  It can hang in a closet forever, until it's time for Addy (or another child) to get married and they can see if they like it and if they want to use it.  If they don't, it sits around and gets yellow with age (unless it preserved).  I absolutely LOVE my dress and want to keep it around but I feel like it deserves more than just going in a box to maybe get used in 23 or so years.  Plus, I feel that my children should have the opportunity to go try on dresses themselves and get that thrill when they find the right one.

The second option is to sell it.  Based on the condition of my dress and the price I paid for it, I think I could only get about $500 for it.  I might be able to get just a little more if I'm willing to pay to have it cleaned and boxed for the next seller.  I might also be able to get a little more if I pay a seamstress to repair all the damage that was done due to people continuously stepping on my hem and ripping my bustle.  I could also throw in the veil and maybe the jewelry to sell someone a completed look.

But I'm not sure I'm ready to part with my dress.

The third option is really kind of 2 options.  I could save the dress and then have it torn apart to create either baptismal outfits for my children or veils for my daughters at their weddings.  My dress has a lot of lace so this is a serious option.  

OR, I could schedule a photographer to do a Trash the Dress shoot, making the dress unwearable for anyone, ever.  I do like the symbolism of it, that the wedding is over, I've found my partner and I will never need a wedding dress again but I hesitate to actually trash my dress.  The pictures I've seen are amazing but I searched long and hard to find my perfect dress and I'm not sure I'm ready for that.


I think that perhaps before I can make this decision, I might need to wait a while.  My emotional attachment to the dress is still high; the wedding is still fresh.  Even though I logically know that I'll never need or use the dress again, it's hard to think of letting it go.

I suppose I could always just arrange a Wedding Dress Bar Crawl where we can all wear our dresses again.  That could be fun!

1 comment:

  1. I like the bar crawl idea! Though mine has taken the route of option 1... all cleaned & stored away in a box that sits in our closet.

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