When you got engaged, you probably thought you’d have a busy and stressful schedule up until the wedding day and then you could settle down into wedded bliss. That isn’t actually the case, though. When the last piece of cake has been eaten and you’ve waved goodbye to your loved ones, you’ll still have a list of wedding related chores to complete before you can get down to the business of being married.
Once such chore is having your wedding dress preserved. Thankfully, we know what to look for in a good wedding dress preservation company, and we are sharing our knowledge with you.
#1: A Solid Track Record
When you were planning your wedding, you probably passed up vendors that had a spotty track record of performing. For example, you probably avoided a florist who had flowers that arrived wilted, and you might have passed on a baker who had a bad record of getting the cake to the venue on time. Now that the wedding is over, you’ll want to be just as picky with who cleans your wedding dress. Look up reviews and ask friends and family who they used. You want to find a wedding dress preservation company that has a solid record of delivering a quality product. After all, you really only get one chance to preserve your gown, so you’ll want to make sure it is done correctly.
#2: Guarantees and Warranties
You’ll want to find a preservation company that offers a solid warranty or guarantee on their work. After all, if a company is good, they’ll be happy to back up their work with a warranty. Companies that are a bit fly-by-night are likely to offer a cheaper service, but they also won’t guarantee the work they do. Ask whatever companies you’re considering what their warranty covers and how they protect the dress against problems in the future, including yellowing. These questions will help you weed out companies that are less professional. Make sure you go with a company that offers protection you feel comfortable with.
#3: Experience with Gowns
Many dry cleaners will offer to dry clean a wedding gown, but, believe it or not, many do not have experience cleaning wedding dresses and don’t even do it on site (learn more about the differences between wedding dress cleaning and preserving here). Many dry cleaners offer the service, but your gown is being shipped off to a different company that has experience with wedding dress preservation. While there isn’t anything wrong with that, per say, you can get a better deal by cutting out the middle man and seeking out that company yourself. If the dry cleaner does the cleaning on site, you’ll want to ensure that they have the proper equipment and experience to deal with your dress’ material and design. Don’t be afraid to ask multiple questions. A professional preservation company will be happy to answer all of your concerns.
#4: Look for Hidden Fees
Before you sign on the dotted line and send your dress off to be preserved, you’ll want to look for hidden fees. A lot of companies will build hidden fees into the package pricing, making the cleaning and preservation process much more expensive than you were originally led to believe it would be. Ask what is included in your package, whether the box and the cleaning are part of the package deal, or if you’ll be expected to pay extra for proper storage. Knowing the costs up front can help you shop around with a bit more knowledge. You’ll want to find a preservation company that will clean, preserve and box your dress for all one price.
Photo credit: e3Learning / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)
