From the moment I got engaged, I knew I wanted to use parts of my mom’s wedding dress as my something old. Since the dress wasn’t in any  of condition to be worn on my wedding day, I worked with my seamstress to use part of it to make a beautiful garter.

As a bonus, my future mother-in-law also had parts of her wedding dress for me to use. My parents have been married for nearly 34 years, and my in laws for 30 years, so using their wedding dresses meant the world to me, and was an unbelievable surprise for them.

I could not have been happier with how the garter turned out – it was absolutely breathtaking in person. Covered in lace, pearls, and gems from both mother’s dresses, it was a one-of-a-kind piece that I’ll treasure forever.

Tips to keep in mind if making your own garter:

• When choosing your fabric, be sure that it won’t be missed in its original form. Self explanatory, right? Wrong. Until you see the fabric cut up, it might not fully hit you that the dress will never be the same again. Make sure your mothers are ok with this.
• Don’t worry about color – it’s only natural that the older wedding dresses will have a slightly yellow tint to the fabric. Chances are only your loved ones will see your garter, so if it doesn’t match your dress perfectly – don’t fret – the meaning is there.
• Buy a second garter! I can’t stress this enough. The something old garter is meant to be a keepsake – you don’t want your hubby to throw it across the dance floor during the garter toss.

Since I had such a personal way to honor the mothers on my wedding day, I decided to do something similar for my dad with my something blue.

Tell me: What are you using as your something old?