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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 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
I asked wife about what the wedding gown really means to the bride after a decade or two. With our 40th anniversary approaching, Sherry is quite qualified to respond to this...but without her wedding gown. That's right, we're in the wedding gown preservation business and we don't have her gown. That's sad, but it's a fact.
This is how she answered that question:
"The wedding dress to a bride is like the proverbial glass slipper to Cinderella. When you finally find the right wedding dress, nothing else seems to matter quite as much. It becomes easier to pick out the cake, the invitations; even the menu is easier when you've found just the right wedding dress. Like the glass slipper that fit just right, you'll know when you found just the right wedding dress.
"It doesn't matter if you're looking for second hand wedding gowns, brand new couture bridal gowns or even vintage bridal gowns passed down from family members. When the dress is right, the feeling is right...wherever you get it.
"Looking for wedding dresses can be like finding the right man. There's one out there for every woman...but sometimes you have to really search and try on a bunch of them! But be careful. If you really like one and you put it back on the rack for others to try on while you're still looking, it might not be there when go back. You'll know when you've found the right wedding dress...and the right man.
"Your wedding gown will absorb your wedding memories like a sponge. Years from now, when you hold your gown again, these memories will come flooding back. It's like a line from a John Denver song I remember...‘It will fill up your senses, like a night in the forest.'
"That's the meaning, the emotion of a wedding dress to me. Maybe it's the months of planning for your wedding day, your relationship with your Maid of Honor, the emotions on the trip home after the honeymoon and much more. From the broken beading on the wedding dress, to the grass stains from the outdoor reception, these memories never fade as long as you have that wedding dress. After your wedding dress is cleaned, repaired and preserved, the details of the day remain in your mind when you revisit your gown...like a night in the forest.
"And that's why we're in the business of preserving wedding memories through wedding dress cleaning and preservation in Birmingham, Alabama."
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
Here's my Top 10 list on why you shouldn't spend any time or money on bridal gown care, including bridal gown cleaning and preservation.
10. Your gown is so UGLY that nobody would ever want to wear that wedding dress again...and it's so ugly that you don't ever want to see it again after your wedding.
9. You just plan on hanging your wedding dress in your closet and since you have plenty of closet space you can leave it there for the next 20 years. After all, you have no use for the half of the closet your wedding gown takes up anyway. A cleaned and preserved wedding dress placed in an archival-quality treasure chest only takes up the space of a medium-sized suit case. What will you do with all of that extra space then?
8. You don't plan on having children so no one will ever want to wear your wedding dress again, including your sister, your best friend, your aunt, a neighbor, your mother (well, it could happen!), a cousin, a niece, a daughter of your best friend...or someone who just can't afford to buy her own wedding dress!
7. You don't plan on selling your wedding gown, so it can just hang in the closet, stains and all, with the seams stretching. Who knows...over time you might have a beautiful, multi-colored wedding dress!
6. PETA loves you. You are kind to all sorts of critters. Moths and their larvae love to munch on traces of food. They just love wedding cake so leave some on your wedding dress and don't get your wedding dress cleaned and preserved. The critters will love your for it. This might even add some decorative holes to your wedding dress so there is really no reason to clean and preserve your wedding dress.
5. Since nobody sweats in Birmingham, Vestavia Hills, Chelsea, Hoover, Sylacauga, Homewood, Mountain Brook (I guess just about anywhere in Alabama)...especially in the summer, there is no need to clean your wedding dress.
4. You can save a couple of hundred bucks and invest it in the stock market rather than invest in a wedding gown cleaning. Think how much money you will have in 20 years. Nobody loses in the stock market!
3. You won't need to get your wedding dress cleaned since most brides in Alabama don't use makeup. Since you don't have to worry about makeup stains getting on your wedding gown, you just won't need to get it cleaned.
2. Because every bride-to-be who tried on that second hand wedding dress you bought at the consignment shop was clean and had washed her hands before she tried on the gown, you really don't need to clean the wedding dress before your wedding.
AND THE TOP REASON TO NOT CLEAN AND PRESERVE YOUR WEDDING DRESS IS...
1. You don't want to keep your wedding memories fresh and alive...for ten years, 20 years or even 40 years (that's where my wife, Sherry, and I will be on June 27 this year)...don't even consider finding a certified wedding gown specialist and getting your wedding dress cleaned and preserved. After all, who cares???
