Weddingbee Blog

Hi kp,

I’d definitely take it to a cleaner that has experience with wedding gowns - “spot cleaning” should be a lot less than full on cleaning. miss lemon’s suggestion of getting alterations first sounds great, as you’ll have less dress to clean.

If you’re looking for a recommendation in the ny area, check out http://www.fancycleaners.com/index.html.

it’s run by a friend of mine, and mrs. butterfly got her dress altered there. they do really great work!

I also have sample gown and planned to purchased those preservation gown kit on sale for cleaning/pressing. But I found out one local cleaner, retailer with gown preservation, does cleaning and pressing for $50. Less than $150 for the kit w preservation which I don’t yet need. I went to seamstress for the alteration cost from $75~100.

Dani - I have had huge success getting things altered by a good tailor. One place to start looking is at dry cleaner’s, who do alterations. I would make sure that the tailor is there on site (better if it’s the owner, not a contract tailor) and that they do not take alterations without the tailor being present.

I once dropped off a pair of jeans at a dry cleaner that they sent to an outside tailor and they did a fine job. But, with a dress, I would want someone who was present, could measure me in person, and who I could talk to specifically about what I wanted, etc.

hello! anyone else have sample sale gown alteration places they went to? I have a recommendation from the store - but i feel like it will be super overpriced ..nyc metro would be wonderful .. thank you!

It depends how dirty the dress is. My gown designer (fancy pants NYC type) advised that the silk fabric is weakened by drycleaning, and cleaners sometimes make mistakes. Spot cleaning is good enough pre-wedding, but only bother with what’s on the outside. I promise that NO ONE WILL SEE THE BOTTOM/INSIDE OF YOUR DRESS!!! My dress was from a sample sale, and it was gray on the inner hem, underneath. Most of that got cut off when the dress was hemmed. What remained just got dirtier, because after the wedding we ran all over the place taking pictures and it got REALLY dirty (little sticks and pebbles stuck in the lace, you name it). Then at the reception a truly beloved groomsman handed me a too-full mixed drink with cranberry juice and — pink splash down the front of my dress. Oops, but not going to ruin a happy wedding day. Mom had the dress cleaned for $20 (yes, twenty) after the wedding in my folks’ hometown (way cheaper than in NYC). I didn’t do the airtight preservation thing, because I want to be able to wear it to white tie formals in the future.