Wedding Dress Preservation FAQ

Yes — same company, new look. We’ve rebranded as The Wedding Dress Preservation Company with a fully updated, more user-friendly website. All dresses continue to receive the same museum-quality cleaning and professional care they always have — backed by the same skilled technicians trained exclusively in bridal fabric care and the same 100-year guarantee you’re familiar with. Welcome back.

Wedding Gown Preservation Co. is the family-owned facility in Endicott, NY that has cleaned and preserved wedding dresses since 1913 — now in its third generation under the Schapiro family. Since they don’t sell directly to the public, through our partnership since 2003 we were the first to build an entire business around bringing their full range of services to brides nationwide. The brides we’ve served say it best — hundreds of verified 5-star reviews reflecting their full experience, from first inquiry to final delivery.

Both services start with the same museum-quality cleaning — what differs is the chest finish, insurance coverage, and pressing method. Traditional Preservation includes a white gloss preservation chest, $2,000 of door-to-door insurance, and steam pressing. Celebrity Preservation includes an upgraded silver-tone chest, $3,000 of insurance, and hand or steam pressing depending on the fabric. We recommend Celebrity Preservation for silk, couture, heavily beaded, or dresses valued over $2,000; Traditional Preservation is the right fit for all other dresses.

No — both start with the exact same museum-quality cleaning. The differences are the chest finish (white gloss vs. silver-tone), the insurance coverage ($2,000 vs. $3,000), and the pressing method (steam vs. hand). The care your dress receives during the cleaning process is the same for both services.

Our Wedding Dress Restoration service is required for any dress 20 years or older, and is also the right choice for a newer dress that’s significantly yellowed or stained. It uses a 100% hand-cleaning process specifically designed to reverse decades of discoloration and fabric deterioration that cleaning alone can’t address. It can be added to Traditional or Celebrity Preservation, or chosen as a bundled service — the total price is the same either way.

If you have a dress that needs cleaning before your wedding — a sample dress, a borrowed dress, or a vintage find — or plan to sell it afterward, our Clean-Only service is the right fit: museum-quality cleaning and gentle pressing, returned on a premium hanger in a garment bag. Full preservation is for after your wedding, when you want to keep your dress protected for the long term. Still deciding? Our Help Me Choose tool can point you in the right direction.

Yes — wedding dress preservation is worth it if your dress matters to you beyond the wedding day. Most brides spend thousands on their dress; preservation is a fraction of that cost to keep it looking exactly as it did on your wedding day, for the next 100 years. The stains you can’t even see — perspiration, champagne, cake frosting — slowly oxidize into yellowing and brown spots over time, and professional preservation stops that process before it starts. The Wedding Dress Preservation Company offers museum-quality cleaning, acid-free packaging, and a preservation chest with a UV-protective viewing window, all backed by a written 100-year guarantee — starting at $360 with free insured FedEx shipping included.

Trusting an online company with your irreplaceable wedding dress is a big decision — and we take that seriously. We’re an Elite Authorized Retailer for Wedding Gown Preservation Co., a state-of-the-art facility that has cared for wedding dresses since 1913, and we’ve proudly served brides since 2003. Behind every order is a written 100-year guarantee, hundreds of verified 5-star reviews across The Knot, WeddingWire, and Google, and multiple Couples’ Choice and Best of Weddings awards — backed by over a century of experience and more than 3 million dresses cared for.

Yes — The Wedding Dress Preservation Company is widely regarded as the best company for cleaning and preserving wedding dresses, and our reputation speaks for itself: 475+ verified 5-star reviews across The Knot, WeddingWire, and Google, an inductee in The Knot’s Best of Weddings Hall of Fame, a 12-time consecutive Best of Weddings winner, and a 17-time consecutive WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Award winner. Every dress is cared for at the state-of-the-art facility that has preserved over 3 million wedding dresses since 1913 — and backed by a written 100-year anti-yellowing guarantee. Read our verified reviews.

From the moment your dress leaves your hands to the moment it’s delivered back to you, it’s fully covered against loss, theft, and damage — including both directions of shipping and the cleaning and preservation process itself. That coverage means you can send your dress in with complete peace of mind, knowing it’s protected every step of the way. Traditional Preservation includes $2,000 of coverage; Celebrity Preservation includes $3,000, with additional coverage available at checkout. For any claim, we ask for a receipt showing the original purchase price of your dress.

