5 THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR WEDDING DRESS AFTER THE WEDDING

the day might have been beautiful with so many long-lasting memories. something you are bound to treasure for your whole life until the time comes when you have to play the role your mother played with you when your own daughter is now getting married. But what happened to that perfectly tailored, white or champagne beautiful gown that made you the cynosure of all eyes? after so much effort put into it, has it just remained in the storage never to reappear again which is the situation in so many cases. For something so treasured and so lovingly and painstakingly designed and selected... it deserves an afterlife which is why we came up with five solutions on what to do with your wedding dress after the wedding!

1. CONSIGN Chances are your dream gown cost a pretty penny. the easiest way to recoup some of that investment is by consigning it. if there is no business like that at the moment, then this is the time to create one of such. Professionally dry cleaned wedding gowns should be rented out to those who cannot afford the dress of their dreams. Besides having been worn just once, the garment is as good as new and can remain so of it is properly dry cleaned after each wear. this will cost a fraction of the price of buying a brand new dress.

2. DONATE spread some of the love from your big day and donate your gown to charity or someone who needs it. if it is never going to see the light of day in your wardrobe again, why not put it to good use by blessing someone else with it as a token of love.

3. REMODEL depending on the style and cut of your dress, consider taking it to a tailor or seamstress to have it remodeled into a super stylish evening gown. Chop off the train, bring it to knee length, lose the sleeves and maybe even dye it. some brides have also used their bridal trains to make christening gowns for their babies. God knows you have enough yardage to make at least one or two lace blouses as well. your wedding dress could also be revamped into a hot cocktail number depending on the skill of the designer making the changes.

4. PRESERVE the emotional attachment to wedding dresses sometimes makes it difficult to follow the aforementioned suggestions. Cleaning and carefully boxing your wedding dress means you can look at it and remember when your love was new. every now and again, you bring it out and savour the memories...although these visits might decrease over the years. But most mothers still derive so much joy from showing their daughters their own wedding dresses and secretly hope that one day, they can pass it on or at least get it readjusted to suit the modern times so it can be worn again or used one way or the other by their daughters for purely sentimental reasons. either way, if the dress still maintains a special place in your heart, ensure the dry cleaners carefully clean, press and pack your dress up for you.

5. GET INNOVATIVE Put that long train to good use and use the fabric to make pretty satin or lace throw pillows. Pull off rhinestone and lace embellishments for headbands, necklaces and broaches. Google is your friend and we are sure they are bound to be lorryload of ideas and concepts to come up with!