‘I wore my wedding dress from my first marriage at my second'

Telegraph

24-05-2025

Whether you floated down the aisle feeling like a princess or went for a less traditional take on wedding attire, does the outfit you wore on your special day still lurk in the back of your wardrobe? And could you still squeeze into it?
When Queen Camilla celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary on April 9, she stepped out in the still-flattering ivory silk Anna Valentine dress and coat originally worn at her 2005 wedding to King Charles, who's also remained fairly trim.
While some couples choose to sell or give away their wedding attire after the big day, 60 per cent of brides hold on to their wedding dresses – which then rarely if ever get worn again.
'I've tried my dress on once or twice over the years, and I did toy with dyeing it, but what I would wear it for?' says Alison Reddihough, who married Simon 28 years ago. Here, as we hit wedding season, we've given the Reddihoughs and three more couples the chance to recreate the romance of those wedding poses.
'I felt like a Shakespearean heroine in my dress'
Alison and Simon Reddihough, 57 and 60, from East Grinstead, have been married for 28 years
'We're both actors, and we met on stage at Westcliff Palace Theatre performing in the panto Beauty & The Beast,' recalls Simon. 'I was a barbary pirate, and Alison was an ugly sister – although she was far from ugly! You really bond with people when you work on a theatre production, it's quite intense and we got used to collaborating. Both coupled up at the time, our initial connection was friendship.'
The pair stayed in touch and a year later, both single again, found themselves living at opposite ends of Wandsworth Common. As they were working on another production together, Simon would pop around 'unannounced all the time, like an eager little puppy. She was very attractive'.
Alison adds: 'There was always an ease between us. Simon was his own man, and I liked that. Neither of us is overly romantic or needy, but we just really get on. It sounds corny but the first time we kissed felt like coming home.'
An engagement was on the cards. 'Two years later, when my mum passed away my dad offered me Mum's engagement ring,' says Simon. 'This felt like a nudge, and I took the opportunity to propose.'
Alison's parents paid for the wedding – which she says is a good thing as they 'had deeper pockets than us'. She adds: 'My bridal gown was made by a dressmaker in Lewes for £1,000 and, being an actor, I wanted something romantic and theatrical and that's what I got – it was laced up at the back, with a big skirt and our initials on the train embroidered in gold, all linked together. Simon's waistcoat and bow tie were made from the same silk, to tie our outfits in together. His frock coat and dress suit trousers came from my brother's menswear shop for about £280 in total.'
The pair were married in May 1997 on a beautiful sunny day, with Alison feeling 'like a Shakespearean heroine'.
'I was incredibly moved by the occasion – like when my dad couldn't get through his speech without choking up, and during our first dance, which was We Have All the Time in the World. '
Luckily, zipping and lacing themselves back into the wedding outfits hasn't been too much of a struggle, says Alison. 'We've always lived an active life – our Peloton and treadmill get used every day. And having the same values and daft sense of humour means we stay bonded, although we're good at giving each other space too. No longer actors, we've set up our own business, Tickled Moon, making personalised children's books. Now our two boys have left home, it's our time to reconnect.'
'I re-wore my wedding dress for my second marriage – why not?'
When Gemma Gunyent-King, 59, married Matthew King, 55, in 2019, she re-wore the custom-made dress from her first wedding in 1996
'Getting married was never really an ambition for me,' says Gemma. 'In fact, I only married my first husband because his parents would not allow us to live together. I'm a Catalan from Barcelona and, while I'm not traditional, I grew up with strong family values, and my parents wanted me to have a special dress. My grandmother, being an amazing seamstress, made this wild silk dress for me with lovely little buttons, and while I wasn't particularly bothered about getting married, I loved wearing it.
'But then when the marriage didn't work out, I got a job in England and moved on with my life, packing the dress away in my parents' loft. And then, in 2002, I met Matthew.'
Matthew worked at the same banking company as Gemma near Heathrow, and used to see her ride her bike past him as he walked from the station to the office. He says: 'Well, she was very noticeable, because she's a colourful, energetic person – the opposite of me! She never spoke to me, but I found her intriguing and then one day, I spotted her leaping barefoot down the office corridor. If you know Gemma, this is typical behaviour…'
'I was just doing some fitness moves and didn't think anyone had seen me,' explains Gemma. 'But then he came up to me in the kitchen and just asked these very direct questions that totally disarmed me. He was shy but very confident in a weird way and I liked it. When we got together after a company football match, it just felt right. From 2002 until 2019 we lived together and, while I was never intending to re-marry, once my divorce finally came through, we realised we should have a wedding while both sets of parents were around to see it.'
When they were married in front of friends from all around the world at the Holiday Inn in Camden – the area where he grew up – Matthew didn't baulk at the idea of Gemma re-wearing her original wedding dress. 'I'm quite practical and, knowing friends who've spent more on the dress than the actual wedding, when Gemma suggested wearing her beautiful dress again, well I completely understood why she'd want to – and approved of not spending money needlessly,' he says.
