How to Preserve Your Wedding Dress
There are a variety of options for preserving your wedding gown. You can hire someone to do it for you or do it yourself at home. Some places use a chemical treatment and others do not. Preserving your gown at home is very simple and only requires a few items.
The easiest way to preserve your gown is to hire someone to do it for you. Normally your local dry cleaner will offer a preservation service or it will contract with a preservation service and send your items out. The cost can range from $100-$500, depending on what needs to be done.
If you choose to try it on your own without chemicals, there are only a few steps.
- Clean the dress as soon as possible. Have someone drop your dress off while you are on your honeymoon so that when you get back it is ready for you.
- Hang the dress to let it dry out; you want to ensure all moisture is out of the garment before you package it.
- Lay out tissue paper and then lay the dress on it. As you fold the dress to fit in the box, use tissue between the fold to keep the fabric from touching.
- Tuck tissue around edges to completely cover the dress and place lid on box.
There are variations to this, some people choose to seal the box and use plastic around the garment as well as the tissue. You may also use a garment bag to hang the dress.