I received a question from Kristin about restyling her grandmother's vintage wedding dress. This is what she asked:
"I'm thinking of wearing my grandma's wedding dress, but modernizing it a bit. Do you have photos or before and afters for inspiration? I think that would make a great post! Thanks."
This was part of my reply to Kristin:
You’ve asked a great question about restyling vintage wedding dresses. I agree with you that some before and after pictures on redesigned wedding gown would be great. But sorry, I don’t have any pictures.
Here is a vintage wedding dress before and after it was restored. In order to restyle a vintage wedding dress, you must start with a dress that is in good enough shape to restyle. So check with your wedding gown specialist about your vintage dress to see if it can be restored to a condition that you will want to wear. Miracles, like great wedding memories, are possible with wedding gowns.
As experienced vintage wedding gown restoration specialist in Birmingham, Alabama, here are some of the problems we often see with wedding gowns that have not been cleaned, preserved or stored properly over the years:
- Yellowed spots on the wedding gown resulting from not removing sugar stains from the dress after it was worn
- General discoloration of the wedding dress, as in the picture above, due to long-term storage in high temperatures or high humidity areas, like attics and basements. Storing a dress in an area that gets no air circulation can also cause discoloration as well as storage of the dress in plastic or with items made from plastic, leather (with glue present) or metal.
- Fabric damage due to insects and their larvae eating the fabric or food spilled on the wedding dress and not cleaned before storing.
- Damage to beading or discoloration around the beading resulting from glue used on the beads or the deterioration of the beads themselves.
- Streatched seams from leaving the wedding dress on a hanger in the closet for an extended time.
Some of the spots and discoloration problems can be corrected or at least improved through garment restoration techniques. Beads and sequins can be a problem but can sometimes be replaced if necessary. And seam stretching can sometimes be reduced by an experienced dressmaker. But other times these problems cannot be completely corrected. Let an experienced wedding gown restoration specialist take a look at your gown and give you an opinion on the likelihood of success restoring your vintage wedding gown.
Once you have determined that you can use your vintage wedding gown, here are some ideas of how you can go about the restyling of your vintage wedding gown.
First, decide on the basic features you desire such as length of the gown, sleeved or strapless, type of train and veil, etc. Then look for pictures of the features you like within each of the following areas:
- Get pictures of styles for the bodice area of gowns that you like…front and back.
- Get pictures of the styles for the lower area of gowns that you like…front and back.
- Get pictures of the trains you like.
- Get pictures of any accessories you might like (including those that might use portions of the gown) like a veil, etc.
- Then take a look at Grandma's dress. Make a list of what you’d like to accomplish with a re-design. Be specific. List features you don’t like in the current dress and those you do like.
The purpose of this exercise is to get you to think about the specific features of the dress…and then write them down so you can think about them and discuss them with an experienced wedding gown specialist/dressmaker.
Understand that there are some things you can change and some things you can't change with the existing dress. Talk with our dressmaker and get an idea of what's possible. Plan early on this so you're not pushed to make a quick desision. Plan and be prepared for several fittings to get your dress just right.
You can end up with a special dress and really make Grandma and the entire family proud.
And when your wedding is over, remember to get your wedding dress cleaned and preserved so maybe one day your daughter can wear your wedding dress.
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Get Wedding Dress Alterations from a Specialist. From simple hems, to adding a bustle, altering the bodice to a redesign of a vintage gown. We can do it and you can relax.
Learn more about our wedding dress alterations services here.
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(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
I had a recent request about how much time we need to clean a wedding dress. Here is the question I was asked from a UAB Nursing Student:
"My dress was sold to me 'As Is' from David's Bridal. They were unable to clean it fully because they said it would take too much cleaner around the bottom and there's a sweat stain from my bridal portraits. I will be getting married July 31st. I go to school in Birmingham, but I am currently in Brewton, AL doing a rotation and will be getting married here. The only time I will be able to come up to Birmingham is on July 16th to bring the dress up. I will be back up the next weekend of the 23rd. I was wondering if that would be enough time to get my dress cleaned. I'm also looking to have it cleaned after the wedding."
