This is the weekend when I say goodbye to my
Delphine Manivet Anatole wedding dress. He's going to a good home - the lovely bride-to-be Kirsty has bought him from me for her Shoreditch wedding next month. It seemed like fate when she got in touch saying that she'd been searching for a second-hand Anatole, and then found mine, only 10 minutes away from her London home. It feels a bit sad to let him go, but in my view it's crazy to keep a wedding dress locked away in your cupboard for twenty years. Let's be honest, fashions change so much, it's really unlikely your daughter is going to want to wear it. And what if you have sons? You don't want to be the psycho mother-in-law who makes your son's fiancé wear your old dress. So much better to make some of the money back, and recycle your big day. What do you think? Are you in favour of selling your gown, or are you going to keep your wedding dress for posterity? If you're interested in recycling your wedding dress, take a look at my advice below.
{Photo Credit} Delphine Manivet Anatole wedding dress, worn by a model {not me!}
How to Recycle Your Wedding Dress
1. When you choose your wedding dress make sure you buy a well-known brand. It's lovely to have a dress made to your own design, but it's very hard to sell it afterwards.
2. Try to be careful with your dress on your wedding day. That doesn't mean you can't have fun, just lift up the skirts when you're walking on gravel, or through puddles!
3. A dress without a train is less likely to pick up stains, and will therefore be easier to sell on. That said, my dress had a train, and I still managed to sell it, despite having trod in someone's dropped canapé. The bride-to-be who bought my dress didn't want a train, so she's going to have it adjusted sans stains.
4. Take the dress off after your first dance. It's less likely to get wrecked in the dancing, and you're more likely to be a little tipsy later in the night, and that's when you might spill things down yourself. Also, it means you get to have two bites at the wedding outfit cherry! I changed into a bright pink dress, which was fantastic for dancing the night away.
5. Avoid red wine - for obvious reason!
6. Ask your mum to help you take the dress off at the end of the evening and hang it up for you.
7. Get it dry-cleaned as soon as you can. Stains can set in. I didn't send my dress away to a special dry-cleaner - I just sent it to my usual one. I reckon all the special places are a bit of a rip-off, unless your dress is massively intricate.
8. Wear really high heels. That means that even if you're short, the bride that buys your dress can cut off the dirty hem and have it raised a couple of centimetres.
9. Avoid drunk uncles holding canapes or glasses. Ditto for your 16-year old cousin, who's been allowed to drink champagne for the first time.
10. If you've got a dress to sell, then why not advertise it for free on the
Before the Big Day Facebook page? All you have to do is
click here, click Like, and then you can post a picture or a video, plus a description.
