Once your wedding day is over, many brides ponder what to do with their used wedding gown. Certainly some will choose to preserve it carefully as a beautiful memento, and with today’s technologies, that is a very viable option.
However, others prefer to donate it to a future bride, hoping to help make her day special as well. If this is an option you’d like to consider, the following tips may be useful.
Decisions, decisions
Some charities accept donated gowns for brides-to-be without the resources to purchase their own dream gowns, or you may personally know of someone who would be delighted to wear your gently used wedding gown on their own big day. To streamline the donation process, do a little online sleuthing before your wedding and determine which agency or non-profit will be getting your dress. Some charities that accept used wedding gowns include these below:
- Every Girl’s Dream in southeast Michigan is one non-profit that will gladly take your gown and also accepts donated men’s wedding wear as well as bridesmaids’ gowns.
- The Bridal Garden, a New York City non-profit, will resell your used wedding gown at up to 75 percent off the rack price. The money goes to children’s charities in the Big Apple.
- Brides for A Cause is another good option, as they are in a partnership with Wish Upon A Wedding and assist women with life-threatening health conditions and other hardships to have a nice wedding.
Clean it first
No matter how dazzling it may be, if it smells like perspiration, has spills or grass stains on it, no charity will accept it in that condition. And you wouldn’t want a bride to wear it that way, either. Since most dry cleaners aren’t designed to clean wedding dresses, you’ll want a company with experience dealing in wedding dresses to tackle the job so the dress retains all of its fabulosity when the next lucky bride walks down the aisle.
Choose a preservation company with a good reputation and years of experience in wedding dress preservation to ensure the best results possible when cleaning your dress. No matter who winds up with it, they will definitely appreciate the loving care that was taken to restore it.
Angel Wear
There is also another option for donating your used wedding gown. Allow it to be repurposed as angel wear for a tiny baby whose time on this earth was heartbreakingly short. The Mary Madeline Project accepts donated gowns and has seamstresses design tiny burial shrouds from the fabric for stillborn babies and those who pass away shortly after their birth. This is a genuine labor of love and saves the family from having to select funeral wear in their time of grief.
Plan Ahead
Once you decide where you will donate your used wedding gown, make contact with the organization to find out where the drop off points are located. Some may allow you to submit your gown by mail or courier service. Make sure that it is packed securely in an acid-free box that allows air to circulate for best results. It’s also a good idea to check and see if the charity offers a tax break for your donation.
Conclusion
Choosing to donate your used wedding gown is a generous act that allows you to share memories of your special day with others while making their own occasion memorable as well.
Photo credit: Bellafaye Garden / Foter / CC BY