My answer to this question is simple. Yes We Can clean a wedding dress in a week.
Most wedding gown specialists take two to four weeks to clean a wedding dress, but unless the dress is in really bad shape...a lot of stains, repairs or discoloration issues, they don't spend more than a week working on it.
So why does it normally take two to four weeks to clean and preserve most wedding dresses?
- Since most dry cleaners or bridal shops DO NOT clean wedding dresses themselves, they need extra time to ship their dresses off to other locations to be cleaned.
- Since most Brides are not looking for their gown back in a week, the wedding gown specialist may simply take more time to smooth out their work flow
We are a little guilty of the second issue above.
But we do our wedding dress cleaning ourselves, right here in Birmingham, Alabama. So when needed, we can get it done right in a week...cleaned and pressed and ready to wear (or preserved for generations).
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Get Wedding Dress Alterations from a Specialist. From simple hems, to adding a bustle, altering the bodice to a redesign of a vintage gown. We can do it and you can relax.
Learn more about our wedding dress alterations services here.
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(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
I’ve been asked several times about a home remedy for removing grass stains from a polyester wedding dress. The important fact here…and don’t miss it…is this applies to a polyester wedding dress and not silk or other fabrics. Polyester is much more forgiving than silk so don’t follow this remedy for you silk wedding gown.
I was talking recently with a Birmingham-area photographer, Michael Ray Wright. He told me that he tells every Bride he photographs to expect to get grass stains on her gown during the photo session. So don't be surprised if your white gown gets a little green during summertime photo shoots.
When you find a grass stain on your polyester dress, try using a diluted mixture of water and Dawn…about a 1 to 1 mixture should work.
This is how you should apply it:
- Work the mixture in on the wedding dress with the back side (rounded side) of a spoon or even lightly by hand.
- Don’t over work the area and don’t apply much pressure. Just apply the mixture and let the process work…maybe 10 to 15 minutes.
Don’t let it dry before going to the next step.
- Blot the stained area with a wet towel. Don’t wring all the water out of the towel…let it apply some clean water and then blot the area to get off the excess water.
Don’t rub hard because the finish on the wedding dress can become damaged.
- Rinse out the towel several times and keep blotting with the wet towel until the Dawn, the excess water and the grass stain are out.
- If you still have some grass stain, “lather, rinse and repeat.”
- Once you’re finished, be sure to let the dress air out and dry.
This might not result in a perfectly cleaned area on the dress…but I bet it will look much better and probably not that visible except maybe to you.
Dawn is an amazing product.
It can clean Pelicans drenched in oil at the Gulf Coast…and get grass stain out of a wedding dress…without hurting the Pelican or the wedding dress.
And finally, get your wedding dress to your
wedding gown specialist right after your wedding.
Clean and preserve your wedding dress so you can keep your wedding memories.
Do you have any tired and true home remedies to get stains out of a wedding dress?
Let me know by clicking in the comments section below and I’ll pass them on to others.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
Contrary to common belief, the seal on a wedding dress preservation chest does not protect the dress from air. A dress that is vacuum sealed is likely to be ruined after just a few years. In fact, for a wedding dress to be successfully preserved over many years, air must circulate around and through the gown.
So why is a wedding dress preservation chest sealed?
The main reason is to keep pests away from your gown. You certainly don't want moths getting to your wedding dress, depositing eggs and causing damage to your wedding dress as the larvae hatch. Sealing the wedding chest helps.
But a properly cleaned and preserved wedding dress does not have to be sealed in order to last for generations. Just make sure the preservation chest is protected from pests...the six and eight-legged versions (i.e., insects) and the two and four legged versions (i.e., kids and pets).
Yes, the seal can also help keep out kids and pets so don't forget about that advantage of sealing the chest. But the preservation chest does not have to be sealed if you can protect it by storing it away from the reach of the kids and pets and away from insects.
