LWPI again welcomes Sally Lorensen Conant to the blog! Sally is also known as the Gown Care Lady, and she has a wealth of invaluable knowledge for brides and certified wedding and event planners. Be sure to visit her website, the Association of Gown Preservation Specialists, too.

Plastic bags are the worst possible choice for your gown because plastic emits fumes that can yellow your gown. If you have a bag made from muslin or tyvek, there will be no harmful fumes, but bags are not a particularly good choice for long-term storage. Hanging for long periods of time can distort the shape of your gown even if it is hanging from the ribbon loops attached to inside seams. All fabric, especially lace, will stretch if you hang it, and who needs a big bubble where the bustle should be or a saggy-looking bodice?

Having a professional clean and pack your gown in an acid-free wedding chest is a much better option. A professional will pack your gown so that it maintains it shape perfectly with a minimum of folds and creases, and the wedding chest takes up a lot less room in your closet than a big bouffant gown bag. Wedding chests also protect your gown from sharp objects that can slice into your dress. And they are a much more effective barrier against insects and mice than bags. A bride once came to me in tears because mice got into her bag before the wedding, shredded her train to make a nest, and left her a present of lots of little black stuff!

No museums that I know use bags to store textiles, and that, too, should tell you something: An acid-free wedding chest is a better choice than any bag.

LWPI is delighted to once again welcome Sally Lorensen Conant to the blog! Sally is also known as the Gown Care Lady, and she has a wealth of invaluable knowledge for brides and certified wedding and event planners. Be sure to visit her Website, the Association of Gown Preservation Specialists, too.

Six Things that Can Spoil Your Wedding Day

1. Drooping bustle: Whether your bridesmaids simply cannot figure out how to fasten your bustle or your gown is very heavy or someone just plain steps on your train, you will wish you had asked for extra hooks or buttons to keep your gown from dragging on the ground. Plan ahead, and attach several safety pins to the lining near the hem of your gown so they will be there when you need them. Here are some other tips for emergency gown.

2. Flowers that hide your gown: If you are going to carry a large bouquet, practice holding your flowers low. If you hold them too high they will hide your gown when you are walking down the aisle, and you will see more flowers than gown when you look at your video and your photographs.

3. Veils and hairstyles that hide your face: Make sure your veil frames your face — not hides it — after you lift your blusher. And remember not to obscure the right side of your face with your hair. That’s the side next to the groom, the side everyone wants to see when you are at the altar.

4. Relatives taking photographs: Uncle Charlie may be a great guy, but he is not trained to stay out of the way so that others can see you when you exchange your vows. And it is also not fair to relatives who want to be part of the celebration to make them spend the day behind a camera with one eye closed. Let a professional capture all those special moments and share them afterward with your family.

5. Unplanned schedule of events: Avoid leaving hours and hours between the ceremony and the reception if you possibly can or some guests may party so hard they do not make it to the reception. If there must be a long delay, offer guests some options such as a lounge in the reception venue or, for out-of-town guests, a list of nearby things to do. On the other hand, do not forget to allow enough time for photographs. No one really minds if you miss hors d’oeuvres  with your guests, but a dinner that gets overcooked because you are still taking pictures is a disaster. If you are having your ceremony and reception at the same location, you might even consider posing for your formal photographs before the ceremony, and then you will have extra time to spend with your guests.

6. Kids at weddings: If you plan to have a very young ring bearer or flower girl, be sure each gets to bed early the night before the wedding. Designate someone other than mom or dad (if they are in the wedding party), to watch them during the ceremony. For children at the ceremony, whether they are in the wedding party or not, things such as snacks in a Ziplock bag that opens quietly, clear (in case of spills) juice in boxes, and a coloring book with washable markers will hold their interest. At the reception, serving children’s meals promptly and having books and crayons on hand will help keep them at the table.

One more tip: After all your thoughtful planning, try to relax and enjoy each moment. It will all go by much too quickly, and your friends and family are there to share the joy of your special day — not to complain about missteps along the way.

