Storing your dress BEFORE the wedding

[ChargerGrrl]

Hello Gals!

Need your sage advice on this. I recently bought my dress for my September wedding- off the rack.
The shop told me to contact them about 2 months or so before the wedding (July) to get alterations done. So I took the dress to my parents home, and am storing it one of those "breathable" garment bags.

Leave it to my mom to freak out. She's worried that it needs "something" (like moth balls/cedar) to prevent from ANYTHING happening to it. I dunno about that. It's a pretty simple & inexpensive Alfred Angelo dress, so I believe it's made of satin (polyester). What could possibly happen to it in 5-6 months? Moth balls and cedar are used to prevent pests and mildew. It's not like it's being stored in the garage!

Anyway, is she totally off-base? Has anyone used any special "storing" methods for their wedding dress?

 

[monarch64]

Charger, my mom was the same way...I stored mine for about 4 months before I got married. Every few weeks I would just take off the bag and let it "air out." I would hesitate to put anything like moth balls or cedar in the bag with your dress. What if the odor of the moth balls or cedar stays in your dress even after you air it out? It would suck if you had to end up getting it cleaned before you even wore it for your wedding!

ETA: I'm pretty sure moths only get into wool anyway. I don't think they'll be wanting to eat your dress, lol!

 

[Caribou]

I already have my dress too....we aren''t supposed to get married until May 2007, the only thing I bought for it was a garmet bag. I''m not very concerned about it though.

I would be afraid that moth balls would make it stincky.

 

[curlygirl]

I had my dress for about 4 months before the wedding. It just hung in its nice garment bag in my parents' house. I would not put anything stinky in there! Nothing will happen to it as long as you just leave it alone and don't try it on while you're drinking a glass of red wine!!!

 

[Selkie]

ChargerGrrl, I was looking at Alfred Angelo dresses recently. What was your experience like buying from them?

 

[qtiekiki]

I wouldn''t put moth or cedar balls with the dress. I mean you don''t want to smell like them for your wedding right? hehehe. I had my dress four months before my wedding and I just kept it in a garment bag in our closet. If you want, you can put some tissue paper between the dress and the bag because I heard that the plastic garment bag can turn the dress yellow. I didn''t have that problem tho. I don''t think you need to worry too much about it.

Did or are you going post a picture of your dress? Don''t hide it from us.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 3/8/2006 5:37:28 PM
Author: Selkie
ChargerGrrl, I was looking at Alfred Angelo dresses recently. What was your experience like buying from them?

THANKS for all your input. I knew my Mom was making something out of nothing. There's no way I'm putting stinky moth balls in there!

Selkie- I had a FANTASTIC experience! Honestly, I was dreading the whole dress shopping extravaganza. I knew I wanted something really simple, so I was just going to order one of the JCrew wedding dresses and call it a day. But my "gals" talked me into making 2 dress appointments while at a Bridal Expo. The first one (David's Bridal) was HORRIBLE. I kinda knew going in that I wasn't going to buy my dress there, but thought I'd at least try a couple on. I'll leave it at that and won't bore you with the details.

My appointment at AA was during my lunch hour (they're only a mile away from my office) I was assisted by Aurora, who has been a wedding dress consultant for something like 15 years. I went in with an idea of what I wanted- halter or v-neck dress. She listened, and added those dresses to my try-on pile, as well as some of her picks. Well, she was DEAD-ON as far as what looked good on me- strapless dresses (which I had never even considered). She kept on saying "why cover up those pretty shoulders and clavicle?" (too funny!) Anyway, I tried on 12 dresses, and the last dress was "the one". It's a simple A-line strapless with beading on the bodice, and that's it- simple and elegant. I ended up buying it off the rack. The whole experience was actually fun, pressure-free, and VERY personalized. My Mom & friends can't believe that I went in there and bought my dress on my own!

Where do you live? If you're anywhere near L.A, then I highly recommend their store on La Cienega in Beverly Hills. Be sure to ask for Aurora!

 

[Selkie]

Thanks! I''m dreading the "ordeal" myself. In fact, I already bought one dress for a VERRRY reasonable price online, and was just going to stick with that, but I''ve already started questioning it. I looked online, and saw an AA dress I really like. I''m much closer to the Lakewood/Long Beach store (although I work near downtown LA, it''s SUCH a battle to get to Beverly Hills at any time of the day I have available), so I went in last weekend on a whim, to see if I could get a peek at it. The atmosphere seemed low key, and they were nice enough to let me wander around a bit even though I didn''t have an appointment, so I think I could deal with that. I HATE pressure. One of the consultants there seemed very nice, and gave me her card, so I''m thinking of setting up an appointment with her.

 

[selflove]

CG--re: the dress storage, I had one of mine stored semi- in the bag from the shop and the other one was stored semi- in the travel garment bag that I purchased from DB. (By "semi-" I mean that I hiked the plastic cover up almost to the top of the dress on the one and on the other I fully unzipped the bag.) Nobody told me that it should be wrapped in a white sheet for storage--I didn''t find that out until about 6 months after getting the dresses. Nevertheless, both dresses are in fine condition, nothing happened to them during their 6 months of semi-confinement. They were in the guest room closet that always got shut tightly after opening.

Selkie--I had a nice experience at AA in BH also. Aurora might have been my consultant too, actually! Good luck!!

 

[glaucomflecken]

i had the exact same experience as selflove. had my dress for 6 months in the plastic garment bag from the shop, unzipped and in a dark closet. my seamstress told me to take it out and wrap it in a white sheet so it didnt turn yellow from the plastic (grr i was so mad the shop didnt tell me, but the dress was fine) I also stored my veil in a white pillowcase.

 

[LollyBear]

I read the rumor about plastic yellowing dresses, but I think that may only be when you''re storing it for YEARS. I''d had my mantilla in a plastic bag for 6 months before I read that and it was fine (didn''t stop me from wrapping it in tissue).

 

[MelissaSue]

I think people worry way too much about this.. Material changes color over YEARS AND YEARS (like 10 or 20) not 3 months.. Especially since you BOUGHT your dress off the rack. It was probably sitting on the rack for WAY WAY longer than you''ll have it at home.. Its not like bridal shops have magically cleaner air that makes fabric not turn color..
But.. my shop is keeping my dress for me until a few days before the wedding, so I don''t worry about it at all.. I''d worry more about my cats getting to it or something than anything else.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 3/8/2006 9:37:20 PM
Author: MelissaSue
I think people worry way too much about this.. Material changes color over YEARS AND YEARS (like 10 or 20) not 3 months.. Especially since you BOUGHT your dress off the rack. It was probably sitting on the rack for WAY WAY longer than you''ll have it at home.. Its not like bridal shops have magically cleaner air that makes fabric not turn color..
But.. my shop is keeping my dress for me until a few days before the wedding, so I don''t worry about it at all.. I''d worry more about my cats getting to it or something than anything else.

Actually, I hadn''t thought about the material changing color when I first asked the question. That wasn''t really a concern, as I bought a breathable garment bag to store it in, as I thought it would be better than a plastic one.

My mom just put the silly idea in my head about pests and fabric, hence the moth balls and cedar mention. I should know better than to listen to her. I mean, what can really happen in a few months?

THANKS to everyone for your suggestions & advice!