My husband and I our nearing our 20th wedding anniversary. I was over 200 pounds when we married and in the last two years have lost over half my weight. I am now 125 pounds.
I had been planning to wear my origianl long sleeved, ornate wedding gown for our renewal, (we originally were married in December) but now, obviously, it's more like a tent than a dress.
Would it be "against the rules" to have my wedding gown redone from the original very heavy, long sleeved gown into a simpler sleeveless version as it doesn't fit anymore? I really would like to have that part of our wedding with us if possible.
I am, of course, losing the veil and all the "bridey" aspects, but still, I'm sure it will be recognized as the gown from my wedding. Also, we were wanting to do a formal dress-up dinner this summer for the renewal instead of our original wedding date. For dessert, we'd have minature personal "wedding cakes" served to each guest. Basically a large petit four decorated with our initials and we'd have a 2 tier cake (just enough to feed us two) that was a replica of our wedding cake on our table. I'm planning on hiring a professional photographer to take some romantic photos of us (some in the new dress and some in different outfits as well as some family portraits and shots of the dinner).
Now, here's where the strange part comes in. Everything above will be after the renewal. We're planning on having the man who originally married us do a vow renewal with just us and him BEFORE everyone arrives. The guests will only be invited to a nice formal dinner. The photog will arrive 2 hours before dinner to do all the photos and the pastor will get there 1 hour before for the simple ceremony with just us and him. The guests, of course, will know what's going on, but they'll just be invited to the dinner party. If everything is okay above, can I still wear the gown during the dinner or should I change?
Etiquette Now
WEDDING ETIQUETTE EXPERT
Post #2 of 2
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Re: Original wedding dress for renewal
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Dear Mom,
This sounds perfect, actually. The vow renewal is supposed to be for the two of you and your family anyway. So, this will appear very appropriate. As long as your guests realize that you are recreating moments from your wedding, the dress is fine as well. It might even be better if you have pictures of your wedding on display. This would create that tone even more.
Original wedding dress for renewal
