Your wedding dress is a keepsake you want to cherish for decades to come, and the first step in protecting your gown is to have it cleaned. The average cost of wedding dress cleaning is something that shocks a lot of brides, with prices in some cases almost as high as the dress itself. Luckily, there are alternatives that not only clean the dress, but offer decades of protection against aging and decay.
Dress Cleaning
The most common way to take care of your dress after your wedding is to take it to your local dry cleaners for a dress cleaning. The average cost of wedding dress cleaning varies wildly by area and by company, but you should expect to pay at least $100 or more for the service. Sadly, this is only the start of your dress cleaning expenses at most dry cleaners. In most instances, the cost of the dress cleaning only covers the dress itself, and not the accessories, like your veil, shawl, or ring pillow. Cleaning services for these items add substantial expense to your overall bill, totaling up to 50% of the cost of the dress cleaning. Furthermore, the average cost of wedding dress cleaning does not include preservation services, so while your dress is clean on the surface, it may not be ready for long-term storage.
Though taking your dress to the dry cleaners seems like a good idea on the surface, most dry cleaners don’t have extensive experience with wedding dresses. Your local dry cleaner is a great place to go when you get ketchup on your work uniform, but they may not be the right choice when you need to get red wine out of chiffon or silk.
Dress Preservation
Wedding dress preservation ensures that your dress will look as beautiful for your daughter or granddaughter as it did for you. The preservation process addresses not only the visible stains and surface level organic materials that cause fabric damage, but also attacks the underlying elements that will yellow or destroy your dress. For this reason dress preservation is typically more expensive than the average cost of wedding dress cleaning; however, your dress will last longer and look better than it would if you took it to your local dry cleaners. At a brick and mortar location you’ll pay about $200-300 for the preservation service, whereas with an online preserver, the cost drops to around $150. As an added bonus, when you use an online preservation company, you eliminate the hassle of transporting your dress to and from the facility, and gain access to nationwide companies who focus entirely on dress preservation.
Wedding dress preservation is best done by specialists in the process. These experts understand the delicate processes necessary to protect the detail work on your dress, such as beading or embroidery, and take precautions to ensure no details are lost. Additionally, dress preservers hand press and pack your dress into specialized display boxes, limiting the number of folds and wrinkles that weaken the fabric of your dress over time.
Preserving your wedding dress is a more expensive option than a simple cleaning, but ten years from now, you’ll be glad that you made the long-term investment in your dress.
