Whether you’re tight on money after your wedding or not sure what to do with 150 mercury glass votive candle holders, here are some suggestions to help you whittle down what to keep or toss.

AL Weddings

SELL: Your Dress

Take a deep breath. You probably did not see this coming, did you? Hear me out on this one. There is a slim chance your potential future daughter will want to wear your dress. At the time of her wedding, your dress will be outdated, and unless perfectly preserved and stored (which can be pricey) not in wedding day shape.

If you sell your dress now (either online or through a bridal consignment shop), you can likely get up to 50% of the purchase value back! Besides, do you really want your dress to take up precious closet space for the next 30 years? Don’t forget, you’ll have stunning photos of you in your gown. Take the proceeds and buy a gorgeous purse you’ll use every day, or even surprise your new hubby with a weekend getaway!

Michael + Anna Costa Photography

SELL: Your Decor

Wedding decor is one of those things that will cycle in and out of trends over the years. There’s no use saving hundreds of votives, your hand-lettered table numbers, that antique mirror-tuned-seating-chart or even those beautiful batch cocktail dispensers. Have hundreds of leftover bubbles or sparklers from your exit? A beautiful card box? Selling them now on sites like Next Door can help offset the cost of the original purchase. Or, rent them out bigger items through sites like Fluid Market and maybe you can even make some money!

SELL: Flower Girl/Ring Bearer Attire and Accessories

Your precious mini-attendants might have already grown out of their festive duds by the time you get back from your honeymoon! Clean the attire first (kids are messy, you know) and then put them up for sale via kids consignment shops or sites like ThredUp or Poshmark.

O’Malley Photographers
Lindsey Madden Photography | Rachel Solomon Photography
Jenna McElroy

SAVE: Your Accessories

Accessories are the perfect (small!) items to cherish and keep. Some easier items to save would be your shoes, jewelry and headpiece! You could wear your wedding shoes on every anniversary, or pass on your beautiful wedding day necklace and earrings to that future daughter (or daughter in law)! Your perfume would be a lovely sensory reminder to save as well.

Marissa Lambert Photography

SAVE: Your Husband’s Suit

I know, I know! I told you to sell your dress, but your guy gets to keep his suit? Not fair. Unless he wore a tuxedo, chances are his suit can be dressed down and worn for other occasions in life. Another wedding, a job interview, a special anniversary dinner are all reasons to bust out the suit again, perhaps without the jacket and with a different tie!

Jenna Bechtholt Photography

DONATE: Your bouquet

Well, you’ve tossed it once, so just keep on tossing it! Preserved flowers rarely keep well, so why not donate it to a guest (your MOH perhaps) or have someone drop it by a nursing home or hospital the next day. If you’d like, keep one bloom and press it between a book.

DONATE: Extras

Extra program paper. Unused seating cards. Half-used DIY/craft supplies. Welcome bags. Donate or recycle all of these. Hopefully, your skilled photographer caught all these details so you can contain them into one big, beautiful wedding album. Trust us, you don’t want to pack and repack these odds and ends as you move from your shared apartment to your starter house to your forever home. Just recycle, throw out or donate whatever doesn’t have a practical use (or extreme sentimental value).

Style Me Pretty Contributor

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