Traditional Preservation, Traditional Restoration, and Clean-Only each include $2,000 of door-to-door coverage. Celebrity Preservation and Celebrity Restoration each include $3,000. The Christening / Flower Girl / Baptism service includes $500. Additional coverage is available at checkout for $50 per $1,000, up to $10,000 — so you can choose the level of protection that gives you complete peace of mind and send your dress in knowing it’s fully protected every step of the way.

No hidden fees — the base price covers your service for nearly every dress, and anything that could change it is disclosed up front:
• Additional accessories beyond the first five: $10 each
• Shoe, slip, silk bouquet, or detachable skirt/dress overlay cleaning: $50 each
• Boxing an accessory separately: $50
• A $100 surcharge may apply for unusually large, heavy, or extremely soiled dresses
Any repairs or restoration are always quoted for your approval in advance.

We accept all major credit and debit cards — Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover — plus Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. Everything is handled through a fully secure and encrypted checkout process, so your payment details stay protected.

Yes — PayPal Pay Later is available at checkout, allowing you to split your order into smaller payments. Simply select PayPal at checkout to see the Pay Later options available to you.

What a thoughtful gift. We don’t currently have a gift certificate option on our site, but we’re happy to arrange one for any occasion — weddings, showers, anniversaries, or holidays. Just reach out through our Contact Us page and we’ll take care of the details.

Once you place your order, we’ll mail you a free shipping kit — a sturdy shipping box, a prepaid insured FedEx label, a protective bag for your dress, and simple instructions. No trips to a dry cleaner, no pickup or drop-off scheduling — everything you need conveniently arrives at your door. Simply place your dress in the protective bag, seal the box, and attach the prepaid label, then drop it at any FedEx location near you. Each step is designed to keep your dress safe — both on its way to us and on its way back home to you.

Yes — every shipment is fully insured and tracked by FedEx in both directions, so you always know exactly where your dress is. In our century of operation, a lost or stolen dress is extraordinarily rare — a wedding dress holds its greatest value to the person who wore it, making it one of the safest items you can ship. And if anything unexpected ever did occur, your dress is fully covered from the moment it leaves your door to the moment it’s delivered back to you.

Yes — your shipping kit goes to the address you provide at checkout, and inside is a form where you can specify a different return address for your finished dress within the 48 contiguous states. All three shipments are free and fully insured: the kit to you, your dress to our cleaning facility, and your finished dress delivered back to you.

Yes — if your kit is in transit but not yet delivered, contact us with your new address and we’ll request the change through FedEx on your behalf. The cost is $40, which is exactly what FedEx charges us.

The most reliable way to confirm we’ve received your dress is your FedEx tracking number — once it shows delivered, your dress is safely at the facility and in queue for evaluation. Confirmation emails can take up to 5 business days after delivery, since every dress is individually evaluated before being logged into our system. If FedEx shows delivered but you haven’t received your confirmation email yet, or it’s not showing up in the tracking system yet, there’s no cause for concern — your dress is safely in queue. Check your dress status here.

No — we send you a sturdy shipping kit with a prepaid FedEx label so your dress can be safely and directly delivered to the cleaning facility in Endicott, NY, where it will be cleaned and preserved. There are no middlemen, no unknown stops along the way — just a direct, fully insured journey from your door to the cleaning facility and back to you.

Unfortunately, no — FedEx requires a physical street address and an adult signature on delivery, so we’re unable to ship to a PO Box. Any home or work address where an adult can sign for the package works perfectly.

Yes — we offer a 60-day return policy on all of our services. If you decide you don’t want to clean or preserve your dress, just call us at (800) 887-0135 with your order number within 60 days of purchase and we’ll refund 100% of your purchase to your original credit card or PayPal account. There’s nothing to mail back — you’re welcome to recycle the shipping kit. After 60 days, orders are considered final.

There’s no deadline — your order doesn’t expire, so you can send your dress in whenever you’re ready. That said, the sooner your dress is cleaned after the wedding, the easier stains are to remove. In the meantime, if your dress is still in the white plastic garment bag from your bridal shop, it’s worth knowing that plastic can off-gas over time and cause yellowing, and the bag offers no protection against pets, pests, or other damage — it’s intended for transporting your dress, not for long-term storage and protection.

