How Much Does Wedding Dress Cleaning And Preservation Cost
Sometimes fabric, decoration, ornamentation and degree of stain damage determine the preservation price of a gown. “Your heavily beaded silk ball gown will cost more than a simple polyester gown you wore on the beach, and you should never trust your designer gown to someone offering a bargain price,” Conant says. “Saving a few dollars is simply not worth the risk of ruining your wedding dress.” Expect to pay roughly $250 to $700, though prices can go as high as $1,000 depending on the gown and location. Costs vary across the country, with higher prices in metropolitan areas.
Beware of companies that give quotes over the phone, since different materials and stains require specialized care. You may get charged more later, or you run the risk of them not giving your dress the attention it needs.
All that said, there are vetted services that work with flat fees. Wedding Dress Preservation by The Knot doesn’t skimp on the details, but still manages to offer competitive rates. The Cleaning and Preservation package costs $285, while the Wedding Dress Cleaning Only package costs $230. Minor repairs, pressing and steaming, and shipping and handling are included.
How Wedding Dresses Are Preserved
Preserving the wedding dress involves special cleaning, either with wet cleaning by hand or using a dry cleaning process. A trained preservationist will also examine your dress for hidden stains and develop a plan for preservation that takes into account the type of fabric of the dress. Proper storage also includes packing the dress carefully to keep the gown from incurring any damage from the elements or insects. The dress is wrapped in acid-free paper and folded gently into a box that is either pH neutral or acid free. Some preservationists will wrap the dress in pre-washed and unbleached muslin fabric instead of acid-free paper. The box is then sealed airtight to prevent discoloration to the dress over time. If you request a box with a viewing panel, the clear material should be made of acetate or Coroplast to protect the dress from exposure to light.
What’s The Difference Between Standard Dry Cleaning And Gown Preservation
Dry cleaning and preservation are two entirely separate processes. If you’re wondering why you can’t just have your wedding dress professionally cleaned after the wedding and expect it to hold up years later, it’s simply because you’re missing an entire step. “Dry cleaning is the treatment of areas, where soiled, with chemicals, explains Karen Jean-Aimee, Bridal Specialist for Madame Paulette. “Once gown is clean, we wrap the dress in acid-free tissue paper and place it in an acid-free archival preservation chamber.” Preserving your gown is the proper and appropriate way to care for your dress post-wedding, given that it places the gown, once cleaned, in a safe, waterproof place for long-term storage.
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How To Store Your Confetti And Artificial Flowers
Image: Shropshire Petals
Biodegradable petal confetti is really popular as an eco-friendly confetti alternative. Shropshire Petals, who make gorgeous delphinium and wildflower petal confetti, advise storing it in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.
It can happily last up to a year in the original packaging if you keep it at the back of a dry cupboard, but Shropshire Petals can also delay delivering your order if you dont have anywhere to keep it. If you need to keep your petals for longer than a year, you may notice a little of the colour fading but theyll still be in excellent condition. Its humidity that makes them start to break down so avoid damp conditions at all costs!
Your florist wont make your fresh flower bouquets until your new wedding date, but you may have some artificial flower installations, centrepieces or bouquets that you need to store. Similar rules apply, dust your artificial flowers down and then store in a dry, dark place so that the colour doesnt fade. Make sure they are wrapped delicately and placed in a large box so that they dont get crushed or bent. Add some silica gel sachets to the box to prevent moisture getting in.
If youre in search of new wedding favours, explore our list of 101 amazing wedding favour ideas.
Helen Pye
Considerations: Color Fabric And Shape
Before you can properly follow the wedding dress storage protocol, you must learn as much as you can about your dress. That includes information like what fabric its made out of, the design shape, and its color. Knowing these, you can create the conditions necessary to prevent permanent wrinkles and discoloration.
Here are a few tips to get you started:
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Use a garment bag Your gown vendor should provide you with a garment bag upon purchase, but, if not, bring one yourself to pick it up. Keeping it in a zip-up bag will allow the dress to hold its form, avoid wrinkles, and prevent moisture, mildew, and discoloration.
