How to Store Your Wedding Dress Before and After the Wedding?

A wedding dress is more than just a festive outfit. Often it is also a symbol of a childhood dream – the desire of a little girl to grow up and become a beautiful, loving and beloved princess of her man. How to store your wedding dress before and after the wedding? We will give you a list of tips on how to store your dress before and after the celebration, so that it does not lose its appearance. Follow our guidelines and you can be sure what the outfit will retain its excellent appearance many years after the wedding.

How to Store Your Wedding Dress Before the Wedding?

There can be several solutions and each of them is associated with certain nuances.

• In the store
• At home

Many wedding stores offer their customers such a service as storing the purchased outfit. Moreover, in some of them, they do it completely free of charge. You can pick up your dress on the eve of the wedding and all you need to do is bring it home and go to the wedding the next morning. Before you pick up the dress from the store, make sure it is ironed, all decorative elements are in place, it is clean and free of stains.

Don’t forget the protective bag! It protects the dress from dirt and absorbing odors. If necessary, buy a waterproof, breathable wedding dress cover bag to make sure your wedding dress will be perfectly protected during transportation.

If, for whatever reason, storing your wedding dress at the store is not an option, then you will have to find a suitable place for it at home.

Consult with the store how to store it properly, how to clean it (if necessary), temperature of ironing, etc.

Arriving with the dress from the salon, carefully unpack it and shake it gently. A light dress made of thin fabric can be hung directly on a hanger. If the dress is heavy, take out the petticoat about two weeks in advance and straighten the hoops. Sprinkle it with water and let it hang too. It is advisable to pre-wrap the hanger with fabric or buy a ready-made hanger with padding from the wedding store. Do not keep your wedding dress in a plastic bag! Plastic makes it difficult for the dress to breathe and due to the fact that it contains chemicals, they may stain the dress if it is kept in a plastic garment bag for too long.

How and Where to Hang Your Wedding Dress Properly?

Make sure that the dress is hanged high enough so that the hem does not touch the floor or the bottom of the closet. This will help the dress resume its original shape after transportation. If your wedding dress has a long train, stretch it out and drape it over a high-backed chair to prevent wrinkles.

In case that your dress is really heavy with many levels of fabric and rich decoration, beading, etc., it is better to store it flat in a garment bag underneath or on top of a bed. Two days before the wedding, hang it on a hanger, just make sure it does not fall.

You should not store your wedding dress in rooms like attic or cellar where humidity levels are high and may damage it.

Make sure that your pets have no access to the room where you keep the dress.

On the day before the wedding check the condition of the dress. Examine the seams, make sure all hooks, buttons, beads and accessories are in place and hold tight. If the fabric is wrinkled, then you can sprinkle it with water from a spray bottle and leave to hang on a hanger. The fabric should not get wet through, but only be slightly damp. After a while, small folds and creases will smooth out on their own. Other options are to iron or steam the dress but you have to be extremely careful not to damage the delicate fabric.

How to Care For You Wedding Dress on Wedding Day?

So, the big day is here! How to care for you wedding dress on wedding day? Here are some simple tips to follow so that you appear on the isle looking at your best!

Keep the dress away from food, drinks, cosmetics, children and pets. In general, create a “safety zone” around it.

Avoid cigarette smoke as much as possible.

Put on your dress after your hair and makeup is complete. Cosmetics like hair spray, perfume and makeup may stain the dress. Anyone helping you put on the dress should wash their hands, remove all rings and other jewelry to avoid damaging beads, embroidery or other decoration, and ideally wear white gloves.

Place a white sheet on the floor. Once you have put on the dress, place a towel over it to protect the fabric from contact with makeup or hair spray.

Never try to remove stains yourself. In case of an accident, the only thing you can do is to gently blot the stained area with a white cloth. Never use a colored paper napkin or harsh products to clean the fabric! You can try masking an accidental stain from food, wine, dirt or mud. Baking powder, baby powder or chalk will mask most stains.

Have a wedding emergency kit at hand as it will help you handle any last-minute accidents.

Pick up the train and hold your skirt up when you step outdoors so that the dress does not get dirty or dusty.

How to Store Your Wedding Dress After the Wedding?

After spending a lot of effort, time and money to buy the perfect wedding dress, you must pay due attention to its proper storage and preservation, especially if intend to pass on the dress to your daughter or even granddaughter. Every wedding gown should be cleaned before being stored.

The first thing to do immediately after the wedding is to dry-clean the dress. Even if it looks perfectly clean, the dress will surely pick up sweat, dirt and dust during your wedding day.

Once you get your dress from the dry cleaners, you can store it carefully at home by yourself. It should be stored in cool and dry place at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.

Carefully remove any metal buttons or hooks that may oxidize over time and stain the dress. Do not use metal hangers. They can rust, and then stubborn stains cannot be avoided. It is best to use a padded hanger.

You can store your wedding gown in a box that does not let the light through, but allows the dress to “breathe”. Line the box with plenty of tissue, lay the dress, cover it on all sides with paper and close it with a lid. Optionally, you can add a scent bag inside the box and close it. Do not put jewelry or decorative items in the same box as they can damage the fabric.

Take the dress out of the box every 6-7 months for 2-3 hours to ventilate.

How NOT to Store a Dress – Common Mistakes to Avoid

Do not store your wedding dress in plastic bag or container. Plastic doesn’t allow the fabric to breathe and may stain the dress. In addition, the fabric may get an unpleasant smell due to the fact that air cannot enter into a plastic container.

Do not use colored tissue paper to wrap your wedding dress when storing as it contains dyes and may stain the dress. Tissue paper should be white and acid free.

Do not store your wedding dress in a damp or dusty place. Mold can form in a damp place and ruin the dress beyond repair.

Hang the wedding gown on a hanger in your closet. This is a short term storage solution. On the first place, if the gown stays on a hanger for a long time, this is a stress on the seams and shape. Further to that, color dyes in clothes may affect it negatively. It is always best to separate a wedding dress from any other garments.