The Sustainable Bride Ireland
A Rent and Return service for Vintage & Sustainable Bridal Wear.
Sarah Fitzgerald the owner of The Sustainable Bride created this unique and niche business with the Aim of helping the conscientious Bride to be with Vintage and Pre-loved dresses and accessories. To also help with any sustainable wedding information She can give to help guide brides and grooms in the right direction and do so with a personal touch from her own bridal and 26 years of hospitality experience.
She got married in August 2019. She adored her Dress and so this story begins !
Sarah says “When it came to the dress shopping, I put it off and put it off until I could no more. I thought there simply was not a dress made for me out there. There was a very specific idea and image in mind and I also knew I did NOT want a New dress for many reasons. I had seen many a bride around me over the years just simply addled as what to do with their dress after the wedding. I was also adamant I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on the dress. We had many other things we deemed more Important to spend money for on the day and I had sustainability at the fore most of my mind with the dress and in all the wedding planning.
I knew I wanted a pre-worn, pre-loved, second hand, Vintage, locally or sustainably made or sourced. Whatever you want to call it, but I knew a new one did not suit my needed.
I eventually made an appointment at a local Vintage store and let the owner know the idea and look I was going for. She had 5 dresses ready for me to try on but before I even tried any on, I saw the dress that was going to end up being my wedding dress and knew at first sight it was the one!!
I was so grateful that someone even had the thought to resell, give away or gift this dress, to give it a new life and help me and my family make wonderful memories.
It was a vintage linen 1960/70’s dress by a New York Designer called Murray Hamburger. I have Four such dresses now collected, each as beautiful, different and as ornate as each other.”
And so, the Love affair with Her own dress and other similar Pre-owned, Vintage, Linen and unloved, hidden, boxed and forgotten wedding dresses had begun, along with sustainability in all forms.
The aim is to offer a Sustainable dress first and foremost. It might be, one of a kind, vintage, pre-loved, handmade, never used, locally made or sold, made with sustainable materials, sustainably made, or simply was not a wedding dress or product to begin with.
There can be no better way to use a sustainable dress and be a sustainable bride than to rent !
Re-use, Re-purpose, Re-home, Rent and Recycle are the best starting points to maintaining this beautiful and diverse world we live in and will make our stay here more beneficial to the next generation.
She really wants these beautiful and different dresses and accessories to have another go at life and not to be hidden away. They need to have more memories and help make many more brides make many more memories. They are all so beautifully made with so much love and care, with many made and even worn over 50 years ago, her own dress included.
The Sustainable Dress for the Conscientious and eco-friendly Bride will be available to Rent and Return to help make memories for other brides and families.
Sarah has her own take on the classic wedding saying……Let us be the start of your something old and new, something borrowed but forget the blue and let’s go Green !
Contact Sarah through the website or connect on social media through the links below
