How to Display Your Wedding Gown
Your wedding dress will probably be one of the most sentimental and treasured items you'll ever want to preserve and keep for generations to come. After the amount of time it takes to find the perfect dress and the memories you have wearing the dress on your special wedding day, you'll most likely want to cherish this special gown. Consider framing your wedding dress in a beautiful shadow box. This will preserve the dress, keep it safe from harmful light or dust, and allow you to pass your dress on to several generations to come.
Think carefully about what materials you’ll want to use to create your shadow box and consider these ideas when thinking about how to display your wedding dress:
- Decide how many items you want to frame. Will you include your veil, shoes, and purse? After you know exactly what you want to frame, decide how you want to arrange the gown and accessories. Do you want the dress folded to enunciate special beading on the top of the gown? Or do you want to allow the dress to hang down to its fullest length?
- When deciding on a shadow box, it is important to make sure the glass and materials will protect your gown. Do not choose a box that allows ultraviolet light, radiation or heat into the box. This type of lighting could damage the color of the material and distort the gown’s original context.
- Never use tissue paper, boxes or plastic bags that contain acid to store your wedding gown. The acid in these types of materials can stain the dress and damage the material beyond reparability.
- Expect to use a large amount of materials to hold floor-length wedding gowns and accessories. On average, the shadow box for a floor-length wedding gown is approximately 40 by 84 inches. The picture below displays a large frame to accommodate a floor-length dress.
- Even though a display box must use safe materials for your wedding gown, it must also be attractive and reflect the gown beautifully. You do not want the moulding or glass taking away from the beauty of the gown.
Consider the following materials for a safe, yet classy look for your shadow box frame; The materials are also shown in the above picture:
Moulding – a gold frame with a light metallic finish. Find additional beautiful mouldings at Arquati USA (http://www.arquatiusa.com/moulding_home.htm)
Mat Board – shown above, the mat board is preservation quality and a solid white Rag Mat Museum mat. Find additional Rag Mat Museum mats at : Framing Supplies.com (http://www.framingsupplies.com/MatBoardFoamBoard/CrescentMatBoardTwentyTwo.htm)
Fabric – the mat board is hand covered with Dupioni silk fabric. To mount the fabric, consider using a dry mounting adhesive. Search Beinfang http://www.forframersonly.com/products.asp?ID=10&C=2 for more adhesive and framing products.