What should I do with my wedding dress

Maybe an amateur dramatics group?

There are charities that take old wedding dresses to turn into gowns for stillborn babies. A quick google shows there are several charities.

Sell on Ebay for a reasonable sum, you’ll be helping out someone who can’t afford a new dress.

I am in the same position with mine and DD’s wedding dresses but the problem is I suppose we would have to have them cleaned first before giving them away and how much would that cost?

Greenfinch

I am in the same position with mine and DD’s wedding dresses but the problem is I suppose we would have to have them cleaned first before giving them away and how much would that cost?

I had my daughter's wedding dress cleaned 5 years ago and it cost £80!
I hung onto my own dress (married 1976,) until we moved 3 years ago. It was home made (my mum) and I'm certain of no interest to a modern bride so it went into a textile bin

That's a lovely idea, elusivebutterfly

I'd not heard of that

I paid for DD1’s (first) wedding dress to be properly cleaned and stored in special paper, in a fancy box and I think there wasn’t much change out of £80, but I felt it sort of rounded off paying for everything. They were virtually separated after 6 months and divorced as soon as they could.
She dumped the dress at a charity shop and traded the rings in for something else. Thankfully, her Mr Right did come along.

Greenfinch

I am in the same position with mine and DD’s wedding dresses but the problem is I suppose we would have to have them cleaned first before giving them away and how much would that cost?

I'm not saying that every dress would be suitable, but I knew someone who made wedding dresses for a living (in a factory setting) who said when a dress got marked by a bit of machine oil or something else they used to hand wash and hang to dry. Depending on the fabric and any decorations on the dresses it might be worth thinking about?

Elusivebutterfly

There are charities that take old wedding dresses to turn into gowns for stillborn babies. A quick google shows there are several charities.

This - try NHAP

Thanks Rosie I will give it a try once I get it out of the attic!

Think oxfam has a special wedding dress branch but any infamous could advise.

No need to have a wedding dress cleaned, in the old days they were simpler, mine fits in a small box, I looked online fir advice and put it in the bath, rinsed and it looked as good as new when it dried, no need to iron either.

I would take it to a vintage dress shop where someone would appreciate it.

JayDee60

I would take it to a vintage dress shop where someone would appreciate it.

It’s not vintage, it was bought in 1989, not 1909.

I'd hung on to my first one from 1982, until a couple of years ago when moving house. I sold it on e-bay, along with the bridesmaid dress! They were classed as 'vintage'

I have a similar problem with my Mum's wedding dress. I was quoted £60.00 to get it cleaned, and even then they didn't think they could get some of the marks out. I wanted to get it cleaned and donate it to a local charity shop which specialises in pre loved wedding dresses. If anyone has any tips on how to clean it I would be very grateful.

silverlining48

No need to have a wedding dress cleaned, in the old days they were simpler, mine fits in a small box, I looked online fir advice and put it in the bath, rinsed and it looked as good as new when it dried, no need to iron either.

Any dress with lace/embellishments/layers of different fabrics will be ruined if soaked in a bath! And I've not idea how you would dry it properly. It would weigh a ton!

A local amateur dramatics group happily accepted mine.

My mother in law cut mine up to make confirmation dresses for our daughters

I knew someone who was given a pre-loved wedding dress and who washed it by hand, using Ariel.
It came up beautifully.

It wasn't a meringue, tho.

Give it to people who make burial gowns for preemies.

I was married in ‘73. The dress was sheath-style satin but the real feature was a ribbon lace coat with hood (reminiscent of the Sc****tish Widows advert - but white). Both were embroidered with little pearls and I’ve never seen it’s like since! I’ve also only once made anything that labour-intensive since, but in the end I took it to a charity shop last year. GD & DIL much too short in any case and DD wanted new, so I felt the time was right.

My elderly friend recently passed away. She was 84. She always said her wedding day was the happiest day of her life.

And it would have been her 50th anniversary this year.

She had no family left, so as her next of kin, and power of attorney, it was decided (along with her executors) to send her off to be reunited with her long departed hubby, in her beautiful ivory satin dress.

I guess that might sound a bit weird to some, but she would have loved knowing she still fitted into it after all those years ❤️🥹

My sister made my wedding dress and she made it into a christening dress which I used for both my daughters.