In May of 2012 I got engaged to my best friend/ the funniest man on earth. We decided that a three month long engagement was more than long enough and set our wedding date for August 18th 2012. I went to David’s Bridal and picked off a dress from the rack. It was perfect for my outdoor barn wedding and affordable, so I bought it that day.
I LOVED my wedding dress! It was beautiful, fun, and classy. But I knew from the moment that I bought it that I didn’t want to hold onto it forever. I have talked about this with several of my friends and I know that each of us attaches memories and sentiments in different ways. Some brides cannot even imagine ever giving there dress away, selling it, or “trashing” it. They want to save it for their kids and preserve it in a box because it holds a lot of value to them.
I get it! Weddings are so important and I look back on the day I got married with joy and I remember the promise I made before my friends, family, and the Lord. I have wonderful pictures from Stellar Propeller Studios that I will always hold onto and photo books that I have made to share with guests when they come over. But I don’t need my dress anymore.
I knew the day I bought it that I wanted to donate my dress when I was done with it. I wanted to bless another bride with a free or greatly reduced dress! I was blessed to have a budget for my wedding (as small as it was) but I know not every bride has parents who are able to help them with their wedding! The idea of me carting around a dress for every other move in my life and finding room in a closest somewhere for a dress to sit when someone else could use and enjoy the dress was silly to me. I have talked about it a lot before here but I believe that less is more and giving is better than receiving.
I didn’t just want to donate it to my local thrift store and have it turn into a Halloween costume, so it took me awhile to find a great organization that would be a perfect fit. I finally found Brides Across America and was so excited to see that I could donate my dress! I emailed them right away pictures of my dress and they emailed back saying that they would love to accept the donation!
My heart was filled with such joy as I set out to pack up my weddings dress. I prayed for the bride while I packed up my wedding dress and addressed the flat rate box. Then I took it to the post office and it was done, I had finally donated my dress and it felt good. If you have been thinking of donating your dress, I highly encourage you to donate to Brides Across America! They help provide weddings for the military – whether deployed, wounded, or in need. That is something that I always wanted my dress to go to. I just always wanted that initial investment to be a blessing.
Would you ever donate your wedding dress?
I am not married nor engaged, but I as of right now I think I would sell/donate my dress. I used to hoard things around because after attending boarding school and college, I just never had any other memories to keep. With the help of my boyfriend I was able to get rid of a lot of stuff (bye stuffed animals!) and I think it was because of him my mentality changed about keeping stuff I no longer need and that are no longer memories. So as of right now, YES! I would give it away/sell it. xo
I actually am storing it there.. and probably will till we have the room. So it works out
I love this! I'm getting married next month and have been wondering what the heck I will do with my dress when I'm done. The only reason I would want to keep it would be so my daughter could wear it one day, but let's be honest – most brides these days don't want to wear their mother's dress! I'll keep this in mind. 🙂
I love this! I won't donate my dress, but I have asked my mom to donate my old debutante dress (basically a formal wedding dress) and my old Junior Miss dress (a very fancy pageant dress). My wedding dress isn't an actual wedding dress. It's a short white dress, and I plan on wearing it again!
That is so fun! And also so fun that you did pageants growing up!
I know. I would love my daughter to pick out her own dress – who knows if we will be the same size or really if the style will even be around. My dress was not necessarily "classic"
Yeah! So fun!
That is wonderful! It is so fun to be a blessing like that! I am glad you found an organization in Canada!
Ha, it was just the one pageant. I think Junior Miss is now Distinguished Young Women. My little feminist self didn't think much of pageants in general, but Junior Miss included five categories: interview (which I won), scholastic (also won), talent, poise, and fitness. I was in the best shape of my life that year preparing to do a ten-minute high intensity workout with a smile on my face for the judges!
Glad you found a way for your dress to be used once more! Sounds like this was the perfect opportunity. I have kept my dress, and intend to continue to keep it since I wear it again every year for our anniversary photos (this’ll be the 5th year in a row of wearing my dress!). If I didn’t intend to wear it again, I wouldn’t be so inclined to keep it.
That is such a fun tradition you started! I love that! I planned on never wearing mine again, so it was fun to give it to someone who could enjoy it!