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When you bring your gown home from the shop, take it
out of the garment bag and hang it somewhere it will be
safe from little children and pets — perhaps in a spare room
or from a hook you put into the ceiling for that purpose. If
it will be several weeks until the wedding, you can protect
it from dust with a clean sheet or freshly-washed unbleached
muslin.

On the day of the wedding, all too often someone steps on
your bridal gown or you catch it on something. Put several
safety pins into the underside of your gown where they will not
be seen but will be handy for just such accidents and prevent
further damage to your gown.

Also, know whether your gown is made from a natural
fiber such as silk or an artificial fiber such as polyester. Then
if you spill something on your wedding day you will know
whether you can try to remove the stain or not. Water or club
soda can remove coffee, tea, mud, or blood from polyester,
but silks and rayons are water sensitive, and you may make
permanent spots if you put water on them.

If the stain is grease, lipstick, or another cosmetic that is not
water soluble, you can try using a handi-wipe on polyester (test
it on an inside seam first to be sure it will not disturb the color
of your gown) but NEVER on silk! On silk it is probably
safer to camouflage spots with something white and relatively
harmless such as baking soda, cornstarch, or baby powder.
White-out or white shoe polish is tricky and is definitely NOT a
good idea for use on silk.

Most important of all: remember that no matter how
much you love your gown, your family and friends share
your happiness on your special day; they will be looking at you
and not at any spots or tears on your bridal gown.

Once the wedding is over, it may be hard for you to give
up your gown right away, but if you want your gown to have
an “ever-after” just as happy as yours, it should be professionally
cleaned and preserved. If not, your gown will yellow from
exposure to light and air, and any stains, especially if
they are caused by red wine or mud, will bond
with the fibers of your gown. Even if you do
nothing else, take your gown out of the plastic
garment bag, which can emit fumes that
yellow the gown even more quickly than air,
and wrap it in a clean sheet or freshly-washed
muslin.

It can also be difficult to find a cleaner who
understands just how important your gown
is to you. Look for someone who specializes in cleaning and
preserving wedding gowns and ask lots of questions. Does the
company do the work or does it send the dress to someone
else? How long have they been in business? What precautions
do they take to protect delicate trims and decorations? How do
they guard against latent stains caused by alcohol and other
sugar-based stains that do not dissolve during ordinary dry
cleaning?

Ask if you can inspect the gown after it is clean and if the
service uses acid-free tissue with an environmentally-safe,
acid-free, archival container that will not discolor or damage
the fabric of your gown. Ask if the service seals the box or
leaves it open and why they do it that way. Does the service
guarantee the gown will not be stained or discolored when
the gown is to be worn again? Does the guarantee depend
upon an unbroken seal? Today or twenty-five years from today,
who will honor the guarantee?

Be sure you are comfortable with the answers to your
questions. After all, your wedding gown is the perfect
wedding dress for you. You want to give your beautiful
gown the care that will keep it perfect, an heirloom legacy for
the next bride in your family!

— Sally Lorensen Conant, Ph.D.

Association of Wedding
Gown Specialists