Adapted from The Seven Biggest Wedding Mistakes by Rod Jovanelly at A Touch of Color Photography in Connecticut.

Today’s post comes from Sally Lorensen Conant, who is also known as the Gown Care Lady. Be sure to visit her website, the Association of Gown Preservation Specialists, too. Having this kind of information available to potential bridal clients is a good idea for certified wedding and event planners. Plus, contacting this type of business expands your vendor contact base. Sally says:

Make getting dressed in your wedding gown, from head to toe, go smoothly on your wedding day. Most bridal shops press and stuff your wedding gown to prevent wrinkling, but here are some tips about what to do once you take your bridal gown home.

1. Take your bridal gown out of the garment bag if the bag is plastic and hang your bridal gown where it will be safe from children or pets. Wrap it in a clean sheet to protect it from light and dust.

2. Make a list of everything you will need the day of the wedding–including things for emergencies. Look here for ways to treat spills on your wedding gown the day of the wedding. If you are dressing in your wedding gown away from home, double-check your list before you leave the house.

3. Several days before the wedding, look over your wedding gown and wedding accessories and make sure everything is ready to wear. Hang your veil near the shower to smooth any wrinkles or let a Specialist help you. Visit here to read about free pressing for your wedding gown from a Specialist.

4. Wear your shoes around the house so you will be comfortable the day of the wedding. You might even rub the soles against a sidewalk or other rough surface to make them less slippery.

5. Arrange for someone (two “someones” are even better) without a fresh manicure or dark polish to help you dress in your wedding gown. Or hire a professional dresser who will take responsibility for your bridal gown all day and make sure you are dressed perfectly in a bridal gown that is not creased or wrinkled and is bustled properly.

6. Make sure you know how to bustle your wedding gown and show whoever is helping you dress how to do it, too. Pin five or six safety pins to the underside of your wedding gown. They will not show, and you will be glad they are handy if your bustle loops break.

7. Allow plenty of time to get dressed in your wedding gown. Allow even more time if it is raining.

8. Worth repeating–allow plenty of time to get dressed in your wedding gown. Allow even more time if it is raining.

9. Most important, remember to relax and enjoy every minute of your special day because your wedding day will go buy all too quickly!

Today’s post comes from Sally Lorensen Conant, who is also known as the Gown Care Lady. Be sure to visit her website, the Association of Gown Preservation Specialists, too. Having this kind of information available to potential bridal clients is a good idea for certified wedding and event planners. Plus, contacting this type of business expands your vendor contact base.

Photo courtesy of Museum Services Corporation

I get calls every two or three weeks from brides who are worried because their gowns seem to be yellowing. Almost always the problem is the container. When the container is not completely acid-free, the acidic content will yellow your gown. Of course, you should ask the service that cleans and preserves your gown whether they are using an acid-free container before you trust them with your gown. However, you can also see with your own eyes if it is not acid-free because if any parts of the box or the bust form put into your gown to give it shape are brown, it is not acid-free.

Unless your container is one of the grey-colored boxes especially made for fabric conservation by a company such as University Products or Archivart, all parts of the box or bust form should be white. If they are not, it is not an archival-quality box. Some services use containers that are white on the outside and on the inside of the box, but the interior structure between the layers of paper is brown. This interior structure gives the box its strength, and it is made up of little ridges which are called flutes. If the flutes are brown, the box is not completely acid-free. Eventually the acid will migrate through the white paper coating the inside of the box and discolor the gown.

Some services offer pH-neutral containers. Such containers are not good either because they can re-acidify. Trees contain lignin, an acid naturally found in trees. Then manufacturers add still more acid during the paper-making process. When making pH-neutral paper, they add a neutralizer, but the neutralizer is soluble in water. If the container gets wet or is stored in a damp area, the neutralizer dissolves, and the paper re-acidifies.

When manufacturers make acid-free paper, all acid is completely removed, and the paper cannot re-acidify.

