What to do with the dress now?!?

[IndiBlue]

Hi All,

I just got a quote from J.Sheer & Co. about having my dress cleaned a preserved- $495-$594 + $50 for my veil....

What are you guys doing to preserve your dress? If so, what have you been quoted? Or are you selling it?

My wedding was about 2 months ago- so I need to figure out what to do soon.

 

[robbie3982]

My mom just dropped my dress off at the cleaners to be pressed and they told her no charge for the pressing, just please consider us for preservation after the wedding. She asked how much and they told her $200-$250. She thought it was really expensive. That''s Pittsburgh pricing. I''m sure it depends on where you''re located.

 

[laine]

I read in Martha Stewart, I believe, that all you really need to do is have it cleaned (not preserved, just cleaned to get the body oils and stuff out), then wrap it in acid free tissue. Then store it in a cloth bag, maybe--I don't quite remember that part, but plastic is bad, cardboard is bad (I think), cedar chests are bad, so cloth is about all thats left.

Of course, my mother's dress was never cleaned and has been in the plastic bag from the store for the past 35 years and it still looks fine, so I think some of the preservation stuff is a bit over the top. Of course, I don't recommend my mom's plan--she pretty much did everything they tell you not to do.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

I didn''t really want to keep my dress - my children will likely never wear it. If there were some things you wanted to do in your dress, but lacked the courage or nerve to get it dirty on the big day, you could always trash it?

My husband and I are heading to Hawaii to trash my wedding gown.

Check out Trash The Dress.com for pics of what we''re doing.

 

[surfgirl]

I was thinking the same thing...what to do with the dress...Since mine can really be shortened and worn again for dressier occassions, I''m going to keep it and have it shortened to tea length first, then if I want it shorter, I go cocktail length. I can wear my lace jacket with it or with anything else so that''s a keeper though I''ve no idea how to clean it at this point. I''m almost thinking of a DIY home dry cleaning kit in a bag..has anyone used those? The hem of my dress got dirty dragging on the ground on my wedding day so I want to clean it, but then, I''m going to cut off the hem so....I dont know. I''m afraid the cleaners will pul the fabric since it''s tulle. And I was sure I would sell my veil but I really dont want to now....separation anxiety...

Then again, I dont have room in my closet for all this stuff either!

 

[wolftress]

My dress is big and huge. It''s been hanging in my study for the past few months and I have no idea what to do with it. My cats are getting very angry because they don''t understand why they''re not allowed in my study.

I have the option of selling it at the shop I bought it from, but they are going to charge me to keep the dress at the shop which seems a bit silly to me. I might try the preservation idea that Laine suggested.

 

[iwannaprettyone]

Date: 9/4/2007 11:40:45 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I didn''t really want to keep my dress - my children will likely never wear it. If there were some things you wanted to do in your dress, but lacked the courage or nerve to get it dirty on the big day, you could always trash it?

My husband and I are heading to Hawaii to trash my wedding gown.

Check out Trash The Dress.com for pics of what we''re doing.

Ditto.

 

[MustangGal]

I sold mine after a few years. I washed it in my mom''s super duper fancy washing machine (when she found out she wanted to kill me), and I shoved it into a rubbermaid container under the bed for 5 years. It still looked perfect when I pulled it out and shipped it off. If I had sold it right away, I would probably have gotten more for it though, but hubby wouldn''t let me...

 

[happilyeverafter]

Date: 9/5/2007 10:38:30 AM
Author: iwannaprettyone

Date: 9/4/2007 11:40:45 PM
Author: LaurenThePartier
I didn''t really want to keep my dress - my children will likely never wear it. If there were some things you wanted to do in your dress, but lacked the courage or nerve to get it dirty on the big day, you could always trash it?

My husband and I are heading to Hawaii to trash my wedding gown.

Check out Trash The Dress.com for pics of what we''re doing.

Ditto.

Thritto. I CANT WAIT for the pics that come out of this photo session! I was going to try to sell it, but it was only $400 + alterations, so i''m going to trash it instead!!

 

[IndiBlue]

$495-$595 was quoted for cleaning & preserving to "museum quality standards"...Basically they clean the dress, put it in some kind of fancy cloth box and ship it back to me for me to store in my closet.

Right now, it''s laying on the floor in our spare bedroom, just screaming at me to do something with it!

I really like the idea of wearing it again some how some way, but I highly doubt it would be possible as it is pretty intricate.

I don''t really want to sell it. It was very expensive and we could use the money but I want the opportunity to show my kids or give them the option of wearing it.

So maybe the solution is really just to have it cleaned- At a regular cleaners???? and they just wrap it in a 100% cotton sheet?

Here''s a picture from the wedding....

