Before
I got engaged, I thought spending a lot of money on a wedding dress was
ridiculous. Seriously, what's the point? You only wear it once! My
best friend rented her wedding dress, with fabulous results (half the
cost and you don't have to clean or store it), so I planned on doing the
same. The only glitch was time and location: Our engagement was just
over 4 months, and the only dress renting store I knew of was 4 hours
away. I thought I'd get a used dress, but I decided to try a few new
ones on and ended up falling in love with this beauty:
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| Anais Collection (now Coco Anais)106 |
Of course, I
caved and bought it (though I had the sparkly sequin belt
replaced by ribbon, much to the amusement of the wedding store;
apparently I'm the only bride ever to want LESS bling). I loved my dress and am so glad I listened to my mom and bought it.
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| Gratuitous wedding dress photo |
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| Isn't the back so pretty!? |
A few months ago, we had a guest speaker at our church who challenged us on how much STUFF we have sitting around our houses. It's true that most of us have clothes we don't wear, kitchen gadgets we've never used, and books we'll never read. I thought I'd purged a lot of stuff after moving twice in a year, but could still do more. Sitting there in the pew, I was reminded suddenly of my wedding dress, in our basement closet gathering dust (well, the garment bag is gathering dust at least). What if I sold it and gave the money to a worthy cause? I thought of the verses in Matthew 6:
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Readers, this is where I get real with you: I went home and looked up options for my dress on the internet.... and then I left the links open in my browser for weeks without using them. My dress is still in the basement, and when I think about selling it, I get emotional. I know it's silly. I know any future daughter will likely not want to use my dress for her own wedding. I know it how unlikely I am to ever wear it again... yet I hesitate, grasping in my hands this earthly treasure. Maybe today will be the day I finally let go...
This is where I want your input, especially those of you who have been married for longer than I have: What did you do with your wedding dress? Did you do a trash-the-dress session? Did you sell it? Do you ever try it on just to feel like a princess again? :-)
Mine is still hanging in my closet. Didn't do the trash-the-dress photo shoot. I did try it on again once - no way did it fit and that was even after 6 months of being married! (But, I had been practically sewed into that thing having gained 10 pounds from the time I bought it til the time I had to wear it!)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to give it to someone. Was going to donate it a year ago, but my husband wasn't quite ready to see it go away.
If we were Catholic, I know of some women that use that material to make baptism dresses. I've always thought that was neat!
Thanks for your input! I can't bear to do a trash-the-dress shoot; it seems like so much money spent in vain. I'd rather sell it or give it away. My husband doesn't seem to care, though he was doubtful that I could go through with selling it. :-)
DeleteI love the idea of the baptism dresses. There's a great scene in the book The Birth House where all these women try to make a wedding gown out of all of their childrens' baptismal gowns. That is well beyond my sewing ability!!