Back in my rowing days I had a coach that was quite quotable. I still quote him often. Sometimes to my husband. I am sure it is annoying.
One time this coach was at a press conference to announce a new sponsor for the team. And when asked how having this new sponsor made him/the team feel he said, warm and fuzzy. He left the press conference and came to practice and told all of us athletes about his blunder. And we were all delighted to see ‘warm and fuzzy’ become the quotable quote from the press conference.
Last night I sold my wedding dress. My brother told me this was a drastic measure, that I should hold off on it. A few friends raised their eyebrows at the concept as well. I guess it seems a bit heartless to cast aside the dress I said my vows in for $150 and some extra closet space.
But what are we supposed to do with this stuff? Wear it once a year on my anniversary? I would need some serious liquid courage to wear it publicly for fun. And otherwise it really is just taking up closet space.
So I sold it.
The bride-to-be looked great in my dress. And she was so excited to find exactly what she was looking for at an amazing price. She had this huge grin when she came out wearing the dress I wore on the big day.
Good feelings are infectious. Sure, I had a bit of nostalgia for my wedding day but it was mostly a second hand high from her dress success. It gave me the warm fuzzies.
As she left I wished her the best and asked her if she thought she would sell it after her big day. And she said, yes, why not pass it on for another use and recoup some dollars. Got the warm fuzzies again thinking about another bride getting a use out of it.
Go get some warm fuzzies. There are great never used items in your closet and home that will put money in your pocket, create space in your life and be much wanted and loved by someone else.
I am a mother, wife and writer from Vancouver, Canada, currently living in the 
Can I really get rid of my high school basketball jacket. It seems so important. It feels like a tangible link to a really special time in my life. Maybe, one of my sons will wear it. But I doubt it. Okay, I see how gut wrenching this can be. You are very brave.
I agree! You ARE brave! Even the thought of getting rid of my rarely worn and extremely ugly university jacket makes my stomach turn. LOL! You are brave, but very smart and I love the warm fuzzy concept. I do get warm fuzzies thinking of someone enjoying something that is just sitting around here wasting space… In fact, every time I see something that I don’t need or use sitting in my place, I actually feel a little bit sick about it. Why? Maybe guilt that someone else could really use that item or at the environmental impact of having unneeded items? I’m not sure, but it seems to be some sort of innate instinct.
And hence… we’ve got to plan the massive garage sale…
By the way… I am getting “warm fuzzies” by proxy about a bride enjoying your wedding dress and passing it on to another bride to enjoy. Which brings me to another thought… why do we not “rent” wedding dresses? Do they have that kind of service? Stars “borrow” Oscar gowns and jewellery… why not rent? I read somewhere that renting is the new “consuming”. I think it is in Manhattan that you can rent a designer purse for a set amount of time, then trade it in for a different one. Such a great idea!
One more thing… my neighbour owns Dream Group Productions wedding and event planning and yesterday she told me they are planning a Bridal Swap where people can come and sell their wedding goodies… anything… dresses, votive candle holders, toule, vases (I am just giving examples… but I think it can be anything).
Her name is Sarah and their website is: http://www.dreamgroup.ca or number is 604-537-3575.
I also have a NEVER worn university jacket that I feel big guilt about getting rid of. I could wear it to alumni stuff a few times a year but they ordered mine so large I can’t even wear it.
Thanks for the tip on the sale of wedding stuff. Only thing I have left is a ring bearer pillow and my shoes. Would love to sell the pillow so I will look into this.
Gosh. another thing I need to face. My issue is that I haven’t fitted into the dress since my wedding day. My challenge to myself was to hold on to the dress until I could fit into it again and THEN I would sell it. Sigh…
Four babies later…
I totally get the warm fuzzies idea. My dress is the sort that really, really flatters a curvy girl and I can just imagine the delight of another big bum and boobs girl putting the dress on and realising that, wow, she actually is a fabulous shape (not many wedding dresses do that to curvy girls, at least not the year I got married!)
Hmm, another thing for me to think about doing – it would free up a lot of space in that cupboard.
Karen
My dress was very flattering too and although this woman was 8 inches shorter than me it looked fantastic on her. She glowed in it. It felt great!
You’ll want to buy yourself a fantastic dress or pair of jeans when you are down to wedding size. At least, that’s my plan. Fifteen pounds to go…
I’m not much of a sentimentalist, so I’d love to pass my wedding dress along. The problem is that my deceased mother-in-law made it. I never met her so I don’t feel any real connection, but I think that my dh would be a bit upset. Maybe I’ll get brave, and broach the subject…
It is much harder to get rid of things when other people’s feelings are involved. For sure broach the subject with your husband but be very open to keeping it.
We have a funny and big Christmas decoration, motorized with lights and such, that my father-in-law gave us three years ago. He passed away this summer and I knew I wouldn’t be getting rid of it this year. It was such a funny gift and so unexpected from a very quiet man. You need to pass things on when it feels okay for everyone involved.
Sold my dress too… It took me 5 years to get the courage to actually sell it. It just makes sense…I have great pictures and video for memories. I’m a mom now and even though I can still fit into my wedding dress I would not want to wear it again for any reason. I consigned mine at bluesky bridal in Seattle… I love the idea that my dress will be floating down the isle once again
Cool! My dress is at the cleaners (4 years later) and ready for me to pick it up.
As we have been minimizing our stuff, I realized that the dress has been behind my closet door and there is no where else to put it.
I am excited to donate it and hope the next wearer has as awesome of a marriage as I do!
I hope we can I spire more women to do this.
If I ever get married, my plan is to buy a dress in a style that I can wear again for parties etc, and dye it/get it professionally dyed a different colour so it no longer looks wedding dress-y, but I can keep enjoying it