Fighting fast-fashion — how can you reuse your wedding dress?
Posted on November 09, 2018 by
Unfortunately for fashion retailers, negative press has been circulating their industry recently. It’s all about fast fashion, and it’s clear to see what the fuss is all about. In fact, one report revealed that around 300,000 tonnes of clothing is thrown away each year in the UK. Unfortunately, the rapid rate of fashion consumption is having a negative effect on the environment, from the increased amount of water that is being used in manufacturing to the amount of toxic chemicals that are involved with the making of garments.
But, there is one garment that many of us are guilty of only wearing once — our wedding dress. Repurposing your wedding dress is something that many of us don’t consider, but it can play its part in helping the environment. And, your bridal gown isn’t the only thing that you can reuse from your wedding day, read on to find out more:
Recycling your wedding gown
It’s not uncommon for brides to have an elaborate gown — it’s all part of the big day after all. So, it’s no surprise that a lot of fabric goes into making them. Considering the amount spent on it and the masses of material that goes into creating it, it’s often only worn once!
Of course, there’s the sentimental value of the dress to consider too. The search for the perfect dress can take months! It’s one of the biggest parts of wedding planning and choosing the dress can turn into a family affair for many brides. Then, after the big day is over, the dress usually gets hidden away in a box for years to come. But there are other things to do with your dress rather than letting it contribute to the growing issue of fast fashion.
One suggestion that a lot of brides are doing is donating their dress. This reduces your impact on wastage and may deter someone from buying a new dress that they’re only going to wear once too. Considering that the average wedding dress in the UK is estimated to cost £1,385, it’s no surprise that some brides-to-be opt for a second-hand dress. You can take it to your local charity shop, or to specialist online second-hand bridal stores such as Bride2Bride and Bridal Reloved.
Was your dress made with masses of material? You could create a keepsake out of it. This doesn’t have to involve destroying the full dress, you could make something special out of the train or spare embroidery. Before you do this, dry clean or wash your dress so that you’re working with clean and stain-free material.
Make something that you can put on display and look at whenever you feel like it. One example is creating a pillow out of the material; you could use jewels and beads from the dress and attach some of the details and embroidery. Keep it on your bed and be reminded of your special day as soon as you wake up!
Some brides have had other suggestions too, including: creating a christening gown for your child, using the embroidery to make a lingerie set, and using the lace and beading to form a keepsake teddy bear.
Preserving your wedding flowers
Another big part of the wedding planning process is choosing the flowers. In many ways they sum up the day, as they often complement the theme of the wedding and include some of your favourite varieties. But how can you keep your flowers looking pretty and have them on show as a reminder of your big day?
It can be sad when the flowers begin to wilter. Thankfully, there are some techniques out there that can help you save your flowers and prevent them from drooping or going brown. You probably won’t have time to do much with them on the days following your wedding so in this time, keep them somewhere they won’t be knocked and out of direct sunlight. After this you have a few options for how you want to preserve your blooms:
- Flower pressing — Select the flowers that you’d like to keep and place them on parchment paper, you can rearrange them later so don’t worry too much about this. Then, lay the parchment paper and flowers inside a heavy book and cover with another layer of parchment paper. Weigh the book down with something heavy and leave to dry out for seven to 10 days. You can then rearrange the flowers and get them framed to put on display. Why not create mini frames to give to your bridesmaids and mother as a keepsake with their bouquets in?
- Flower hanging — this is one way of drying out your flowers to keep them for longer. To do this, you need to gather the stems and tie them together with string or an elastic band. You then hang the bouquet upside down in a dry area, such as a hallway. After a few weeks your bouquet should be completely dried out, you can add more flowers to the bouquet as you go too.
- Using epoxy resin — You can do this yourself with epoxy resin and a spherical mould, but it could be better left to the experts. This is where your flowers can be created into a clear paperweight, something that you can look at for years to come.
Merging your rings
Some brides decide that they want to replace their engagement ring with their wedding ring. But getting engaged is a heartfelt occasion too and there are ways you can merge the two moments together.
Some specialise jewellers can fuse your engagement and wedding ring together. This can reduce the wear and tear of the rings as if you were wearing two separate rings on the same finger they might rub against each other. It also means that your rings are aligned at all times and you can match the diamonds up on each ring.
If you’re set on wearing just one ring, you could take a diamond from your ring and insert it into your wedding band to merge them together.
Creating keepsakes
You’ll probably be left with other extras too at the end of your wedding day.
Think about creating a scrapbook or memory box. This could include; spare invites, party favours, your cake ribbon and anything else that sums up your day. This is great to have to look back on, and also to show family and friends in the future. If you still have wedding stationary leftover, make sure that you recycle responsibly.
Keep a hold of your party favours and reuse them as stocking fillers too. If they contained sweets, you can put them in small purses or bags and give them out to children around Christmas, or hand them out around work.
Before you throw anything away or hide your dress in the wardrobe, think twice!
This article was brought to you by Angelic Diamonds, retailer of yellow gold engagement rings.