Haverhill native Jeanette Morgan is thrilled that her three granddaughters will carry her wedding dress at two upcoming family weddings.
Yes, you read that correctly. They will carry it.
Morgan purchased a heavy satin, beaded dress for $300 in Lawrence for her wedding to her now-deceased husband, Ernest, on Sept. 12, 1948.
Afterward, she stored the gown away hoping someone else would wear it. Her daughter decided not to, so the most use it saw in the past 60 years was when Morgan's granddaughters played dress-up.
More recently, when Brooke Morgan, one of those granddaughters, became engaged, she flipped through Jeanette's wedding album for inspiration.
Seeing how beautiful the now-torn gown once was, Brooke asked her grandmother if they could have Daal's Bridal Center in Haverhill, where she and her fiance reside, make purses and garter belts for all three granddaughters, and two more for the future brides of Jeanette's two grandsons.
No complaints were sounded.
"It was Brooke's idea to make the purses from it, which I thought was wonderful," Jeanette said. "I feel good about this because it's being used again. It's nice that everyone can have a share of the dress, instead of it just sitting there in the attic."
Many brides opt to preserve their wedding gown in a sealed box, often hoping it might be worn again by a future daughter or granddaughter. Others are going the extreme opposite route, "trashing" their dresses by jumping in a large body of water with a photographer nearby.
Then there are the increasing number of brides like Brooke Morgan, who was so inspired by the work done on her grandmother's dress that she has plans to recycle her own.
"I want to use it to make my children's christening gowns," she said. "I think that everyone wants to pick their own dress. So, I wouldn't want to force my children to wear it. But I think it's a nice idea to reuse the dress."
Recent high school graduate Stephanie Azbell attempted to dye a wedding dress her favorite color — pink — for her prom. She was turned down by several vendors who were afraid the dye wouldn't take evenly to the material, but still was able to transform the dress to her liking.
It first was worn by Azbell's U.S. History teacher, Sarah Dwyer. But after hearing Azbell vent about her unsuccessful hunt for the perfect princess prom gown, Dwyer revealed a photo from her first of three weddings.
"I just loved how simple and cute it was," Azbell said. "She said I could have it because she was planning to burn it. So I drew it out and designed what I wanted myself. I absolutely love it now."
Mother-daughter seamstresses Debby and Megan Donovan of Londonderry, N.H., worked their magic on the dress for Azbell. Debby Donovan sewed a ruche of sheer, pink fabric around the bodice of the strapless, white gown to hide the original beadwork. She added a large, pink bow to the back and appliqued pink flowers all over the bottom of the skirt. Her daughter Megan then spent hours gluing Swarovski crystal rhinestones to the gown.
"As you can imagine, my room is very princess-y. So I might make pretty pillows out of the dress," Azbell said of her plans for the dress now that prom is over. "But I want to keep my bow forever."
Danielle Demetri, general manager of Nor'east Cleaners in Gloucester, said even if you might alter your dress in the future, it's always best to dry clean it right away to get rid of spills or stains before they yellow with time.
"Cleaning and preserving the dress takes it out of your hands," Demetri said. "And you should leave it somewhere in the middle of the house so it's not exposed to dramatic temperatures."
Demetri's mother preserved her 1970s wedding dress, but unfortunately stuck it up in the eaves of her attic. It was exposed to extreme heat in the summer and cold in the winter.
"It really yellowed," said Demetri, who got married in August 2006. "My mother had wanted to make her wedding dress into a christening outfit for a possible grandchild, but it was too deteriorated to do so. So, she just took a few beads off her dress, slipped them onto a safety pin and pinned them on the inside of my dress. You couldn't see them, but I knew they were there."
Demetri doesn't know what she'll do with her dress yet, but said some girls on Cape Ann who were married in simple gowns wear them again as is. She also knows of women with more elaborate dresses who don them again, unaltered.
"I know of someone who threw a party for all of her girlfriends that were recently married," Demetri said. "They all got dressed up in their wedding gowns and had cocktails."
New Hampshire bride Michelle Lusignan preserved her wedding dress roughly a month after her May 2007 wedding. Shortly after she decided to unseal the box and reuse the material for her nearly six-week-old daughter, Olivia, to wear at her August christening.
"I wanted to save it for Olivia's wedding day, but the way styles change I figured she might not want to wear it," said Lusignan of Manchester, N.H. "This was a nice way to make a special piece that hopefully will be handed down from generation to generation."
The Donovans make as many as 10 christening gowns a year, 90 percent of them from a bride's dress. They also get plenty of requests for wedding-day handkerchiefs, tissue pouches, bridal purses and ring bearer pillows.
As many as 15 percent of brides shopping at Daal's Bridal Center ask for creative ideas on how to use their dress, co-owner Monica Calabro said.
"Some brides give us their gowns to make household items, such as pillows, tablecloths, linens and even Christmas tree skirts," Calabro said.
And there are those brides who simply give the gown away.
Newburyport wedding planner Linnea Tangorra worked with one bride who, as a tribute to her deceased mother, decided to do just that after her October 2007 wedding at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston.
"I created an online 'contest' on TheKnot.com for girls to e-mail me a reason why they should have my dress," bride Nikki Devaux wrote in an e-mail. "I figured I would give it to a girl that would love something beautiful, but couldn't afford it."
She ultimately gave it to a bride whose mother wrote, saying that she always dreamed of providing her daughter with her dream wedding dress, but couldn't afford to.
"The story reminded me of my own mom, and how she would have done the same for me," Devaux said. "It made me realize how fortunate I've become as an adult, and helped remind me where I came from."
Dying the knot
If you're feeling bold and would like to wear your wedding dress again, dying it could be a good option. Very few vendors offer the service, but for just $20, Manhattan Dyeing Service will take it from white to black.
In general, selecting a dark color, like rich red or navy blue, is the best bet. You can select just about any hue, though, and the company will match it for $50. And if you'd like to look like a sunset, they offer an ombre dye for $95, where one shade fades into another, said spokeswoman Jennifer Dissley.
You could also cross your fingers and put the dress and a bottle of RIT Dye in for a spin in your washing machine — though that's risky.
"I'm family friends with Miss New Hampshire 1995 (Stephanie Mills), and she actually bought a wedding gown at a yard sale and dyed it lilac for an event in Atlantic City," said Londonderry seamstress Debby Donovan. "If there is a stain, it will be pronounced when you dye it. My friend did it in the washing machine, but I would have a professional do it."
If you plan to chop your long, sheath gown to a knee-length cocktail dress, do it after you dye the fabric because there is some shrinkage involved in the process. However, if you wore a huge ball gown, go ahead and cut the bulk of the unwanted fabric off before dying, Dissley advised.
If you plan to chop your long, sheath gown to a knee-length cocktail dress, do it after you dye the fabric because there is some shrinkage involved in the process. However, if you wore a huge ball gown, go ahead and cut the bulk of the unwanted fabric off before dying, Dissley advised.
Natural fibers like silk, satin and organza are fine to dye. But polyester and acetate are big trouble-makers because they're synthetic. Manhattan Dyeing Service will dye polyester, but only to pastel hues.
"You would be surprised at how many dresses have polyester," Dissley said. "David's Bridal almost exclusively uses polyester. It may feel like satin, but it can have some polyester in it."
Creative (Re)-Construction
Wrap the bride's bouquet with a part of her mother's dress.
Create a one-of-a-kind wedding gown from pieces of your sister's, mother's and grandmother's dresses.
Frame a little piece of satin and lace from your wedding dress and hang it as a wall decoration.
Make a christening gown for your future children or grandchildren.
Make a baby blanket or bassinet liner for your future babies.
Make a decorative pillow for your new bed as a married couple.
Source: Newburyport wedding planner Linnea Tangorra
