Woman rewears wedding dress for a year to raise money for charity

Many think you can’t rewear a wedding dress after your wedding day, but this Dawn Winfield-Hunt begs to differ. She made the decision to rewear her wedding dress for a year to raise money for very special causes.

It all began when Winfield-Hunt was dared to wear her wedding dress while paddle-boarding.

“I was dared to wear it paddle boarding and I said OK..and I’ll wear it to Tesco too,” she tells Wedding ETC. “Someone photographed me whilst I was paddle boarding and I posted on an isle of Wight photography site to see if I could find the person and from there it spiraled.”

She has worn her dress in unique places like Buckingham Palace, while boxing and even swam in it on Boxing Day. She says people are always fascinated by her getup, and it’s a great conversation starter. She started a Facebook page called ‘The life and times of a wedding dress’ to document her dress’s journey and raise awareness for the charities she supports.

Meeting donkeys. Credit: Dawn Winfield-Hunt

Boxing day festivities. Credit: Dawn Winfield-Hunt

Getting some fitness in. Credit: Dawn Winfield-Hunt

From here, she decided to put her wedding dress, named Bella, to good use and raise money for three charities: Mountbatten Cancer Trust, Friend’s of The Animals and The Food Bank. She had even planned to put on a charity wedding dress ball but with the COVID-19 pandemic, has had to change her plans.