Wedding Dress Preservation Reccomendations??

soon2bmrswambold

Hello,

    I have been married for about 72 days and since my wedding my dress has been hanging in a huge garment bag in my closet. I really would like to have the dress cleaned and preserved in a box so that it stays in good condition for my daughter to maybe use it or the fabric one day. I am very nervous about shipping off my dress to just anyone....has anyone has any great experiences with companies that offer this service? If so could you place share your story?

Thanks!

CMGragain

This service can be one of the biggest rip offs in the wedding industry.  You won't know if they did a good job until at least 25 years from now.  I opened a dress that had been "preserved" years ago.  It still had wedding cake frosting on it and it was full of bugs!
Is your dress made of polyester? (Most popularly priced dresses are just that.)   If it is, you can safely spot treat any stains.  I have worked with museum fabric objects.  They use Woolite.  I wrapped my dress in washed unbleached cotton muslin before putting it in a box.  30 years later, it was a great condition, but my daughter wanted nothing to do with it.  I really wish I had donated it to charity when it was still in style.
Silk dresses must be dry cleaned, and that will cost more than $100.

labro

I have a trusted dry cleaner that offered to preserve my wedding dress. You had the option of having it cleaned and sealed into a soft garment bag, or cleaned and sealed in a cardboard "memory" box (it had a top flap and an inner flap with a clear window so you could see the dress without unsealing the box). It wasn't cheap. I think I paid $230 for the hard cardboard box and TBH unless you have a lot of storage space...it isn't really worth it. The box is too thick to slide under any of our beds and you want to keep it somewhere climate controlled. I made space for it in a spare closet but like I said, not everyone has the luxury of space.

kvruns

I'd check with local friends to see if any one has recommendations. Around here a lot of dry cleaners will do it but I'd probably want to have some reviews first. Bridal stores also offer it.

I chose not to have mine preserved. Seemed silly considering I didn't pay much for the dress and cleaning/preserving it would be more than I paid for the dress. Right now it is still have wadded up in the garment bag from my May wedding...ooops