Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA
Engagement Date: March 31, 2006
Wedding Date: November 3, 2007
Venue: Radisson Hotel
About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
Sending Out the Monster
May 19th, 2008 @ 5:10 pm by Mrs. Kiwi
Hello hive, long time no blog! It’s been six and a half months since our wedding, and as the various bits and pieces of the “party” are given away or boxed up, one thing remains (other than a happy marriage): my dress. As some of you may remember, I was not too fond of my dress. Looking back, I do see myself in pictures a little differently, and I’m wondering if I should take the monster out of its plasticy coffin (aka, the garment bag that is taking up 1/4 of our closet space), and send it away to be laundered and boxed up.
A lot of the bees have sent their dress to be cleaned and packed, but these bees also loved their dresses beyond belief, and I am totally envious. Mrs. Bluebell advised me that it would be good to have it taken care of, should I grow to love it, and want to pass it down to my children. I had always assumed I’d just sell it, since I really didn’t want to see it again, but I’m thinking it’d be a hard sell. Still, sell it or keep it, it would have to be cleaned, so perhaps I should just take the leap and send it out.
Are you planning on having your dress cleaned and boxed? If not, what are you planning to do with your dress after your wedding?
19 Responses to “Sending Out the Monster”
I read about a charity that sends wedding dresses to villages in Africa, the dress gets worn for a wedding and then sent to another woman for her wedding and so on and so on, round many villages and many women who could never afford a dress of their own. Before I bought one I thought I could never part with my wedding dress, but honestly I feel that it is just a dress and seeing the sheer happiness and pride in the photos of the women in Africa getting married, I am thinking more and more that this would be a wonderful thing to do. I also feel a huge pull to travel Africa myself so I would love to know that my wedding dress was doing it for me!
Hi Mrs. Kiwi,
I wasn’t fond of my dress, either, and am having a hard time justifying the expense of cleaning/preservation. So, I’m going to have a double wedding ring quilt made incorporating fabric from my dress (probably not a lot, but it’ll be in there). I’ll also save a section of the dress that contains a lot of detail to save for a potential daughter or daughter-in-law who might want to tack it into her dress or use it for a ring bearer’s pillow, etc.
I had my dress cleaned and preserved (through the Affordable Preservation Company). It was not very expensive (about $130) and they did a really great job (was very dirty on the bottom).
There are also places you can donate it such as the I Do Foundation, Making Memories and Heavenly Angels.
If you want to sell it you might try ebay or Craig’s List. Good luck!
I don’t think I’ll get mine boxed. I can’t really justify the cost, since I don’t know what I’d do with it afterwards. I’ll probably sell it or just store it for eternity inside a garment bag in the back of the closet like my mom (who also never really decided what to do).
@ Angie: I was considering getting a quilt made with it! My FMIL is an award-winning quilter, so I could ask her to do it. I think I’d enjoy curling up with it on a cold night more than keeping it in a box.
I’ll wear my dress again! It’s a silk sheath-type dress. My plan is to chop it (it has a small train) and then have it either dyed or just wear it again as a little ivory dress.
It was about a year before I had it cleaned, and when I did I was so happy to get a good deal. But then we had some flooding and my dress got wet, but the place I took it to was closed down, so I had to find a new place. Luckily they also gave me a great deal and now it’s sitting in my garage. 
I keep a lot of clothes that have a story though, so I don’t see myself getting rid of it anytime soon.
heh, we have similar tales, Kiwi. My dress is still up on the third floor taking up almost a whole room. Not sure I want to get rid of it or keep it. Either way, I should clean it, but somehow I haven’t gotten to it yet.
Any ideas on how long we can prolong this decision before it is too late to get it cleaned?
You should definitely donate it… here’s an organization that helps woman with breast cancer!
I think I’m going to have to get mine cleaned and boxed (ha, saying that makes me think of Battlestar Galactica…kind of the same concept there). My mom had her preserved with the theory that she could give it to me someday. Now that I’m grown up she knows there’s no way in hell I’d want to wear it (it’s very pretty but it’s also VERY 70s), but it’s also something that she made herself so it was a very special moment to hide away in her bedroom and look at the dress in it’s special little box. I want to have that moment myself someday with a daughter/future daughter in law/important young woman in my life even if she laughs at my outlandish dress!
I got married 11 months ago and mine is still sitting in my closet as well! I really should send it out to be cleaned and boxed. I wasn’t very happy with my dress either(the seamstress botched some of the alterations and the bust looked pretty bad). If we are forunate enough to have a baby I may use some of the material to make a christening gown.
I don’t have all of the information yet, but a girlfriend and I are in the process of establishing a non-profit that will sell wedding dresses to provide scholarships for low-income GIRLS in the Denver-metro area. Part of the plan is to allow those who donate the dresses to help vote on who receives a scholarship and to host a scholarship award ceremony that donors will be invited to.
If your dress is made of polyester, feel free to toss it in the washing machine on gentle with a little Woolite and hang it to dry. You can treat spots with Shout or bleach.
I’ve done this several times with wedding gowns I’ve then cut up for various projects. (even ginormous poufy ones with lots of lace and beading) They came out great.
Then you can spend all the time you want still deciding what to do with it - but it will be clean.
Definitely donate it! Brides Against Breast Cancer accepts uncleaned/unpreserved gowns - they just ask that you include a $12 donation to cover the cost of cleaning and transportation (yes just $12!).
Hey Kiwi!…i read your dislike my dress post back in January, a mere 8 days after my own engagement. It took me over 3 months to find it, but i wanted to let you know that you made a difference. I didn’t stop. I kept digging. every single weekend and some weekdays, i went from store to store to store. i cried tear after tear over the too small samples. but i was determined to find a dress that I loved, that looked good on me, that was what I wanted in a dress.
and i did that. i did that bc of you.
thank you Mrs. Kiwi. i’m forever grateful.
I’m getting mine cleaned and I’ll probably hang on to it for a while. My sister suggested an online cleaner that she used, http://www.wedclean.com for her own dress 3 years ago. They clean and preserve ANY gown for $149, veil for $20, plus shipping. I think my total is somewhere a little under $200 for everything. I think even if you’re not in love with it now, you may either grow to love it or want to sell it, but either way, the longer it sits in your closet, the highly the likelihood of stains not coming out. So I would strongly recommend cleaning it, and perhaps if you’re ready, sell it or donate it to a bride who may believe your wedding dress is the dress of their dreams!
My gown is a simple, silk charmeuse halter with no beading or anything. I plan on chopping off the train and having it dyed so I can wear it to Mardi Gras balls and formals.
I still have no idea what I’m going to do with my mantilla veil, though. Donate it, maybe?
@GetMarried4Less: I am so glad you were able to take one person’s mistake and learn from it, and hunt to find YOUR perfect dress. Seriously, that makes me so happy.
Everyone else: thanks so much for the recs about donating, cleaning, and storing to make something FROM the dress. I’ll ask Mr. Kiwi his opinion, and I’ll be back with my choice!
I would get it cleaned either way, if you decide to keep it or sell or give it away. That way, the dirt, sweat, and stains will be off. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get it clean.
keeping it. love it.
