A wedding dress can become a family heirloom, passed from mother to daughter for generations, if the dress is properly cared for after the wedding day. The good news is, modern preservation techniques allow for more complete preservation of dresses and require less effort than ever before on the part of the bride.
Follow these five tips to help you get the best possible preservation for your gown:
Before The Wedding
Tip #1: Preserving the gown.
The most important step is finding a company to do your wedding dress preservation. Most dry cleaners offer a dress cleaning service masquerading as preservation, but you will quickly find that their techniques do not stand up to the test of time. Your better choice is to go online and find a company who will preserve your dress and accessories as part of a packaged deal. Usually they will send you a shipping box and specific instructions for how to get the dress to them, so you have very little work to do before the wedding day.
On The Wedding Day
Tip #2: Wrapping the gown.
When you take your dress off you will want to be very careful about how you handle it, especially if the dress has sequins or beading of any kind. Use a clean, white sheet as a protective blanket and wrap your dress inside. The sheet will keep the dress’ embellishments from damaging the rest of the fabric until you have a chance to send it to the preserver. You may want to take a second to mark any areas of the dress that need special attention before you finish wrapping it, or else you may forget about those places later.
Tip #3: Boxing the gown.
After wrapping the gown should be stored in a plain cardboard box in a cool, dry place. You want to avoid plastic bags, as they tend to have oils and chemicals that will cause the dress to yellow. It’s ok to store the dress for a couple of weeks in your box, though you will want to get it shipped to the preserver as quickly as you can.
After The Wedding
Tip #4: Shipping the Gown.
Every company is different, so be sure to follow their instructions to the letter. You will probably only be allowed to ship your dress and your veil, though the requirements differ from company to company, with some including things like the ring pillow as part of the preservation process. Take note of your delivery number and tracking information so you can keep up to date on where you dress is.
Tip #5: Storing the gown.
If you used an online preservation company, you should expect to get your dress back in about six weeks. Upon arrival you will want to inspect the gown to make sure that you are happy with the way that it looks. Use white cloth gloves to handle the dress, otherwise the preservation process will have been for naught. Once you have completed the inspection, put the dress in a cool, dry place, like a bedroom closet. The high temperature and humidity fluctuations in an attic or basement make them dangerous places to store your dress for long periods of time.
As long as you take the proper steps and get your dress to the preserver quickly, you will have a precious family heirloom that you can pass down to your own children. Be prepared to spend around $180-200 for the process, but preserving a memory of your wedding is priceless.
Photo credit: aprillynn77 / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