But Happens If You Break The Seal?
While WE don't void our guarantee because the wedding dress preservation chest is opened, some other wedding gown cleaners will claim their guarantee is voided if seal is broken...so be sure to check first. If your wedding dress was cleaned and preserved by a member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists (including us!), a broken seal does not void anything. Make sure your wedding dress preservation chest carries the AWGS seal.
Read more about our guarantees by following this link.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
I was contacted by a Bride wanting to preserve her wedding shoes at the same time she preserved her wedding dress. I told her it was perfectly fine to preserve her wedding shoes...just not in the same box/wedding dress preservation chest as her wedding dress.
Now why could that be the case?
Well, shoes are most often made of either leather or plastic...and they may contain metal. Plastic will emit fumes which will cause a white wedding dress to turn yellow over time, especially when closed up in a wedding dress preservation chest.
If the shoes are made of leather, keep in mind that glue is used to make the shoes. Like plastic, glue will cause a wedding dress to discolor, especially when closed in a wedding dress preservation chest. And the same problem can occur with shoes that contain any metal, such as buckles and heal tips.
To take this even further, metal buttons as well as foam breast and underarm pads on a wedding dress can likewise cause discoloration of the gown when contained in a wedding dress preservation chest. Over time the foam rubber will decompose, emit damaging fumes and cause problems for your wedding gwon.
Don't get me wrong here...boxing a wedding gown in a preservation chest is still my recommendation for safely preserving your wedding memories. Just make sure the plastic and metal are placed in separate containers from the wedding dress.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
A Bride from Hoover, Alabama contacted me this week asking if it would be best to steam/press her wedding dress prior to leaving for her destination wedding...or should she wait until she arrives at the wedding site to do this.
I asked her two questions. First, how was she traveling? If you travel by plane and the dress must be placed in a carry-on size bag, there is probably no benefit to steaming out the wrinkles before the trip. But if you travel by car, train or even boat (like on a cruise), it may benefit you to steam or press it before the trip. It's usually easier to transport a wedding dress without adding to the wrinkles when traveling by car, train or cruise ship.
The second question I asked was how wrinkled was the dress? If it has really bad wrinkles, you need to know how bad the wrinkles are...and where they are. If the dress is a used wedding dress, like a second generation wedding dress, and has been stored in some type of container but not properly cushioned at the folds, you could find your gown has permanent creases. You want to know about the extent of permanent creases before you travel to your destination. You want to make sure
One other tip. If you plan on having your wedding dress pressed or steamed at your destination, try to find the wedding gown specialist at your wedding site before your wedding. Even if you don't plan on using someone at your destination, you never know what might happen.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
We're in the business of meeting with Brides and Mothers of the Bride who come to us to clean and preserve a wedding dress. Sometimes we receive a wedding dress on a Monday after the wedding on Saturday. And sometimes it's several weeks or months, even years, after the wedding. But we consistently see problems with these wedding dresses that could have been avoided. So I have put some suggestions together for things the Bride can do to get a successful wedding gown cleaning and preservation.
So When Should You Begin The Preservation Process? The answer is "AT THE FIRST PEELING"...the moment you peel off that wedding dress after the reception is when you should begin the wedding dress preservation process.
So What Should You Do? Immediately hang your wedding dress on a padded hanger and let it air out. Think about what you've gone through since you first put that dress on for the day. Makeup, hair spray, perspiration, hugs, body oils, kisses, cake, soft drinks, wine, maybe beer and mixed drinks, food, grass, dirt and of course, more perspiration. Don't put it in closet. It's full of alien substances and it needs fresh air to dry out.
If the wedding gown has an especially heavy skirt, place the skirt on a second hanger so you won't stretch the shoulders of the gown. And if you have a veil, keep it separate from the rest of the wedding gown so it won't catch and snag on the beads or sequins.
