Wedding dresses - to keep or not?

A friend made mine into a Christening gown when I was expecting DD1 Since worn by 2 more DD's and 7 DGC!

I lost mine. I have moved many times and have no idea which loft it is in!

I hired my wedding dress in 1970, because I just knew it would be cluttering up the cupboard for years otherwise. There was a higher hire price if it was first time worn.
I have never regretted it, although the marriage didn't last.

Second time around I got a simple dark blue silky casual suit which I wore a lot and then threw away.

Harrigran, my dress was also velvet for our winter wedding. Have to say kept in until recently, no-one could have fitted into it was a skinny then and got it made by a seamstress. Our DD used to dress up with it when she was 4. Away now.

Mine cost £26 in 1977 and I still have it. I caught my heel in the hem when running to the loo, and there is a little tear there. I keep meaning to give it to the school drama group, but the idea of making gowns for stillborn babies (or maybe Christening dresses) is a nice one, too.

Mine was sent with other clothing by a church group to Moldova about fifteen years ago. We heard the following year that it had already been worn by four brides who otherwise would not have had a "special" dress to wear.

Mine went into the bin long ago!

Strangely enough, we were saying the other day that very few, if any, bridegrooms bought their wedding outfits, but hiring a wedding dress was quite rare. My mother-in-law made mine, so it wasn’t very expensive, but I think I’d have considered hiring.

There is a charity that uses the lovely wedding dress materials to make little gowns for stillborn babies. Maybe that would be a good home for unwanted wedding dresses?

I still have mine but since my husband died, have not been able to get rid of it.

Didn't have a wedding dress as such, just a v pretty long dress. Won't have fitted me for decades - I was only about a size 8 at the time. It's still up in the loft in a suitcase somewhere, along with dh's wedding suit, IIRC.

Also up there is the dress I made for the occasion, but was really put off when my mother said it looked like an old fashioned nightie!! (To be fair although v pretty it wasn't as flattering as the one I eventually bought,)

However it had its moment of glory a couple of years later, when I was living in Oman. Someone I knew was invited to a very formal do with HRH the Sultan, and had nothing to wear sufficiently covered up. So she borrowed mine - had to stitch the lace round the yoke first, though, since I'd never got around to that.
I did however wear it maybe once when pregnant!

When my DH was at theological college back in the 1980s, one of the African student's wife was going to set up a business hiring out (cheaply) wedding dresses to bride's who couldn't afford one. So those of us wives who still had our wedding dresses donated them for her business

there are specialist vintage wedding dress companies who will buy your dresses if they are in good condition and lots of brides who love vintage clothes,Check out what available local to you.In the last year we've photographed at least 5 brides wearing mums or grannies dress.A particularly beautiful 1930's satin one which the bride accesorised with flowers in the style of that era.Stunning .

Mine ended up thrown in the bottom of a wardrobe in my parents' house. There it stayed until my mother threw it out after twenty years.

Sorry we ‘cleared the loft’ !

Strange that this thread should come up now, as my (first) wedding dress in its original box came down when we clears the lofr prior to selling the house. I’m not too sure what to do with it. I think my mum may have just put it back into its box after the wedding ( I never even got it cleaned ) and she kept if for years then it moved round with me. I have no daughters and tbh my DGD would probably curl up laughing at the thought of wearing it, so thank you stella I will look into that, it would be nice to think it would possibly be used to help others.

I still have my MiL's wedding dress, which I rescued from her bin when she threw it away during a nervous breakdown. It dates back to 1937 and I've never had the heart to discard it. I suppose I really should give it to a theatre company or a museum or something, because it's never going to be used by anyone else in our family - we're all giants compared to her as she was only 5' tall and very tiny with it.
I also have my own wedding dress, after 47 years - I really have no idea why I've still got it, possibly simply because I made it myself and couldn't bear to let it go

stella1949 I've just looked at the website and I think this is a lovely idea. I cannot help with my own wedding dress but I'll certainly spread the word if I hear of anybody with a wedding dress needing a good home.

I still have mine, it’s cream, long and slim line with a train in same material. I want to be buried in it, minus the train.

I’ve still got mine after 48 years, it’s wrapped in blue paper in a box with my veil. My DD wore the veil when she married 4 years ago. I’m a size 12 now at 10.5 stone, when I married in Singapore I was only 7.5 stone

I wore a pale blue linen suit (July wedding). We were VERY hard up and that suit was worn and washed for several years until it virtually fell apart.

I had a white wool coat( January wedding) and a blue velvet pillbox hat. Both fron C&A I think. No idea what happened to them but they didn't cost much. DDs dress cost £4000, just over 10 years ago. It is wrapped in special paper in its original box in her loft. She says she will never get rid of it.

I'm not sure the splendidly shiny look is for me.
Reported.

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Didn't have one - had a pink dress and coat bought by my mum in a weird kind of material that was sort of a cross between crimplene and foam. I suppose it looked ok but at 17 (and a day) I didn't think it was the height of fashion. My husband had a brown corduroy suit bought for him by his mother from her catalogue. Little wonder we don't have many photos

Still have mine in it's original box in one of the spare rooms. I can't see me ever getting rid of it! I certainly couldn't fit into it now

Got rid of mine after divorce, not in anger, but sadness, didn’t want to see it, just a reminder of how my marriage had gone wrong