The ivory wedding dress has become the favorite brand in many young lovers’ eyes,” according to the writers of weddinginthebox.com.

“Ivory seems to be the predominant color chosen by brides who are getting married the second time, opines www.professosrhouse.com.

So, which is it? Asks one Classic Cleaners’ blog reader.  Can first-time brides wear ivory, and can white be appropriate for a “second time around” bride?

As specialists in wedding gown care and preservation, Classic Cleaners professionals typically meet brides – and their dresses – after the big color decision has already been made.

• Before the big day, Classic Cleaners performs alterations and prepared dresses for travel to a destination wedding site.
• After the wedding, Classic Cleaners’ expert stain removal process comes into play. Many brides select MuseumCare preservation in hopes a daughter or even granddaughter will be able to someday carry on the tradition.So, no, we’re usually not consulted on color selection ahead of time.  But, since, at least one reader has popped the ivory vs. white question, here’s what we know:

Only since Queen Victoria’s wedding was white even used for wedding dress.  In fact, the color thought to symbolize purity and virginity was blue, with white meant for mourning!  Later, white became a status symbol, meaning you could afford to spend money on a garment that would be worn only once!

The most sensible response we found to the white-ivory question was given by a Yahoo!answers reader:  “My dress is off-white because it goes better with my complexion!”

In recent months, Classic Cleaners has dry cleaned, prepared, restored dresses in red, gray, ivory, and white, ranging from worn only once to 47 years old! We can tell you – they are all beautiful.

Our final answer (yes, Regis!) to our blog reader’s query – Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.  Whatever color makes you feel most beautiful – IS most beautiful!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Sometimes it seems Classic Cleaners specializes in stories.  With wedding gown cleaning and preservation a specialty of ours, we feel as if we’ve been part of the “wedding party” for many brides, both before and after their big event.

Quite often, as members of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, Classic Cleaners professionals have helped preserve bridal gowns for daughters and even granddaughters to wear.  Rarely, though, have we come across a story with as many chapters as the one about the dress owned by “Magee” (Margaret) Land.

Magee at Mardi Gras, 1977

Chapter I:

It all started in February, 1977 at the New Orleans Mardi Gras debutante ball, when The Dress was worn for the first time by Magee, then a college junior, as one of the princesses at the Ball.  Mardi Gras princesses, according to tradition, were escorted by masked gentlemen; Magee’s escort was her uncle.  Her date: Casey Land from Danville, Indiana.

Magee and Casey Land's wedding 1979

Chapter II:

Two years later, on January 6, 1979, The Dress made its second appearance.  Remade with an overlay by Juliette

Coutures of New Orleans, this time Magee wore it as her wedding gown, beautiful bride of Michael Casey Land.

Chapter III:

Fast forward to New Year’s eve, 2010. The Lands now have two beautiful daughters, Tara and Meagan, and son Hunter. Meagan is being married in The Dress, altered by

Joyce Hittesdorf of Something Wonderful and restored to pristine white by Leon Neal of Classic Cleaners.

Magee's daughter's wedding New Year's Eve 2010

Chapters IV, V, and ?:

Future plans for The Dress include daughter Tara and Hunter’s girlfriend Anna.  From there, who knows?

The ongoing story of The Dress has been made possible through MuseumCare™ preservation, the advanced process used by Classic Cleaners, and the only one endorsed by the Association of Bridal Consultants.

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

“The Terrible Twos are a phenomenon most parents could quite happily live without,” says suite101.com, referring to toddlers who say “No!” to everything and make throwing temper tantrums a habit, beginning around their twentieth month of life.

At Classic Cleaners, we only occasionally experience the results of Terrible Twos toddlers’ behavior in the form of some of horribly stained and ripped clothing coming in with Fluff and Fold family laundry orders (one can only imagine the tantrums!).

As members of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, what we are trained to look for are the “Terrible Threes”.  Just as the “terrible two” toddlers stretch parents’ patience and wreak havoc on toddler wardrobes, when it comes to the terrible threes – sugars, salts, and acids – these wreak havoc on wedding gowns, doing the kind of damage with which conventional dry cleaning simply cannot cope.

Wedding dresses with lace appliqué, beading, and trim are most vulnerable to theTerrible Threes, which accumulate near the borders of the trim or beading.  Left untreated – or treated using only traditional dry cleaning methods – the at first invisible sugars, salts, and acids turn into ugly brownish-yellow areas on the dress.

The MuseumCare™ system of wedding gown preservation used at Classic Cleaners was shown to be the cleanest and safest in a blind test of four nationally-known wedding gown preservation processes. In fact, Classic Cleaners is the only dry cleaners in its area endorsed by the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists.

Whew!  With the beautiful wedding gown having been given the proper care and then preserved in an archival-quality box, the Terrible Threes will be safely out of the way.  As they begin their family, the bride and groom can spend their next few years preparing for the Terrible Twos!

By Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team

Most women would agree – their wedding gown is the most important dress they’ll ever wear.  And, while all brides hope to preserve their marriage, quite a number desire to preserve the dress as well.  Why?

2009 Bride is Beautiful the 3rd Time Around in 1947 Wedding Dress

•  To wear at a ceremony to renew wedding vows
• As an heirloom for a daughter or granddaughter to wear someday.

In fact, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an heirloom as

1. A piece of property that is part of an inheritance

2. Something of special value handed down from one generation to another.

In the case of wedding gowns, though, there’s something every wedding dress owner needs to know: There’s a big difference between merely “heirlooming” a dress and preserving it for the future.

The truth is, as practiced by most dry cleaners, heirlooming a wedding gown consists of dry cleaning it and then sealing it in a box.  But cleaning and boxing a wedding gown is hardly enough to prevent fabric discoloration or the oxidization of invisible sugar stains on the dress.

That’s why, in preserving wedding gowns, Classic Cleaners uses the only process endorsed and recommended by the Association of Bridal Consultants – MuseumCare™ Preservation. Classic Cleaners partner and wedding gown specialist Leon Neal explains what is included in MuseumCare™:

• Thorough cleaning
•  Removal of sugars, salts, and acids (conventional dry cleaning methods cannot accomplish this)
• Conditioning the gown for long-term 
• Sealing in an acid-free environment
• Providing a lifetime guarantee against sugar stains and yellowing.  This guarantee is backed by more than 100 Wedding Gown Specialists worldwide.

 ”Love is lovelier the second time around,” Frank Sinatra used to croon.  Proper professional preservation can ensure that, the second – or third - time around, each wedding dress will be worn in its full loveliness!

by Reb of the Classic Cleaners blog team