This is a good time to gather all the pieces you want to save along with the wedding dress, like the veil, shoes and tiara. Keep them together.
So What Should Happen To The Wedding Dress When It Arrives Home? Don't put your wedding dress back in the plastic garment bag...until it's time to take it home following the ceremony. And when it arrives home, it needs to be taken out of the bag immediately. The fumes from plastic garment bags can cause yellowing and other problems with the gown. It probably still needs to be aired out some more. The garment bag is for transporting gowns only...not for long-tern storage.
Assign the job of taking your gown home to someone else since I suspect you'll be on your honeymoon. You don't want to have to focus on that before or after your honeymoon. If you're smart, you'll meet with your wedding gown specialist before your wedding and all you need to do is to direct where you'd like your wedding gown taken for cleaning and preservation. A great job for Mom or Maid of Honor!
Just remember, effective wedding dress preservation begins with the first PEELING!
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
Of course you will do everything in your power to avoid spilling red wine on your gorgeous wedding gown during the wedding reception. But what can you do to protect your wedding dress before your wedding day?
Here are my suggestions for protecting your wedding gown before the wedding...so your wedding day will be perfect.
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Before your wedding, store your wedding gown where it will be protected from kids, pets, heat and moisture. There are many stories out there about all four of these culprits causing pre-wedding damage to a wedding dress. Keep it in a protective covering before the wedding but remember to check it for wrinkles before the wedding so you can get it steamed pr pressed if needed. Often the wrinkles will fall out on their own.
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When you unpack your gown, be sure to unpack it in a clean, uncluttered area away from food, children and pets. Be sure your hands are clean and dry and remove all jewelry when handling your bridal gown.
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Remember to keep all labels and anything that came with the dress that covers care for the dress and fabrics used in the wedding dress. You'll need them later. They'll help your wedding gown specialist clean your wedding dress. Please don't remove the care labels from your wedding dress. If you don't have the labels, don't fret. An experienced wedding gown specialist can determine the fabric and proper treatment in most cases...but it still helps to have the labels.
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Inspect your dress after your pictures for soil, especially on the hem lines on a floor-length wedding gown and around the collar from makeup. Have the gown cleaned if necessary.
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Before your wedding, locate a qualified Wedding Gown Specialist and discuss your wedding gown cleaning and preservation. Be comfortable with the people who will be cleaning and preserving your wedding gown. The best way to get that feeling of confidence is face-to-face discussion of the care for your wedding gown. Don't do it over the phone. Don't just take it to your local dry cleaner. Take it to a Wedding Gown Specialist...someone who is qualified and experienced in wedding gown cleaning and preservation...someone who will clean the gown himself...not ship it to some distant, wedding gown mill. Arrange to see your wedding dress before it is placed in the preservation chest. Take a look at the problem areas...the grass or wine stains. Make sure it is your dress being packaged. That's the advantage of using a local wedding gown specialist. That's why I'm in the wedding dress preservation business in Birmingham, Alabama.
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My final suggestion is to arrange for someone (your Mom, your Mother-in-Law, your Maid of Honor, your brother...anyone) to take your gown to your selected wedding gown specialist immediately after your wedding. The sooner the expert receives your gown, the better are the chances that any problems can be corrected. Have your wedding dress preservation done as soon as possible...because there are risks of leaving it hangling in your closet (remember the kids, pets, heat and moisture).
If you have any other ideas for wedding dress care before the wedding, please let me and the other readers of my blog know by responding to this post.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
A Bride from Vestavia Hills, Alabama recently asked me why she should keep her wedding dress. That's a good question with more than one answer. But it all boils down to CHOICES. I told her to ask her Mom because I suspect her Mom would know why and she'd probably tell her the same thing I would tell her.
Your Wedding Memories
First, keep your wedding dress because you can re-live the ceremony. The hours of planning, the fun, the engagement, the walk down the aisle, the flowers, the people, the dance, the challenges of planning for perhaps the biggest day of your life... will come back to you just by holding your wedding dress. The memories will be stronger when holding your wedding dress. If you dry clean and preserve your wedding dress, you will then have many choices you can make down thge road.
