What Should You Know About Wedding Dress Restoration?

Ever seen an old wedding photo of your mom or grandma and thought, "I'd love to wear that dress someday"? Many brides feel the same. They want to walk down the aisle in a family heirloom gown. 

But here's the thing: those dresses might need a little TLC before they're aisle-ready again.

Years of sitting in storage, exposure to light and air, and changes in fashion trends can leave these cherished dresses looking a bit worse for wear. From yellowed fabric to fragile lace, there may be some issues to fix. 

That's where wedding dress restoration comes in.

What is Professional Wedding Dress Restoration?

Wedding dress restoration is a process used to restore and preserve vintage or heirloom wedding gowns. It involves using cutting-edge fabric-cleaning methodologies and state-of-the-art technology to remove stubborn stains of wine, sweat, or dirt. 

In addition, it also tackles the natural discoloration of fabric that comes with time, ensuring your gown is restored to its former glory. 

Once a vintage wedding dress is thoroughly cleaned, it undergoes preservation. It includes safeguarding your wedding gown within an acid-free preservation chest to protect it from environmental factors that could compromise its integrity, ensuring it remains a cherished keepsake for years, and even centuries, to come.

So, what makes a wedding gown “vintage”? A wedding gown is considered vintage if it dates back at least 20-25 years or more. The restoration of vintage wedding dresses is much more complicated than it seems to be. Hence, it needs to be handled with care.

20-year-old vintage wedding gown before and after restoration

There are several factors that need to be considered when it comes to restoration. It includes:

• Fabric type
• Age and condition
• Stains and discoloration
• Style and design
• Weak seems and missing embellishments
• Designer or store-bought wedding dress

At Trusted Wedding Gown Restoration, we understand the value of sentiments and emotions an antique wedding gown holds. So, our team of experts carefully handles and examines your vintage wedding dress and creates a different approach based on each gown's fabric type and material.

Why Vintage Wedding Dresses Turn Yellow Over Time?

Wedding gowns are made up of delicate fibers, such as silk, satin, taffeta, etc. The natural fibers of these materials can undergo aging process. Over time, exposure to light, air, humidity can cause oxidation, thereby turning the fabric’s white color to yellow. 

In addition, improper storage also contributes to discolorations. The cardboard boxes or plastic bags emit harmful gases over time, leading to fabric discoloration. 

Last but not least, residual stains from sweat, body oils, food, or beverages left untreated on the fabric can oxidize and become yellow over time. These stains can penetrate the fibers and become more difficult to remove as they age.

With the advancement in new technology, wedding dress restoration techniques have significantly changed. So, the old ways of restoring dresses are not as good anymore. With our wedding dress restoration and preservation kits, you can make vintage wedding gowns look new. However, it is good to let our professionals examine your dress before the restoration process.

Why is Wedding Dress Restoration Important?

While the reasons why wedding dress restoration is essential can vary, here are a few common reasons why our clients choose to restore their loved one’s wedding dress:

• Preserving Family Legacy: Many of our clients want to restore a loved one’s wedding dress to be passed down to the next generation as a family heirloom. This helps them ensure that future daughters or granddaughters have the opportunity to cherish and even wear it at their own weddings. They understand if they don’t take any steps, the dress can get damaged to a point where nothing will work.
• Honoring Loved Ones: Restoring a wedding dress can be a personal way to honor the memory of a loved one who wore it. Whether it's a parent, grandparent, or other cherished family member, preserving their dress allows their memory to last and be cherished by future generations.
• Fashion Resurgence: Fashion trends change over time. But it has been seen that every fashion trend comes back every 10-20 years, especially when it comes to wedding dresses. Vintage and antique wedding dresses often feature unique designs that can be trendy again. So, whether you have a wedding dress of your loved one or you have bought a vintage gown from boutique thrift stores, garage sales, or online, we can handle all types of vintage wedding gowns.
• Preserving Craftsmanship: Many vintage wedding dresses are handcrafted with intricate details and fine materials that may not be readily available in modern dresses. That is why our clients choose to restore vintage wedding dresses, allowing them to preserve traditional craftsmanship and techniques that may otherwise be lost over time.
• Vow Renewal Celebrations: Some couples choose to renew their vows, often on significant anniversaries, as a way to show their commitment to each other. Restoring the original wedding dress for such occasions adds sentimental value and symbolism, representing the long-lasting love and journey shared by the couple.

