May 1, 2013  •  In Personal, Wedding

Store, Sell, or Repurpose?

I was digging through the closet the other day when I came across an item I haven’t seen in years: a royal blue box with the words STUART WEITZMAN embossed across the top, housing the shoes I wore on my wedding day 5 years ago.

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At $295, the Stuart Weitzman Dubonnet is the most expensive pair of shoes I own. (I may love heels but most of my shoes were under $100.) I only wore them a handful of times: during wedding dress fittings, practices for our first dance, and — duh — on the wedding day itself.

I am so glad I decided to splurge on these shoes, because they’re probably the most comfortable pair of high heels I own. Even with a 4½” heel, I was able to start my day at 8am, stand around, make my way through Central Park, walk down the aisle and be part of a 30-minute wedding ceremony, greet guests, and dance my tooshie off until 10pm without my feet ever being in pain.

Needless to say, these shoes are no longer in pristine condition. But they are still certainly wearable and hold with them many fond memories.

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See that red spot at the bottom of the sole? Since we had red flowers in my bouquet, my bridesmaids’ bouquets, and in our centerpieces, I can safely assume that it’s a remainder from our wedding day.

(I also just remembered that I had gotten them re-soled before the big day, for better traction.)

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The question remains now as to what to do with them. I can have them cleaned and stored, but I generally don’t like unused items lying around the house. (My wedding dress is at my parents’ house, and although it currently sits unused, I have no problem allowing my girls to play dress-up with it when they get older.)

I asked my sister, who is getting married next month (!), if she would like to borrow them, but she says that the heels are too high. (She was blessed with the better genes by standing 4″ taller than me.)

I could sell them, but is there a market for used wedding shoes? Could they even be sold for a third of the original purchase price?

I’ve also thought about dyeing them a more practical color like black or brown so that I can wear them at future events, but the idea seems so…permanent.

What would you do? What did you do with your wedding shoes?

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10 Responses to “Store, Sell, or Repurpose?”

  1. Ashley Reed says:

    oh dang I like those! As a bride currently planning her wedding, I can tell you there’s definitely a market for second-hand designer wedding shoes. What size are they, and are they a true white? If you’re willing to part with them and they’d work for me, I might even be interested! I’m a foot shorter than my fiance, so 4″ heels are nothin’!

  2. Walnut says:

    I bought a lovely pair of manolo’s used off of ebay in preparation for my wedding. They look brand new and were selling for far less than a brand new pair.

    That said, I think you should die them another color and continue to wear them. What an amazing way to relive your wedding day.

  3. Allie says:

    I had dyed pink heels for my wedding, and I would have continued to wear them all the time if the rain the night before hadn’t damaged them so badly. 🙁

  4. Rachel says:

    I used yellow wedges for my wedding that I still love to wear

  5. Kimberly says:

    I dyed my shoes and kind of regretted it. Although I used a dyer in Manhattan that was supposed to be great, it didn’t come out perfect since they weren’t meant to be dyeable (sp?). They didn’t promise it would but I tried it anyway. I suspect you would do better with a lighter than a darker color, though maybe I am wrong. Also, I don’t have a ton of opportunities now to wear satin heels anyway. So even though I also hate clutter, I kind of wish I has saved them in ivory and just kept them as a special dress up item for my daughter. My vote is keep them with the dress at your parents’ house 🙂

  6. Carol says:

    I wore super high Badgley Mischkas for my wedding and they were relatively comfortable. I hate clutter also, but I haven’t sold them because of their sentimental value. If you really love them, just keep ’em. I remember when I was middle school age, I discovered a whole bunch of my mom’s wedding stuff and it was awesome to try it on and talk to her about it. So, there’s that future opportunity. But if you want to sell them, I have no doubt you’ll get a nice chunk of change from it.

  7. stacey says:

    I wore navy blue polka dot flats (I’m 2″ taller than my husband!) from Old Navy, and I kept wearing them after the wedding. I wore the poor things out, to the point where I can’t wear them out anymore but I’ve still kept them. 🙂 Someday I’ll take some cute pictures of my daughter playing dress up in them, and then I’ll finally toss them.

  8. Sunny says:

    I recently sold a pair of Stuart Weitzman fever pumps on eBay, practically new, for like $125 or something? I definitely think you could resell. But if you like them, I say dye the shoes so you can rewear them at special occasions.

  9. Jenna C. says:

    I saw dye them so you can keep them with you. It’ll be nice to take them out on special occasions and reminisce about your wedding day.

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