Post # 1

Member
142 posts
Blushing bee
Surely, someone has gotten paint on their wedding dress, right? It’s not that rare?
Maybe someone with kids would know this?
Met with the photog today who suggested a trash the dress session. SO jumped on this and thought a paint fight sounded fun.
The only problem is that I would really like to donate my dress after the wedding and the idea of completely destroying a wedding dress with paint really makes me sad.It seems so…wasteful.
The dress I’m wearing is made almost completely of tulle so I’m wondering if anyone has ever gotten paint on this fabric and how, if you were able, did it wash out?
For moms, what is the most washable paint that you have found?
This is a dangerous idea, I know. But if we go through with it, I’d like to take every precaution to be able to restore the dress as much as possible. I’m actually thinking of going so far as running trials on samples but I need some place to start…
Any help or advice is appreciated.
Thanks a ton.
Post # 3

Member
6255 posts
Bee Keeper
LOL, I clicked on this thread expecting to see something like this:

I don’t think there’s any way you will be able to donate it if you actually put paint on it.
Post # 4

Member
533 posts
Busy bee
@EffieTrinket: that’s amazing!
I thought the whole point of this ‘trash the dress’ trend was that you destroy it.
Post # 5

Member
9076 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
If you trash the dress, you don’t donate it.
I would imagine getting paint out of tulle would be a nightmare. It’s got a lot of tiny holes and the material that it is physically made out of is porous so you’ll probably have a lot of color residue.
In this situation, I’d pick one or the other. Do you want to trash it, or do you want to donate it? I don’t think you can have both.
Post # 6

Member
272 posts
Helper bee
Tulle is a nightmare to clean.
If you really want to do a trash the dress session maybe use your reception dress?
Post # 7

Member
45 posts
Newbee
@SockJunkie: Maybe you can get another cheap dress for your trash the dress session? That way you can still donate your actual wedding dress and have some fun pictures to boot!
Post # 8

Member
1473 posts
Bumble bee
I got another dress at a thrift store for our TTD. It was fun to dress up, but nice not to worry about my dress. I feel a little silly about it, but I’m attached to it 🙂
Wedding Dress:

Stunt Dress:


Post # 9

Member
4 posts
Wannabee
@SockJunkie: If you want to donate it, don’t trash it! What’s the point of trashing it before donating if it’s going to cost a lot more to clean than it would have done if you hadn’t trashed it? It might even cost more to clean than it would be actuall be worth 2nd hand. Charities sell donated items to raise money (eg cancer research etc). If it costs more to fix than they can sell it for, you’d probably be better off donating the cleaning money!
Post # 10

Member
142 posts
Blushing bee
@EffieTrinket: That’s awesome….but I think grandma would have a heart attack if we walked down the aisle like that. Let me lose those last 20lbs first. lol
@hbach200:
@Hyperventilate: Hrm…I guess you’re right. Maybe it was wishful thinking. It just seems like a waste of such a nice dress that I’m sure some other bride out there could use. I think I still might try to use some samples and see how it washes out but I won’t hold my breath. I have about a year to figure it out. I don’t know if I’d donate it to a charity as it’s not a designer dress but it’s still very pretty. I’d probably just post something on CL or a board like this: “Free dress to good home” sorta deal.
@Missy E:
@MsCarabiner: That’s definitely an idea and I’ve thought about it. We’ve had other brides use Goodwill dresses for TTD and it’s worked out beautifully. I’ll try to keep an eye out at the thrift stores. MsCarabiner, I’d love to see the rest of your TTD session. Looks like you guys had an awesome time!
Post # 11

Member
434 posts
Helper bee
EffieTrinket: So I LOVE this photo! Haha I was expecting to see something like this too! But I love this photo because my fiance will be wearing his Dress Blues on our wedding day and this just made me laugh!
Post # 12

Member
4 posts
Wannabee