Windows, too, can cause problems. If there is a window in the container and it is not made from a neutral plastic such as polypropylene, it will give off gases that also can yellow the gown.

Be sure the service you trust with your gown uses archival-quality materials that are acid-free. Then avoid storing the container where there are extremes of heat such as the attic or humidity such as the basement. Basements are also dangerous because it is a law: if a pipe breaks, the water will find your gown.

There is hope for gowns that yellow, but you will need to find a specialist who can remove it safely because ordinary dry cleaning very rarely removes the discoloration.

Today’s post comes from Sally Lorensen Conant, who is also known as the Gown Care Lady. Be sure to visit her website, the Association of Gown Preservation Specialists, too. Having this kind of information available to potential bridal clients is a good idea for certified wedding and event planners. Plus contacting this type of business expands your vendor contact base.

Photo Courtesy of Coastal Cleaners Inc.

True story. A recent bride called this morning because she found a care label inside her gown with our number in it. She took her $9,000 Ines di Santo wedding gown to her local dry cleaner, and now ”it looks all wrinkled.” Unfortunately I hear the same story all too often, and it is usually because some cleaner who is not familiar with designer gowns has decided to wash the gown in water. Once the gown’s finish has been damaged in that way, the look of the gown can sometimes be improved by a Specialist, but it will never look as beautiful as it once did. Heartbreaking!

Even if the cost of your wedding gown is only a few hundred dollars, why risk its beauty by taking it just anywhere to be cleaned? You wouldn’t take a car you really cared about to the local gas station for repairs, and choosing the right person to care for your gown is important. Begin by looking at the label in your wedding gown. You will find that many designers use our Association’s care labels and recommend brides bring their gowns to one of our Specialists. Then you should ask lots of questions before trusting your gown to anyone. And if you are not happy with the answers to your questions, keep looking until you are. It is worth taking the extra time so that your gown, too, will have a happy ever-after!

Today’s post comes from Sally Lorensen Conant, who is also known as the Gown Care Lady. You can also check out these previous post, which includes an interview with Sally, to hear more about why it’s important to preserve a wedding gown in an appropriate and timely manner. And be sure to visit her website, the Association of Gown Preservation Specialists, too.

The instructions on the care label inside your wedding gown tell you the best way to clean it. Not true. The label’s directions for wedding gown care may not be the only way—or even the best way—to clean the gown. The care label simply means that if a cleaner follows the instructions, and your wedding gown is damaged by the cleaning process, then the manufacturer is liable for the damage. That’s why you will sometimes see instructions such as “Do not dryclean. Do not wetclean. Spot clean only.” This language absolutely protects the manufacturer from any liability because the manufacturer is essentially telling you that the wedding gown cannot be cleaned. However, if you can find an experienced cleaner who specializes in wedding gowns, a Specialist will know how to clean your gown successfully. Click here to find a Certified Wedding Gown Specialist near you www.WeddingGownSpecialists.com/locator.htm

Blue tissue should be used to package your wedding gown. Not true. There is usually a little truth in an old wives’ tale, and we know, for example, that an apple a day really is good for us. But blue tissue paper is NOT good for wedding gowns, and no one really knows why it was supposed to be good for wrapping wedding gowns. It may have something to do with bluing. There is a written reference to bluing as early as the seventeenth century, and bluing comes from indigo, a naturally alkaline substance that can neutralize any acidic content that might cause yellowing. Bluing also adds a trace of blue dye to fabric, which, again, offsets any yellowish cast in white fabric. In the 1920s and 1930s, wedding gowns were often wrapped in a deep blue paper, but the paper was waxed, and the wax prevented the acidic content of the paper from damaging the gown.

Whatever the history behind this idea, blue tissue is absolutely the wrong thing to use for preserving your wedding gown. Blue tissue is not acid-free and, worse yet, the paper will, if it gets wet, dye your gown blue. Only white, completely acid-free, which means all acidic content was removed and not just neutralized, tissue and completely acid-free wedding chests should be used for your wedding gown preservation .

