Skip to main content

Post content has been hidden

To unblock this content, please click here

Liz
Savvy October 2021

Wearing the dress twice..

Liz, on June 26, 2020 at 9:57 AM Posted in Wedding Attire 1 18

Originally I was planning on wearing a simple maxi dress for my small ceremony this year. But then my actual wedding dress was available to be picked up yesterday. As soon as I tried it on I felt like I just had to wear it when I get married. It's perfect for me and makes me feel so beautiful/bridal. So my question is have any other brides decided to just wear the dress twice once for a small ceremony and a second time for a larger vow renewal/reception later on?

18 Comments

Latest activity by Jasmine, on September 15, 2020 at 3:37 PM
  • Kerin
    Super February 2021
    Kerin ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    It's your dress, hun, there aren't any rules! You can wear it to both events Smiley heart

    • Reply
  • Renay
    Devoted April 2020
    Renay ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    SO MUCH YES TO THIS!!!!!!!!!

    Everyone was so surprised I wore mine, but I did it for that exact reason. You should feel like a beautiful bride on your wedding day no matter how many people are there, and I have never felt prettier than I did in my gown! I will NEVER regret that decision. Plus, how many people get to wear their dress twice?

    • Reply
  • Julie
    VIP February 2020
    Julie ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    Wear it twice!!! I wish I could!!
    • Reply
  • Katharine
    Expert July 2021
    Katharine ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    That's currently my plan. I also bought a simpler back up dress for our smaller ceremony, but then the elopement venue we booked was SO pretty that I decided I wanted to wear my dress.

    The only change I'm likely to do next year is not using my veil for that one. My dress is very Great Gatsby-ish/art deco, and I'm considering looking for a jeweled head piece to complement that style. Something like this:

    Wearing the dress twice.. 1


    • Reply
  • Lynnie
    WeddingWire Administrator October 2016
    Lynnie ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Wear it!!! I'd jump on any opportunity to wear my wedding dress more than once! Smiley heart

    • Reply
  • M
    Legend June 2019
    Melle ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    Dude I would totally jump at that aha there’s not many chances at all you can wear that dress again
    • Reply
  • Angel
    Expert August 2020
    Angel ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    I'm obsessed with my dress and have always hated the idea of spending a lot of money on a dress to wear it once. So I got my dream dress, but I will definitely not be wearing it for our intimate wedding ceremony (we had to postpone our wedding but decided to still get married on our original date). I just really don't want him to see it before our actual beautiful big ceremony/celebration. But that's just me!

    • Reply
  • Molly
    VIP September 2020
    Molly ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    I would definitely wear it as much as you can! I put my dress on at least once a month lol. I love it!

    • Reply
  • Kari
    Master May 2020
    Kari ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    That's my plan!


    We eloped on our original day (5/30/20) and I wore my wedding dress. I decided to wear my dress for a few reasons:

    1) My husband said he wanted me to. He was wearing his custom suit that had our date embroidered on it.
    2) My mom hadn't yet seen it. We decided to elope at the last minute because my mom was diagnosed with cancer just 10 days before our wedding date, and we wanted to make sure she could celebrate with us.
    3) We're in our mid-30s and if we are going to have a baby it needs to happen within the next couple years. There is a possibility I could be pregnant or post-partum whenever our redo wedding can finally happen, so if I didn't wear it now, it's possible it wouldn't fit later and then I'd never wear it.
    4) It's a beautiful dress, its the most expensive dress I've ever purchased, and getting to wear it more than once (if I can) just made sense!

    I wore my dress for about 3 hours total for our elopement. We had an outdoor ceremony, and
    I walked on grass, dirt/gravel, and a woodland trail so I was worried I would ruin my dress before the big event, but the only cleaning my dress needed was that I had to pick out little sticks and bramble that got caught in the lace train. Otherwise it wasn't dirty and I didn't sweat it in at all so after about 40 minutes of picking out sticks, it looks as good as it did before and is ready to go for our redo wedding.

