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I was recently asked if a wedding dress should be preserved if it will sit for a year before the wedding. This is a good question and one with an easy answer: It Depends!
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The obvious benefit to getting a wedding dress preservation just a year before your wedding is that the dress would be clean and protected before the wedding. When preserved, the dress can easily be placed out of reach of kids and pets. It can easily be placed where a catastrophe like broken water lines are not a threat. So there are many benefits to cleaning and preserving your wedding gown before your wedding.
But is it worth the cost?
If you can keep your wedding dress -
- out of the reach of kids and pets,
- away broken water lines or overflowing toilets, and
- away from high humidity and heat
then I'd say,
"No, you don't need to preserve the gown for just a year." This is a year when you'll have a lot of focus on your wedding so you aren't likely to forget about your gown. Sometimes the problems happen when the Bride forgets about her gown. You won't forget about it the year before your wedding.
If you aren't sure about the likelihood of it surviving in good shape for the year, then I'd say preserving is your best bet. And if the wedding is, say, two years away, I'd say it's a good idea to preserve it.
If you decide to not preserve your wedding dress when your wedding is a year away, make sure you it's clean as soon as possible. Don't let stains sit for a year. If the wedding dress has been worn, it may have been exposed to makeup, perspiration, grass stains, hem dirt and more. Just because it looks clean, don't be fooled.
If you aren't sure about the shape of the gown, bring it by to us in Birmingham, Alabama and we'll take a look at it under a black light. We'll go over your gown while you're with us to assess the condition. You can make the decision to have it cleaned or not. There is no charge for this evaluation process.
So how should you store your clean wedding dress if it will sit for a year before your wedding?
Here are my suggestions:
- Don't use a plastic garment bag of any type. If your gown is stored in a plastic bag for that long, there is a good chance that your gown will show signs of discoloration within a year...and guess what: You'll need to get it cleaned and restored before your wedding.
- Remove the breast pads and underarm pads, if any. They'll emit fumes just like a plastic garment bag. If they are sewn in, you must decide if the risk is worth the gamble of leaving them in place or removing and later restoring them to the gown.
- Hang the wedding dress on a wooden hanger. Be sure the hanger has no plastic.
- Use a padded hanger unless the wedding dress is sleeveless. Make sure the padding is not foam rubber. Make a padded hanger yourself by taking a wooden hanger and wrap it with cotton sheet, terry cloth towel or other cotton fabric
- If the dress has a long train that cannot easliy be removed, be sure to take the extra weight of the train off the seams by folding the train over the hanger. One concern about hanging a heavy wedding dress is the seam stretching that occurs over time. Create ways to minimize the hanging weight on the seams of the wedding gown. Make a sling and place it over the hanger to move the weight to the sling rather than on the seams. A long dress full of beads can be heavy. Be creative when dealing with a heavy dress.
- Protect the wedding dress by placing a large cotton sheet over the dress. Simply pin the ends of the sheet above the hanger like a taco. A safety pin or two along the sides is not a bad idea either. We also have muslin garment bags that can be used to effectively protect and store a hanging wedding dress.
- Finally, hang the gown where it has room to breathe. Don't place it in a crowded closet. And certainly don't even think about using the vacuum sealed plastic containers.
Do these things and your wedding dress should be ready for your wedding. You may need to get it steamed out before your wedding, but it should be in good shape.
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Protect Your Wedding Dress In Birmingham, Alabama BeforeYour Wedding With Our own Gown Protection Plan. For only $35.00 we'll help you keep your wedding gown looking great.
Learn about our Gown Protection Plan 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 have talked to several Brides, including one recently from Hoover, Alabama, about this emotional topic. The Bride wanted to have her gown cleaned after her wedding. However, she didn't want to place it in a wedding dress preservation chest. She wanted her wedding dress to last for many years in case she has a daughter one day who might want to wear her wedding dress. But she was adamant that she be able to hold and even try on her wedding dress (after the wedding) in order to re-live the memories of her wedding day.
The emotion associated with the dress and the thought that a Bride cannot hold her dress after preserving it make some Brides decide to delay proper care for the dress for several years.
Our response to this issue is different from some other wedding gown cleaners. We say you can hold...even try on...the wedding dress after it is cleaned. But you need to be careful. And you need to know how to re-package the dress so that permanent creases do not form.
