Alvina Valenta Wedding Dress, Style 9409.
You spent so much time finding THE dress, and even more time being stuck with pins to make sure your wedding dress fit to perfection. Now, before you step into it, review these six important tips to make sure it's still pristine when you walk down the aisle.
1) Leave it at the boutique. I know, I know. Your dress is ready, at long last, and all you want to do is take it home and stare at it. But the longer it's in your hot little hands, the more chances there are for catastrophe to strike: a cup of coffee goes flying or Chairman Meow shreds your train to ribbons. (An actual cat-astrophe.) Rather than risk disaster, ask the store owners to hold onto your dress until 48 hours before the wedding.
2) Give it some breathing room. Once you have it home, take it out of the bag (so it doesn't get crushed) and hang it from something sturdy and high—preferably in a low-traffic room, like an unoccupied guest room at your parents' house.
3) Leave spots to the professionals. If you do get a smudge or a stain on your dress before the big day, don't try to remedy it yourself. Instead, head straight to a dry cleaner who has experience with wedding dresses.
4) Wait 'til the last minute to put it on. You'll be SUPER-excited to step into your dress when the day arrives, but hold off until just before photo time. The more time you spend in your dress, the better the chances are that a bridesmaid will dump a soda down the back when she goes to hug you, or you'll drop your lipstick and leave a bright pink streak down the front.
5) Be extra-careful with your bouquet. Your wedding flowers will likely be delivered in water, so don't make a grab for your bouquet while you're wearing your dress. Ask your mom or a bridesmaid to lift the bouquet (slowly, to avoid spatters) and wrap a towel around the bottom, then hand it to you after a minute or two. And be super-duper careful if you have lilies in your bouquet: here's why.
6) Have emergency supplies on hand. Include a needle and thread and a lint brush in your stash of emergency supplies, to take care of any last-minute mishaps.
Did I forget anything? Are you worried about messing up your wedding dress before you walk down the aisle?
In one of the weddings I was in, the bride gave us our bridesmaid gifts right before the ceremony. Part of the gift was scented lotion—which I proceeded to smear across the bodice of my bridesmaid dress. Eesh.