How Long Did You Stay in Your Wedding Dress?

I got married in the hot Australian summer. I kept that dress on all night baby! and the veil. I had such a lovely veil...

I would wear the wedding dress for as long as possible. I got married in a ballgown on the beach in south Florida, and never remember thinking about being hot or passing out, just stressed about the rain. I wish I could wear it again. :(

It's ONE day you can do it !! LOLOL

I wore my dress till 5am the next morning.......... we had a PARTY !!!!

I wore my dress until hubby helped me out of it sometime in the wee hours of the morning :)
At my reception I put on comfy sandals (it was hot ~ in the high 90's and my reception was an outdoor/barn dance) and took off my veil and took my up-do down and put on my cowboy hat! I drank a lot of water to stay hydrated and cool (and a lot of wine!!).

Just think how much water weight you will sweat off for your honeymoon! :p

In my first wedding I wore it till after the reception. I think that is kinda the norm though that was 23 years ago.

I know what you mean though. Mine is July 2 and it is a fully corseted dress so breathing will be interesting. Hum skinny v breathing... Then my knee is brace v pretty, then heals v comfortable, hair down v comfortable. Now you got me thinking I need a plan B....hum....

i got married in august in a strapless gown. wore it through the wedding and reception and to hotel about 10 hours. i will just add that my husband and i still regret not stopping for ice cream or something in our wedding attire (he was in the navy so he wore his white uniform-very handsome:). you only get to wear it once and it was made just for you, but i'm sure you'll just figure it out the day of. congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

Many women change to a coctail dress they are more practical ... my intention is to sleep in that thing! I have waited long enough to be married and I want to wear it for as long as humanly possible. :) However I think changing is often a wonderful idea, if you are a dancing type or if it's a summer wedding or out doors. I am sure you will look hot and not just the overheated kind.

I put my dress on in the late morning (around 10:30) and took it off at about 4:30 the next morning - so I stayed in it for 18 hours. The veil, too!!

I was not taking that dress off - it was the one and only time I was ever going to wear it.

For breakfast the next day, I wore my tiara. I was so sad the day was all over after so much planning.

Yes - please post a wedding photo!!!

It was 100+ the day I got married. I stayed in my dress until bed time. Our reception and wedding were both inside though so I didn't really notice the heat that much.

I wore my dress as long as possible! We got married in the middle of August and had an outside reception and it was HOT! I don't regret it though! I didn't have all the layers underneath though.... I just wore a "wedding night nightie" that someone had given me at my personal shower :o) My dress was very heavy and full though and my sleeves were long but they were lace. I LOVED going into the hotel with my husband all dresssed up and very obviously "Just Married"!
Good luck! I hope you don't get too hot and can keep your wedding dress on as long as you want! :o)

I got married in the morning in Vegas...kept my dress on through lunch at Planet Hollywood then ditched it after that!
I'd say play it by ear!

I wore mine until my wedding night. It was the dress of my dreams and I wanted to savor every moment ")
Congratulations.
C.

I stayed in my dress all day and evening. I took it off at the hotel after, although I unzipped the back and corset bra in the parking lot at the receoption hall with my Mom's help! Ahhh...

Wore mine all day & night in hot August weather. I had a full traditional gown with spaghetti straps. And it sounds as though I had the same type of under garments. (Oh wait I did thigh highs too) Our church was not air conditioned but our hall was. I was not overheated but was so relieved to take the heavy thing off at 1am! :)

I wore my dress all night and took it off when we got back to the hotel after the reception. I loved my dress so much, it made me feel like a princess!
You ARE going to post a wedding picture I hope!? You know we're all going to want all the details, especially the ones you've asked our opinions about, like registries and wedding songs!

I had my dress on from 1pm till 11pm (getting ready 1-3, wedding from 3-4, pictures 4-5, recpetion from 5-11).

I really wanted to party all night long in my dress, it is my wedding dress.

until bedtime of course! You only get to wear it once.

i wore it til bed and thn had it shipped to maui for pics on the beach at the honeymoon...we had random people take photos.......

We got married in the afternoon, and I wore the dress all night! We got married late july and it was 101 that day. It was hot, but I was having so much fun I didnt even think about it. Bring the other dress just in case but you probably wont even think about it! I hope you post a wedding pic... I think we all want to see it!

I got married in August - outside wedding - but stayed in that dress until the honeymoon suite. I loved it. It was form fitting as well, but I didn't wear the pantyhose. I just did thigh- highs and the long bra.

It never crossed my mind to get a second dress and our reception was a ton of fun and I wouldn't have had time to go change even if I wanted to.

Good idea, though, to have a plan b since you know your body and what the day holds. The great thing is, you don't have to change unless you want to:)
congrats and have a wonderful day!!!

Make sure you drink plenty of water. Call your reception hall and make sure they will have plenty of pitchers of ice water on the talbles and keep them there all night.
If you are wearing panty hose for the control top you can get a panty style shapewear to wear instead. You can also take off your shoes and use a paper towel to put cool/cold water on your feet and lower legs.

If you do feel the need to take off the wedding dress I would wait until after the dinner, then go into the restroom with a bridesmaid or two and change into your other dress.
Good luck Sweetie--and have fun you have earned it.

I took mine off after the reception was over, but before we left. In total I probably had the dress on from about 10 am until 6 pm and at that point I was ready to be done with all of the undergarments and the heavy dress in the July heat. The wedding party and some of the family came to an after party at a local bar and I didn't want my long dress and train getting all messed up at the bar. I did keep my hair all done up and everything when we went out, but everyone changed, so I would have looked rather silly in my gown. A light sundress was a much better option.

Enjoy your day!

