Nashville weddings

Sara’s Gown Gets Cleaned, Preserved by Oakwood Cleaners: She’s Sharing Her Pics and Facts Today!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

It took years before I did anything with my wedding dress.  Following my wedding reception, it literally sat in my closet for 6 years!  Now, I know a little more than I did when I got married and know that the way I handled my gown was the WRONG way to go!  I asked Sara, our newlywed blogger, if she could educate us.  She has followed the right procedures - she identified a place to preserve her gown early on and took her gown there shortly after the wedding.  She went with Oakwood Cleaners where she'd received great service altering her gown.  Her gown is now preserved and she is here to share what she has learned with you.

Sara's Gown Gets Preserved

Finding my dream dress was one of the things I most looked forward to once I was engaged. Once I found it, I couldn’t wait to wear it on our big day. I thought about the pictures I wanted to take, how I would accessorize it and what Nate would think when he finally saw me in it. The one thing I didn’t think of was the after. What would I do with my dress after the wedding? And I definitely didn’t think about how dirty it would get from walking through the grass for pictures and dancing the night away with my new hubby.

My dream dress, in all of its glory before it was dirty. Images provided by Betsy Limbaugh Photography.

It didn’t take long for me to decide that I wanted to preserve my dress. So much time had been spent on finding the perfect one that I couldn’t bare the thought of just leaving it in a heap in the bottom of my closet or even worse, throwing it away. Before the wedding I turned to Oakwood Cleaners for my alterations and they did such a wonderful job that I knew I wanted to turn to them to preserve it as well.

I was curious about the process of preserving a wedding dress, so I talked to Rhonda at Oakwood Cleaners during the process to get the scoop!

ABG: Why should a bride get her dress cleaned and preserved after her wedding?

Oakwood Cleaners: If you’re gong to resell it, just get it cleaned but not preserved. The main reason to preserve it is to preserve the memory for the next generation. If you’re sentimentally attached to your gown, and most brides are, you want to put the gown away so that 30 – 40 years down the road your daughter can wear it too. It’s not unusual to see young women wear their mothers’ or grandmothers’ gowns.

Having a wonderful time, while my dress is getting dirtier and dirtier. Images provided by Betsy Limbaugh Photography.

ABG: What happens to a gown if you don’t get it preserved?

Oakwood Cleaners: Preserving protects the gown from the environment, so if you don’t preserve a gown, it can be damaged fairly easily. Today’s environment is filled with chemicals, fumes, and pollutants that can damage the fabric. Even simply spraying your house for bugs could affect the fabric on your gown if it is left unprotected. And insects that you might not see could make a meal out of your gown, which is not something brides would want. Preservation will help keep your gown beautiful for the day it might be worn again.

Before and after of the back of my dress. Images provided by Oakwood Cleaners.

ABG: Explain the process of preserving a gown – what does it take?

Oakwood Cleaners: First the gown must be cleaned, and the level of cleaning needed depends on the stains on the dress and even the fabric. Once it is cleaned, we will preserve the dress using an acid free, archival museum quality box to hold the gown which will be in a muslin wrap. The way we box the gowns, if you take the muslin off, you can open the box. The lid is not sealed on the box and part of the reason we do that is because our preservation is museum quality and if you've noticed everything in a museum is exposed. Once you get the gown really clean, it doesn’t hurt it to be exposed to air because air will only react to stuff that is not clean but you do want to protect it and you don’t want to keep it open all the time. We don’t put windows on the boxes because we don’t want the dress to come in contact with plastic and glue.

The misconception in preservation is that it’s sealed and it's not, you can still open the box to look at the gown whenever you want to. We include a pair of white gloves but taking the gown out completely is not recommended. You can certainly unfold it while it is the box and look at it or show it to friends. And if you want to take it all the way out, you can bring it in to the store and we can assist you so that you avoid damaging the gown.

Before and after of the bottom of my dress. Images provided by Oakwood Cleaners.

ABG: What is the cost of gown preservation?

Oakwood Cleaners:  The cost varies depending on a few factors. The fabric used and the overall designs are the main factors. The amount of detail also comes into play – if there is a lot of lace, or a large amount of beading, that is more difficult to clean and takes a bit more time.

The train of the dress after, and clean! Image provided by Oakwood Cleaners.

ABG: What should a bride ask as she considers various preservation companies? What makes Oakwood Cleaners a specialist?

Oakwood Cleaners: Brides should consider the reputation of the companies they are looking at and also try to find brides who have used those companies in the past as a reference.

We consider ourselves the Greener Cleaner, which helps us stand out from other companies in the area. Our cleaning process is completely non-toxic and the cleaning process uses a solution made of silicone and it’s extremely gentle on the dress or anything we clean with it.. We’re able to clean a gown with lots of fancy trim better than the traditional dry cleaning methods. That’s the biggest advantage to the bride because it’s gentle on the garment. It’s safe for people who are working on the gown and safe for the person wearing the gown – it doesn’t hurt them and most importantly, it won’t leave smells.

We are also part of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, which means that we can honor any other members guarantee and they will honor ours. So if you move or something happens to your dress years down the line, you will be in good hands.

Preserving helps maintain the details of the dress as well. Image provided by Oakwood Cleaners.

ABG: Can you preserve a veil as well as a gown?

Oakwood Cleaners:  Yes, we can. We once worked on a veil that was first worn in 1856 by the bride's grandmother and we not only cleaned it we also attached some tulle to it and made it look more modern while leaving the beautiful original lace.

The results of my cleaning and preservation are amazing! I’m so glad I made the choice to get my dress preserved and that I went with Oakwood Cleaners. To learn more about their process and make an appointment for yourself, visit their website!

About the Author:

Newlywed Sara

I was so excited when I came across Ashley’s Bride Guide during my wedding planning process. I had been in a bunch of weddings, but hardly any in Nashville so I was starting from scratch. It was a great resource for us to get ideas and find vendors as we planned our big day. I am so excited to be able to add to the information for Nashville brides and help them create the day of their dreams! As a newlywed (3 weeks down!), I hope I can bring a fresh perspective to all those brides-to-be out there! I loved weddings before, and after going through the planning and execution of our own wedding, I feel blessed to be able to share everything we learned with other Nashville couples!

See more posts by Newlywed Sara »

send   Posted on February 29, 2012 | Filed under: Alterations + Gown Preservation, Attire - Bridal Gowns, Wedding Dresses & Accessories, Eco-Friendly Weddings