 

[Fancy605]

I personally am keeping mine. I'm not keeping it because I am saving it for future children (I don't know anyone who has worn her mother's dress... veils and jewelry and such yes, but not the dress). I just want mine to b/c I am attached to it.

As far as storage goes, I have a friend who is a curator for a museum. She works with clothing and fabrics. She said to skip all the preservation stuff, and simply have the dress cleaned and order and acid neutral (not acid free) box and tissue and to wrap it and it will be just fine.

 

[jcrow]

i got mine heirloomed at the place the bridal salon recommended. it cost an arm and a leg & 6 months for it to be done.... but i''m happy. it''s all shiney and like new in it''s box. huge box might i add!

and yeh, i''m attached.

 

[appletini]

I spent $150-180 to have mine heirloomed, and then after a year sold it on www.preownedweddingdresses.com since I''ll never wear it again, and the box was stored under the bed. If I really wanted my future daughter to wear it or something she can just have a dress made out of ivory silk.

 

[Elmorton]

WOW. Apparently it pays to live in the midwest...my preservation was under $100 for the veil and the dress (and I throught that was ridiculous! Feeling a tad better now). They put the dress in a box that's kinda like a coffin - you can open the lid and see the dress under a cellophane-like window. I won't lie - I started bawling the second I saw it. My poor mother couldn't figure out what she had done wrong, because they did a beautiful job....but seeing it there without me in it was so depressing.

I will say this though - preservation is a good thing. My mother's wedding dress is a beautiful gown, handmade by my great-grandmother and it yellowed horribly. She's had it hanging in the back of the closet, in a garmet bag, for 35 years. I always wanted to wear it, but the yellowing, stiff material problem and the fact that she was about half my size on her wedding day prevented any chances. Anyway, apparently, that acid-neutral tissue will keep it in tip-top, wearable shape for generations to come.

While we can't afford any more photography (or Trash the Dress would be an awesome idea!), like you, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the dress. I can't remember where I read (maybe in "Concious Bride"?) a woman described getting dressed up in her wedding gown on her first anniversary, ordered take-out with her husband, and sat on their living room floor and ate together - in their wedding attire. We just got married 2 mos ago too, but DH and I are already talking about maybe doing that for our first. It seems highly eccentric but really sweet. I just can't stand seeing the dress in the box! I figure as long as I don't spill, it can be put right back in the box and wait another year.

 

[surfgirl]

Elmorton, I thought about that too! Getting mine shortened and wearing it with the jacket on our anniversary. I dont know. Maynbe its weird..?

 

[Elmorton]

I don''t think it''s weird at all. Your dress is so beautiful, Surfgirl!! It seems like a shame to alter it, I suppose, but even MORE of a shame to never wear it again. I don''t think it would look strange at all if you had it shortened and wore it with the jacket -- it would be absolutely stunning and very appropriate for a special anniversary outing!

 

[Fancy605]

Date: 9/5/2007 9:39:28 PM
Author: Elmorton
I can''t remember where I read (maybe in ''Concious Bride''?) a woman described getting dressed up in her wedding gown on her first anniversary, ordered take-out with her husband, and sat on their living room floor and ate together - in their wedding attire. We just got married 2 mos ago too, but DH and I are already talking about maybe doing that for our first. It seems highly eccentric but really sweet. I just can''t stand seeing the dress in the box! I figure as long as I don''t spill, it can be put right back in the box and wait another year.

That sounds like a cute idea AND a good inspiration to still be able to fit into the dress year after year.

 

[Elmorton]

LOL - Never thought of it that way - it''s how I''ll maintain my diet plan! Luckily, the dress has a corset back, so I''ve got some wiggle room.

 

[dusk42]

Sorry to hijack the thread - it came up on a google search and I wanted to contribute.

The ultimate destination for my dress is probably donating it to makingmemories.org or maybe glamour closet - the first benefits breast cancer research and they have huge gown resale events around the country. The second one benefits Parkinson research. But I don''t think I can send it off just yet - I might need a few months to get over my sentimentality. I have two friends getting married on a budget this year so it would be awesome if one of them could use it.

I got mine cleaned and preserved (they don''t have an option just to clean) by wedclean.net - I think it is about $130 + shipping and insuranced for a gown. They are a cleaners in Florida with lots of recs on theknot that have specialized in wedding gown cleaning for a long time - apparently many local cleaners ship out weddding dresses anyway and charge you a huge markup. I just shipped it off to them on Wednesday, so I haven''t gotten it back. But I wanted to have it cleaned, and just to have it cleaned at a local recommended cleaners would have been about $500 - which is about as much as my dress cost! Not so much!

 

[rms]

Well, I did something different...had my dress cut up and used the fabric to make my kids'' christening outfits. I had twins (1 boy and 1 girl) a few months ago and they were christened a few weeks ago. The outfits were beautiful IMHO. My daughter''s dress followed the style of my own dress (chiffon overlay), and for my son we used some of the satin to make pants and a little vest.