Your Daughter
One choice you'll have is to give your wedding dress for your daughter...or perhaps for your daughter-in-law...to wear at her wedding. This is the the reason I hear most from Brides about why they decide to clean and preserve their wedding dress. And maybe she WILL want to wear wear your wedding dress at her wedding...but maybe she won't. Styles change. Many Brides have a desire to make their own wedding image.
Why else should a Bride keep her wedding dress? If the style of your wedding gown is no longer in favor 20-plus years from now (note to Brides: this is a good reason to select a classic style wedding dress...they never go out of style) why else should a Bride want to keep her dress?
Get Creative
Here are some other things you can do with your wedding dress:
- If you don't expect your daughter or daughter-in-law to wear your dress one day, you can use the dress to make a Baptismal gown or a flower girl dress. Here's a link to ideas about how to do this. But you need to clean and preserve your wedding dress or this choice will, most likely, not be available.
- Other creative ideas of things to make with your wedding dress...if you decide not to keep it (in its original form) include: ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket, communion dress, pillow case, baby bonnet, sachets, lingerie, wrap or shawl...even a Christmas tree skirt.
- You can always sell your dress through a consignment shop or even give it to a family member. But be sure to get it dry cleaned as soon after the wedding as possible. Second hand wedding dresses are a great wedding dress solution for a lot of Brides today.
- If you think you might want to sell your dress but you aren't sure, wait a few years before deciding for sure. Just be sure to get your wedding dress dry cleaned and preserved so you have the choice.
Recycle
Don't let your wedding gown rot in you closet, uncleaned, waiting to decide what to do with it. There are plenty of choices you can make about your dress after your wedding. But all the choices start with cleaning your wedding dress. Unless you plan to sell your gown, you should also have it preserved. You will keep it in better condition so you will have choices...because it's all about choices.
By the way, reusing (by your daughter) or recycling your wedding dress (as a second hand wedding dress at a consignment shop, or a Baptismal gown for your family) is an environmentally sound way to handle your wedding dress. Letting it rot in your closet is such a waste.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
One of the challenges for a destination wedding is making sure the wedding gown arrives safe and sound. I was recently asked about what's the best way to protect the beading on a wedding gown when packed in a suitcase.
First of all, I strongly recommend that you carry your wedding dress on the plane with you if you are traveling by air. To carry on the dress, the suitcase you are using must fit in the overhead compartment so be sure to size the suitcase before your flight. If you decide not to carry on your wedding dress, you need to have Plan B ready...what will you do if your luggage does not arrive at the wedding site with you?
A suitcase will work fine to transport a wedding dress. We even offer "carryon" boxes with handles that will work fine...both going to the wedding and returning. You can get these at our shop in Birmingham.
You will want to carefully pack the gown, cushioning each fold with plain white tissue paper. This will help prevent heavy creases that can result when packing the wedding gown in a suitcase. I also recommend waiting until close to leaving to pack the gown. The less time the gown spends packed in the suitcase, the better.
Watch out for the beads on your wedding dress...make sure they don't get caught in the the lid of the suitcase when you close it.
When you arrive at your destination, unpack your gown immediately so the wrinkles will begin to fall out. You most likely will require a wedding gown specialist to steam and/or press the wrinkles out of the gown...so be sure to plan for this after your arrival at your destination. You can always try the steam in the bathroom approach to getting wrinkles out but if that doesn't work, a wedding gown specialist is your best bet.
For a beaded gown, the best way to protect the beads is to place the gown in a cotton or muslin garment bag. If you don't have one, you can always wrap it in a white sheet. These don't take up much space but will help reduce the stress of beading rubbing against the side of the suitcase. Pack it carefully and you AND your wedding dress should arrive in good shape.
We stock muslin garment bags and "carry on" size cases at our shop in Birmingham.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved