So, the wedding’s over and the most expensive clothing item you bought for the special day – the wedding gown, is hanging in your closet! What’s next? Whether you want to hand over the attire to your daughter in the future or perhaps for sentimental value, preserving the wedding gown is the only way to prolong its life, keep the colours intact, and protect the fabric. Here are some of the most common wedding gown preservation questions that we frequently come across and the answers to it all.
What is gown preservation?
As you might have guessed already, gown preservation refers to the cleaning and packaging process that prolongs the life of the wedding dress and helps it retain its beauty even years later. When you approach a certified preservationist or store, they’d survey the gown – the dress material, the stains if any, the delicate embroidery, and then accordingly formulate a specialized cleaning procedure.
Cleaning the gown thoroughly with appropriate solutions is the first step to preserving the wedding gown. It gets rid of all kinds of stains – the ones visible as well as the ones that aren’t visible to the naked eye. Once the cleaning process is over, the gown is wrapped in acid-free tissue paper and placed inside an archival box – preservation boxes that are often used in museums.
When to opt for gown cleaning?
Here are a couple of reasons why you might want to get your wedding dress cleaned.
Are you planning to wear the dress again? The first reason to opt for wedding gown cleaning is when a bride has two wedding celebrations and plans on wearing the dress on both celebrations. Sometimes, brides go for less formal attires for their wedding, so that they can wear them as party wear.
Planning to sell or donate the wedding gown? Here’s another reason to get your wedding dress cleaned and ready. In the last 4-5 years, multiple sites have cropped up that facilitate easy sales of pre-owned designer dresses or wedding attires. It’s a great way of making some easy money, particularly when you know you wouldn’t be wearing the dress any more.
There are many women who are particularly sentimental about their wedding gowns, particularly because of it being one of the important aspects of their special day, and that’s why they like to hold on to it, and rightly so. This is why they need gown cleaning and wedding gown preservation services. Gowns that aren’t preserved usually turn yellow over time and sometimes, even the fabric sags.
How to make sure that your wedding gown is in safe hands?
- Always look for a service that is close to your place so that you can meet them in person and gets your worries/ queries answered.
- Look for professionals who pay attention to detail and take note of the fabric and its many embellishments before recommending the right cleaning and preservation process.
- Find out about the cleaning process to be put to use, and if they’d be using a pre-treatment for stains and other soiled areas.
- Ask the people in charge if they’d work on location or if they send it elsewhere to get the dresses cleaned before packaging it for preservation. Also, don’t rule a company out just because it ships the dress somewhere else to be cleaned.
- Last, but not least, take some time out and figure out what others have to say about the company and its services. Go through online reviews to find out if their previous customers were satisfied with their handiwork and wedding gown preservation process.
Key takeaway
Why do people opt for wedding dress cleaning and preservation? The goal is to have the dress looking new and fresh, even years later. The right cleaning materials/ solutions and the correct packaging materials guarantee complete satisfaction. Together, they heighten the life of the dress. Once the dress is back from preservation, pay attention to its storage, else it will once again run the risk of damage, owing to the various weather elements.