Whilst our involvement with your wedding may technically stop the day that you carry your dress across our threshold out into the big wide world, it doesn’t stop us worrying about your wedding gown and what will become of it in the days and months after your big day.
After you’ve invested so wisely in your frock, you need to make sure that you take adequate care of it once you’re a Missus. Leaving it hanging in the wardrobe or popping it up in the loft might not be the best course of action if you want to keep your wedding dress in good condition.
If you’re not fond of the idea of selling your wedding dress on or donating it to charity, then here are some things to think about for Storing your wedding dress…
Choose a specialist dry cleaner. Yes, they may be more expensive, but there’s a reason for that. You want a company that specialise in all kinds of wedding dresses, from original vintage to contemporary collections. They should be able to handle all forms of material and have experience in dealing with intricate details, such as beaded, sequinned or crystal decorations.
Make a note of stains. Ideally, when you drop your dress off at your chosen dry cleaners, you should go through with them all the problem areas, whether that’s grass stains around the hem, a dot of red wine on the front or even just sweat patches. Good dry cleaners will make a note of all these areas and be able to feedback to you any problems or unsatisfactory results that they’ve had.
Choose acid free storage. You’re going to need a storage box that has pH neutral card and you’ll want to fold your dress between sheaves of equally acid free tissue paper. Never choose coloured tissue paper as it contains dyes that will affect your dress and always choose a sturdy box that allows for protection from accidental damage and which insects cannot get into.
Put it somewhere safe. Your loft is at risk of flooding from leaky roofs, from residual mould, damp and/or bugs! You should have chosen a box that eliminates light and is of a breathable material but try to pick a storage place that has a fairly even humidity away from direct light.
Don’t forget about it! You should refold your dress occasionally to stop permanent creases forming in the delicate fabric of your dress’ material. If you leave it for too long, the signs of storage will start to show.
And a couple of other things…
- Hangers are great for temporary storage i.e. before you get married, but if dresses are left on hangers interminably then they will start to show signs of stress on the shoulders and in the seams, altering the shape of the gown.
- Plastic and PVC dress covers are again only intended for temporary use and, long term, may allow in light that affects your dress or struggle with changes in humidity which, in worst case scenarios, have caused condensation and even mould to build up.
- Leaving your wedding dress in your wardrobe, in a drawer, a box or a suitcase without any other protection will almost certainly affect the quality of the material and the dyes used in other coloured clothes may rub off as well.
