How Much Does It Cost To Preserve a Wedding Dress?

Dress preservation shouldn’t be mistaken for dry cleaning. A typical wedding dress preservation process involves cleaning, fabric treatment, and packing in a special air-tight box.

Sometimes, the preservation cost may exceed the average price of a wedding dress in the U.S. However, the prices vary greatly and are based on a whole scope of factors.

Nowadays, brides have numerous options for what to do with their gown post the wedding.

The answers to “do I need professional wedding dress preservation?” and “is preservation worth it?” merely depend on your plans regarding the gown.

Average Wedding Dress Preservation Price

The cost of a wedding dress preservation can differ drastically depending on the dress design, fabric, your chosen company, and other factors. You may find a wedding dress preservation package for as little as $250 and as much as $1,250.

The average price of wedding dress preservation ranges from $500 to $700. This price includes specialized cleaning and packaging using acid-free tissue paper.

Note that that’s an estimated preservation cost for a gown in good condition. If your dress has oil, makeup, wine stains, or other damages, the price may be higher. A single stain can cost you an additional $15-50.

Even at the lowest price, wedding dress preservation is a significant expense that must be taken into account when you’re planning your wedding budget.

Factors Affecting The Price

The price range of wedding dress preservation is extremely wide, which often is confusing for brides striving to find the best possible option.

While you can find a cheap option for under $200, wedding gown preservation isn’t something you should save on. Never trust your designer gown from luxurious materials to a company offering a bargain price.

Another factor that should raise suspicion is phone quotes. To issue a precise quote, the preservation specialists must carefully inspect the gown’s fabric, design, and condition.

Preservation of a minimalistic polyester dress and richly embellished organza ball gown can’t cost the same.

Some companies charge a flat fee for all gowns regardless of the design and condition. However, to make such a business model work, they must set an above-average rate.

That’s beneficial if you have an intricately-designed gown that requires significant cleaning, but if your dress has a relatively simple design and is in excellent condition, you risk overpaying.

An exception is services that offer multiple flat-fee packages for different dress types: for instance, for vintage, designer, and casual wedding gowns.

While services offering extremely low prices may be untrustworthy, I wouldn’t recommend paying an overly high price either.

A high-end boutique offering preservation for $1,000 will most likely outsource it to a third party and save the difference as overhead.

Furthermore, wedding dress preservation prices tend to vary depending on your location. The prices are typically higher in major metropolitan areas and lower in small towns.

Finding a wedding dress preservation service outside of your metropolitan area may seem like a great way to save money.

And in some cases, that’s true. However, you should also consider the dress shipping costs and the quality of the service.

Some companies include wedding dress shipping in the price, while others don’t. Don’t neglect this factor when choosing the wedding dress preservation company.

Bridal gowns tend to be large and heavy, which can skyrocket the shipping cost.

Of course, the price of wedding dress preservation to a large degree depends on your dress design and fabric.

Preservation of gowns from luxurious natural materials that require cautious handling costs more than that of synthetic dresses.

If your dress has a wide layered skirt, expect to pay much more than for a dress with a simple skirt, even if all the other factors are equal.

Further details that may boost the preservation cost are appliques, embellishments, delicate lace, and embroidery.

Lastly, the cost of wedding dress preservation may be affected by your dress’ condition.

Most services will neglect minor dirty spots – after all, no bride can manage to leave a snow-white dress flawlessly clean after spending the entire day in it.

However, if your dress has significant damages or spots that are hard to remove, the company may charge an additional fee.

Dry Cleaning vs Preservation

Wedding dress preservation is often confused with dry cleaning, but these are two different processes with different prices. Simply put, wedding dress dry cleaning is essential, while preservation isn’t.

Every gown must be professionally cleaned after the wedding. Some substances, such as sweat, may not be visible right away but will show up as stains over time.

Don’t neglect cleaning even if you think that your dress is in perfect condition.

The average wedding dress dry cleaning price ranges from $150 to $250. That’s a much cheaper option than preservation, but you should keep in mind that not all dry cleaners are experienced in wedding gown cleaning.

Wedding dresses are often made from delicate materials that require special handling and treatment. Therefore, cleaning by bridal experts is a much better option for any wedding gown.

If you’re concerned about the added costs, you may ask your local wedding dress preservation company for cleaning without fabric treatment or packing. This will at least ensure that an inexperienced cleaner won’t ruin your dress.

Alternatively, look up reviews of your local dry cleaning services and research their policies. You want to find someone who can guarantee they won’t damage your precious gown.

During preservation, your dress will be cleaned, optionally treated to preserve the color, and packed in a museum-quality archival box.

Paying an extra $200-$500 for treatment and packing may not seem plausible, but it’s your best option if you aren’t planning to take the dress out of the closet any time soon.

Over time, a white fabric may become yellowish. Other risks of neglecting wedding dress preservation include brown oxidation spots, mold and mildew growth, and fabric ceasing.

One point to note is that preservation boxes are usually sealed air-tight to prevent oxidation. If you ever break the seal, you may need to have the dress preserved all over again.

Thus, preservation isn’t an option if you’d like to regularly look at your dress for nostalgia purposes unless you’re ready to pay extra.

Is Preservation Worth The Money?

Wedding is already a costly enough event, so you may wonder – is wedding dress preservation worth the money? Well, while it’s not mandatory for every bride, it’s definitely worth the price.

Wedding dress preservation is an ideal option if you wish to maintain your gown’s beauty long-term and, possibly, pass it on to your children or grandchildren.

Even if you aren’t yet sure what to do with your dress after the wedding, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

You may want to wear it for your 20th-anniversary photoshoot or donate it to a museum in 50 years, and finding out it’s ruined can be upsetting.

However, preservation may be an unnecessary expense if you plan to sell or donate the dress shortly after the wedding or make a keepsake out of it.

Wedding Dress Preservation Warranties

Each wedding dress preservation company has different policies and warranties, so you should carefully research your options before trusting anyone with your dress.

You don’t want the company to promise the dress will look good for years. You want them to guarantee it will maintain its beauty for decades.

Many companies offer a lifetime wedding dress preservation warranty. What does this mean? Well, the wording here is somewhat tricky.

Each company has a different definition of a lifetime, but typically, this refers to either your or the company’s lifetime.

A better option is looking for a company that offers a fixed-term warranty – for instance, some guarantee your gown will remain perfectly white for 100 years. You likely won’t be able to check it, but your children will.

Bear in mind that any warranty can be voided if you don’t follow the company’s guidelines. Your contract will likely state that the preservation box must be stored in a cool, dry place and shouldn’t be opened.

Some companies also include insurance in the preservation price or offer it at an additional fee.

It can grant you peace of mind at a relatively minor cost, ensuring that if something wrong happens in the process, you’ll be refunded the entire price of dress and preservation.

Wedding Day Accessory Preservation

Apart from the wedding dress, you can preserve your wedding day accessories such as a veil, gloves, shoes, or clutch. Some companies offer to add a limited number of accessories free of charge.

In other cases, the accessory preservation may cost extra. Still, it’s worth the money if your shoes or veil are dear to your heart and you’d like to save them as an heirloom.