If you have already had your dress cleaned and preserved by another wedding gown cleaner...one other than Champion...check with them about their guarantee. Will your handling of the gown void any guarantee they may have offered when you had your wedding gown cleaned? You don't want to lose the security the wedding gown specialist might provide.
If you must handle your wedding dress after it is cleaned and preserved, remember this important point: Museum standards for preserving vintage garments includes limiting the handling of the garment.
So keep that in mind...less is better!
But you can handle your gown without damaging it. Here are a few suggestions:
• Wash your hands and wear cotton gloves when handling a clean gown (we'll provide you with a pair)
• Don't handle it excessively (remember, less is better)
• Be aware of makeup...don't hold it too close
• Be wary of children and dirty hands
- Learn how to re-package the dress in the preservation chest (we'll show you)
If anyone wears the gown outside you'll likely need to get it cleaned again.
When you clean, preserve and store your gown properly, it will last for generations. But you don't have to put it away and never be able to re-live the wedding memories with your dress...at least not when Champion Wedding Gown Specialist handles your gown cleaning and preservation.
(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
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
"How long will it take to do my Wedding Dress alterations?"
We get questions all the time asking about the time it takes us to complete Wedding Dress alterations at our gown care shop in Birmingham, Alabama. The same questions also come to us about Bridesmaids Dresses, Mother of the Bride Dresses, Maid of Honor Gowns and Prom Gowns. These questions are often in the form of e-mails and phone calls.
And the answer is......
...we need to see the dress first and then we can answer this question.
But let me try to explain the factors that enter into the answer to this question.
There are many different needs when altering and fitting a wedding dress. The actual amount of time it takes to do the alteration typically depends on three primary factors:
- the style of the wedding dress,
- the complexity of the desired alteration, and
- the backlog of work to be done by the wedding dress alterations specialist
Style of the Wedding Dress
A heavily beaded gown will require more time for an alteration affecting the beaded area than a simple wedding dress. Beads must be handled with care to make sure the gown keeps its look when altering an area of the gown involving beads and other adornments.
Hemming sleeves with buttons and beads require more time than sleeves without buttons or beads.
A wedding dress with multiple layers will likewise require more time for a hem or bodice alteration than a simple wedding gown. We must hem each layer when hemming a wedding dress...and the more layers, the more time it takes for the alteration. The number of layers and the structure of the wedding gown will also impact the job of replacing a wedding dress zipper.
Complexity of the Alterations
It often takes less time to hem a bridal gown than to take it in or let it out. Removing straps in a wedding dress can be simple, but if combined with a bodice alteration...and it often is, the process can become more complicated and more time consuming.
Adding a bustle might be simple. But again this depends on the complexity of the gown, especially the number of layers and type of fabric. Beading can also affect a bustle. When adding a bustle, I recommend adding more than one, even on a simple wedding dress. If the Bride steps on the hem or sits the wrong way, a single bustle can break...so always add more than one. Add even more when the train is heavy and extra long.
How Many Fittings?
One other common factor that can affect the time it takes to do bridal gown alterations is the number of fittings required to make sure your wedding dress fits perfectly. Again, a hem on a gown without extra layers or beading should take fewer fittings while changes to the design or taking in or letting out the bodice typically requires more.
As I've said in my previous wedding gown blog posts, the best solution is to purchase a wedding gown that most nearly fits you. But our commitment to our Brides is that we'll do whatever it takes to get your wedding gown alterations in Birmingham done right and on your schedule. All I suggest is to make arrangements ahead of time and meet with with your alterations specialist. Let her see the wedding gown to get a good idea of the complexity of the wedding gown and the required wedding gown alterations.
Backlog
A person can get only 8 hours of work done in 8 hours. But an experienced seamstress has fewer "start-overs" and can get more done than a less experienced seamstress. However, a major issue for completing wedding dress alterations is to make an appointment with your wedding gown specialist and keep the appointment...and all subsequent fitting appointments That will help insure timely completion of your wedding dress alterations
Experience Counts
One last bit of advice is to make sure your seamstress is qualified and experienced with wedding gown alterations. For successful wedding dress alterations, experience is critical. A seamstress or even a tailor who spends all of their time hemming pants and sleeves...or even making men's suits... might not be able to handle a wedding gown correctly.
My suggestion is to make sure your wedding gown specialist is a qualified dressmaker and has years of experience with wedding dress alterations. This will reduce the number of fittings required and get your wedding dress alterations completed on schedule. And you'll stand a better chance of getting it done correctly when your wedding gown specialist is qualified.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved