5 Reasons Why You Should Clean and Preserve Your Wedding Dress and Bridal Veil
You have already invested so much time to find the perfect designer wedding dress and veil.
Before the investment is made, you will spend hours searching for the right wedding dresses online. The research process typically involves finding visuals on Instagram and Pinterest as well as sharing ideas with family. When it’s time to start shopping for the dress, you will find a near by wedding dress shops to try on dresses. The bridal appointment is booked and you’ll travel into the bridal shop to find the perfect wedding dress! If you are working with a professional, finding the right dress will typically happen on the first try. Hopefully you are visiting or live in the Orlando area so you can come see us!
Then, the wedding dress is purchased. There are several other visits into the bridal shop to make sure the dress is altered perfectly and ready for your wedding day. The beginning the end process of finding and purchasing your wedding dress will involve over ten hours! This is a pretty big time commitment for a bride with a busy work schedule.
The price of a designer wedding dress.
On top of the time investment, there is the price of a designer wedding dress. For your wedding day, quality is everything. The higher the quality of the wedding dress the more breathable it will be and easier to alter since it is made well. High end wedding dress designers such as Berta Bridal, Ines Di Santo, Sareh Nouri, and Monique Lhuillier can run $4,000 to $15,000. While every penny is worth it to feel confident and comfortable on your wedding day, it is a large investment. That is a reason in itself to take care of your wedding dress! You can preserve your wedding dress and veil (or bridal cape!) together or in separate boxes. Lace veils are the number one family heirloom we see worn over and over.
Your family will love the joy of pulling it out of the package in the future.
I’m not typically the sentimental type and I’m a minimalist yet this is my number one reason to clean and preserve your dress. I’ve heard of countless stories of brides drinking some red wine with their mom at home and pulling out grandma or mom’s wedding dress. It’s fun! It’s an experience just to be able to see it. Maybe even a good laugh at the poufy sleeves or the vintage style neckline. I can imagine all the memories that come rushing in as the wedding dress and veil are unpacked. To me this is the best way to kick of wedding dress shopping. Even if you have no intention of wearing the dress, it’s just fun to enjoy it and see it without yellow staining all over.
Weddings are all about an experience. The only sad part is the wedding day comes and goes. Having moments like this to relive the day make it fun. Even as a minimalist that cleans out her closet every four months, I see the value of preserving and packaging my wedding dress. When I was younger, I remember looking at photos of my mom in her wedding dress and asking her if she still had her dress. I would have loved the experience of just trying it on.
The fabric may be used to make another type of dress.
The newest trend is upcycling your wedding dress after the wedding. We recommend cleaning your dress right after the wedding. The cleaning process will take 8 - 12 weeks. There are rush options available if you are wearing your wedding dress to a second reception. We have transformed wedding dresses into anniversary dresses. Our seamstress can hem the wedding dress to just about any length. We had a client take her custom anniversary dress on her honeymoon. It’s fun to have the option to wear it again. During your bridal appointment we can show you different ways to wear your gown in the future.
The past year I have helped three brides rework their mom’s wedding dress into a rehearsal dinner dress. This is a great way to create a custom look while treasuring the memories of your parent’s wedding day. When you clean and preserve your wedding dress you are providing family members with options.
For years wedding dresses have been made into christening gowns. These gowns are used for baptisms. A store bought christening gown can easily cost $400. A seamstress could make a gown for you out of your wedding dress for around $150. This saves you money, time, and keeps your wedding dress in the family.
The fabric may be used to make a family heirloom.
The fine fabrics used to make a quality wedding dress are only going up in price. It can be difficult to find quality fabric in your local fabric stores that are comparable to a silk designer wedding dress. Cleaning and preserving the dress and veil allows you to use the fabric in the future to make so many family heirlooms. One of my favorite ideas is the use of a veil in a nursery. It can be used to create an elegant mobile to drape over a crib. Our seamstress has used the lace from a wedding dress to make a lace veil for a sister. More recently, she made a pocket square for the husband out of his wife’s wedding dress. She made the envelope clutch out of the lace of a wedding dress. There are so many modern ideas on ways to incorporate a wedding dress. I know in the future there will be even more options.
Veil used in baby girl’s nursery. One of the many reasons to clean and preserve your veil. Photo found on justrealmoms.com.br.
You are interested in donating or selling your wedding dress and bridal veil.
Not everyone wants to hold onto their wedding dress. We get it. The decision is yours. If you decide to donate your wedding dress, it is best to clean it. Cleaning costs around $250 from a certified wedding specialist. There are many nonprofits currently accepting wedding dresses. Some require them to e cleaned and others don’t, but they all prefer it. The nonprofits host sales where they sell the the gowns to new brides and put the money towards their purpose. One of our favorite nonprofits to work with is Brides Against Breast Cancer. They prefer the gown is cleaned so they can get more market value for it in a sale. If you are cleaning your wedding dress with us, we can take care of shipping it in to them. They will give you a receipt for a tax deduction. They take veils as well.
If you plan on selling your wedding dress, we strongly recommend cleaning it. It is very difficult to sell a wedding dress. We recommend Still White or La Vie En Blanc for resale. If you decide to list on a site like Still White you have to state whether the gown has been professionally cleaned or not. Since the new bride looking at your gown online cannot see it in person, it is very difficult for them to make the decision to trust the photos and buy it. Through stores like La Vie En Blanc, they require the dress to be cleaned before it listed for sale. Working with a bridal shop is helpful because brides can see the dress in person. The bride shop has a reputation to uphold on the cleanliness of their merchandise.
Here is how to purchase the Cleaning and Preservation Service. Not ready to purchase, feel free to email me your questions, tali@thebridalfinery.com.