We’ve restored countless wedding gowns for wedding vow renewal ceremonies. No matter how old your dress is, your gown will arrive back to you looking as beautiful as it was on your wedding day! Invest in our Wedding Gown Restoration Kit and bring your dress back to life.

How Professional Wedding Gown Restoration Works?

When you order your Wedding Dress Restoring Kit and send us your old wedding dress, we start by examining it really carefully. 

We look for any stubborn stains, weak seems, level of yellowing, and fabric type. Then, we make a plan for how to clean and fix it up, making sure each step works well together.

While cleaning your gown, we use three special natural cleaners, including:

• PRENNETK4: This cleaner is used to remove stains that have set in over time. It is VOC-free and fragrance-free, making it ideal for removing a range of stains.
• CLIPK4: This powerful cleaner is highly concentrated, helping restore the original color of your gown. It also prevents further discoloration, enabling us to provide a 100-year anti-yellowing guarantee to our customers.
• VINOYK4: This keeps your dress from getting stained again and repels water while your gown rests in the display box after restoration.

After we cleaned and restored your dress, we carefully put it on a custom bust we developed in-house to maintain its shape. Then, we gently fold it and put it in a display box with a viewing window so you can see it. We make sure there are no wrinkles or folds.

Finally, we pack the display box in a sturdy storage chest and then in another shipping box, which will be more sturdy, double corrugated, crush-proof, and water-resistant to keep it safe on its journey back to your home.

How Much Should Wedding Dress Restoration Cost?

While the price of restoring a wedding gown can range from $350 to $1000+ depending on the company you choose, it is crucial to choose a wedding dress restoration company that has an in-house team of experienced and skilled experts. 

At Trusted Wedding Gown Preservation, we have a range of kits to keep your wedding gown new for several years to come. However, the price of our wedding gown restoration kit is just $473 (the price may vary depending on if the discount coupon is applied or not)

The highlights of our kit are:

• Acid-free preservation chest
• Free 2-way insured shipping
• SYSTEMK4 fabric cleaning technology
• Preserve 5 additional items
• Insurance included

You can also personalize your restoration kit; all you have to do is send a photo of your wedding with your dress to us.  This way, you can proudly showcase your dress to your loved ones, adding a personal touch to the restoration process.

How Long Will Your Professionally Restored Wedding Dress Last?

Unlike other wedding gown restoration companies, which provide a lifetime guarantee, we offer a 100-year warranty that starts the day you receive your beautifully restored gown back.

What is so special about our warranty policy is that it is just for reference – it means your gown may stay beautiful even after 100 years. However, if it needs a touch-up after a century, we can restore it for another 100 years, ready to be cherished by future generations.

Before and After Wedding Gown Restoration Results

Check out the before and after images of vintage wedding gown restoration:

Why Choose Us for Your Wedding Gown Restoration?

Unlike your local neighborhood dry cleaner, we offer a unique process that's completely chemical-free. We use only natural, organic solvents in our cleaning and restoration. These solvents are part of the state-of-the-art SYSTEMK4 fabric cleaning process, ensuring 100% environmental friendliness. They're even more effective than harsh agents like PERC.

In addition to our eco-friendly approach, we boast an impressive track record. As an award-winning company, we've restored and preserved over 3 million wedding gowns since 1913. Our extensive experience ensures top-quality service that brings smiles to our customers' faces.

Furthermore, our 100-year anti-yellowing guarantee means your gown will stay looking new for generations to come. But don't just take our word for it—here are some reviews from our satisfied customers to give you an idea of the quality of work we provide.

Here are a few reviews of our happy customers that can help you understand the quality of work we offer to our customers:

Ready to preserve your gown for the ages? Order your wedding gown restoration kit now!