Preserving Your Wedding Gown

You’ve carefully selected the perfect dress for your big day. You’ve dreamt about gracefully walking down the aisle in a glorious gown that will make your guest’s hearts skip a beat. But how do you preserve your treasured gown once the wedding is over? We’ve got answers to help you take the right steps to making your gown last a lifetime.

Before the Wedding:

Short-term storage of your gown is absolutely important! It is recommended that you make sure your bridal gown hangs from the loops inside the garment attached to the side seems. According to Dr. Sally Lorensen Content, President of Orange Restoration Labs in New England and Master Wedding Vendor by the Association of Bridal Consultants, it is best to protect your gown from exposure to light and air by wrapping the dress in a clean sheet or fresh unbleached muslim.

Dr. Content advises that you never keep your gown in a plastic bag for any length of time as plastic can emit fumes than can cause the yellowing of fabric and cause a metal zipper to accelerate the damaging chemical reaction of gases trapped inside the bag. Be sure to keep your bridal gown away from extreme heat or humidity and never, ever store your wedding gown in the attic or the basement.

During the Wedding:

Accidents happen. The regular wear of your gown on your wedding day will pick up dirt, but you can also accrue other stains such as grease, sweat, food and even wine. Make sure you assemble a Bridal Emergency kit before the wedding, such as this nifty little kit. These kits (aka life savers) usually contain extra thread, needles, buttons, hosiery, bobby bins, oil blotting papers, aspirin and other necessities to make sure you are taken care of in any situation. Add baking soda or talcum powder to your kit in case of any spills that might occur on your gown.

Dr. Content suggests dabbing spots with clear water or club soda. A little science knowledge for you…club soda actually does contain an enzyme that makes it slightly more effective than plain water. But a word of caution: even clear water can leave a permanent stain on such water sensitive fabrics as English satin, matte silk satin, or silk organza.

After the Wedding:

If you decide to keep your dress after the wedding, it is important to find a reputable place in your town. If you purchased your dress locally, ask the bridal gown shop about trusted and bridal gown cleaners in the area. Don’t go to just any cleaner shop on the corner either!

Dr. Content gives a warning to those brides who believe their dress is not in need of a good cleaning after the wedding. “It is almost never true that you did not spill anything, so if you just hang your bridal gown in the closet you will almost certainly find it covered with stains the next time you look at it. And if you decide to sell your wedding gown, the consignment shop will not accept a wedding gown that has not been cleaned,” says Content.

Content also says you should avoid a service that promotes “vacuum-packaging” because the plastic in which the bridal gown is sealed can trap moisture and emit fumes that yellow the bridal gown. “Both sealed and unsealed plastic containers can trap moisture, and both — even chemically inert plastics such as the one trademarked Coroplast — also set up an electrostatic charge that can permanently set wrinkles in the wedding gown,” cautions Content. However, acid-free boxes of paper board allow for “breathing” and expansion and contraction of the gown in the event of environment changes of heat and humidity.

Dr. Content suggests you ask plenty of questions to before making a decision on who will clean your gown. You’ve most likely paid a lot of money for your dress and want to make sure it is preserved in the best possible way.

Things to Keep in Mind:

• Ask your cleaner is the work done locally so you can personally inspect your bridal gown after it is cleaned.
• Ask what special precautions are taken to protect delicate trims and decorations on your bridal gown.
• How does the bridal gown preservation service guard against latent stains on your bridal gown caused by alcohol and other sugar-based stains that do not dissolve during ordinary dry cleaning and if left untreated will eventually caramelize into dark brown spots?
• Does the wedding gown preservation service provide an environmentally-safe, acid-free, museum quality archival container that will not discolor or damage the fabric of your bridal gown?
• Be sure to inspect that as the wedding gown is folded, are the folds in the wedding gown buffered with tissue?
• Is the tissue and/or the bust form used to stuff the bridal gown acid-free? (Note that colored tissue is never acid-free and can also stain the bridal gown, especially if the box is soaked and the paper gets wet.
• Does the bridal gown preservation service seal the box itself or leave it open? Ask why or why not and whether the preservation or the guarantee — there is a difference — depends upon an unbroken seal.
• Does the wedding gown preservation service guarantee the wedding dress will not be stained or discolored when the next bride in your family is ready to wear the wedding gown? Today or twenty-five years from today, who will honor the guarantee?
• And of course, make sure you are 100 percent comfortable with all the answers to your questions!

For the Southern California brides, we love Encore Bridal of Manhattan Beach. They’ve partnered with Forever Treasure to ensure eco-friendly and museum quality cleaning services of your dress.

{Original article and preservation supplies can be found at  Wedding Charms}