Saving the rest of the fabric for now...have had it for over 3 years and see no yellow color change in the fabric at this point.

 

[Blenheim]

I had mine cleaned at the local cleaners for something like $125. I''m in the Midwest, by the way. My plan is to sell it at www.preownedweddingdresses.com, but first I need to get a paypal account and I haven''t felt like doing that and filling the form out. I need to get off my butt and do it; I''m sure it won''t take more than 15 minutes.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Sadly, my wedding dress is folded up in a plastic storage container in my in-laws'' attic. I had good intentions of having it cleaned and preserved but seemed to lose track of time. I''ve been married for two years and still think about getting it done but never get around to actually doing it. Sigh....

Jess

 

[Elmorton]

RMS, I LOVE that idea! Reusing the fabric for christening gowns is such a sweet and beautiful way to keep the dress as part the family''s history (much better than trying to justify keeping the dress because maybe a future daughter would want to wear it). Right now, I can''t imagine parting with my dress, but by the time we''re ready to have children, I would hope I have less attachment issues than I do now! Out of curiosity, about how much of the fabric did the christening gowns take from the dress? What did you do with the leftover fabric?

 

[rms]

Elmorton, thanks for the nice words. I didn't even want to take their outfits off at the end of the day, they looked so gorgeous...it all went by so fast. And we didn't get very good candid photos, so I am going to have their portraits taken...so they get to wear them once more!

It wasn't my idea to do their christening outfits from my wedding dress, I read about it somewhere (totally forgot where) and just loved the idea. Also, I just didn't like ANY of the christening outfits that were out there. They were either too frilly or just way too expensive for my taste. I wanted something clean and simple. And you see, my dad is a custom tailor, so I have another reason to easily be able to do something like this. He didn't actually do the work, his seamstress did, but he is happy to say that he supervised the effort for his grandkiddies!

We didn't use much of the fabric at all. The rest of it is just still in the original Maggie Sottero bag hanging at my dad's place.

Here is a pic so you get the idea. My son is not wearing his little vest though, and his pants are way too long for him, oh well! I especially love the sequins on my daughter's dress.

 

[Elmorton]

Well first of all -- aww, what beautiful babies! And, they look absolutely precious in their christening outfits. Seeing that photo sealed the deal - this is definitely something I want to do with my dress when we have children. I love the idea that the dress can be incorporated into another special moment in the life of our family. Thank you so much for sharing the idea!

 

[upgrading mama]

Date: 9/11/2007 2:07:06 AM
Author: rms
Elmorton, thanks for the nice words. I didn''t even want to take their outfits off at the end of the day, they looked so gorgeous...it all went by so fast. And we didn''t get very good candid photos, so I am going to have their portraits taken...so they get to wear them once more!

It wasn''t my idea to do their christening outfits from my wedding dress, I read about it somewhere (totally forgot where) and just loved the idea. Also, I just didn''t like ANY of the christening outfits that were out there. They were either too frilly or just way too expensive for my taste. I wanted something clean and simple. And you see, my dad is a custom tailor, so I have another reason to easily be able to do something like this. He didn''t actually do the work, his seamstress did, but he is happy to say that he supervised the effort for his grandkiddies!

We didn''t use much of the fabric at all. The rest of it is just still in the original Maggie Sottero bag hanging at my dad''s place.

Here is a pic so you get the idea. My son is not wearing his little vest though, and his pants are way too long for him, oh well! I especially love the sequins on my daughter''s dress.

I did the very same thing with my dress; I too read about it in a bridal mag. So, I had a capelet made out of most of my train, that way he still wore a little suit and I was able to use the cape for both of my boys...here are a couple pictures.. oh hhh and it is a Maggie Sottero, too!

 

[upgrading mama]

another where you can see the front better....

 

[rms]

Elmorton...thanks again. Well, maybe you''ll come back and post pics when your kiddies do arrive!!

Sophie, fabulous FABULOUS outfit on your beautiful baby boy!! Was the suit also made from your gown or just the capelet?

We''ll probably save the rest of the fabric to make my daughter''s first communion dress when the time comes. My dad is already excited about it!

 

[upgrading mama]

Date: 9/12/2007 1:04:32 AM
Author: rms
Elmorton...thanks again. Well, maybe you''ll come back and post pics when your kiddies do arrive!!

Sophie, fabulous FABULOUS outfit on your beautiful baby boy!! Was the suit also made from your gown or just the capelet?

We''ll probably save the rest of the fabric to make my daughter''s first communion dress when the time comes. My dad is already excited about it!

Just the capelet. My aunt who is a seamstress and did the work for me, didn''t seem to eager to make the suit too....lol

If I EVER have a little girl, maybe we''ll use some more!!