Cleaning Your Wedding Dress—Before and After The Big Day

Most people make the effort to properly care for and preserve their wedding dresses once the wedding is over, but seldom do they think about having it cleaned before the big day. You may wonder why this would be necessary, but chances are more than ten other bodies were in that gown at some point in time. Due to repetitive try-ons, your gown could have faint deodorant marks, lipstick stains, or discolorations from oily hands and faces. These flaws could be subtle enough to be unnoticed at first glance, but under the sun and spotlight they could become very obvious.

Fortunately, some dress shops offer cleaning and pressing services for your convenience. Kathleen’s Bridal is one of these shops! Depending on how dirty your dress may be, Kathleen’s offers top-notch cleaning for only $85-$125. Because many gowns include delicate intricacies, buying your dress from a shop like Kathleen’s can be a great advantage because they can care for your garment from top to bottom, including beadwork and hard-to-clean areas. You can feel assured your gown is in great care and will be ready for your big day.

If you do not have the option of having your dress tailored and cleaned directly through the bridal shop where you bought it, do your research and only take your gown to a professional cleaner that specializes specifically in bridal gowns. It is important to make sure they can properly handle the trims and bead work that may be on the dress, and don’t leave without asking them for additional tips on how to keep the garment clean up until the day of the wedding.

Once the dress is cleaned and pressed, hang it up using the intended hangar hoops (yes, those annoying hoops do have a purpose other than trying to escape and be seen at inopportune times). While a plastic bag may guard the dress from moths and dust, sometimes the plastic wrap has a way of yellowing the dress over time, not to mention the plastic has a higher chance of accumulating moisture with can cause your dress to mildew, so keep that in mind if your wedding date is a ways off.

Remember, experts say it may be important to clean the dress before and after the wedding. Even if you’re not planning on having the gown professionally preserved, you should have it cleaned as soon as possible after your wedding to prevent stains that were accrued during the reception to have time to set in.


There’s no better feeling than that of freshness and confidence, especially on your wedding day. Taking care to have your gown cleaned before the wedding can provide you with the assurance you look your very best. And making the effort to clean it afterwards will be well worth it as your gown can provide wonderful memories for years to come.