Spring cleaning in the fall! Advice needed!

[getoutamykitchen]

Anyone have a walk in closet they can't walk into? I do and I'm so tired of it. I've been trying to clean out the closet and throw things away. A yard sale is out of the question. I live to far out in the sticks for a yard sale to pay off. My last one netted $3.00. That didn't even cover the cost of the poster board to advertise it.
Anyway the advice I need is, what do I do with my wedding dress. I've been saving it for over 14 years. My reason to save it was to hand it down to my child, but my son has already informed me he's not wearing it.
I paid to have it preserved right after my wedding. How do I sell it without breaking the seal. Once opened it's vulnerable to all the elements like moisture, mothes, etc... I have plenty of pictures of me in it, but I'm not to keen on using a picture of me to advertise it. Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[VeraBlue]

You could sell it on ebay...just use a picture of your own wedding. It's the only way to show what the dress looks like

Or you could donate it.

 

[ChefJune]

I would advertise the wedding gown on Craig's List, along with any other items you REALLY think may have real value to someone else.

I would separate everything into piles called "Donateable" and "Toss." Then pile the "Donateable" items into your car and take them to the nearest Salvation Army or Good Will or something like that. They will give you a receipt you can use to take a tax deduction for the donation. Then bundle the remainder in those large "builders bags" you can get at Home Depot and put them out for the trash pickup.

that's my advice. you will feel SO much better when it's done.

and if you need inspiration, tune into the show Clean House on the Style Network. That should give you real incentive!

 

[miniman]

You could use your pictures - if you don't want to recognisable, scan the photo and then use a photo application to blur out your features. Someone really good (you may be able to pay someone to do it, could remove all your features and leave the dress showing as if worn but no one in it. Ebay may be a good bet - with the money squeeze, a lot of people are looking for bargains.

 

[smoke king]

I'm not sure about Florida, but up here in (sunny?) Nebraska they have "consignment" shops for used wedding dresses, etc.

Probably won't get a lot for it, but anything is better than nothing, and you'll probably be helping out some youngster who otherwise would'nt be able to afford a dress as nice as yours.

 

[Uncle Bob]

My reason to save it was to hand it down to my child, but my son has already informed me he's not wearing it.

Can't say that I blame him! I know it's a long shot, but maybe a future DIL might wear it...I would keep the dress....The other stuff? Follow Chef June's program!!

 

[Lynd]

Can't say that I blame him! I know it's a long shot, but maybe a future DIL might wear it...I would keep the dress....The other stuff? Follow Chef June's program!!

That's what I thought, about the DIL. Might be worth keeping

 

[texasgirl]

You could use your pictures - if you don't want to recognisable, scan the photo and then use a photo application to blur out your features. Someone really good (you may be able to pay someone to do it, could remove all your features and leave the dress showing as if worn but no one in it. Ebay may be a good bet - with the money squeeze, a lot of people are looking for bargains.

You can blur your face on photobucket. It's a free photo upload site and you can now play with different stuff. Your face will be completely blurred by one click on the mouse.

 

[LadyCook61]

I would advertise the wedding gown on Craig's List, along with any other items you REALLY think may have real value to someone else.

I would separate everything into piles called "Donateable" and "Toss." Then pile the "Donateable" items into your car and take them to the nearest Salvation Army or Good Will or something like that. They will give you a receipt you can use to take a tax deduction for the donation. Then bundle the remainder in those large "builders bags" you can get at Home Depot and put them out for the trash pickup.

that's my advice. you will feel SO much better when it's done.

and if you need inspiration, tune into the show Clean House on the Style Network. That should give you real incentive!

if you use Craigslist, make sure it is Craigslist.org not com

 

[Barbara L]

...I paid to have it preserved right after my wedding. How do I sell it without breaking the seal. Once opened it's vulnerable to all the elements like moisture, mothes, etc... I have plenty of pictures of me in it, but I'm not to keen on using a picture of me to advertise it. Anybody have any suggestions?

