Practically speaking, a bride spends hours in a delicate white dress on a day when looking her best is a top priority. You can’t prevent stains and nags on your wedding dress but you can ensure that no one ever knows.

Emergency wedding dress cleaning

It is highly recommended to put together a ‘wedding emergency kit’ which could include all sorts of useful items such as; tissues, safety pins, a mini sewing kit, and a small make up sponge, with your lipstick and mirror included. A bride we encountered once said she would pay as much as $100 for a paper clip when the little holding loop on her train came undone.

Give an emergency kit to a trusted person you can always turn to in case of a wedding dress emergency. It is even safer to give it to one of the bridesmaids. All the rest of the magic ingredients will be available at your venue.

Here’s some tips on how you can manage a range of wedding day dress disaster like a pro;

1. Red wine on the wedding dress: This could potentially be disastrous for the bride and the unlucky guest responsible for the spillage. But with some basic kitchen items this can be brilliantly resolved. Use water, white vinegar plus a touch of washing up liquid and dab with a soft sponge. Be careful to feather the edges so you don’t leave a water mark. Any residue can be masked with talcum powder.

2. Snags caused by jewelry: With so many congratulatory hugs and kisses coming the bride’s way this can be an unfortunate hazard for delicate fabrics. All it takes is for a bracelet to get caught in the dress and it could get pulled, especially the lace. This can be easily fixed by simply using a sewing needle (or the back of an earring) to push the thread from the outer material to the inner, to hide it inside the garment and prevent further snags. Do not be tempted to cut the thread or it will leave a nasty hole. If a hole actually appears, put a few loose stitches around it to stop it from tearing open.

3. Broken dress strap: Been slightly over enthusiastic on the dance floor and managed to snap the dress strap while throwing some moves could ruin the look of the dress and result in some embarrassing accidents. Fixing a dress strap is simple by using a fine tacking stitch, enough to hold the strap in place. If you haven’t followed the previous advice of storing a mini sewing kit in your handbag, try borrowing a brooch from another wedding guest and turn a stylish accessory into a practical solution.

4. Lipstick on the dress: Has a guest been over zealous with the kisses and got lipstick everywhere? Red lip marks don’t have to be a permanent feature on the dress. Gently sponge them with neat vodka to help reduce the visibility of the stain. Just because the stain is no longer visible, it doesn’t mean it has been fully removed. The correct aftercare will ensure that the mark doesn’t come back or permanently damage the dress.

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