How to Preserve Your Wedding Dress After the Wedding

After you have wowed your guests walking down the aisle in your resplendent best and been through the ceremonies, it now time to spare some thoughts on how to preserve your beautiful wedding gown.

Not only does a wedding gown have beautiful memories associated with it, preserving it carefully ensures that maybe one day your sister or daughter may like to wear it for her special day as well!

Here are some things that you will need to your own wedding dress in the best possible way.
• Vacuum-sealed box
• Archival paper (buffered or non-buffered)
• Tissue papers
• Plastic bags
• Acid-free boxes
• Professional dry cleaner

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Soon after the wedding ceremony is over check for the stains on your wedding gown and note down on a piece of paper so that you can tell the cleaner specifically about the stains. Stains can be in the form of a drop of wine, a smudge of lipstick or of some food.

2. Now choose a professional dry cleaner in your area who specializes in cleaning and preserving wedding gowns. You can take help of friends or you can ask the bridal shop from where you have purchased your wedding dress to recommend someone.

3. Find out the bag which came with your wedding dress to take the wedding dress to the cleaner. In case the bag has been misplaced buy a plastic bag of high quality.

4. Also purchase unbleached and non-dyed cotton sheet which has very little synthetic fiber.

5. Before using the cotton sheet wash it in hot water to make it free of any extra dirt. Never use any type of detergent to wash the cotton sheet.

6. First wrap the wedding gown in this cotton sheet and then put it inside the plastic bag in a flat position till the time the dress is delivered to a professional dry cleaner.

7. While delivering the wedding dress to the cleaner tell him about the stains you have noticed earlier.

8. Also tell the dry cleaner about the ornaments that are glued rather than sewn on wedding dress as these pieces tend to fall off during the cleaning process. This little bit of information can ensure that your cleaner gives your dress the best care possible.

9. After the dry cleaning is over ask your cleaner to pack the wedding dress in archival-quality acid-free tissue paper.

10. Put top-quality tissue papers in between the folds of the wedding gown so that the dress does not get permanent wrinkles.

11. If you wedding gown has fabric-covered metal buttons, pins and sponge padding then store them separately as the metal can get oxidized in due course of time and leave stains on the fabric.

12. Use a vacuum-sealed storage box to store the wedding dress.

13. Keep the dress in dry place, away from impurities, smoke and direct sunlight.

14. Inspect your wedding dress from time to time to check for any new stain or discolored areas and to allow your dress to "breathe."

Tips & Warnings

• 1. Never keep the wedding gown under direct sunlight. 2. Do not store the wedding gown directly inside a plastic bag. 3. Never store the bridal gown in damp places. 4. Every now and then check your bridal gown to see if everything is okay. 5. Avoid hanging your dress as it might cause the neck and shoulders to stretch. 6. Use buffered archival paper for preserving a synthetic fiber gown and in case you have natural fiber gown even non-buffered archival paper will do.

Resources

• Forever yours gowns