Upcycle Your Wedding!

OK, weddings aren’t by any means cheap. You spend a ton of money on a ton of different things, so it seems an incredible waste to only get one use from so much! After the reception is over and all the champagne’s been toasted, consider recycling your wedding items in one of these ways.

WEDDING DRESS

Your wedding dress of a lifetime can have a lifetime of uses! From passing it down to your own daughter to donating it to a charity to altering it to be a non-wedding formal gown to even repurposing it smaller to be your child’s baptism gown – the possibilities are endless.

FLOWERS

Dry out your bouquet (hang them upside down in a dry room for a few weeks) so your flowers last as long as your marriage. You can turn the petals into potpourri or showcase their entirety in a shadow box in a deep frame.

TABLE SETTINGS

When buying your decor, your plates, your glasses, etc. consider getting ones that can be used again and again in your own home. Kill two birds with one stone when you purchase wedding china that becomes your brand new dining set!

SHOES

While traditional, stark white satin pumps may seem like they have a one-time use associated with them, you can either buy shoes in a different shade, to begin with, or consider dying your white heels a new, more ubiquitous color!

FOOD

Ahead of the wedding, look into local soup kitchens and shelters that could really benefit from receiving your leftovers. You can also keep some for yourself and transform some entrees into new recipes. Basics like chicken and beef are perfect candidates for a week’s worth of dinners like potpies, beef stews, etc. and crumbled cake can be mixed with frosting for tasty cake pops.