Cleaning and preserving your wedding gown is something that is often overlooked! I often run into brides a year later and they always say to me, “My wedding dress got so dirty at my wedding and now it's just sitting in the back of my closet what should I do with it?" My answer is always, “Bring it to me and lets get it cleaned and preserved before we can't get the stains out.”
When it comes to cleaning and preserving your wedding dress you have two options. Option one is just to clean the wedding gown for $175 and if you want your wedding dress cleaned and preserved it is $250. The biggest difference is with the cleaning and preserving of your wedding gown it will come in a box laid nicely with a window for viewing. When your wedding dress is just cleaned, it comes hanging on a hanger in a box with no window. Which ever you choose, my suggestion is to get it done soon after the wedding in order to maintain the integrity of the dress! We send out all our dresses to a professional company that has been doing preservation since 1913.
Here are my 5 main reasons for getting your wedding gown cleaned and preserved!
1) To remove any visible stains and restore your gown to it's original gorgeous state! At a wedding everyone is having a fun time but between make-up coming off, someone accidently spilling their drink on you or grass and dirt on the bottom from walking around doing your pictures these wedding dresses can get dirty! There are usually visible stains on everyones dress but we can attest to how amazing cleaning your gown can be! Sometimes when someone buys a wedding gown sample off the rack we will send it out to be cleaned and it will come back looking brand new! The experts know how to clean the dresses properly and remove every stain!
2) To ensure that it is stored in a safe place where it won't stretch or yellow! A lot of times wedding dresses are just left in the bag in the back of the closet, if the hanger tags aren't used over time the shoulders or straps of the dress will stretch out. When the wedding gown is preserved it is folded and laid nicely in a box so there is no pulling that happens. It will be inside a box that you can bring out for people to see but not touch or you can store it away for a later date.
3) To remove and invisible stains that will cause the wedding gown to yellow! Over the long term if a wedding dress is not cleaned and preserved all the oils from people's skin will start to yellow the dress. You have a seamstress who touches the dresses for alterations, you will touch it that day to put it on. Guests are going to touch it to get a closer look and everyone's body oils will be all over it causing it to yellow over time and those types of stains are harder to remove if the wedding dress is cleaned later rather than sooner.
4) To create something new from the wedding dress. We have seen all kinds of fabulous ideas for what to do with your wedding gown after you wear it for your wedding but for regardless of the idea you will need a clean wedding dress! One of our brides turned her wedding dress into a first communion dress for her daughter. I personally used lace from my mom's gown to wrap my flowers in the day of the wedding. You could use lace from the dress or your veil to create a canopy or mobile for a nursery. Another option is to sell it or give it to someone less fortunate than you. All of these options the wedding dress will most definitely need to be cleaned!
5) Lastly to create a family heirloom! We know that wedding dress styles go in and out of fashion all the time but you truly and honestly never know, if you have a daughter, if she is going to want to wear your dress on her wedding day. Princess Beatrice had to postpone her wedding twice and when they finally decided to have a small ceremony with only family she ended up wearing her grandmother Queen Elizabeth's gown from 1962. She made a few minor changes to make it her own but she kept the integrity of the dress and she looked stunning on her wedding day! Check out her look in Harper's Bazaar https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a33348114/princess-beatrice-wedding-dress/ If the queen hadn't properly cared for her gown it would have never been able to be used this many years later.
When you are wedding dress shopping it is often times the one thing that is overlooked. After the hustle and bustle of the wedding, brides always say that they are going to bring it back and usually forget. Some suggestions would be to pre-pay for the cleaning and preservation, this way after the wedding when you have just shelled out a lot of money it won't feel like the expenses are never ending. You could also ask for it as a shower or a wedding gift. If it is already paid for you will be more likely to stop by and drop it off. All of our brides who buy a wedding gown from us receive $25 off their cleaning and preservation to help save some money!
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