I got married in it (20 minutes), went to the reception in it (1 or 2 hrs) and then wore it in the limo on the way to my parents house for the after-party (30 minutes) then put on jeans when I got to my parent's house. So maybe I should've had a cute coctail dress for the after party, but I wanted to be comfy and I am comfier in jeans than a dress. That was my first wedding when I had a nice dress.

Second wedding I got my dress at Walmart. It was a white little sun-dress. I wore that all day long.

So I say have your plan B if indeed you NEED it. If you don't WANT it then don't change. You are right - you only get to wear the dress once. You spent hours and hours picking it out. You spent lots of money on it. Wear it out, girl.

When the time comes, I want to wear it until the man of my dreams rips it off and makes loves to me... Which will hopefully be after the reception... My man has been known to be a little impatient... ;)

Wedding and reception was about 4 hours... then just before leaving for home, I changed.

I wore mine the entire time, inlcuding the burrito joint we went after the reception and stayed in it at the bar where we met our bridal party at until 2am:) I paid too much for it to not wear it

After our small wedding and dinner reception, our entire wedding party (25 people strong) hit up a little jazz bar in our sleepy little coastal town where we lived at the time. Although we had gone home briefly, my husband and I walked down to the bar in our wedding attire. I daresay we made quite an entrance and it was like the whole atmosphere changed as all the strangers there started celebrating with us as we took over the tiny dance floor w/ the 3-piece combo band and started boogeying. My mom commented she was so glad that I kept my dress on :)

I put mine on at about 7:15 am. Pictures scheduled to start at 8. Ceremony at 11. Lunch at 12:30. Supper (we served as well) was at 6. Band played from 1:30 till 7. We then opened gifts. Then my new husband and I, along with a bridesmaid and groomsman went out to eat (now about 11 pm). THEN, we went home together for the first time. FINALLY, I changed out of my dress. After midnight! LOVED IT~!

Our wedding was held at our church and the reception was 1/2 mile away at my parents house. We rented a big white tent, tables, and chairs.

I had a summer dress that I was going to change into, but I decided to stay in my wedding dress. Our wedding was on the beach, so I got a strapless and it had a short flowy train that had split in it. It looked like I had a wrap around skirt on. I also had a corset that I wore. I figured I was comfortable and its only one day so i stayed in it. If you are comfortable in it and want to stay in it then do so, if not change. You should be comfortable so you can enjoy your day! :) Congrats and I hope its a wonderful day.

I kept my dress for the wedding and ceremony and stayed in it for several hours after the ceremony just because I felt beautiful and happy and did not want to take it off!

I only removed it because I eventually got tired and did not want to sleep in my dress.

I stayed in my dress until we went to bed. Like you said, you only wear it once! My wedding was in the early afternoon so I think I got the dress on at around 11 AM. We got to our hotel after the reception before 9PM, then went down to the bar (still in my dress LOL) and kicked back and watched the World Series game and then I changed after that.

I think that having a Plan B is a good idea in case you get hot but you wear that dress as long as you want to! I had a lot of friends have Saturday weddings where we went out to a bar or club after the reception and the brides still had their dresses on. Sure the dresses get a little damaged on the dance floor and I'm sure they're all stained from spilled drinks but honestly, no one is really going to wear it again so why not have fun in it?

Hi - I got married outside in Jamaica and it was HOT AS HE**. I started feeling lightheaded during the pictures even though my dress was strapless. I changed halfway through the reception into a sundress, though I kept my veil on. My wedding was just close family and friends - so no one cared what I looked like - but I still wish I could have kept the dress on longer. You only get to wear a wedding dress once (hopefully!).

BTW, best wishes for this weekend, and I hope you feel better!

Good Lord!! It sounds like you are going to be sweltering. Sorry!

I would plan on changing before the reception. I wore my wedding dress until I got to the honeymoon hotel. We ate dinner in a very nice restaurant and everything. I spilled drawn butter down the front of my wedding dress when my lobster knocked the little cup over.

I changed out of my wedding dress right before we left the reception to go to the hotel ("a going-away outfit") -this was pretty standard procedure back in the "old days" (24 years ago). It seems that nowadays many brides will purchase a separate dress just for the reception, something shorter or more party-appropriate. I say do whatever makes you most comfortable - bring your plan B dress, and decide when you get to the reception!

I got married in June of 2009 and it was also a hot day but I somehow stay in my dress until I went to bed that night. I thought about buying a nice dress for the reception but had too much going on!

I got dressed around 2pm.
Had pictures at 3pm.
Freshened up before ceremony which was at 5pm.
Reception was at 7pm and we partied till about 2am.
It was 3am before we got to the hotel room and I could peel out of everything and grab a shower.
So for me it was roughly 13 hours.
The weather was a perfect sunny 71 degrees for us.

My wedding dress and veils were $7K...With the exception of the longer veil...The entire ensemble was worn because there was no way I was letting any minute go to waste......Like you said you get to wear it only once!!! Drink lots of fluids...get those blotter pads to blott your face and suck it up :)
Ok so keep the strapless number as a back up but only if necessary. You really will appreciate all the photos of you in your dress

I loved my wedding dress but I didn't realize how heavy that thing was. I got married in August during the heat also. by the end of the night I was more than ready to get out of the dress. I changed into another outfit before leaving the reception (after the reception was over). As much as I loved my dress, if I had to do it over, I would have thought about how heavy it was and maybe gotten something a little more lightweight.

I got married in October in a capped sleeve gown and worried I would be chilly. It wound up being 76 degrees when it would normally be hovering in the low 60s. I wore it all day and didn't take it off until 3 the next morning!

I stayed in my dress until it was time to get out of my dress once it was just me and the new hubby...if you know what I mean! :-D

I wore mine through the wedding and reception, and changed when we were leaving the reception.