Weddings are expensive. There’s so much to buy and plan.

One of those big ticket items is the wedding dress.

In today’s story, one woman offers her wedding dress to her stepdaughter and her future daughter-in-law, but she’s not sure who should get the dress.

Let’s see how the story unfolds…

AITA for giving my wedding dress to my future daughter-in-law instead of my stepdaughter?

I 42F got married 24 years ago. I decided that if I had a daughter, I would pass the dress and accessories on to her.

I chose a simple, elegant dress, rather than what was fashionable at the time, because I wanted something timeless that people could wear for generations to come.

I had my son “Mark” now 22M a year after, and his father passed away when he was young. I raised Mark as a single mom for several years.

I decided that when Mark married, I would give my dress and accessories to his wife.

OP now has a stepdaughter named Molly.

When I was 33, I met “Rob” now 52M. I fell in love with him and we quickly married.

He became a great father figure for Mark, and I was so excited to have a stepdaughter, “Molly” now 24F.

My relationship with Molly had a rocky beginning.

I’ve been patient and gentle with her. I’ve offered to take her shopping or get her nails done. I asked Rob about her favorite foods and made sure to cook those.

She made it clear that she didn’t see me as her real mom.

Molly still doesn’t get along with OP.

Years passed, and I never changed the way I treated Molly.

My door was always open for her, but she never changed the way she thought about me. She called me a trophy wife to my face.

If I ever threw a charity event, she would remark “Wow, you’re so generous with dad’s money.”

While she didn’t say anything explicitly, I could tell she looked down on me for not having a college degree.

OP showed Molly the wedding dress.

A couple years ago, I made a final offering to Molly.

I brought her into my closet and showed her the dress and accessories and told her I would love for her to wear them at her wedding.

Some alterations would have to be done (I am 5’9 and a size 4, while Molly is 5’4 and a size 8), but we could make it work.

Molly scoffed and said I had archaic values and that the dress was trashy, and walked out.

That really hurt because she knew what that dress meant to me and she didn’t care. After that, I stopped making as much of an effort to build a relationship with her.

Mark’s fiancee loves OP’s wedding dress.

Two months ago, Mark proposed to his college sweetheart “Lucy,” with whom I have a great relationship.

When Lucy mentioned dress shopping, I showed her my dress.

Lucy tried it on and it fit like a glove. She fell in love with it, and I told her the dress, shoes, and accessories were hers.

She was so happy she literally cried.

Molly wants the dress after all.

However, a couple days ago, Molly reached out to me out of the blue to ask if the dress was still available.

I told her I had given it to Lucy.

She asked if I could get it back from Lucy, since I offered it to her first.

I told her 1) she said she didn’t want it, 2) it fits Lucy perfectly, and 3) Lucy is the only one getting married within the foreseeable future.

OP is wondering if she should give the dress to Molly instead of Lucy.

Now Molly is saying I’m favoring Lucy over her because she’s conforming to traditional standards of femininity (getting married and being thin).

That’s absolute baloney, but it got me thinking that if the roles were reversed and Lucy was the one asking for the dress after initially turning it down, would I give it to her?

Is Molly right that I’m favoring Lucy? AITA?

It seems like there’s an easy solution. Let Lucy wear the dress for the wedding, but tell her that Molly wants to wear the dress one day too. When Molly eventually gets married, the dress can still be altered to fit her.

Let’s see how Reddit responded…

This reader suggests letting Lucy decide if she wants to give the dress to Molly in the future.

Another reader points out that OP already gave the dress away, so it’s not hers to give anymore.

This person points out how mean the stepdaughter was when she rejected the dress.

Another reader thinks it’s strange that Molly is asking about the dress.

This reader believes Molly only wants the dress because OP gave it to Lucy.

Lucy can decide what she wants to do with the dress after her wedding.

It’s her dress now, so it’s her decision.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.