Your Wedding Dress Needs To Be Taken Care Of After The Wedding

Wedding dress hanging from wardrobe

Your wedding is over! You really looked good in your beautiful, perfect wedding dress!

You have invested quite a bit of time and money for it. Now what will you do with it?

Should you dry clean your wedding gown, sell it, donate it or do wedding gown preservation?

Some brides are doing "trash the dress" pictures in their wedding gowns after the wedding with their photographers. Here's a link to some trash the dress photos!

Only choose to do this if you really don't care if the dress is usable after the shoot.

Depending on how dirty you get it, sometimes the gowns can be cleaned after this type of photo session. But if you really plan on doing some risky things in the dress... plan on trashing it in the garbage after you are done.


Wedding Dress Cleaning Should Be Done Right Away

You definitely should get your wedding gown cleaned. Wedding dress cleaning is a must, especially if you plan on selling your bridal gown.

Please don't just hang it in the closet and forget about it.

  • Get it cleaned right away, whether you plan to keep it a while or get rid of it.
  • It is best to take your dress to a dry cleaners that specializes in caring for bridal gowns. They do enough dresses to know exactly what can and cannot be done to it. Do this especially if your wedding gown has a lot of bead work.

Now, if you are daring. you can clean your own bridal dress. Yes, that's right! If you have a dress that is 100% polyester inside and outside. You may be able to turn the gown inside out, throw it in the washing machine on a gentle cycle, using a gentle detergent.

I have run across information on the web about this and I know that members of the Professional Sewing and Design Association I use to be a member of, do this as part of their business service for their brides. They say that this works with no problem. I know of a bride who washed her beaded and sequined gown before it was altered it and it came out beautiful!

I've spot cleaned gowns, but I have never tried washing one myself. Only do this if you feel that if it doesn't come out like you expect, you will not feel it was a major loss.


Wedding Gown Preservation Should Be Done If You Keep Your Dress

If you plan on keeping your dress as an heirloom, then you want to have it cleaned and preserved. Take time to find a company who you trust. Check the phone book or the internet for sources. Ask other brides who they used.

For help choosing your wedding gown preservation company read these tips.

Also read my review on the Wedding Gown Preservation Company. Find out why I feel this company is a good choice for gown preservation.


Planning To Sell Your Bridal Gown?

As I mentioned before, you have money invested in your wedding gown. Maybe you invested quite a bit. Can you get some of that back? Yes, you can! How?

You can sale your gown. Find sources now, so when the wedding is over, you will already know who you want to use to sell your bridal dress. Where can you list your dress?

There are many ways to do this. You can list it in the classified ads, Craigslist and Ebay. There are consignment shops for bridal dresses, and web sites that offer online listing services for pre-owned wedding dresses.


Donate Your Wedding Gown To Charity And Help Others

Want your dress to be used to help charitable organizations? There are charitable organizations that will accept your donated gown and sell it or recycle it for another noble use.

  • Pick the charity you want to give your dress to before the wedding day. This way after the wedding, you can drop off the gown or ship it to the charity of your choice.
  • You can give it to charitable organizations that have thrift shops.

Your donation may be tax deductible, but ask your tax preparer to make sure. Where can you find these non profit organizations?

Learn more about wedding gown donation, how and where you can donate your wedding dress.


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