Getting to “I do” is the easy part. Saying “yes” to the dress is the hard part. No one understands this better than Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners & Launderers.
As the area’s only member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, Ablitt’s guarantees every bride that her dress will receive the tender loving care it deserves — before and after the big day.
Prior to the wedding day, Ablitt’s Certified Wedding Gown Specialist team prepares the gown with meticulous pressing and a bodice form with tissue to keep it wrinkle free. For the bride choosing to wear an heirloom dress, perhaps her mother’s or grandmother’s, the specialists hand-clean the gown with gentle chemicals that erase different kinds of stains.
After the stains are dissolved, the gown is rinsed in a pure solvent until immaculate and ready for pressing.
Free local pickup and delivery is available, as is a shipping service for destination weddings.
Following the celebration — which may have left evidence of a guest’s soda, wine, or cake — Ablitt’s cleans gowns according to standard museum-quality practices. Oftentimes, if left untreated, these spots dry without leaving a visible mark until they caramelize into ugly brown stains.
With Ablitt’s guaranteed wedding gown preservation service, brides can create their own heirlooms. The service is carbon neutral and no chemicals are used. After the bride inspects her dress, it is carefully layered with acid-free tissue and folded into an acid-free, archival-quality wedding chest to protect it from exposure to light and air.
Lastly, when the gown is to be used again, it can be brought to any member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, represented in more than 500 cities around the world, for inspection and pressing at no charge.
— Jennifer Goddard Combs is a publicist representing Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners & Launderers.