Saturday, July 14, 2012

Gown Preservation and Other Options

How many of you decided to preserve your gown after your wedding?  Did you ask for opinions before you did it?  Did any of your already married friends tell you where they went and what they had done?

Well, I asked a few of my friends where to go to clean my dress (most suggested a dry cleaner) because we got married in April and had a reception a little less than two months later.  But, I never thought to ask about getting my gown preserved.

Why?  Well, I figured David's Bridal has been preserving gowns for years and that meant I could trust them to do mine too.  Right?

Yes, I could!  But, what I didn't expect was for them to charge me out of my butt for other "little" things.

Included in the price of the kit was the standard preservation and free shipping.

What was not included was veil preservation ($15 extra), premier preservation (which includes gown insurance, lifetime guarantee, among other things - $50), and if you need to fix your dress due to rips or other minor things (these charges started at $15 and went up from there).

I have to say I was very disappointed by this whole process.  While I am excited to have my dress preserved so that I can keep it for when we have kids (I have a few plans for it if we have a girl!), I am not so excited that I had to pay that much for it.  Especially when you sit down and think of how much your dress was in the first place!

But, I guess I can't complain too much.  I made the choice to go with David's Bridal and also made the choice to get some of the extras done to my dress.  I just want other people to be aware of what they're paying for if they choose to go this route.  I would've found it helpful to know beforehand and I'm hoping someone else will find this helpful as well.


However, if you decide you don't want to keep your dress after your wedding (after doing research I found that a lot of brides feel this way) there are some great ways to get rid of it.  

Brides Against Breast Cancer is a wonderful organization that takes used bridal gowns and sells them at a much cheaper price to other brides.  You can find out more about the donating process here.  If you want to keep your gown but still help out this organization you can click on this link and give however much money you can.  A little can go a long way in making a brides dream day come true.

If the first option is not something you're interested in you can always give your gown to goodwill or try to sell it on the internet.  Also, if someone in your family likes a part of your gown (perhaps you wore lace) you can always let them incorporate pieces of your dress on theirs for their special day.  

Whether you want to keep your dress, donate it, or sell it there is definitely an option for everyone!  
   

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