What I Did With Mom’s Wedding Dress

Mom in her wedding dress
My mom in her wedding dress

My mom’s wedding dress no longer sits on the top shelf of my closet in a decaying cardboard box tied with string. I asked you all what you did with yours; here’s what I did with Mom’s.

Even if I had a boyfriend in sight, wearing the dress was never a possibility for me. Mom was tiny and I’m just not. Both of the granddaughters are married and had their own dresses. Holding on to this dress for another generation didn’t make much sense but I couldn’t bring myself to give or throw it away.

I found Fairy Godmother Creations in Dayton, Ohio, by doing web research, and looked at almost every photo on the site to see if I liked the work they did. I did. So I gulped, packed up the dress in tissue paper and carefully sealed in a fresh cardboard box, and sent it off to Liane.

Pillows from moms dress

Just before Christmas, actually, on my parents’ wedding anniversary, I got a package with the new creations: First, two decorative pillows made of the satin underdress topped with the lace overdress, featuring hand-covered satin buttons lovingly made by my grandmother, who created the wedding dress. Both the satin and lace had yellowed with age but are now glowing and beautiful. The backs of each pillow are lace over satin. I love them.

TreeAngelThe other creations were two identical Christmas tree angel-toppers. The back of each angel has a short row of buttons between the wings, taken from the sleeves of the wedding dress. Placed on top of our tree, the wings gently folded forward.

We had a piece of both Mom and my grandmother with us for Christmas. For my father, placing the angel made from the wedding dress on the tree on their anniversary brought Mom closer on a day when he missed her dearly.

I am very pleased with the work of Liane and her team at Fairy Godmother Creations and recommend them highly if you are looking for something to do with a wedding dress or other special garment. Now instead of a dress in a decaying cardboard box, I have keepsakes that are displayed and will last for years.

3 thoughts on “What I Did With Mom’s Wedding Dress

  1. Vickie

    Very clever. I would never have thought of tree toppers. And that is really great to pass on, will get used. China/porcelain heads and hands?

    The pillows are also lovely.

    Are they all tagged in some way so future generations know? Nowadays, can have tags printed. Could also just put it on paper and tuck inside.

    My mom’s wedding dress is long gone. Neither of my grandmothers had one. But I have mine, which is now probably 75-100 years old. A friend found it in the attic of the house she was renting. Landlord gave it to her to give to me. It fit perfectly.

    My mom has been making doll clothes. And she has kept little books (with cloth swatches) and she sticks notes in some of the clothes.

  2. Pingback: And now I have a mink bear | Random Thoughts of a Disordered Mind

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