I did not save my wedding dress! In fact I did not even buy a wedding dress...I rented it. I was a little ahead of my time when it came to this bold move. Renting your wedding dress? Almost as sacrilegious as not waiting for your wedding night (ok...this was a long time ago!!) The truth is I loved this completely over the top dress but it came with a $7000.00 price tag and to rent it was $700.00. I selected door number two.
I have been asked a few times by thoughtful friends on whether or not Danielle would be wearing my dress on her big day. No! She is wearing her wedding dress on her big day. While I am not boo hooing the brides who choose to preserve their dress, I am here to give it to you from a mother's perspective.
That little girl who is all nuzzled up to you while you read this blog will one day wake up with her own opinion...Yes, it is a startling thought but it happens. The "mommy you look so beautiful" will be replaced with "your boobs are showing, I can't believe you would wear that, and Oh My God." Don't worry...soon you will have skin thicker than an alligators.
My wedding dress was a gown from the eighties which makes it not quite as alluring as a vintage gown and not quite as wowing as a new gown. In other words...it is dated. Don't fret...in another twenty years it will cross over to vintage.
This was not my dress but you get the idea. The truth is I loved that gown and still love it when I look at wedding pictures. It had the puffy sleeves and looked as though I had rolled in Swarovski crystals and pearls. It was over the top...just like me. The train was long and the bodice was tight around my 95 pound frame (let's not talk about that). I was a princess.
Danielle does not want to be a princess. She wants to be a bride. My daughter likes to lay low and tends to gravitate more to understated and simple beauty. Her wedding gown made me cry because it was as though it was made for her. Simply beautiful.
There is one other reason to think about. My daughter is a cool eight inches taller than me. Last time I check capris gowns were not all the rage.
However, if you are reading this blog you probably are doing so because I titled this blog Saving the Wedding Dress and Other Uses. And, I plan on telling you but consider a few options.
1. Look in your local phone directory. Many higher end dry cleaners will offer this service. They complete a process that will prevent your dress from yellowing and becoming brittle which will happen with lace over time.
2. Consider using your dress for making outfits for your future children- a name dedication, brisk, baptism or first birthday could be very tasteful and a future heirloom for generations to come.
3. Make some decorative pillows and place them on your marital bed.
4- Start a family quilt. Take pieces of your wedding gown, your children's first everything outfit and make it a memory to be enjoyed.
5- This was my mother's touch...actually makes me laugh just thinking about it...my mother decided she was tired of lugging it around and one year it became my Halloween costume...you guessed it...a bride!
If you are not sure what to do, preserve the dress but know that it will be a few hundred dollars to do so.
Kisses,
Deborah Stilettos
www.Facebook.com/MyDaughterIsGettingMarried