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
Mom's Wedding Dress
I talked recently with a Bride-To-Be from Vestavia Hills, Alabama. She was asking about our ability to restore the original color to her Mother's wedding dress and wanted to know about our skills in making some changes to better fit her style and personality. The gown had yellowed over the thirty-four years it had been hanging in Mom's closet but I felt reasonably sure we could return the color to near its original color. And with an effective wedding dress cleaning, her Mom's dress should be in good shape. The alterations she had in mind required dress-maker skills...a skill level we regularly provide. Mom's wedding dress was a classic style which helps when restyling an older wedding gown. But sometimes an older gown has a personality different from what the Bride wants. My suggestion was to not try and make the "old gown" into a "new gown" by making extensive stylistic alterations. If you like the basic look of the dress, and the dress will fit, even with required alterations, you have a great candidate for your wedding dress. And you can save a good bit of money in the process.
We cleaned and restored the gown using a wet cleaning technique and a special bleaching process. She changed the straps, added some lace and a bustle but she didn't try wholesale changes in the style. She respected the personality of this vintage wedding gown and ended up with a beautiful gown that both she and her Mother loved.
Trouble Areas On Previously Worn Wedding Dresses
With many second generation gowns or previously worn wedding dresses, there are often trouble areas if the gown has not been properly preserved or stored. A skilled wedding gown specialist can often find ways to handle these trouble areas without making wholesale changes. Some lace can help cover discoloration in local areas. And a creative dress maker can suggest other ways to hide many faults in a second generation wedding dress.
These same concepts can be applied as well to second hand wedding dresses, including consignment wedding dresses. I suggest that you always respect the gown and don't try to do more with the gown than its personality can handle.
Don't Forget...
My final suggestion is to clean and preserve your gown immediately after your wedding. Meet with your wedding gown cleaning specialist before your wedding. Get someone to deliver your wedding dress to your selected specialist while you're honeymooning. Some specialists will even pick up your gown for you after your wedding. Just ask your wedding gown specialist! But get your gown in to a certified wedding gown specialist for a proper cleaning and preservation...because you never know who will wear your dress next.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved
Every dress has a limited useful life. Clothes will wear out over time with continued use. But a wedding gown that is worn infrequently and is cared for properly can last a lifetime. And when preserved using museum-style methods, wedding gowns can last even longer.
Whether you clean and store your wedding gown yourself, you have a Certified Wedding Gown Specialist preserve your wedding gown, or you take it to the neighborhood dry cleaners, there are two silent killers of your wedding gown. These killers are heat and humidity. If you have any hope of keeping your wedding gown, you must avoid exposing your gown to heat and humidity. Even a properly dry cleaned and preserved wedding gown will not last when exposed to excessive heat and humidity.
The Consequences
Heat will cause discoloration and deterioration of the fabric. Moisture will cause discoloration in the form of mildew and related problems. These are the silent killers of wedding gowns being held for that next generation of bride. Successful wedding gown preservation requires control of the environment, especially heat and humidity.
What's A Bride To Do?
This means you should select the right place to store your gown. Here are some pointers in selecting just the right place to store your gown:
- Avoid storing your gown in the attic where heat and humidity make a living
- Avoid the unfinished basement where humidity thrives and moisture can find your gown (like from a water leak)
- Avoid storing your gown directly beneath a bathroom in case of a water leak
- Avoid storing the gown on the floor of a closet (you never know who or what might get into the wedding gown...plus water leaks can damage your gown)
- The ideal place to store you gown is a closet that is not overloaded. Your gown needs air. It needs protection from kids and pets...and heat and humidity.
In the hot and humid Birmingham, Alabama area, humidity can be a huge problem. Just be extra cautious about trapping your gown with other items that will not allow air to get to your gown. This is true for both gowns being preserved on a hanger and for those preserved is an acid-free preservation box. Don't pile clothes, linens or other items on and next to the wedding gown so it will not get a good circulation of air. Keep a distance of six to twelve inches of space around your gown. A good quality preservation box will allow air to pass through to the gown.
A museum quality preservation box designed for use by qualified wedding gown dry cleaner is a great way to store your wedding gown in the least amount of space required.
And NEVER place your precious wedding gown in an air-tight plastic container. The vacuum sealed plastic bag gizmos you see on TV infomercials may the worst choice possible for storing your wedding gown.
Call us at 205.588.4120 to learn more about wedding gown storage.
(C) 2009 - 2010 Champion Wedding Gown Specialist. All Rights Reserved