Wedding Dress: After Divorce

During my mission to let go of material things, I realized that hidden deep in the back of my closet was something that I no longer needed to cherish: my wedding dress.

Before my divorce, I always imagined holding onto my dress and passing it down to my daughter one day. But after my divorce, I no longer think that’s necessary. Really, who wants a “family heirloom” wedding dress from a failed marriage?

First I want to tell you a little about my dress and why I considered it special before my divorce.

When planning my wedding, I was on a pretty tight budget because I didn’t want to put my parents (or myself) in debt. Most of the decorations were handmade by me and my Mom and Dad, my sister and niece made the cake and catered, and pictures were taken by my cousins. It ended up being my dream wedding and I’m grateful for that.

I always had a vision of what my dress would look like, but hadn’t found it in my budget. The dress came to me from my (now ex-) husband’s family. It had been bought years before for one of his cousins who then decided she didn’t want that dress. And to be honest, when I saw it I didn’t want it either.

It was long sleeved (for an August wedding) and had a massive train. My parents offered to have pay to have it altered if I could make something out of it that I wanted. We took it to a local seamstress who worked her magic. She chopped off the sleeves, tucked in the train and added the blue bow on the back that I always dreamed of having. When it was done, it was perfect.

Dancing with my Dad

But now, I’m left with this huge garment bag, taking up space in my closet and my life and I no longer need it. What should I do?

My niece was fond of the idea of doing divorce pictures. Not sure if you’ve seen any of these but it’s basically a photo shoot of the “ex-wife” wearing her wedding clothes and slowly destroying them. It makes interesting pictures but I feel like that it may be better suited for someone who’s angry and revengeful towards their ex. Thankfully, I’ve moved on past feeling this way so destroying a perfectly good dress kinda feel like a waste.

The next option is to try to sell it and use the money to do something fun with. I kinda like this idea (and it’s the plan for my wedding and engagement rings) but I’m not sure how easy it would be to sell since it has been altered.

Or I could donate it and hope that someone who couldn’t afford a new dress could get use out of it. That’s kinda what I’m leaning towards.

So, what do you think? Destroy, Donate, or Sell? Comment and let me know!

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