Even before your wedding day, you should plan on how you are going to preserve your wedding dress. Most brides find that their wedding dress holds a lot of sentimental value and therefore want to preserve the dress so that it can stand the test of time. Additionally, with as expensive as wedding dresses can be, it's a bit foolish to wear a wedding dress once and to then get rid of it. You can keep it forever and pass it down through generations of women in your family.

Why do you have to plan the preservation method ahead of time? First of all, each day you keep the dress exposed to the elements, the more the dress will be damaged. You need to start the preservation process immediately after taking off your wedding dress. Secondly, you don't want the headache of figuring out what you will do with your wedding dress on your wedding night. You want to have a plan that you can put into action that you are confident in.

The two options for preserving your dress are going through a professional company or doing it yourself. If you search on the Internet or even in your local yellow pages, you should be able to find a number of companies that specialize in wedding dress preservation. These companies have the special know-how to make your wedding dress look good as new 20 years down the line, if need be. Oftentimes you can even find a dry cleaner in your area will have a specialist that preserves wedding gowns.

With many of these online companies you can order a wedding preservation kit. After your wedding, you follow the simple instructions to package your dress and send it in to the preservation company. By the time you return from your honeymoon, your dress will be returned to you - steamed, boxed and preserved.

If you want to save money and preserve your wedding dress by yourself, it's not hard to do. While the results won't be as good as a professional service, your wedding dress should preserve rather well. The first thing you want to do is find an airtight box that is large enough to fit your dress. Then you should fold your wedding dress neatly and put it in the airtight box, while putting tissue paper on top of the dress. Finally, place the box in a warm and dry location. Down the road when you take out your dress to reminisce or even pass it on to the next generation, your wedding dress will be as good as new!

If you are leaving for your honeymoon immediately from your wedding reception, you can ask your mother or maid-of-honor to bring or send your wedding dress to the company for preservation.