Preserving your wedding dress

knottie73904b5373fb9fbf

I'm very new to the forum (and pretty much the whole concept of a wedding and everything that needs to be done) but looking after my wedding dress before and after the big day is something that I've been worrying about recently.

I've looked online at advice articles like this one which seems helpful, but seeing as there's a whole community online I thought I would ask you all for your dress preservation tips, especially about whether you had them professionally cleaned afterwards.

ILoveBeachMusic

Unless you are going to throw it away, you should at least have it professionally cleaned. I would suggest donating it or selling at a consignment shop. It is pretty expensive to have it preserved and to be honest, won't be used again. Most daughters (not all) don't want to wear their mother's dress because styles of changed so much. My daughter wanted nothing to do with my dress but did wear my veil. Best wishes!

Casadena

I had it dry cleaned and it's in a box in my guest room closet.  

ernursej

I got mine professionally cleaned and preserved. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it but thought that it would be best to do the cleaning/preserving so that I had options but lots of time.

CMGragain

I really regret that I did not donate my dress so that another bride could enjoy it while it was still in style!  We've been married 41 years, moved three times, and that dress is still packed in a box in our storage room.  What a waste!  What will DH do with it after I am gone?  Nobody will want it.  (Ew! Mom, it has long sleeves!)

Cleaning a wedding dress will cost more than $100 at most dry cleaners.  Modern dresses are usually made of polyester fibers, so they won't rot like silk might after a lifetime.  You can spot clean them if you treated them gently on your wedding day.

Your dress is special to YOU, but if you have a daughter, I guarantee she will want her own special dress in a current style.  I think preserving the dress is a huge waste of money.

lovesclimbing

CMGragain said:

I really regret that I did not donate my dress so that another bride could enjoy it while it was still in style!  We've been married 41 years, moved three times, and that dress is still packed in a box in our storage room.  What a waste!  What will DH do with it after I am gone?  Nobody will want it.  (Ew! Mom, it has long sleeves!)

Cleaning a wedding dress will cost more than $100 at most dry cleaners.  Modern dresses are usually made of polyester fibers, so they won't rot like silk might after a lifetime.  You can spot clean them if you treated them gently on your wedding day.

Your dress is special to YOU, but if you have a daughter, I guarantee she will want her own special dress in a current style.  I think preserving the dress is a huge waste of money.

Well, you never know. My mom wore her mom's dress. And, yes, it had long sleeves! My cousin, who just got married four years ago, wore her mom's dress, albeit with some custom changes (cut out the back and removed the sleeves and some volume from the skirt). 

But you're right, I don't think a dress should be kept around solely because a hypothetical daughter might want to wear it, and odds are good she won't. I always said I'd wear my mom's dress when I was young. But I changed my mind, and I'm taller than my mom and the dress was borderline even for her. 

MCmeow

I got it preserved and cleaned and repaired through one of the mail-in companies. It's coming in the mail tomorrow. The price was very affordable compared to quotes I got. I'm a sentimental person and simply want to keep it. I don't know how fashions will change in the future or if my dress will look out of style and funny one day. But it'll be there if a future daughter wants it. For those who don't get attached to belongings, donating it is very smart. I just couldn't do it myself.