One of my favourite things about my job is diving into my client’s closets. It’s the easiest way to discover where they’ve been, who they were and even who they aspired to become. While most people eventually come to terms with letting go of their past i.e. their prom dress and “skinny” jeans, it still amazes me how many times I find a boxed wedding dress hiding in the corner of a closet. You wouldn’t keep a thousand dollars in a box, so why keep a dress that you will never wear again?

I know I know, I’ve heard my clients excuses as they clutch desperately onto the box; “My daughter may want to wear it”, “I just can’t give it up” or “I may wear it again” and to that I say “trust me your daughter won’t want to wear it” or “your wedding photos are the best way to preserve memories” and “honestly? really?”.

I recently discovered a magical website where old wedding dresses can turn into a new pair of Christian Louboutins: http://www.smartbrideboutique.ca. It’s totally free and really quick and easy to post your items. You can sell everything from your dress to your candle holders recovering some of the costs of your wedding while helping another local bride save on her upcoming wedding.

So dust off your dress, take a deep breath and begin visualizations of all the things you can do with your new “found” money.  While I will be dreaming of shoes - feel free to expand your imagination to weekends away, a new wardrobe or even a, gasp! retirement fund.

A few tips straight from the gurus at SmartBride Boutique:

·        Post your dress as soon after your wedding as possible.  You’ll recoup about 50% of your investment provided your dress is clean and without stains or damage.

·        Use great pictures – the best ones are with you in the dress. You should have photos from your professional photographer, or even friends and family after your big day.

·        Provide as much information as possible – outline any alterations that were done to the dress, and provide your bust, waist, hips and height with shoes at the time you wore the dress.

A note from the Queen

S.

My line of work leads me to work with quite a few brides, and as we approach the summer (also commonly known as “wedding season”). I receive quite a few calls from desperate brides looking for style advice for their big day. While my first piece of advice is always the same; “breathe”, we then go on to analyse body shape and style personality. From there we can get a better idea of what shapes and fabrics work, thus narrowing down the mass amount of gown styles. Lately I have come across more and more brides looking to keep their wedding as “green” as possible. As a result, brides are looking to vintage, second hand or local made dresses. For the untraditional bride, there is no better place in the city to find a vintage dress than Cabaret, I love http://www.smartbrideboutique.ca for second hand and Lowon Pope does great local, understated gowns. While my rolodex is filled with fantastic stores and designers, I thought it necessary to add a few associates as well to help out my already stressed brides. One of the best connections that I formed was with Talen Events . I was so impressed with them I hired them for my upcoming nuptials. They not only do an incredible job of planning an event, they also go the extra mile to make sure that your event will be as eco friendly as possible (see, brides do think about other things besides their wedding day!)   

A note from the Queen,

S.