When Is it Too Late for Wedding Gown Preservation?
A bride’s wedding dress is not a simple piece of clothing. There are countless meanings ascribed to one’s gown. More than anything else, it symbolizes the promises a couple has made to build a future together, serving as a reminder of the pair’s commitment to each other.
Additionally, purchasing a wedding gown comes at a steep price. On average, women spend a thousand dollars to get their hands on the dress of their dreams. As one of the most expensive articles of clothing that you have ever purchased, it deserves the best care and its own version of a happily ever after. You can manage to guarantee this through wedding gown preservation.
Is preserving a wedding dress mandatory?
The process of Cleaning and preserving a wedding dress is a personal choice for brides who want to keep their bridal gowns for future purposes. Although there is no strict rule forcing individuals to go to a preservationist, doing so is recommended if you want to maintain the integrity of your dress.
So what does it mean to preserve wedding gown?
Preservation involves cleaning and treating your dress so that after it was worn during the wedding ceremony and reception, it will be able to retain its glory. It offers a multitude of benefits, including having the chance to transform it into an heirloom to be passed down to future generations. In addition, you can also repurpose your dress and your daughter may even be able to use it at her own wedding or customize it for her prom.
At its core, cleaning and preserving wedding dress helps you avoid the risk of the following:
- Retaining the blemishes incurred during the wedding ceremony and reception
- Permanent fabric creasing
- Yellowing of the fabric
- Brown oxidation spots
- Growth of mold and mildew
What is the ideal time frame to preserve wedding gown?
Is there such a concept as “too late” when it comes to the preservation of your bridal gown? To be honest, no. There are brides who jetted right toward their honeymoons, only to realize weeks or even months after the wedding that they haven’t done anything in terms of preparing their dress for safekeeping. If this describes you perfectly, do not worry too much. Yes, ideally, the sooner the better. However, it is never too late to have your wedding gowns cleaned and preserved. This is where preservationists and experts come in.
There are skilled practitioners and establishments that specialize in the treatment of wedding gowns, even restoring them to how they looked before you stashed them haphazardly at the back of your closet. These service providers have the arsenal of skills and know-how to preserve even pieces of clothing that have never seen daylight in years.
What are the benefits of having your gown preserved as soon as possible?
Time is of the essence in making sure that your dress survives the years. Why? The longer you wait to get it cleaned and treated, the more likely it is for stains, dust, and discoloration to have found the opportunity to truly set in.
It is understandable when brides wait weeks and months to have their dress shipped to the nearest preservationist because the last thing anyone would think about after saying “I do.” is dealing with more wedding-related tasks. To address this issue, you can ask for the help of a bridesmaid, friend, or family member.
Another reason for hauling your dress to a reputable shop as soon as possible revolves around the money you would have to shell out the longer you postpone this particular process. If you leave your bridal gown to hang in your closet for a long period of time, you are exposing it to elements that will cause the degradation of the fabric. You may not notice this happening but a breakdown of the material is definitely occurring while it is stored improperly and left untreated.
If you think you are keeping your gown safe by placing it inside those plastic garment bags, you are most likely mistaken unless that particular container is acid-free. Many of the bags that these dresses come in accelerate the yellowing of white and off-white materials and are not meant to be considered as long-term storage.
If you wish to hold on to your bridal gowns to keep a memento of one of the most memorable days of your life, preservation is one of the best ways to ensure that you will be able to maintain its integrity and quality over the years. While it is true that wedding dress preservation is not a must, you and the future generation can benefit from this process. Since you have already found your own happily ever after, why not ensure the same thing for the dress that you painstakingly searched for and long dreamed of?