One wedding dress for three celebrations

In May 2013, our daughter got married in Florida. That’s where she wore her wedding dress for the first time



Then in June, there was a celebration here in Germany for family and friends, and the dress made its second appearance.

  Now, 10 years later, they’re throwing another party for friends and family this weekend. The idea was to wear the dress a third time—but oh dear, she couldn’t get into it. No diet would have helped. There were simply too many centimeters—the zipper wouldn’t go all the way up. 



We were a little surprised, because she really wasn’t that much “overweight.” Then we had the idea: let’s just cut it off and turn it into a skirt. Mom, why don’t you give it a try…

But how? Three layers of fabric, which would have to line up on top of each other in the end. That’s when I had the idea to put the dress on my dress form. It’s a size 34/36, while my daughter was more of a size 40 at the wedding—and lo and behold, the dress fit the dress form. My daughter was so happy—the dress had shrunk at the dry cleaner’s; she hadn’t actually gained that much weight. 



So I was able to add the necessary temporary seams on the mannequin to keep everything together after cutting. The big moment my daughter had been looking forward to was the cutting....



It broke my heart, but otherwise that pretty dress would have just languished in a closet. 



Add a black top, and the wedding dress is ready for its third—and perhaps final—appearance. 

WOW! What a great idea and a fantastic way to upcycle the dress

Best regards, Inge

That’s really a great idea. At my last wedding 31 years ago, I wore a two-piece outfit—top and bottom. It actually still fits me and is even back in style. :)

Oh Petra, what a lovely story! Thank you so much for the photos. It’s a shame the dress shrunk at the dry cleaner’s. But you were still able to save it in a modified version. It’s wonderful that your daughter has been happily married for 10 years now!

Warm regards, Ina

It’s really nice that the dress didn’t just have one appearance; that would have been far too much of a shame!
When I moved in with my husband, we found his ex’s wedding dress while clearing things out, which had disappeared into the very back of the closet, never to be seen again.
That one got a second chance too: my niece got a sensational princess dress for Carnival made from it. 🤣