During my wedding planning madness, I never thought about where and how to get my dress cleaned post-wedding. After all, I would have plenty of time after the honeymoon. Right?
Lo and behold, when I started doing my research, most websites recommend that you get it cleaned immediately after the wedding (we’re talking about the day after). It sounds a little ridiculous, but it makes sense. If your favorite white blouse got stained, you would have it cleaned immediately instead of letting it sit while you go off on a trip to Hawaii.
Many websites also recommend that your dress NOT sit in a zippered plastic bag on a hanger in the closet. The closed plastic can make the gown sweat and hanging it by the dress loops can make it sag and misshapen.
I started freaking out. Did I wait a month too long to get my dress cleaned? I checked to see if my gown-in-plastic had turned yellow during my honeymoon. I kid you not, I breathed a sigh of relief to find out it was still ivory.
There was also my worry about the red ballpoint pen mark…
As you may or may not remember, I was putting on my wedding dress the day of the wedding when I found a long red ballpoint mark across the front of my dress. It didn’t actually bother me much, as it was rather slight and towards the bottom of the dress. I was too happy to really care, and I figured people would (should) be looking at the beaming bride’s face anyway, and not at the floor of her dress.
Still, I wanted to sell my dress afterwards, and I couldn’t imagine that very many brides would want to buy something blatantly damaged. Would anyone be able to get the pen mark out? I had no idea. There are plenty of forums on red wine stains, but nothing on ballpoint pen mark stains.
After a few days of research, I ended up trying my luck at WedClean. Getting your wedding dress cleaned feels like a one-time shot. You can hate your florist and get a new one, but if the cleaner ends up damaging your dress instead of cleaning it, it’s a pretty hopeless scenario.
I chose WedClean because:
1) I heard horror stories about taking a wedding dress to your local dry cleaner.
2) Their services start at $129 which seemed reasonable but not a scam. I didn’t want to pay $400 as some places charge.
3) They had good reviews on theknot and elsewhere online.
The process was easy. You make the payment online, they send you a box, you ship your dress in the box, and they ship the cleaned dress back to you. From start to finish, it was about a month. I e-mailed to ask them if they would be able to remove the ballpoint pen mark, and they said they would try but no promises.
I got my dress last week, and when I checked out the stains, I literally shrieked in amazement.
Red ballpoint ink pen stain…GONE! I could not believe it. There was not one trace it was ever there, not even a faded mark or a tiny dot.
In addition, all the telltale signs of the outdoor ceremony (grass/wood/flower stains) at the bottom of my dress had disappeared. My dress looked new! In fact, better than new. 
I kept trying to tell Mr.Tomato the miracle of it all, but I’m sure he was just thinking, “Ah, my funny wife…”
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Rating: 4.5/5 stars (Everything was great but the idea of shipping my dress made me a little nervous though nothing happened)
For more information, check out www.wedclean.net
oooh thanks for the review!
hey mrs. tomato, about the hanging in a zippered bag thing, did you read anything about the best way to store the dress prior to the wedding? i bought a sample gown and it’s hanging in my zippered bag in my closet, and your post made me nervous! 
My wedding gown is in a non-plastic zippered bag that my bridal salon gave me. It is made out of a breathable mesh/cheese-clothy type fabric that allows the dress to get air to it so the fabric doesn’t “sweat.” I believe you can by these at bridal salons and probably somewhere online.
Thanks for the recommendation on where to get your dress cleaned - I just got married on Saturday and definitely need to get some dirt stains out of my dress and train!
Miss Daffodil –
My gown is a sample, too (also chilling in my coat closet at the moment — isn’t it fun to say hello to it every once in a while?). The store where I got mine (Glamour Closet in SF) gave me a plastic zipper bag for wedding day transport, but also a breathable cotton bag for long term storage. I’d bet you can find a similar bag at the Container Store. Good luck! And, Mrs. Tomato - thanks for the tip!!
wow thanks! i’ll definitely do this!
Drycleaners are such a rip off for a wedding dress. My mom got it done (small hometown) for under $20, and they even let her use a coupon. It was a retail $5,000 designer gown in silk with tons of buttons and alencon lace — still got perfect results. Never hurts to shop around for the price.
Thanks for this!!! I just placed my order now! (Haha yes it has taken me 3 months post-wedding to get my dress cleaned, but that’s why I’m EXTRA appreciative that you posted this!! 
)
I used wedclean too and thought they did a great job. I had a bunch of dark stains around the hem (and this is a tea length dress, so I don’t know how that happened), and they were completely gone. The dress did get shipped to the wrong house twice, which was very stressful (thought it was gone for good for a while), but that was UPS’s fault, not Wedcleans.
[...] Quoted from: Mrs. Tomato on http://www.weddingbee.com [...]
Mrs. Tomato, Napa Valley
Age and Occupation: 25, Technology Project Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Engineer
Engagement Date: October 22, 2006
Wedding Date: July 1, 2007
Blogging Since: May 1, 2006
Venue: Auberge du Soleil
About Me: I love all things beautiful. From handmade stationery, feminine fashion and delicate flowers to the little moments in your life treasured with your loved one. I am also notorious among my friends to be a deal hunter! My best deal was perhaps my Monique Lhuillier dress for $1100 (orig. $5000). I also tend to use a lot of exclamation marks! =)
I washed mine in the delicate cycle of my washing machine, three weeks after the wedding, and it came out great
There weren’t any beads or anything though.