by Bonnie Christiano

Created on: December 08, 2008

A lot of planning and organization goes into a wedding, from the attire, the flowers, the favors, the food. You want to make sure that you have enough for everyone and also some extra, just in case. So what can you do with the excess and the leftovers?

Wedding Dress: There are many things that can be done with the wedding dress. Some brides keep their dress for sentimental reasons. If this is the case, get the dress professionally preserved so it can be stored. Some brides pass down the dress to future generations. Professional preservation is a good idea in this situation as well. If you would like to keep a memento of the dress but don't necessarily want to keep the entire garment, you can use the fabric for pillows or to cover a scrapbook or album. However, if you don't have a desire to keep your wedding dress or intend to pass it down for your daughter to wear, there are alternatives. One is to sell the dress to a consignment shop. There is a huge market for used wedding dresses because the cost of a new dress can be overwhelming. You can also donate the dress to a number of charity organizations such as Goodwill or The Salvation Army. Whatever you decide, be sure to have the dress cleaned first because they can become quite dirty on that special day.

Flowers: Flowers typically decorate the wedding venue. If you don't plan on taking the flowers home, you can share them with others. If the ceremony is taking place where later weddings will also be officiated, you can leave the flowers. Be sure to speak with the other bride first when contemplating this to make sure that they agree. You may also be able to coordinate and split the cost of the flowers for the ceremony. If you are getting married in a church, they will usually be willing to accept the flowers if you don't want to take them. Or you can offer them to your guests to take home. Fresh flowers don't last long so if you are planning to keep them or at least a sample of them, you can dry them. Dried flowers can be framed or pressed in an album and will serve as a reminder you of your day.

Favors: Many of those hosting weddings will provide a favor or small trinket of thanks to their guests. Favors come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. Inevitably, there will be favors left over either because extra were ordered, a guest didn't attend, or a guest forgot to take them home. Depending on your favors, you can certainly use the remainder at home. Photo albums or picture frames can be used to store and display

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