One of the most important personal decisions that a bride will make when planning her special day will be the selection of her wedding dress. After the wedding some brides will want to have their dress preserved in a special acid-free box lined with tissue to prevent it from discoloration, shown below is an example.
Other brides will want to display their wedding dress in a shadowbox as a decorative piece for the couple’s home, the example in the photo below shows a wedding dress encased in a large frame and displayed with the bridal bouquet.
Sometimes, a more practical and sentimental bride might want to repurpose their wedding dress and below are some ideas and suggestions.
Wedding dress repurposed into heirloom clothing or jewlery
The most obvious choice would be to preserve a bride’s wedding dress and pass it onto their future daughter as a cherished heirloom, in a similar way some brides have chosen to wear their mother or grandmother’s wedding dress. This is the most practical way of repurposing because the dress is usually preserved as a whole garment with only a few alterations needed to fit the new bride.
Special Note: For a bride, husband or other family member – before repurposing a bride’s wedding dress, especially for a gift item in which the dress would be cut-up into material, ALWAYS check with the bride BEFORE!!
Since there are usually yards of beautiful fabric, trim and lace used to create a wedding dress and veil, one idea is to repurpose the material into a baptismal or christening gown for the couple’s future children, as shown in the photo below. In this manner the garment is not gender specific and can continue to be used for any additional children and becomes a sentimental family heirloom.
Another idea would be to repurpose the wedding dress into a first communion dress
for the couple’s future daughter, an example is shown in the photo below.
The next two ideas would be to repurpose the wedding dress into items of personal clothing that can be worn by the bride in the future, perhaps for special events such as an anniversary dinner, a baptism or christening ceremony or a family wedding.
the first item is purse or clutch made from the wedding dress material
the second item is a scarf made from a bridal veil
The next idea is not an item of clothing but a sentimental item of jewelry that can be worn after the wedding as a reminder of a bride’s special day. A pendant necklace or locket can hold a small piece of material from a wedding dress as shown in the photo below.
Home decorations or other items
Here are two ideas for home decorative items that would have a direct connection to the wedding day. The first item would be a great idea for the repurpose of a wedding dress isfor a wedding photo using the material for a frame mat, as shown below.
The second idea would be use the material from a wedding dress
to cover a wedding photo album, as shown below.
Another great idea for repurposing a wedding dress would be for a home decoration and the material could be used to cover a lamp shade, as shown in the photo below. This could be used in the couple’s bedroom or perhaps a baby nursery.
The next idea would be a very sentimental item for a first baby and the wedding dress material could be to used as a covering for a baby bassinet, as shown in the photo below.
Toys or Doll items
Any of the items listed in this section would make a wonderful gift idea for a child. The first would be to use the material from a wedding dress to create a teddy bear; it would make an especially sentimental gift for a child’s first birthday.
The next two ideas would be to create clothing to dress a doll from a wedding dress material, shown below are examples for a Barbie doll and an American Girl doll.
Holiday decorations
The next ideas for repurposing a wedding dress would be to create holiday decorations, any of the items shown below would be great for a couple’s first Christmas.
an angel tree topper made from a repurposed wedding dress
a Christmas tree skirt made from a repurposed wedding dress
a Christmas stocking made from material from a repurposed wedding dress
shown below is an example of Christmas ornament
using material from a repurposed wedding dress
