CARE 101 Your bridal gown deserves lots of TLC before and after the ceremony. Courtney Engh of Omaha Lace Cleaners/Fashion Cleaners offers these tips for keeping your dress its loveliest before, during and after your wedding day.
Before the Wedding - For destination weddings requiring air travel, call ahead to see what type of storage the airline offers for your gown. Some may allow you to hang your dress, while others may insist that it be checked.
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- The best way to store your dress prior to the wedding is to hang it using the fabric hooks sewn inside the gown. Stuff it with acid-free tissue paper to help it keep its form. “Acid-free tissue paper is your best friend,” says Engh. However, acid-neutral is not the same as acidfree. - If you must put your dress in a box before the big day, either have a gown specialist do it for you or use white cotton sheets to surround the gown in your suitcase. Create as few folds as possible.
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- To eliminate minor wrinkling, try hanging the gown in a steamy bathroom. If the gown needs pressing, it’s better to be safe than sorry and take it to a dry cleaner that is a member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists. - If you’re nervous about storing the dress or transporting it to the wedding site, Omaha Lace can be hired to do both. Its delivery trucks are designed so gowns can hang without being folded.
After the Wedding - Do take your gown in for hand-cleaning and preservation by specialists, and be sure to go over the process with the staff. Let them know about any spills, including whether or not you used club soda to remove them. Sugar-based stains such as those from champagne, soda and cake frosting may not show up right away, but they will caramelize and turn brown with time if they aren’t treated. - Avoid cleaning and preservation techniques that require vacuum sealing. Fabric needs to breathe, says Engh, and it’s important to be able to handle the dress once a year or so – while wearing white cotton gloves – so air can move around it. Never store a wedding gown in an attic or basement where changing temperatures could damage it. - Consider keeping the gown. “You’ve spent so much time and energy finding that gown, and it would be a shame not to have it,” Engh says. While it may seem to be taking up space now, you may decide to pass the dress on to a daughter or granddaughter. Or you may enjoy having the dress made into christening sets for future babies or into ring bearer pillows or wedding handkerchiefs to pass down.
Have a destination wedding without leaving town. Say, “I do” at the Zoo. Celebrate your day in the newly completed Education Conference Center at the Suzanne and Walter Scott Aquarium, featuring a 25’ tropical reef aquarium. For rental details, call (402) 738-2088.
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