Your wedding gowns should always be sealed in plastic. Not true. Most textile conservators warn against storing fabrics in plastic or plastic-wrapped containers because plastic traps moisture that can allow mildew to grow. Desiccants are sometimes added to plastic-wrapped containers to absorb the moisture, but they have a very limited capacity and must then be replaced—which, of course, destroys the seal on the package. Then, too, unless the plastic is chemically inert, it can emit fumes that yellow your gown. That’s why your gown should never be stored in a plastic garment bag. Still another problem with plastic: plastic sets up an electrostatic charge that, together with the trapped moisture, can permanently set wrinkles in your wedding gown that no amount of pressing can remove.

Taking your wedding gown out of the wedding chest will damage your gown. Not true. Be very wary of preservation services that void their guarantees if the seal is broken. There is no inherent reason why your gown cannot be taken out of the container for inspection, and the service may just be hiding problems such as leftover stains or damage from the cleaning process. On the other hand, it really is not necessary to take your gown out of the container and refold it on a regular basis. If your gown has been packed properly, the folds of your gown are buffered with tissue that prevents sharp creases, and it is a law that if something can happen it will. In other words, every time you handle a precious object such as your wedding gown, there is the potential for danger, and the day your gown is removed from the container is the day the roof leaks or it rubs against a dirty wall. If you do choose to take your wedding gown out of the chest, be very sure your gown is opened in an area that is safe from such hazards—and safe from pets or small children, too. Also, wear white cotton gloves so the oils in your skin do not transfer to your gown.

All guarantees are the same. Not true. All guarantees are definitely not the same. If you read carefully, you will find most guarantees simply refund the cost of the cleaning and preservation—even if the service damages your gown during the process. Look for a service that stands behind the work regardless of the cost of the gown and ask who is going to stand behind the guarantee–now or twenty-five years from now!

Gown preservation is something many brides put off for too long or decide not to do at all. This is a decision many regret down the road when their own daughter or family member shows a desire to wear the gown, or a piece of it. But not every gown-preservation company is equal. It’s a good idea for a bride - or her certified wedding and event planner - to do a bit of research before hand to make sure that such a family heirloom is best cared for. Where do you turn for answers to your questions? The Association of Wedding Gown specialists, which Lovegevity is excited to be partnering with, is here to help.

According to their website:

“You Can Trust Us to Give Very Special Care to Your Very Special Gown. Our Certified Wedding Gown Specialists™ specialize in caring for wedding gowns, both old and new with a written international guarantee honored by all of our members - represented in more than 500 cities around the world. You may arrange to inspect your bridal gown personally before it is carefully layered with acid-free tissue and folded into an acid-free, archival-quality wedding gown chest. Your wedding gown will never yellow and no latent stains will develop into dark brown spots because each of us takes an extra step to ensure that all stains, both seen and unseen, are removed from your bridal gown. And each one of us honors our commitment to the lasting beauty of your bridal gown! Return your MuseumCare™ gown preservation to any participating Certified Wedding Gown Specialist™, who will inspect and press your bridal gown without charge.

And now when you choose one of our Certified Wedding Gown Specialists™ to give your beautiful gown the care it deserves, you also choose to help safeguard the future of our planet as well. We offset all carbon dioxide emissions that result from the process of cleaning and preserving your wedding gown with our donations to Carbonfund.org, the leading nonprofit carbon offset and climate solutions organization, and Carbonfund.org uses our donations to help fund reforestation projects around the world. We are the first in the industry to offer carbon-neutral wedding gown cleaning and wedding gown preservation, and our ZeroCarbonTM gown preservations are unique.”

Be sure to check out the video above, an interview with Sally Lorensen Conant of the association, to hear more about why it’s important to preserve a wedding gown in an appropriate and timely manner. You can visit the association’s website, and for more information check back here in the future for more articles and videos about gown preservation.