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By MARY JANE SOLOMON
Arundel Newspapers Staff Writer
Time had not been kind to the Alencon lace-embellished wedding gown.
In the nine years since the bride put it away — still bearing unnoticed soil accumulated during the ceremony and reception — the dress had developed new “decorations”: big, black stains across the white floral designs.
The blotched garment is a typical example of the challenges routinely faced by Steven Saidman, president of Imperial Gown Preservation, a Fairfax County-based company that dry-cleans and preserves wedding dresses from across the country.
“Bridal gown preservation is important, because without preserving the gown, you will absolutely end up with ... a valuable — and sentimentally valuable — item that is ruined,” Saidman says. “It will oxidize and turn yellow with age and may bear permanent stains if not cared for properly."
Modem technology enables cleaners to remove many discolorations, even old champagne spills such as the ones that nearly ruined the nine-year-old gown’s Alencon lace.
That dress now hangs, stain-free, in Saidman’s store’s front window. But to ensure a gown’s appearance for generations to come, a bride should have the garment treated as soon after the wedding as possible.
“By planning to invest it as part of your bridal budget, then it’s money you don’t have to worry about finding after the wedding,” Saidman says.
The cost of cleaning and preservation, which varies according to types of fabric and amount of ornamentation, but can cost hundreds of
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