We recently had the pleasure of meeting the current owner of the Wedding Gown Preservation Company. It has been a family owned business for several generations, and they now offer a 100 year guarantee for wedding dress preservation! We took advantage of our opportunity to get our brides’ most pressing wedding dress preservation questions answered. A top question is, “If I preserve my wedding dress, can I open the box?”
First, if you want to be able to give your wedding gown to another member of your family, wear it again in twenty years for a vow renewal, or just pull it out of your closet and admire it again, you will need to get it cleaned. We recommend bringing in your wedding gown to Strut for cleaning within 30 days of your wedding. It’s not the dirt and food stains that really damage your bridal gown, it’s your body oils.
So when we spoke to the experts at the WGPC about cleaning your wedding dresses, we asked them, “If our brides have their gowns cleaned and preserved, does that mean they can’t open the box?” Happily, we learned that answer is NO! In fact, they WANT you to open your dress and inspect it when it arrives back at your house. They even provide a pair of white gloves so that you don’t transfer body oils to your gown. Just know that opening your wedding gown box after the preservation process will nullify their 100 year guarantee.
So that was great news to us! We also learned that you can personalize your wedding gown preservation box with your name, wedding date, and even your wedding photo. There are so many great options now!
As always, if you’d like to have your wedding dress cleaned and preserved, just bring it to Strut. You’ll simply pay for the service when you drop it off, but we’ll pack up your gown (and up to five accessories, like your veil and garter) and send it off for you. It’s just part of the services we provide to our Strut Brides!
My daughter’s friend considered using my daughter’s wedding dress that we had preserved to wear for her own wedding. But after trying on the dress, she realized it would need too many alterations. Do we need to start the preservation process again from the beginning, or can we simply pack it again In the same papers and seal the box?
As long as you wore the gloves when you touched it, you should be fine!
Neither of us wore gloves so I guess the answer is no. Thanks for your response!
Is there a time limit on how long the preservation lasts? In cleaning out the loft closet where it had been stored (out of any light) and professionally preserved in a box it now appears that some of the threading has discolored to a dark grey. What would you say happened?
Gosh, Donna, that’s so strange. I would take a pic and contact the company that did the preservation. Wedding Gown Preservation Company has a new 100 year guarantee, for example, so it’s worth following up!
I bought a kit with my dress a few years ago (2014) but didn’t send it in hopes of doing a photo shoot. Then i got pregnant. Can I still send it in?
Of course! Just bring us a copy of your receipt and we’ll take care of the rest! We changed systems a few years ago and don’t have access to files that old!
I cleaned and preserved my wedding gown. Can I open it and try it on to see if it still fits.
You can open and try it on, but it will affect the preservation process because your body oils could get on the gown. They recommend using the gloves that are included to help cut down the transfer. They also are super nice and welcome calls at 1-800-305-3108!
If I take my dress out of the box to wear it on my anniversary, do I have to wash the dress first before I wear it? Also, after my celebration is done, I can just wash it again and put the dress back into the box, right? My dress has been washed in the machine before so I know it’s fine in there, but I just want to know if I need to wash the dress before wearing it if it is straight out of the preservation box.
Hey Maggie! We called our friends at the Wedding Gown Preservation Co and they said NO – they don’t use any chemicals in the process so you don’t need to wash it before wearing it! BUT you should know that if you take your gown out of the box it does void their 100 year guarantee. Good to know! Once you remove your gown from the chest you would have to repurchase preservation again to get the 100 year guarantee.
So if the preservation gloves are worn, but the dress is tried on, it won’t need to be re preserved? Wouldnt this break the air tight seal?
Trying on or wearing the gown again would mean it needs to be re-preserved if you want to keep the 100 year guarantee. Some brides have their gown cleaned and preserved now and will wear it once again for a vow renewal, etc., and then would re-clean and preserve after that.