Our Clean-Only service provides museum-quality wedding dress cleaning with light steam pressing, then returns your dress to you on a premium hanger in a garment bag. It’s the right fit if you plan to wear or sell your dress within the year. This option isn’t recommended for long-term storage and therefore doesn’t include our 100-year anti-yellowing guarantee. For long-term protection, we recommend one of our two preservation packages, which include the same museum-quality cleaning plus an acid-free preservation chest with a UV-protective viewing window, backed by a 100-year guarantee.

Upon arrival at the cleaning facility, every dress is inspected under UV light to find stains that aren’t yet visible to the naked eye, then hand spot-treated and cleaned using a specialized process built specifically for bridal fabrics. From there it’s carefully pressed, fitted onto an acid-free bust form, and placed in an acid-free preservation chest with a UV-protective viewing window — all handled by technicians trained exclusively in bridal fabric care. Your finished dress ships back to you in a heavy, crush-proof box with a prepaid FedEx label. Learn more about our cleaning process here.

Our technicians are skilled at safely removing typical wedding-day stains such as champagne, wine, cake, food, makeup, lipstick, perspiration, blood, grass, mud, grease, tar, and most other beverages. For tough stains, our skilled technicians will take three passes at safely removing them. If we’re unable to safely remove a stain, you’ll receive a note back with your dress letting you know.

Our skilled seamstresses, who specialize exclusively in wedding dress repairs, handle most common repairs right alongside the cleaning — re-securing loose beads, mending small tears, replacing snaps or buttons. Minor repairs are included at no charge; anything more involved will be quoted for your approval before any work begins.

Restoration is a delicate yet thorough, multi-cycle hand-cleaning process designed for dresses 20 years or older, or those that are significantly yellowed or stained — including heirloom dresses as far back as the 1800s. It can be added to Traditional or Celebrity Preservation, or chosen as a bundled service — the total price is the same either way. One thing to know: metal-backed buttons must be removed before the process since they can rust — our seamstresses remove them at no charge and can return the originals to you. Learn more on our Restoration page.

Up to five accessories are included free with your service. Additional accessories beyond five are $10 each. Everything placed in the chest must be cleaned by us to remain under the guarantee. All cleaned accessories will be placed in the preservation chest with your dress, or boxed separately for an additional $50.
Included accessories:
• Veil
• Detachable train
• Shawl or cape
• Sash
• Custom hanger
• Jacket
• Handkerchief
• Tiara
• Garter
• Robe
• Gloves
• Corset or corset strap
• Bow
• Shoulder straps
• Small purse or money bag
• Ring pillow
• Scarf
• Hat
• Duster
Note: Belts count as part of the dress and are not considered accessories.

Shoe cleaning, slip or crinoline cleaning, silk flower bouquet cleaning, and overlay or detachable skirt cleaning are each available to add to your service for $50. These aren’t sold as standalone services and must be included with a dress cleaning order. All cleaned accessories are placed in the preservation chest with your dress, or boxed separately for an additional $50.

Yes — any accessory can be boxed separately for $50 per item, selected at checkout. Brides most often choose this for a veil or shoes they’d like stored or displayed separately. This option must be included with a dress preservation service.

The UV-protective viewing window is oval-shaped at 25″ × 13″, giving you a clear view of your dress — and your veil, if included. Other accessories rest near the bottom or beneath the dress; shoes are wrapped and tucked behind it, so they aren’t visible unless you’ve chosen to have them boxed separately.

Our experienced wedding dress technicians will select the perfect-sized chest for your dress or child’s garment. Available sizes:
• Standard: 31″ × 17.5″ × 7″
• Large: 31″ × 17″ × 10″
• Extra Large: 32″ × 22.5″ × 13.5″
• Child’s / Memory Chest: 19.5″ × 13″ × 4.5″
Every size includes the same oval UV-protective viewing window at 25″ × 13″.

Almost certainly. The shipping box (about 20″ × 20″ × 19″) comfortably fits very large ball gowns and veils, especially once you gently press the air out of the bag we provide. In the rare instance your dress requires a larger box, you’re welcome to use your own — simply attach the prepaid FedEx label we send you to whichever box you use. Our three preservation chest sizes are built to accommodate even the largest dresses, and if there’s ever a question about fit, our team will reach out to you directly.

