How to store your wedding dress

HOW TO STORE YOUR WEDDING DRESS

While it takes months to find the right wedding dress or create the dress of your dreams, most gowns are often discarded and left to hang with no care after the day has passed. No matter how soon you have to get to the airport, if you’ve had thoughts of keeping or selling your wedding dress, the delicate fabrics must be taken care of.

RULE 1: DRY CLEAN WITHOUT DELAY “You need to clean your gown immediately as, over time, stains will set and they will become more and more difficult to remove, . “Ideally, you want someone to drop off your gown while you’re on your honeymoon, or the cleaners we prefer can come and pick up your gown before you go.”


RULE 2: WRAP IT UP “The only way to store your gown long-term is to box it with acid-free tissue paper. Ideally, you want to keep the gown away from anything that could stain it over time so acid-free tissue paper is fantastic and by boxing the gown it seals in the air. Alternatively, some couture brides frame their gowns and hang them in a 3D shadow box on the wall.

If it is impossible to clean and box the gown prior to the honeymoon, Gowing recommends storing the dress in a 100 per cent cotton garment bag, as plastic cleaning bags don’t allow the garment to breathe. Make sure to hang the dress on a white padded silk coat hanger as opposed to a lacquered wooden coat hanger.

Store veils, accessories and silk shoes with the dress. “I wore a three-metre long veil edged in the same lace as my gown and it’s going to be boxed, as will my silk stole. My sister had shoes made of the same silk and they were wrapped separately then boxed in. Boxing is also a good way to know that everything is all together,” Gowing says.

RULE 3: STORE SENSIBLY “I only deal with natural fabrics, even in my home I tend to gravitate towards cottons, linens, silks and wools, and because they’re all natural you store them quite similarly,” says Gowing. “Store items somewhere that isn’t damp or humid, and out of the sunlight. If we hang a garment under the light in the studio for long enough it will turn yellow as it’s a natural fibre. So store [the boxed dress] under the bed or in the cupboard, and make sure it’s flat.