What to do with your Mother's wedding dress?

“What do I do with my parents stuff? It’s so overwhelming! What about her wedding dress she kept it for 70 years, I can’t just throw it out.”

Clearing out your parents' home can be hard work, emotionally and physically.

First, take a deep breath and let’s approach this, as far as possible, as we would with any decluttering. Get yourself a checklist so that you can see your progress, and start with an easy category. It may be that clothes is too overwhelming to start with as they may trigger lots of memories, so somewhere like cleaning products.

Put sentimental objects to one side. It may be that you are not ready to deal with these immediately and need to let some time go past before you are able to. Take your time.

When going through the sentimental, remember, if it brings you joy, keep it, if it doesn’t let it go. Remember that those these items are sentimental, they are not your parents.

In the case of the wedding dress, if you were keeping it, you could have it framed, or boxed up beautifully or you could have it made into a christening gown. One of my FaceBook followers had her wedding dress made into memory bears.

If you are letting it go, you could try your local museum, nursing home (for dress up days), drama clubs or charity shop. You could offer it to a charity that makes gowns for still born babies. Or you could eBay it as a vintage item. There are also specific charity shops that take wedding dresses (check out our directory).

If it all gets too much, remember that there are people like Natalie and me all over the country who can help you. You can find us on the KonMari or APDO websites.