When you think about wedding keepsakes you probably think dried flowers, garter, invitations, programs and of course your photos. How about your dress? During my engagement, I saw an idea on Pinterest to frame your wedding dress and Immediately fell in love with the idea! I couldn’t imagine boxing up such a precious item and moving it to the back of the closet as if it no longer existed. My wedding day was the most wonderful day of my life and like most women I adored my dress and wasn’t quite ready to take it off at the end of the evening that flew by faster than you can imagine. I remember loving that my dress was so ‘bridal’; I can’t exactly explain it, but it was perfect to me and feeling like a bride is amazing. I’ve never had to try harder to hold back tears of joy than on my wedding day…I couldn’t ruin my makeup before the ceremony even got started 🙂 A funny story I will never forget happened as my Dad and I made it to the end of the aisle to meet my soon to be husband…
Again, I was trying my best to keep the joyful tears from trickling down my cheeks. Romantic Wedding March by Miranda Wong was playing and we were expecting it to fade out by this time. It continued to play, approached a part in the song that sounded like the end and then continued a little longer. We couldn’t help but laugh at this point and in retrospect I’m thankful for the opportunity to compose myself before proceeding with the ceremony!
Having a way to relive our wedding moments through my dress framed in our closet is a treasure. Looking at it each morning is a reminder of the day’s events and the meaning behind the vows exchanged, laughs shared, hugs given and abundance of blessings. Along the same lines, please record your wedding! It doesn’t have to be professional (my brother-in-law recorded ours using my Dad’s camera). Will you watch it over and over like your favorite movie? No, but you will cherish having the ability to put it in the DVD player; we like to watch it on our anniversary! ❤
For my dress framing, I worked with a great professional at a local framing shop who came up with this version of my dress; I absolutely love it! I think it’s beautiful on the wall, my favorite piece of ‘art’ and worth every penny. I had mine done at a shop in Ohio called The Framing Center, but if you love the idea call around to places near you, ask questions and do some research! I was referred to The Framing Center by the owner of the dry cleaning business that cleaned my dress. It was the first wedding dress they framed so if you find a reputable framing center don’t be too afraid if it’s their first dress framing, just be involved and approve everything before the actual framing.
It’s important the dress is framed and stored properly to keep the color from fading or changing. The key is framing it in an acid free environment. With mine, the plum mat background is acid free, straight pins and stitching were used to assemble the dress and the museum glass is UV protected. I also have it hanging in my closet where it is dark most of the time. If you attempt this idea, good luck! Please share photos! If you’re engaged right now, congratulations and enjoy this most wonderful of times! ❤
As always, thanks for reading!!
Our Front Door Looking in... 
I would have never thought of this, great idea, will definitely be looking into this, thank you!
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You’re welcome! Happy to share 🙂
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What about it turning yellow?? Will it stay white??
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Hi Kelsey! I’m happy to say the dress will stay white and the key to that is framing it in an acid free environment and using high quality glass to protect it from light. My mat background is acid free, straight pins/stitching were used to assemble the dress and the museum glass is UV protected.
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Would you mind sharing the cost on something like this? I recently got married and need to have my dress cleaned and love this idea of preserving it versus a box. I also live in Ohio 🙂
Thank you!
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Hi Tammy! It will vary depending on the shop, selected frame and type of glass. I would estimate it could range between $300 and $700. I had mine framed at the Framing Center in Dublin, OH; fortunately they had a 20% off coupon at the time I could apply to the order. (It looks like they have a 25% off one available right now!) http://framingcenter.com/coupons.html
Please let me know if you have other questions!
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Thank you!!!
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what is the dimensions of the framed dress? It is beautiful!
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Thank you, Sharonda!! The frame is 30 by 30 🙂
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I love this idea and your dress is beautiful! I got married yesterday and I really want to do this with my dress. When you say, “This version of my dress,” do you mean that it’s not your actual dress in the frame? Did you alter your dress at all before framing it? I had a really long train so that might make it difficult.
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Thank you for the compliment and congratulations!! Being married is wonderful and I wish you and your new husband many years of wedded bliss! The dress in the frame is the dress I wore on our wedding day; perhaps I should do some re-phrasing in my post! By ‘this version’ I just meant the framing option and how we decided to display the dress. One alteration we did make before framing it was taking out two layers under the dress that simply gave it more volume and would have required a deeper frame to fit. Hope that helps!
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Love how that looks. Absolutely beautiful! That’s what I want to do to mine. How thick/ deep is your shadow box?
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Thank you very much, Christina! My Shadow Box is about 10 inches thick; the size of the frame will all depend on your dress and how you decide to display it! I would love to see how yours turns out! Happy New year!
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Hi! Would you mind sharing more specific measurements? I live in the UK and the frames I am looking at are measured in mm. Your dress is stunning and so is your frame. I am so desperate to do this and display my own dress in our home!
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Thank you! The frame is 30 by 30 in. which I believe converts to 762 mm. The frame size will really depend on the dress though to ensure it’s big enough and deep enough! A frame shop should be able to help you if you take your dress in. Good luck!!
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Hi! I have had this pinned to my pinterest board for a year now. I just got married in October & finally talked my hubby into tackling this project with me. We have just completed building the shadow box, but now we are stuck with what backing board to use. Do you remember any specifics for your board? I’m definitely going to make sure it is acid free but I know there is more to it than that. How did you make sure it was strong enough to support your dress being stitched to it? Also, how did you stitch your dress to it? I want my dress positioned in my shadow box just likes yours. Please give me all the details!! Please!!!
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Hi Samantha! Congratulations on your marriage!! I had my dress framed by a professional so other than the tips she shared with me regarding the acid free environment and the protective glass, I don’t have much knowledge. One thing we did with my dress was take out the “filler material” underneath to make it less bulky. If you have a fuller dress, doing that would also help with the weight of the dress on the pins. My best advice would be to stop in a local framing store, explain your project and ask for tips! Wish I could be more helpful, but I’d definitely recommend talking to a professional for the best direction! I’d love to see the finished product when you have it all done! 🙂
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