A bride should treat the purchase of her wedding gown as an investment. It is the strongest representation of a woman's personal style she'll ever have and the most important gown she will ever wear. Remember, the wedding day is also a moment captured forever in photos, which will be something you will look back on forever.
Oscar de la Renta
Choosing your gown
When choosing a style, working with your body shape is very important. Camouflage any problem areas you may have and emphasize the good aspects. A good design will make you look 6 foot and a size 10. Your torso height is governed by where the fabric of the gown starts. For example, in a strapless gown, your height starts from just above the bust from where the fabric starts, so if you are short through the body length between shoulder and waist, a strapless gown will emphasize this. Solid straps over the shoulder, rather than a strapless gown with “shoe string straps”, will create length through the body. A ‘halter-neck’ style will make the shoulder area look narrower and the hips bigger.
Bust lines
For those of us who are small busted i.e. A/B cup, cheating is compulsory, to establish a proportioned body shape. There are plenty of products on the market that will enhance a bust. Bumping up half a cup, or even a full cup size is acceptable but more than that will look unnatural.
Cleaning your gown
Any polyester gowns can be hand washed. Concentrate on spot cleaning the most obvious marks with a laundry soap like “Sard Wonder Soap”. Soak in the bath with a soft laundry detergent, rinse thoroughly and give a gentle spin in the washing machine to eliminate excess water. Then drip dry.
Gowns should be cleaned as soon as possible after the wedding day. Stains will ’set’ if left too long.
All silk gowns are dry clean only. Find a reputable dry-cleaner.
We recommend Regal Dry-cleaners in Auckland, as they are specialists in dry-cleaning silk gowns.
Storing your gown
Wrap the gown in an acid-free tissue paper and then store it in a cardboard box or any paper carry bag. Avoid plastic dry-cleaning sleeves or plastic bags. Any clean cardboard box or paper bag will be suitable. They can also be packaged in a ‘memory box’ by the drycleaners but at a cost.
Selling your gown
If you are considering selling your gown, this should be done as soon as it returns from the drycleaners. Wedding dresses are high fashion items and will date quickly, as all fashions do. A reasonable asking price is generally half of the purchase price.