You preserved it for yourself. Anyone who buys it would want it for the dress--they have no memories attached to it. I think ebay, Craigslist, or your local newspaper ads would be a good place to start. However, I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy a sealed box, especially after all the stories about people who found out, years later, that their sealed box didn't actually contain their wedding dresses. So if you want to sell it, my advice is to take it out of the box and take a picture of the actual dress.

Barbara

 

[Claire]

This line is really making me laugh. I write a column for my local, small town paper and last month's subject was getting rid of your stuff. I had to go look you up on the atlas. Take that gown to a shop in Tampa that specializes in formals and put it up for sale. Let some woman who cannot afford to buy a gown have it! Then when you have happy memories of your own wedding, you can also think of someone who couldn't afford such a lovely gown. I never really had a wedding gown, per se, but my sister made me wear what I considered to be a rather hideous bridesmaid's gown (she had a snowball wedding, so we were all in white). I'm a size 18 or so, and quite tall, so I had to have it customized. Ugh. Then we all decided to sell all of the gowns we each owned, and they didn't sell. So I sent them to a friend in Colorado who at the time was making porcelaine dolls. She took our gowns and made wedding clothes for her daughter, neice, grand-daughter, etc. I was SO happy that the clothes found a happy home. These girls would not have had such a lovely wedding without the many yards of fabric that we'd sent. Yes, I'm sure that all of you hope that you will have a daughter or grand-daughter who will want your dresses. But, if that isn't going to happen, why let the dresses go to ruin? Yes, even preserved. Preserved for what or who? Let someone who can afford $40 have a $1000 dress! Think and dream of how this bride you don't know is going to have such a lovely day.

 

[*amy*]

Anyone have a walk in closet they can't walk into? I do and I'm so tired of it. I've been trying to clean out the closet and throw things away. A yard sale is out of the question. I live to far out in the sticks for a yard sale to pay off. My last one netted $3.00. That didn't even cover the cost of the poster board to advertise it.
Anyway the advice I need is, what do I do with my wedding dress. I've been saving it for over 14 years. My reason to save it was to hand it down to my child, but my son has already informed me he's not wearing it.
I paid to have it preserved right after my wedding. How do I sell it without breaking the seal. Once opened it's vulnerable to all the elements like moisture, mothes, etc... I have plenty of pictures of me in it, but I'm not to keen on using a picture of me to advertise it. Anybody have any suggestions?

You could get together with a friend that lives in a more populated area, and have one huge yard or garage sale. I bag and/or box things up & go the the Salvation Army's website, list everything you are donating, & schedual a date & time for them to pick it up from my home. They give you a receipt, or you can print one out on line. I use ImageForge (free download) to edit photos.

Paint, Image-editing Freeware Download

 

[getoutamykitchen]

O.K. lots of great suggestions, but here's what I'm going to do. I'm kind of a crafty person and dabble in a little sewing once in a while. I think I'm going to hold on to it and use the fabric for other things. Heck if I never use it and 10-15 years down the line my son is married and they have a child, I would love to make a christening gown with some of the fabric. Thanks for everyones time!

 

[babetoo]

i have a walk-in closet that you can't walk in at all. handyman is working on building some more shelves in it, to get stuff off the floor mostly afgans and comforters. next week i have to sort stuff and be ruthless. no wedding dress but tons of unworn clothes. uck babe

 

[CharlieD]

I can't even talk about this. With 4 kids at home we have so much garbage in the house it is terible, oy .............

 

[Claire]

I LOVE the christening gown idea! When I gave away our gowns I was expecting my friend to make doll clothes with them, had no idea I was outfitting a wedding party!

The real thing, though, is the issue of having so much stuff that you actually clutter up your own mind. Recently many of my freinds have for various reasons had to get rid of their excess baggage, and they're amazed at how much lighter and more clear their lives are. I had to get rid of excess stuff every few years because I moved. Now I live a place where I have seasonal clothes. So every spring and fall I review what I did and did not wear the year before and make up a big bag for goodwill. While I'm at it, I also go through the rest of the house. Didn't u se it last year? Trash or Goodwill. It keeps me sane and current.