Gemma adds: 'Being a fitness instructor, I've stayed the same size thanks to yoga, Pilates and lifting weights, so wearing the dress again was no problem. Even my parents, who came over from Spain for our wedding, recycled their outfits from the first wedding – well they still fit them, so why not?'
'I spent £1,800 on my Vera Wang dress – it's amazing to wear it again'
Tonia and Mick O'Conchuir, 53 and 49, who live in Marlow, have been married for 17 years
Tonia and Mick met at work at Procter & Gamble in Dublin in 2004. She says: 'Mick started after me and pitched up at the desk opposite and was always asking me annoying questions. After a messy break-up, I was off men for a few years. I just wished I could find a boyfriend who had the qualities of my male friends. It took me a while to realise the right man was right in front of me.'
Mick says: 'I'd always got on well with Tonia and one night at someone's leaving drinks, I really wanted to sit beside her, and later I didn't want her to leave. After that night we got together and never looked back. '
But for a while no engagement was forthcoming – despite a surfeit of possibilities. 'After we'd been together for three years, in spite of many picturesque opportunities to propose, like the Eiffel Tower and Victoria Falls, no proposal came,' says Tonia. 'It wasn't until Valentine's Day in 2007 when we were just having a normal evening in our apartment, that I let it be known that I was about to propose myself. He covered my mouth with his hands to stop me – and then showed me the website full of engagement rings he'd been poring over.'
While Tonia wanted to run away to Las Vegas and get married there, Mick was adamant it would take place in a church with their families in attendance. Meanwhile, Tonia's vision of a modern wedding outfit changed when she was shown an incredible dress in Selfridges. 'Gone were my plans for a colourful dress to wear again and again – this stunning Vera Wang dress had my heart in an instant. I loved the 1920s feel, the simplicity, the stylishness. It was £1,800 and I still can't believe I spent that much on a dress, especially as I bought Jimmy Choos to wear with it – but it feels amazing to wear it again.'
'I found an off-the-peg suit in Kilgour, Savile Row, which, after a few adjustments, was perfect,' says Mick. 'It was £1,300 and I still wear the jacket all the time, but it's only because I've lost a bit of weight recently that I can fit into the trousers, with the help of a safety pin!'
Tonia says: 'Mick's genetically blessed when it comes to staying trim – he's still the same up-and-down shape, apart from the belly.
'As for me, while I gained about seven kilos after having our two daughters, I've taken up rowing again, and it works every muscle in your body.'
She continues: 'At our wedding in 2007 we had to walk up the aisle twice, because my mum arrived late and missed my dad giving me away! We'd started out as friends and that friendship and fondness is still there. Mick is still one of the best men I know.'
'My dress was designed so I could wear it again – but I never have until today'
Madeleine and Steven Black, 59 and 62, from Glasgow, got married 39 years ago
'I was 20 and Madeleine was 17 when we met, working in community programmes in Ashkelon in Israel. I saw her and instantly thought I'd love it if we got together,' says Steven.
But for Madeleine it wasn't an instant romance. 'When I met him, I was in a bad place. Having been through a difficult time in my teens I just couldn't understand why this lovely guy would want to be with me. But he won me over and, with me living with my parents in London and him in Scotland, for ages we travelled up and down on the overnight bus to see each other at weekends.'
Soon Steve moved down to London, and the pair continued their romance. He says: 'When Madeleine suggested, after five years together, that we might want to think about marriage I'd actually been working my way up to proposing. So, I asked her dad Leo for his blessing, and once he gave it we were engaged in March 1986.'
'Dress shopping with a girlfriend in Harrods, I'd found this silk one I liked by Catherine Davighi – simple, elegant and not at all frou-frou,' says Madeleine. 'She made the dress for me for £800 with silk from China, shortening it to three quarters at my request, as I thought I'd want to wear it again – but never have until now. Sadly, the head-dress I wore that day has been damaged during our three daughters' many dressing-up games!'
The pair got married in November 1986 in Hendon on a cold, snowy day at her parents' local synagogue. Madeleine adds: 'It was a beautiful, stress-free day, memorable for the best man forgetting his shoes, and my clarinet teacher and his band playing the first dance, What a Wonderful World.
'Now I'm 60 I'm delighted to find the dress still fits, especially as I put on two and half stone during the menopause – it's taken a lot of steps on the treadmill, as well as gym, karate, yoga and intermittent fasting, to get back to the size I was at 23! And it feels lovely to wear my dress again.'
Meanwhile, Stephen has kept in trim with Hyrox. 'Training for their circuit indoor fitness competitions helps keep me fit, as they're incredibly physically demanding,' says Steven, who participates in different countries. 'In fact, my double-breasted wedding suit, which was £150 from Next in Fenchurch Street near where I worked, got too big for me eventually. In the end my daughter said I couldn't wear it any more, so I had to give it away, which I did with no regrets,' says Steve, hence the slight wardrobe variation from their wedding day.
'Our marriage works because, while we're always growing and evolving and both very different people, we still do stuff together, still travel and go and see live music. And when we have disagreements, we can both admit when we are in the wrong,' says Madeleine, author of Unbroken. 'We laugh a lot too, especially when we have our eight-month-old granddaughter over to stay.'