Drycleaning and Wedding Dress Preservation

The wedding day is over and your wedding dress most likely lie in a crumpled heap on the floor of your honeymoon suite, with mud stains on the hem, foot prints on the train and chocolate mud cake on the bodice.

RSVP Bridal offers a fantastic Gown Preservation Service through PRESTIGE PRESERVATION, please contact the store for more information.

It is best to have your dress drycleaned within four weeks of the wedding day. If you are heading straight off for an extended honeymoon have one of the bridesmaids or your mum take your wedding dress off to a drycleaner, not just any old drycleaner one that is experienced in drycleaning wedding gowns. Ensure that the drycleaner uses clean fluid and drycleans each wedding dress individually.

Ensure your gown has a care label that provides a viable care method and check with your gown supplier if the gown and trim are dry cleanable. Trims such as beads and artificial pearls may dissolve and other trims may need to be altered or removed so be sure you inspect these with your cleaner in case an alternative method to dry cleaning is necessary.

Once your gown is cleaned, ideally keep it wrapped in the acid free tissue and in the box provided, as this will provide the correct pH environment suited to the delicate fabric. The box should not be air tight as the fabric should be able to breathe and store the box away from heat, humidity and direct sunlight, somewhere cool and dry is ideal.

Some people find that wrapping your dress in a clean white sheet or muslin cloth and storing in a dry, dark and cool place works just as well as acid free paper.

If there is any metal ornamentation on the gown (such as a brooch) it may be wise to remove this before storage so that if the metal tarnishes, it won't transfer to the fabric. It is also recommended to store metal headpieces and jewellery separately from the wedding dress to avoid rust and tarnishes on the dress.