Hello, My name is Mia and I hang out regularly at the "Laundry Room" forum and I stubbled in here just to see what it is like. And boy am I HAPPY I showed up!!! Over at the LR forum we are a crazy bunch, some of us own over two pairs of Laundry machines (like me) and just love to clean clothes!! Yes, you may think we are crazy, but hey- who isn't?! So I'm surfing along and I see this post and I giggle like mad to myself because I DO know the preservation process of a wedding gown.When I was a teenager I used to work at a drycleaners and the manager and I (her faithful assistant) specialized on perserving all gowns. First of all "dry cleaning" isn't really dry. They use a chemical called Perchloroethyline aka "perc". It was developed by a french chemist in 1890 looking for a better way to clean clothes, however it is VERY toxic and causes tumors, cancer, and Federal goverment is very strict on how it can be disposed of. There are harsh fines for cleaners who don't obey the law and perc cannot be available for consumers only for licensed dry cleaners. Perc is a very very bad substance and I reccomend no one try using this stuff at home. Now the perc is recycled throughout the day on various objects like shirts, pants, etc because it cannot be disposed of after just being used once. Keep in mind that perc is (in some people's opinion) the most gentle way to clean. When you pay for that big fee of $200 or whatever you are basically paying for using the Perchloroethyline first. Have you ever noticed when you pick dry cleaning sometimes it smells perfumey or smokey? That is because is was washed in "recycled" perc that cleaned something perfumey or smokey. It doesn't mean however it's not clean. Wedding dresses use the perchloroethyline first. Dry cleaners usually have a tub filled with fresh perc and they lay the dress down in the solution and then hang it to dry. The Perc then dissapates as the dress itself then dries. Nice dresses (cocktail, party, prom) usually use the perc second. Then the perchloroethyline get funneld into special front loading machines (because they wash more gentle than top loading ones) and then they clean all other things before the perc is then disposed of. After the dress has air dried, it is then steamed and put into and acid free box with acid free paper. Many people want to know whether paper is better than cotton? Well, it all depends. Cotton will attract dust which could yellow the garment or in turn attract moths. And how the cotton is washed is another thing all together. If you want cotton I reccomend that you wash the cotton sheet in the hottest water possible with sttp and tide regular. No chorine bleach or oxyclean and rinse twice and dry in dryer until completely dry. Use a cotton high in thread count and one that is thick and sturdy that won't let dust in easily. Some people believe that cotton can attract bugs or other things that will deteriorate the fibers in clothes ,but you must keep an eye on this cotton and keep it clean and you should do fine. I do prefer the paper though as it will help the dress hold up nicely and if wanted to be worn again. Acid-free paper and boxes can be bought at any paper store. Keep away from any extremes like a moist attic or damp, cold basement. When I was married and because I'm a laundry freak, I cleaned my own dress. My dress was nothing ornate (just linen) because I was married in Maui on the beach. Many dresses can be cleaned like the way I cleaned mine. Note: This is only for the ambitious like me!!! First you want to clean your bathtub with bon-ami or baking soda. Not comet or ajax that have chemicals that could taint the dress when cleaning it. If you have ta water that has a lot of chemicals in it like chlorine get a ph balancer for your water. You can probably find one at a pool store. Fill your tub with cool, not cold water, and add Forever New detergent (purchased at any Nordstroms or Bon/Macy's). Please no woolite; contary to belief it is too harsh for delicate things. Lay your dress in water and let soak for a half an hour to an hour. If you have any stains like champagne or cake there is this kit you can buy called dryel (WARNING: the Dryel drycleaning system with it's bag and wet cleaning cloth that you put in your dryer will ruin any clothes you have. Don't use it, you are only using a piece of that kit for stain removal.) In it there is a bottle filled with a stain removing material. Read the directions and remove the stain. After your dress has soaked, drain water and gently press water out of dress. Fill the tub that has the dress with cool water to rinse the dress. Do this two or three times until water runs clear and there are no suds left. Don't ever swish dress in wash or in rinse, it will damage the material. after final rinse, gently press as much water as you can from dress.and lay on clean white towels and gently press water out of dress. Hang dry. Steam when dry and fold with acid-free paper and put in acid free box. WHEW!! If you want the easiest thing that will last, I say dish the money out if you don't want to clean it yourself. If you don't like the paper, use the cotton. Thank You all again~~~~ Mia

i agree about the alternative site or a park with a covered picnic area. ds1's wedding was outside in a friend's yard. they did rent a huge tent, just in case. actually we ate under the tent and as luck would have it, just as ds1 and dil were cutting the cake, the sky's opened up! thank goodness the family had a good sized home for the elders, and babies to go into. ds1 bought strings of white lights the day after christmas (half price), to use the following august. her flowers were from the local farmer's market. since yours is in oct, mums are great. they come in several colors. the party was catered but we could have copied the menu and cooked for 100. food is optional, remember! you can get married early and have brunch, as dd2 did. the highlight was a person who made the best omlets...no wedding cake. dd2 wanted an assortment of desserts. remember costco and sam's club...they have an abundance of frozen goodies from mini quiches to spring rolls. anyone a good seamtress? check the price of fabric to a purchased dress. want to save more? look for rentals, yes, rentals. or ebay! my cousin bought a dress for her dd, $185, decorated with beading and crystals! she had slight alterations my cousin was able to do. the retail was well over $500... dd2 found her dress, $95, at the local marshall fields. it wasn't traditional as they were married on a beach. we used fresh flowers instead of veiling... last, have a computer printer? look for wedding kits at office maxx, staples, for the invatations/announcements

Figured I should update. I did order the dress in 2 sizes. It was actually very nice quality, lined, and nice fabric. However the smaller size was really small and the one that fit, had too much flare with the fit and flare. There was a deliberate part of the lining that seemed to give extra flare at the tush and hips, and I really do not need anything additional. Had it fit nicely it would have been totally appropriate. (it was actually super hot that day so sleeveless was no issue). I went back and forth and actually wore black pants with a dressy top (solid bright color, sleeveless , with almost sequins but not (it's sparkly but subtle). and a black shawl as I am usually cold but I ended up not really needing it. I was very comfortable as I was dressed appropriately, but I was surprrised that many people were wearing cocktail attire, and quite a lot of black. all the men wore jackets and ties (lol except 2. one was my dh per my faulty instructions)..

If money is no object....then money is no object. (Yeah, I know, I'm brilliant. Ha.) If someone has the cash to spend, I hold zero opinions how they should spend it. That's the beauty of America. :) How someone chooses to spend discretionary income is up to you. My concern is that there seems to be huge pressure to make the wedding An Event to Remember anymore. Too many people are focused on planning a party, and not thinking about the fact that means you're (allegedly) going to be spending the rest of your life with this person. As I said, I know people who took out loans to provide An Event to Remember for their daughters' wedding/s. Half of those weddings are already over. I'm not sure I see the value in spending multiples of tens of thousands of dollars that they had to borrow, particularly on something that is a transitory state for about half the people who enter into a marriage anymore. I'd like to see more people focus on the actual marriage itself, rather than the party which precedes it. :-/