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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’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
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
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
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
With the huge majority of weddings being planned today on the Internet, here's a short list of great sites that can help you with the daunting task of planning and pulling off such a major life event...and creating your wedding memories. Whether you plan to have 50 or 500 guests, everyone can benefit from the insight of others...and these sites will give you just that. And they're all free! Take a look if you haven't already been to these useful resources
The Knot has a ton of great resources. It's an overflowing source of guides, articles, and ideas. If you're looking for any little wedding tidbit, from wedding dresses to brides maids gifts, it can be found on The Knot. However, what separates The Knot from every other wedding website on the Internet is their forum. They have a very active forum on all things relating to weddings. From budget proportions and numbers, to making your own centerpieces, everything about weddings is discussed down to the smallest detail in those forums...and yes, even wedding gown cleaning and preservation. This is great for a bride who has an idea and wants to bounce it off others before implementing it at her wedding. The people on the forums are so obsessed with weddings. They may be getting married themselves or they may be experienced wedding planners. They are excited to jump in and help others out with their wedding planning.
The Wedding Details site has checklists, checklists and even more checklists. Every bride has literally a million little things to do. Being organized is the key to not going crazy. They have a time line for months in advanced, for the final month, and for the wedding day itself. You can print out all of their checklists and time lines for free and make a simple wedding planning binder. Check off each item as you go and know that you are on track. You will know that you are not letting anything slip through the cracks with this level of organization. This will keep you organized from the day you are proposed to until you are off on your honeymoon.
I'd add just one item to the checklists here. Be sure to remember to take your wedding dress in to a certified wedding gown specialist for a wedding dress cleaning and preservation very soon after your wedding!
Martha Stewart Weddings
You can't go wrong with Martha Stewart. You can count on the fact that everything on that website is classy and gorgeous. Sometimes we think of Martha Stewart's style as too expensive and rich, but it is actually ideal for those on a tight budget. The website is full of do it yourself ideas that can be done on even a shoestring budget. Many of the do it yourself ideas are broken down step by step, so they are ideal even for those who do not consider themselves particularly crafty. They also have a "Real Weddings" section with photos of many couples' wedding. This section is a great source of ideas for a creative bride to implement at her custom wedding. You can't be accused of having a tacky wedding if Martha Stewart is your guide.
Be sure to see our listing on this site. Look for wedding gown preservation in Birmingham Alabama.
Other Sites
There are tons of other sites. And doubtless you have visited many of them. But don't forget about the wedding blogs, including wedding care blogs like this one. There's plenty of help out there...so go on and create your wedding memories.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
I just received an update from Sally Lowrenson Conant of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists on some trends for wedding gowns coming out of the New York Bridal Market 2010. It seems flowers are quite the trend...flowers on everything. There are giant flat ones appliquéd to gowns. There are masses of three-dimensional ones sewn all over the the wedding gown. There are even veils with three-dimensional flowers.
There seems to be fewer pearls but lots of "diamonds" with flashes of color such as large (flowered, of course) cumber buns on a relatively plain gown. Designers are still using lots of lace. And tulle is back - in giant ball gowns with huge trains.
Here are some links to other wedding gown web sites where you can see for yourself -
Emerald Couturiers
Monique-Lhuillier-Spring-2010
Martha Stewart Weddings
All of these trends make for interesting challenges for wedding gown specialists in handling your wedding gown cleaning and preservation. But just how wedding gown cleaning techniques are affected will depend on the fabric, dyes and methods of attaching the flowers. Make sure your wedding gown is cleaned and preserved by someone qualified and experienced in wedding gown cleaning. Check with us for quality wedding gown cleaning in Birmingham, Alabama.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved