Repurpose your Bridal Outfit: How to Alter Your Wedding Dress After Your Wedding Day

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do here at AH. Repurposing your dress is a big part of that and something we actively encourage. It is often the one time you have a dress created and fitted perfectly for you, made from gorgeous natural silk fabric – so why not make it last for years to come?

With our advise and guidance we are going to show you some ways to transform your wedding dress into an item of clothing that you can introduce as a staple in your wardrobe to rewear time and time again.

In our Repurposing your wedding dress survey a lot of brides mentioned they felt they could only wear their wedding dress again for very special occasions, whilst this is amazing we are also here to show you how to relax down your wedding dress creating outfits that you could wear everyday! We have teamed up with one of our past brides Apee, founder of D.A.Y Boutique in Peckham and have some stylish, wearable, playful looks coming your way very soon.

Before we get to the styling part we wanted to show you how our team here at AH can alter your dress to make it more versatile for multiple wears. We offer post wedding alterations whereby you can come back to visit our fitting team to alter your bridal outfit so you can get the most out of your dress.

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How to clean a wedding dress

Firstly, it is really important to take care of your dress. We would highly recommend dry cleaning your dress as soon as possible, this is crucial when it comes to preserving natural silk fabrics and will freshen up your dress after your special day. You can book dry cleaning through our website and we will take care of the rest with the trusted support of our specialist cleaners.

On to alterations; We’ve reworked some of our older sample dresses to give our brides a better understanding of the types of post wedding alterations that are possible and to give these styles a new lease of life!

1. Shorten Skirt Length and/or Remove Train

One of the easiest ways to make your wedding dress more wearable after your wedding is to shorten your design. You can keep it floor length and remove just the train or shorten to ankle, midi or mini length.

By doing this you take away that ‘Bridal’ element that may make you hesitant to wear your dress again. There are so many ways to style up a shortened dress by layering roll necks underneath to adding a jumper, jacket or blazer on top. Team it with some great heels for a more formal event such as a Christmas party or boots for a more relaxed brunch style.

This is our our matte silk bias cut Bea Dress, we removed the small train and shortened to knee length. The perfect example of how a simple hem alteration can relax the whole feel of a wedding dress.

2. Simplify

Another great option to gain more wear out of your wedding dress is to simplify any details that may make it feel a little too bridal for everyday wear. This could be removing lace details, beading or sleeves. By stripping your design back to a simple silk design you will have more flexibility to style it up and pair it with some of your favourite accessories!

We decided to remove the lace panel in our Freya dress to show you how removing a small bit of lace can totally change the overall feel of a dress. To make it a little more playful we also shortened this style to ankle length so it could be paired with some amazing heels or boots.

The Shortened Skirt

3. Change Your Neckline

Depending on your dress style you may be able to change up the neckline to give it a completely different feel which may help it work with more items that you have in your wardrobe.

Our Kennedy dress had a beautiful high neckline which was perfect for a contemporary bridal look, we wanted to give this style more versatility by opening up the neckline into a square shape with spaghetti straps. It now works perfectly for a summer party and looks amazing layered over a t-shirt or light knit. Again, we shortened this style to midi length and removed quite a large train. It can now be worn to multiple events and can be styled up or down depending on your personal preference.

Skirt changed by removing the long train and shortened to a midi

4. Convert your dress into a Top & Skirt OR choose bridal separates

A lot of our brides are choosing to make their wedding dress into two garments, a top and a skirt. This is such a fantastic way to get the most from your dress after your wedding day. Alternatively you could choose bridal separates for your wedding day!

Having two items made from one dress means you will get multiple wears and can really adapt it to suit your style. You can wear your top with jeans, skirts, leather trousers or shorts. Shorten up your skirt and pair it with a silk colourful cami, blouse or oversized knit. There are endless options for this, we’ve got plenty of inspiration coming your way soon!

5. Keep your dress as it is

If you can’t bear to alter your dress and love it as it is don’t worry! There are still so many ways to wear your dress again, as a more formal floor length gown this will be suited to special occasions. Think about ways to layer jewellery, jackets and accessories. You can take it from wedding gown to wedding guest with just a flip of accessories! Our Vero dress is a great floor length style that works beautifully just as it is.

How much do wedding dress alterations cost?

As with any wedding dress alteration costs our pricing depends on the level and complexity of change, here is a guide price list to help give you a better understanding of our post wedding alterations services and how the cost of rewearing can outweigh spending on a new dress.

POST WEDDING ALTERATIONS PRICE LIST

MINOR ALTERATIONS

Hem, Move buttons, minor repairs

£180

FURTHER ALTERATIONS

Hem, Neckline alts, remove/add panels or lace

£240 +

MORE COMPLEX ALTERATIONS

Separating pieces into top and skirt, design changes that need individual pricing

Starting from £320 +

BOOK YOUR POST WEDDING ALTERATIONS HERE

Contact our team now with any questions you may have! We are here to help you find fun, creative and unique ways to wear your wedding dress again and again.

Discover our eco-friendly wedding guides for tips on making your wedding more sustainable.