    Our elopement was pretty stressful - most things were still shut down here then, so we had people crashing on couches in our house, had to host and cook for family and guests all weekend, I was sharing my tiny 90 square foot bathroom with three other women while getting ready, and my husbands parents are really apprehensive about Covid so wouldn't even hug us. Getting fully dressed up is one of the few things that made the day feel special. I have ZERO regrets about wearing our wedding outfits for our small ceremony.


    We postponed our wedding and reception to 6/12/21. I am planning on wearing the same dress for the ceremony but changing up my hair
    . I also purchased a really inexpensive white reception dress from Lulu's that I can change into at some point during the night. Since my husband has already seen my wedding dress, I like the idea of still being able to surprise him on that day.

    The only real downside to wearing the dress (other than not surprising my husband on the big day) is that I've been hesitant to show off photos from our elopement because I want the dress to be a surprise to as many of our guests as possible.


    Wearing the dress twice.. 2

    • Reply
  • Sarah
    Super August 2021
    Sarah ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    My wedding is next year so it hasn't been effected but my fiance and I both had very different opinions on how many people we want to invite. So our plan is to do an imitate ceremony with close family like I want on a Thursday and then the huge reception he wants with a lot of people that Saturday.. I plan on wearing the same dress at both.. If you get the chance to wear it more then once go for it lol
    • Reply
  • Carolina
    Beginner June 2020
    Carolina ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Wear it!!! You pay so much money for the dress, you should wear it however many times you want lol. I am having a small 25 person wedding and a big reception later, and I plan on wearing mine twice! It's another chance to get all dolled up again😊

    • Reply
  • Jmz
    Expert July 2022
    Jmz ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    I'll be wearing mine twice, once for our wedding in the US, once in China the following year. 😊
    • Reply
  • Cam
    Beginner October 2020
    Cam ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content
    I’m wearing my same dress twice, for ceremony in October and the reception in April!! The place I bought it from even stores it in between the two dates. Your spending enough on it, might as well wear it twice!
    • Reply
  • J
    Beginner August 2021
    Jasmine ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    We are having a small wedding ceremony during the week while we travel and then our reception is the following weekend with a lot more people. I planned on wearing the same dress. This give the people who didn't go to the wedding to see me in the dress.

    • Reply
  • Liz
    Savvy October 2021
    Liz ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Thank you everyone for replying it's given me the extra boost to just wear the dress! Smiley smile

    • Reply
  • Rachel
    Beginner July 2021
    Rachel ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    My hubbie and I just had our small ceremony (family only) this past weekend and I debated the same questions endlessly because we have a great "first look" planned for next year's big celebration. That said, I finally decided to wear my dress for many of the reasons stated above - I feel more beautiful in that gown than I've ever felt in a dress, I can actually get my money's worth by wearing it twice, and you only really get one TRUE "first look" with your hubbie before you're married. I wanted him to see me in full radiance, even if it was just a small ceremony. We also had professional photos done (because I love our photographer). My compromise though is that I'm changing some of the accessories for next year - different hairstyle (up vs. down), sparkly jewelry and headpiece, shoes in my favorite color, etc. It is totally worth wearing the dress twice for the full bridal feeling. And even though you'll have pictures, it's a totally different experience for your guests to see it in person at the big celebration.

    • Reply
  • Suzie
    Super October 2021
    Suzie ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    Yes!! One advantage of this crappy situation is that we get to wear our dresses twice. We are doing the same - micro wedding on our date, postponed celebration next year - but in my mind, this year is still my wedding day, and I am going all out in the ways I can to make it still feel special. Gown, hair, makeup, the works. We also kept our photographer, so we def want to be looking our best! Smaller does not make the event less important.

    • Reply
  • J
    Beginner August 2021
    Jasmine ·
    • Flag
    • Hide content

    I definitely plan on wearing my dress more than once!

    • Reply

You voted for . Add a comment 👇

×

Related articles

WeddingWire celebrates love ...and so does everyone on our site! Learn more

Groups

WeddingWire article topics