How to Store Your Wedding Dress After the Wedding

After the wedding, the dress usually ends up over a chair, or in the bag it came in, at the back of a closet. Everyone’s tired. There’s a honeymoon to go on. I understand.

But a wedding dress can last for decades if you take care of it in the first few weeks. I’ve worked on gowns that were thirty or forty years old and still beautiful, and others that had yellowed in just a few years because they were put away the wrong way.

1. Get it cleaned soon

Even if the dress looks clean, it probably isn’t. Sweat, makeup on the neckline, a little champagne on the skirt. Some stains, especially sugar from drinks or cake, are invisible at first and turn brown months later.

Take it to a dry cleaner that has experience with wedding gowns, ideally within a few weeks of the wedding. Point out every stain you know about, including the hem, which is almost always dirty from the ground.

2. Choose the right place

Cool, dark and dry. A closet shelf inside your home is good. Attics and basements are not: they get too hot, too cold or too damp. Keep it off the floor and away from windows, since sunlight fades fabric.

3. Keep the extras together

Store the veil, the belt or sash and any spare buttons or lace with the dress. If someone wears or remakes the dress one day, those small pieces are often impossible to find again.

One day, the dress might have a second life

Some brides want their dress exactly as it was. Others would love to see it again in a new form. At my studio I restyle wedding dresses and remake heirloom gowns, and I can also turn a wedding dress into something new after the wedding:

• A christening gown for a baby
• A purse
• A robe
• A restyled dress for a daughter’s wedding, or a shorter one for an anniversary

With good care now, all of that stays possible later.

If you have an older gown at home and wonder what could be done with it, bring it to the studio. I’m happy to look at it with you.

Quick answers

How soon after the wedding should I clean my dress?

As soon as you can, ideally within a few weeks. Stains from food, drinks and sweat can darken and set over time, even ones you can't see yet.

Can you turn my wedding dress into something new?

Yes. Margaryta restyles wedding dresses and remakes heirloom gowns. After the wedding, a dress can also become a christening gown, a purse or a robe.