It gets to shine for one glorious day during its decades-long lifespan and then is shuttered away into a dusty closet forever after.
Your average American woman will spend in excess of 300,000 daytime hours in some attire or other during her life while clothes can get downright pricey. But the priciest (and prettiest) piece she may ever wear, she will grace for just one day.
But maybe the one-day splurge makes it all the more special. A marriage is supposed to be forever, after all. Why make a habit of wearing a wedding dress? Would it still be special if she wore it every year?
Well, some ladies have tossed tradition to the curb, saying, “Why not?”
Case in point: California mom of three Chelsea Smith, 34, married Christopher after her first husband passed away of an overdose at the age of 27. Christopher was her now-passed husband’s best friend, who comforted her in grief. She and Christopher married, and ever since, she started getting much more mileage out of the dress she glitzed at their wedding.
It wasn’t her idea though.
“He first mentioned it about a week or two before our first anniversary,” Chelsea told The Epoch Times, speaking of a conversation with Christopher, who just assumed “that’s what people wore for anniversaries.”
“I about died laughing, then said I actually liked the idea! Why not?” she told the newspaper. “We went out to a fancy restaurant our first year, dressed all in our wedding clothes. I’m sure most people thought we had just come from our wedding.”
They had a few people congratulate them warmly in the parking lot as they walked, smiling, to the restaurant.
Since then, Chelsea has been binge-wearing her wedding dress, rolling it out every anniversary for the past six. Sometimes it follows them to dinner, and other times, it makes the photoshoot for the couple’s keepsakes.
In so doing, Chelsea may have hit upon one reason why wedding dresses get put away: “My dress was in the very last picture for our sixth anniversary where I was nine months pregnant,” she said. “So I had to have the dress completely open and unzipped in the back.”
Then again, all the more reason to wear it while it fits, right?
“Who knew?” she said.
She received comments from couples of all ages saying they do the same, while some professed their desire to try on the novelty. It turns out, she learned, this novelty isn’t so new. If what some commented is true, the serial wearing of wedding dresses wasn’t always so strange but, rather, was the norm.
“Your wedding dress was your best dress,” she said. “Bring this tradition back to stay!”
Brides magazine contributor Samantha Burns, who is also a mental health counselor and dating consultant, does likewise, citing several benefits: “Getting your money’s worth” is only one; besides that, she cites, “Fitting into your wedding dress is the best fitness motivation,” and “It will rekindle your romance.”
Lastly, she added: “You will create new memories.”
Chelsea’s family is making new memories. She wants the tradition to carry on into future generations. “Our kids think it’s fun that we put on our wedding attire every year,” she said, “especially my daughter, who is obsessed with all things fancy. I hope at least one of the kids continues the photo tradition with their future spouse.”
How wearing one simple outfit (albeit a special one) once a year has gathered so much attention! Chelsea said she never expected this but is joyful that it seems to be catching on.
