I remember one of the first things I did when I got engaged.
My mum sent me upstairs to find her wedding dress and she wanted me to
try it on. It was one of those special mother-daughter moments that I’ll
always treasure, and I have a picture of me wearing the dress standing by
the door in our living room (with part of my mum’s finger covering the lens of
the camera – back in pre-digital days when you couldn’t see what you’d taken!!)
I can’t say I would have worn my mother’s 1974 high necked
and long sleeved dress, but if I’d have wanted to, I’d have been gutted as my
mum failed to store her dress properly and the years had taken it’s toll.
Someone had told my mum to store her white wedding dress in a black
plastic bag and over the years the dress had turned from a pure white colour to
yellow. My mum was heartbroken when she realised just how much it had
discoloured. Perhaps this is the reason that I am always telling brides to look
after their dresses. Even if no-one ever wears it again, it’s lovely to
look back at your dress and see it looking like it was when you wore it on your
big day. And maybe one day you’ll be taking a picture of your newly
engaged daughter, niece or granddaughter wearing it, even if it’s just playing
dress up in the living room.
Giselle
from The Empty Box Company has compiled this list of tips for storing your
wedding dress. We have a selection of these boxes in our shop in various sizes
and colours, and shown on the link at the bottom of this page are examples of some of the
beautiful designs you can choose from. Perfect for co-ordinating with your
bedroom!! From funky to traditional and floral, you’ll be spoiled for
choice!! And if you buy the box from us, we can organise dry cleaning and
pack your dress away for you at no extra cost to you.
For destination brides, there are also travel sized boxes
which fit onto airplanes as hand luggage so you can take your dress away with
you and then use the box afterwards to store your dress.
THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF STORING A WEDDING DRESS
Wedding Dresses can pack away beautifully and remain as
white and perfect as the day they were worn: but there are some simple
essential rules for brides to follow:
DON’TS
1) Plastic dress covers are not suitable for long-term
storage: They do not allow for changes in humidity, or protect from light
and can leave particles behind after several years.
2) Normal cardboard or fabric boxes can contain
acid that causes the material of the dress to“yellow” or discolour. Avoid
flat pack storage boxes that offer limited protection, or ones that let in
light.
3) Do not store the dress next to the wood of a wardrobe,
drawer, suitcase lining, or other clothes, as these mediums will have an effect
on the purer fabrics of the wedding dress if the it lies next to them.
4) Do not wrap a wedding dress in coloured tissue
paper.Tissue paper to pack a wedding dress should be white and acid free.
5) Do not hang a dress long term on a clothes hanger (short
term is fine), as it places stresses on the seams and shape of the dress.
6) Do not store your dress in the attic. All
sorts of disasters here such as a leaking roof, damp, changes in humidity, and
insects can affect a dress in the attic; even if it is well protected.
DO’s
1) Do have your dress cleaned as soon as possible after the wedding by a dry cleaner that specialises in wedding dresses. Marks can show later even
if a dress does not appear stained now.
2) Follow simple sensible rules e.g. store away from
light, heat, damp, etc
3) Store the dress in a warm dry spare room, that has
no history of insects, instead of an attic.
4) Ensure the dress lies in a pH neutral material such
as a wedding dress box and is packed with acid free tissue. (Acid free
tissue paper will become acidic if kept in a non acid free box.)
5) A storage box should eliminate light, should be
breathable (i.e. non plastic), protect from dirt, dust, and spillage,
in addition to pH neutral i.e. contain no acid or alkali.
6) Do choose a really strong, sturdy box as it needs to
last a lifetime. It might even need to protect from disaster such as fire
or flood so a flimsy box might not be up to the mark!
7) Do choose a box that you love: it will be with you
for a long time, holding one of the most special items of clothing you will
ever own.
Once packed away, check on the
dress every 6 – 12 months to ensure nothing untoward has happened, and repack
e.g. once a year to help prevent creases becoming too permanent.
This guide is written by The Empty Box Company, who
specialise in beautiful Wedding Dress Boxes that preserve the dress to last a
lifetime. Their wedding dress boxes are handmade in the UK.
Click on the following link to see the variety of colours you can get your box in.
