Bride wears 120 year old family wedding dress (or, why dresses should be preserved)

While I get it since this is SUCH an old gown, I honestly do think a lot of women waste money preserving and keeping their gowns. Everyone says that their daughter might want to wear it, but I've only encountered two brides here who have chosen to wear an heirloom gown. Styles change so much and almost all brides want to choose "their" dress and have that moment.

I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with mine. I should probably donate it.

Wow... so pretty!

I go back and forth with the idea. I'm realistic and know that the likelihood that future daughters of mine would wear it, is slim to none. But, when I got engaged, it was definitely a meaningful experience to pull down the wedding gown box that has been stored in my childhood closet all my life and actually open it. My mom, sister and I opened it together and we tried it on, laughing about how silly it looked (and my mom remembering how tiny she was!). I plan on using my mom's veil and taking pieces of her lace to use on my wedding day. I also plan on using some of the fabric to make christening outfits for my future children.

So although I understand the argument for not preserving your dress... I still think I will do it. I just had such a great experience with my mom and sister when we opened my mom's dress box. I had been staring at it high in my closet since I was a little girl and envisioned myself one day being a bride.

That's a really cute story Jersey Jen. How is it preserved that you can take it out and play with it like that though? When I paid to preserve my dress from my first marriage, I couldn't take it out like that.

I actually think the dress is gorgeous! I love the idea of just wearing it for a portion of the day.

@JerseyJen I'm with you. I loved trying on my mother's dress! It was actually my grandmother's dress originally so it is very special to us. It looked absolutely ridiculous on me. We have very different body shapes so the "hips" of the dress were at my ribs. It was fun to try on though and my mother got talking about her wedding day and the dress. And in the process I discovered her furs would be perfect to wear for my outdoor pictures. The furs originally belonged to my great grandmother. A lot of good things happened that wouldn't have if she hadn't kept the dress.

I know it holds a lot of special meaning... but I'll be the a-hole here and say that I think the dress is hideous! It does nothing for her figure... I'm glad to hear she is wearing her own dress(es) as well.

@Michelle - I didn't want to say it, but I'm not a fan of that particular dress either, but I do love the tradition of it. I can tell that it is a lovely dress, just not a style I would ever want.

@Janeen, it was preserved in the traditional way. Vacuum sealed into a box that can't be opened. But now that one of her daughters was getting married, we broke the seal and took it out of the box. It's been sitting in that vacuum sealed box for 35 years lol. If she didn't open it now, when her daughter is getting married, what's the point?

But as child, it was in the box in my closet and I would secretly take it down and look in it. It was in a vacuum sealed box, but it had a clear plastic side so you could still see the dress. We never took it out of the box when I was growing up though.

EDIT: KB and Michelle. Oh absolutely! The dress is ugly. My mother's long sleeved, turtle neck 80's style wedding dress was ugly on me also. Styles change.

Good grief, the very first bride 18 inch waist.... I had one at 17 and I never realized how weird that looks.

I LOVE this. I really like when there is tradition or a story involved in weddings.

I always thought my mom's dress was so outdated, but then when we pulled it out again at the dress shop to see what we could use from it, the seamstress suggested I wear the dress for my rehearsal dinner. All she did was shorten it and let it out since my mom was a twig, and it looked kind of like an Anthropologie style dress. It made my mom so so happy, it was a cool story, and my dad immediately got teary eyed when he saw it (it was a surprise for everyone but me and my mom) and was also so happy.

I also used her veil, which was a DIY for her, and was about 4 layers of tulle. The seamstress cut it to one layer, added swarovski crystals, and it looked like a designer veil. It just added something so special that really was just between my mom and I, so I immediately had my gown preserved with hopes to do that with a future daughter....

This is fantastic! I love that they're truly restoring and preserving this dress. It's a piece of history!

Wow, now THAT'S an old dress! I'm obviously a fan of tradition. I know my mom never dreamed that her daughter would wear her dress. And to be honest, I didn't grow up dreaming that I would wear my mom's dress. Once the engagement came, I just knew I wanted to go the route of wearing my mom's dress. I highly doubt my own daughter will wear it someday, but I'll probably keep the gown around just in case

I wanted to wear my mom's dress (it was also her mom's) but I just looked like a kid playing dress-up despite it fitting perfectly. We took the lace from that dress and made my wrap with it.