When Dawn Winfield-Hunt got married earlier this month, she only expected to wear her wedding dress once. But when some friends threw a barbecue the next day, the newlywed couldn’t resist slipping into the gorgeous gown once again.
After that, the 54-year-old from Isle of Wight, England, realized she could — and should — wear her beautiful wedding dress multiple times.
“I wore it at the barbecue, and everyone loved it! I then decided to wear it for the week and to go to Tesco in it and go paddle boarding,” she told TODAY Style.
Winfield-Hunt’s weeklong wedding dress fashion show turned into something more when she saw how excited people were to see her wearing it.
“I realized how happy it made people,” the newlywed said.
So the bride decided to wear the dress as much as possible for the next year, and she’s gotten nothing but positive feedback so far.
“People love it! They are always so happy and smiley around me and always come to speak to me,” she said.
Since tying the knot to husband Steve, 57, on Aug. 3, Winfield-Hunt has worn her wedding gown all over the place.
“I’ve been shopping, made dinner, painted the deck, carried out some carpentry work, done the hoovering (aka vacuuming) and been to an open-air festival,” she said.
Winfield-Hunt says she’s just getting started, and cites kayaking, horseback riding and baking a cake as a few items on her dress bucket list. The adventurer also wants to visit Buckingham Palace and the zoo while she’s all dolled up.
The bride purchased her gown on sale for £300 (around $364 USD) at a local charity shop, and she's certainly getting her money's worth.
Along the way, Winfield-Hunt plans on washing the gown here and there to keep it fresh, and will retire it for good on Aug. 2, 2020, her birthday and the day before her one-year wedding anniversary.
"I intend to organize a charity event on Aug. 1 at the same venue as we got married," she said.
This is the second marriage for both Winfield-Hunt and her hubby, who met at a college they both worked at in Leicestershire, England. And the groom is nothing but supportive of his bride's dress adventure.
"I think it is an absolutely fantastic idea, (and she's) having a laugh along the way with the ultimate aim of raising money for charities. I totally support her and am behind her all the way," he told TODAY.
Winfield-Hunt's son, Sam, 31, is equally proud.
"My mum is amazing, she is always on the go and never stops. I was not surprised to hear that she was doing this as it is exactly the type of thing she would do. She is always smiling and happy and I hope she does really well in raising money for charity," he told TODAY.
Winfield-Hunt is chronicling her dress adventures on her Facebook page called "The life and times of a wedding dress" and is thrilled to see her dress bring others so much joy.
"I love it! It makes me happy to see other people smiling," she said.