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Lay it flat or hang it carefully Who hasnt hung up a dress incorrectly only to find it in the closet weeks later with stretched out shoulders or, worse, hangar marks. The same pitfall can happen to a dress pre-ceremony if its not properly hung or laid flat. The former may require professional assistance from your bridal store. If you have to do it yourself, be sure to use the provided loops sewn into the dress to hang it, rather than the shoulder fabric itself. If at all possible, lay it flat to ensure that it holds its shape.
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Just say no to DIY cleaning Wedding dress fabrics are not your average chain store cottons and poly-blends. Wedding dress textiles require more than kid gloves, so leave the gown cleaning to the professionals. That tiny pen stain may look easy to clean yourself, but be warned, a Tide pen may make matters worse.
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Where To Store Your Gown
While we know its going to be hard to not sneak a peek of your gown every day, wed suggest keeping it away from high traffic areas of your house! Try to find a cool, dry, and dark room like a closet or guest room to keep it safe. Youll also want to keep the gown a safe distance away from any heat sources and excessive moisture, in addition to guarding it against cooking/smoking odors. Additionally, avoid keeping it in any place where pets or kids could get their hands on it!
Can You Also Preserve Wedding Dress Accessories With Your Wedding Gown
Definitely! The most common accessories to be preserved with a wedding gown are your shoes and bridal veil. These can be sent to your preservation specialist to make a gorgeous heirloom boxalmost like a museum piece to display in your very own home.
Some wedding gown preservationists will have limits to what theyll preserve in their kits, so be sure to look at their website or contracts for more information about what can be included. If you want to preserve every last bit of your bridal ensembledress, bouquet, shoes, veil, corset, and garter includedyoull definitely want to find the right specialist for the job.
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Do You Really Need To Keep Your Wedding Dress Forever
A wedding dress is usually not a small item. It takes up a fair amount of space, especially the puffy white meringue style of gown. And yet many women keep their wedding dress for years, tucked away at the back of their closet or boxed up in the attic, basement or garage. It serves no useful purpose but is just there. Its a topic that often comes up in my online clutter clearing courses is it clutter or not?
Properly Clean Your Dress:
Another vital piece of advice any bride needs to hear is, get your dress adequately cleaned! We are not joking here. Its crucial.
There are some essential tips on properly cleaning your dress. The process required is often different than standard dry cleaning. You need a place that has the proper machinery to handle the delicacy of a wedding dress. Make sure you do your research before going to any dry cleaner. Ensure that they have the knowledge and capability to handle your wedding dress and all of its delicacy.
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Tips For Storing Your Wedding Dress At Home
A properly preserved wedding gown can last years and years, emerging as fresh and pristine as on your wedding day!
While nothing can replace the work of a certified, professional gown preservation process, here are basic guidelines for storing your gown.
For help preserving your gown, keeping it looking looking fresh and nearly wrinkle-free, Shores offers you these DIY tips for the budget-minded.
Shores‘ experts will clean and preserve your wedding gown following your wedding day. Call or contact us to ask about our wedding gown cleaning & preservation services.
How And Where To Store A Wedding Dress Long Term
Once you have your dress covered in a breathable cotton fabric, where should you put it? Lindsey recommends a dry, dark place, like under your bed. Even though your closet may be considered dark and dry, hanging your dress isn’t advised. “Storing your gown lying down will help relieve pressure from the straps and keep it intact until the big day!” Additionally, if there are heavy embellishments on your gown, the pressure of those elements would be alleviated as well.
If, like me, you have pets that love hanging out under your bed , a high closet shelf could also be an option. It’s still dark and dry as long as you have doors on your closet, but keep it far away from any sharp cat or dog nails and dirty paws. Even if your pet isn’t “prone to scratching, pet hairs and most bridal fabrics are not a good combination,” Lindsey said.
If neither of those are options for you, Lindsey suggests contacting your local dry cleaner to see if they have storage options for you. “If a local dry cleaner offers storage options, that’s a great option to pursue because it eliminates all the variables.”
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Be Sure To Support The Folds
Follow the video produced by Scheer’s team as you fold your wedding dress at home. The biggest takeaway? Support every fold. “Anytime you fold a three-dimensional textile, there will be stress on the yarns at the fold points. These need to be supported. The weight of gravity is such that a fold can become a crease,” Scheer explains. And creases are the last thing you want. “Creased fabric is permanently damaged fabric.”
I Have To Store My Wedding Dress For A Year So Im Using These Expert Tips To Keep It Safe
When I got the call that my wedding dress had been delivered to the bridal shop this past May, I should have been ecstatic. However, after postponing my October 2020 wedding a full year due to the pandemic, this would-be exciting moment filled me with dread what in the world was I going to do with my dress for over a year? My mind immediately went to when my best friend picked up her dress before her wedding and received a long list of strict instructions from the shop such as “avoid cooking until after the wedding” and “keep it in a cool place” and that was to store it at home for just two days!
To ease my panicking, I spoke with Lindsey Love, a senior brand stylist at BHLDN, for her tips on safely storing a dress for over a year. If, like me, you had to postpone your wedding or your dress came in super early but your shop can’t store it, keep reading for tips on how and where to store your gorgeous gown until your big day.
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Will A Wedding Dress Turn Yellow If It’s In Storage For Too Long
One of the other worries I had about storing my dress for so long was that the pristine white fabric would turn yellow. It’s something I’d heard could happen and always cited it as the reason brides preserve their dresses after their weddings. But actually, Lindsey did some myth-busting for me. “Yellowing or discoloration typically happens when fabrics come into contact with other chemicals . You should not see yellowing on your gown if it is stored away from moisture in general.” Hooray for that!
Godspeed, fellow brides, and hang in there! You’re going to look stunning, whenever your day comes.
How Can I Make Sure My Dress Is In Good Hands
“I always tell my brides to ask a lot of questions. You want to make sure that the person taking care of your gown pays attention to detail and knows fabrics as well as how gowns are constructed,” says Karen Jean-Aimee of Madame Paulette, a luxury cleaning and restoration service. Ask about the type of cleaning method used, do the cleaners hand clean and if they will pretreat any stains and soiled areas. Some companies, including Wedding Dress Preservation by The Knot, go so far as to photograph, measure, carefully remove and inventory ultra-delicate embellishments before cleaning to really prevent damage. Then, they’ll meticulously reinstall them.
Also, find out if the company does the work on location or if it ships gowns elsewhere to be cleaned and packaged. Don’t rule a company out if it doesn’t work in-house, especially if they have good reviews. It’s just good to know where your dress will be in case you want to check in.
Sending your gown away for treatment? You’ll worry less if you know it’s insured during transit and service. Wedding Dress Preservation by The Knot includes $1,000 of shipping insurance with its Cleaning and Preservation kit. You can also add additional coverage for $15 per $500 of value. In addition, the company offers shipment tracking so you’ll never be up all night wondering where your gown is.
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Invest In A Special Wedding Dress Box
If ever the phrase any box will do was not appropriate, its when youre storing a wedding dress. Some people consider it a good idea to use a plastic box. Well thats waterproof, right? Well yes it is waterproof, but plastic doesnt offer very good protection from the light, which means fading could be an issue neither does it deal with changes in humidity. Bearing in mind temperature changes lead to mildew, you can see why its so important to choose the right box.So make your wedding dress box a loving investment. There is a superb range of specialist wedding dress boxes out there waiting for you to choose the one that does your gown proud. And guess what specialist wedding dress boxes come with? Acid-free tissue!Purpose-made wedding dress boxes are pH neutral for the ultimate in safe storage. Regular boxes just dont cut it. If you want to avoid your beloved gown turning a nasty shade of yellow over time, invest in a specialist wedding dress box. Be sure to get the size right too: the retailer should be able to help you with your choice, but if in doubt, go for an expandable one. Just dont go too small, because you could squash and overly crease the dress.
If you want to avoid your beloved gown turning a nasty shade of yellow over time, invest in a specialist wedding dress box.