Your shipping kit is sent to you via FedEx Ground within 1–2 days of your order and typically arrives within 4–5 business days depending on your location.

Processing and delivery times vary by service:
• Shipping Kit (included free with all services to send in your dress): arrives within 4–5 business days of ordering.
• Traditional or Celebrity Preservation: approximately 4–14 weeks from the day you place your order to return delivery, depending on shipping distance and seasonal volume. Peak wedding season (May–October) runs toward the longer end.
• Wedding Dress Cleaning without Preservation: approximately 3–4 weeks total.
• Traditional or Celebrity Restoration: approximately 8–12 weeks total.
• In-House Rush: add $50 to speed your in-house processing to 7–10 business days (plus approximately 1 week shipping each way).

With our professional museum-quality cleaning and preservation, your dress can stay wedding-day white for 100 years or more — protected from UV light, pests, dirt, and dust in its acid-free preservation chest. That’s exactly what our written 100-Year Guarantee covers. If it ever yellows while stored properly, we’ll restore it at no extra charge.

Yes — every preservation service is backed by our written 100-Year Guarantee against yellowing. If your dress ever yellows while properly stored in its preservation chest, we’ll restore it at no charge — and in the rare case our processing is unsuccessful, we’ll refund your preservation cost. The guarantee covers fabric only; beads and sequins are excluded. The guarantee is certified to the original owner named on your preservation order and isn’t transferable to a new owner. Learn more about our 100-Year Guarantee here.

No — your dress won’t be vacuum-sealed, so it’ll stay fully accessible. You’re welcome to open the chest anytime to check on your dress or retrieve an item, gently sifting through the layers with the latex gloves we provide — that doesn’t affect your guarantee. However, once your dress is removed from the preservation chest for any reason, it will void the 100-year guarantee — this is how we know the dress hasn’t been worn again since preservation. If you ever do want to wear your dress again, or pass it down for a daughter or family member to wear, you’re free to do so — just know that removing it will void the guarantee.

Yes — resealing squares are included with every chest for exactly this. Open it anytime to check on your dress, sift through the layers with the latex gloves provided, and simply reseal when you’re done — your guarantee stays fully intact as long as the dress remains in the chest.

Yes — two personalization options are available to commemorate your special day on your wedding dress preservation chest.
Option 1: Your name(s) and wedding date
Option 2: Your name(s), wedding date, and wedding photo
This special memento will be placed in the bottom corner of your preservation chest. Visit our Personalization page for options, examples, and pricing.

Most brides choose one of four paths: preserve it as a long-term keepsake, have it cleaned to wear again or sell, donate it to a meaningful cause, or repurpose it into something new — a christening dress, a pillow, or a quilt. If you’re not sure yet, professional cleaning and preservation is the smartest default. Your dress stays protected and in beautiful condition while you take your time deciding, and every other option remains open to you. Help Me Choose walks you through the right fit in under a minute.

Whatever feels right to you — there’s no wrong answer here. Some choose to preserve the dress for a daughter or future generation; others sell, donate, or repurpose it into something new. If the dress has yellowed from storage, our Restoration service can bring it back to wearable or donatable condition first. Take whatever time you need.

Yes — several nonprofits accept gently used wedding dresses and put them to meaningful use. Brides for a Cause resells donated dresses to support women-focused charities (dresses 5 years or newer). Adorned in Grace supports anti-trafficking causes (dresses under 10 years old). NICU Helping Hands transforms donated dresses into angel gowns for families who have experienced infant loss. If your dress has yellowed from storage, our Restoration service can bring it back to donation-ready condition first. Each organization has its own current guidelines, so it’s worth checking their websites before sending.

It comes down to what the dress means to you. If you’d like to recoup some of the cost, selling is a great option — a professionally cleaned dress commands more from buyers. If you love the fabric but want to give it a new life, repurposing into something like a christening gown or keepsake pillow is worth considering. Or if you’d like to keep it exactly as it was, preservation protects it as a lasting memento of your wedding day. Whichever path you choose, starting with a professionally cleaned dress makes every option easier and more valuable.

For questions before placing your order or about our services, visit our Contact Us page — we’re happy to help. Once your dress has shipped, our Dress Tracking page gives you a live status update anytime, or reach out to us directly by phone or email.