Your wedding dress is likely one of the most precious garments you’ll ever own. It’s a visual inspiration of your special day and harbors a lot of emotions from that amazing day. As much as you may love the thought of holding onto it, you may also consider the practicality of keeping it. The question on whether to keep your wedding dress or not arises in every bride’s mind after the wedding.
Reasons to Keep Your Wedding Dress
1. Sentimental Value: Your wedding dress holds a lot of sentimental value not just meant for you but also for your family. It reminds you of that special day and all those joyous moments you had with your family and friends. The dress serves as a source of pride and connects you back to those happy times when you wore the dress. You may want to pass it on as a family heirloom to your future daughter or granddaughter.
2. Resale Value: If your dress is a designer outfit, it can be quite expensive. Hence, if you keep it well-preserved, it can be sold in the future. Designer wedding dresses can be resold for a substantial amount of money. Depending on the condition of your dress, you can recoup some of your investment in your wedding.
3. Costume Value: Your wedding dress can also be used for costumes in plays, dance productions, and Halloween costumes. You or your children may want to repurpose it into a fabulous dress for another occasion.
Reasons to Sell Your Wedding Dress
1. Storage Problems: A wedding gown is usually a big, bulky garment that requires extra storage space. This can cause concerns, especially if you’re living in a small apartment with limited storage space. You need to have enough space set aside in your home to store the dress properly. If you can’t keep a well-preserved gown, it might be better to sell it.
2. It’s Out of Style: Wedding fashion trends are constantly changing and what may have been fashionable and trendy a few years ago may be outdated today. While you may love your dress, it may be difficult to justify keeping it if it’s unlikely that you or someone else will wear it in the future.
3. Financial Needs: If you’re in need of garage money and your dress is worth significant value, selling it might make sense.
How to Preserve Your Wedding Dress
If you decide to keep your wedding dress, proper preservation is key to ensuring it looks just as fabulous in the future. Here are some tips on how to preserve it:
1. Clean It: After the wedding, you need to have your wedding dress professionally cleaned. If you’ve had a wedding in a long dress, it may collect dust and dirt over the course of the day. It’s imperative to have your dress cleaned as soon as possible after your wedding as dirt and stains can set and become very hard to remove.
2. Store It Correctly: Your wedding dress should be stored in a cool, dry place. It should not be stored in plastic as it can cause moisture to collect inside and damage the dress. A muslin or cotton garment bag should be used instead.
3. Check It Often: Check on your wedding dress every 6-12 months to ensure it’s still preserved can limit any damages that might occur.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, deciding whether to keep your wedding dress is ultimately up to you. Before you make your decision, it’s important to consider the sentimental value your dress has and whether or not you’re trying to justify keeping it with an emotional attachment. If you’ve decided keeping your dress is important, it’s vital to take proper steps to store and preserve it correctly. On the flip side, if you need to get rid of it for practical reasons, try selling it so that someone else can appreciate it all over again.
FAQ
What is the point of preserving a wedding dress?
Wedding dresses are one of the most important and cherished garments a woman will ever wear. It is the focal point of your wedding day, where you will make lasting memories with your loved ones and your partner. Therefore, it is completely understandable why you would want to preserve your wedding dress after your big day, as it can help to retain those wonderful memories and moments.
There are several benefits of preserving your wedding dress. Firstly, it could be seen as a practical way to store your dress that will be primarily for sentimental reasons. By preserving your wedding dress, you can ensure that it is stored and maintained correctly, which will keep it in good condition for you to either keep as an heirloom, pass down to future generations, or sell later on. This practice also saves space in the closet, as a gown that is not well-preserved can take up a lot of room.
Secondly, preserving your wedding dress can also be eco-friendly. This is because a preserved dress will minimize the necessity of dry cleaning or repairs since the dress will remain in good condition, which reduces carbon footprints that are usually produced during the cleaning process. For brides who care about the environment or are looking to make small changes in their daily lives to protect the planet, wedding gown preservation can be an eco-friendly option.
Another important benefit of wedding dress preservation is to eliminate the risk of the fabric yellowing or stretching. These issues can often occur due to the fabric’s exposure to light and humidity after the wedding day. So, by properly preserving your dress, you can ensure that your gown will look the same as it did on your special day and continue to bring joy whenever looked upon.
Lastly, wedding gown preservation can also prevent future damage from stains or elements. Even though wedding dresses are designed to be durable, they can be susceptible to stains and other damage. When you have your wedding dress preserved, it is carefully cleaned, ensuring that any stains are removed, and the dress is treated to protect against future damage.
To sum it up, the purpose of preserving a wedding dress is quite significant. It can save valuable closet space, be kind to the environment, prevent yellowing or stretching, and prevent future damage from stains or elements. More importantly, it remains a meaningful journey that preserves the memories of the biggest day of your life.
Do wedding dresses lose value?
Wedding dresses can be a significant purchase for any bride-to-be, with many dresses costing thousands of dollars. Therefore, it is a common question to ask whether wedding dresses lose value after they have been worn once. The answer is yes, wedding dresses do lose value after the first wear.
After a wedding dress has been worn, it is considered a “used” or “secondhand” item. As with any other used item, the resale value of a wedding dress is typically lower than the purchase price. On average, the resale price of a gently worn wedding dress can drop nearly in half after the first wearing. This means that if a bride paid $3,000 for her wedding dress, it may only be worth around $1,500 after she has worn it.
However, it is important to note that the decline in value does not stop after the first resale. Each time the dress is sold, the price will continue to decline. In fact, the value of a wedding dress can decrease more rapidly than other types of clothing due to changes in fashion and style preferences. Therefore, it is not uncommon for a once-expensive wedding dress to sell for a fraction of its original purchase price after several resales.
There are several factors that can affect the resale value of a wedding dress. One factor is the quality of the dress. A well-made, designer dress is likely to hold its value better than a cheaper, mass-produced dress. The condition of the dress is also important. A dress that has been well-maintained and cleaned after the wedding is likely to be worth more than a dress that has been stained or damaged.
Wedding dresses do lose value after they have been worn. The decline in value can be significant, with a dress’s resale price dropping nearly in half after the first time it is worn. However, the resale value of a wedding dress can also be affected by factors such as quality and condition. Therefore, if you are considering purchasing a wedding dress, it is important to weigh the potential resale value when making your decision.
How many people keep their wedding dress?
According to a study conducted by a renowned wedding website called “The Knot”, around 60% of brides choose to keep their wedding dress after the wedding. The study further revealed that most brides choose to keep their wedding dress as a meaningful memento of their special day. Some brides choose to keep their dress to pass it on to their future daughter or daughter-in-law. Additionally, many brides keep their dress for sentimental value, a reminder of the beautiful memories and emotions experienced on their wedding day.
On the other hand, there are brides who choose not to keep their wedding dress. Reasons for this could include wanting to save space, preferring not to hold onto material objects, or simply wanting to sell the dress to recoup some of the cost. Some brides also choose to donate their wedding dress to charitable causes or to pass it on to other brides in need.
Despite the reasons some brides choose to part with their wedding dress, it is clear that a majority of brides find significant sentimental value in holding onto their dresses. It serves as a physical memory that captures the essence of their special day.
