Champion Wedding Gown Specialist - Wedding Gown Cleaning, Preservation, Restoration and Alterations
Vestavia Hills, AL 35243
(map) Phone: 205-588-4120
Reviews for Champion Wedding Gown Specialist - Wedding Gown Cleaning, Preservation, Restoration and Alterations
GUEST
I read reviews of this place and thought it was going to be perfect to do just a few alterations on my wedding dress. Walking in the place, it was super hot and humid. They put me in a tiny room without a mirror to put on my wedding dress (which my mother and grandmother were also in there to help me get it on). It was so cramped, hot, and miserable. A foreign lady was there to help and once I got the dress on and situated, she acted like we were inconviencing her the entire time and was in such a hurry. She had a mirror that was broken in half and I couldn't even look in the mirror to see if I liked the pinning she had done. There wasn't even a step stool for me to stand on so that I wasn't stepping on my train. I asked her to make sure I didn't look crooked in it since I have scoliosis and she totally dismissed that, told me she had another appointment and left. Needless to say, we took my dress elsewhere. This was a terrible experience and I would not recommend anyone to waste their time going there.
Vendor response to review
Nicole,
We apologize that you were unhappy with your experience. As you know, we did not charge you anything even though we pinned your dress and spent about an hour with you and the others in your party. Our mirror was broken the morning before you came in and we had no chance to replace it before your appointment.
Again, we apologize for your experience but assure you and others that we have many happy Brides use our service every week...and leave totally satisfied.
GUEST
Champion helped me out with my wedding dress twice, and I was very happy both times. I bought a dress at a sample sale that needed to be cleaned before the wedding. Champion was very careful with the delicate beading and netting (I think that's what you call it) on the top layer when they cleaned it. Then a few months later when I decided the 1st dress was not right for me and bought another one, I took that one to Champion to have it cleaned and boxed after the wedding. I used the Vestavia location the first time and the Hwy 280 location the second time, and both experiences were great.
Champion can make sure your beautiful wedding gown is cleaned and preserved so that years from now, you can pass it down to your daughter or granddaughter. They do a GREAT job!
About Champion Wedding Gown Specialist - Wedding Gown Cleaning, Preservation, Restoration and Alterations
Since It All Begins With The Dress...
Don't Let It End After Your Wedding Night!
I have the memories of the first dance with my new husband. All the pictures, the family and friends. The hugs and kisses that day were incredible. How young we were. What a wonderful day! But I’d love to hold my gown one more time. Memories will fade over time…but your gown can keep your memories fresh.
I didn’t have my gown cleaned and preserved. What a dumb decision! It eventually yellowed, the seams were all stretched out, and without much fanfare, it found its way to Goodwill, the trash…gosh, I don’t even know exactly what happened to it. But I remember seeing how old and yellowed it looked. I feel like part of me died…"
---Sherry Whitehurst, Wife of David Whitehurst, a Certified Wedding Gown Specialist and Owner of Champion Wedding Gown Specialist
Since your wedding day is built around your lovely gown, you can keep these memories alive for
years to come by properly cleaning and preserving your gown. Perhaps a younger sister or eventually a daughter or even a granddaughter might, one day, wear your gown on her wedding day.even more of a reason to keep this dream alive by cleaning
and preserving your wonderful wedding gown.
Champion Wedding Gown Specialist uses the safest, most effective methods ever developed for cleaning, preserving and restoring wedding gowns and other special garments. Using
MuseumCareTM Cleaning and Preservation methods, your gowns will look great for years to come. And we have an International Guarantee and our own Satisfaction Money Back Guarantee to stand with us.
Why Clean and Preserve Your Bridal
Gown? Keeping your wedding gown in the best possible condition should be your primary concern. Let’s face it. Weddings can be hard on a gown. You may be dancing and moving around. The people attending your wedding want to talk with you all
the while everyone is eating, drinking, dancing and just plain having a good time. Your wedding gown is exposed to all sorts of abuse. The hem may drag the ground…dirt and grass stains are common. You might step on the hem and tear the seams or
bustle. You might close the limo door on the gown and get grease on it. There are so many calamities possible that it is difficult to avoid them all. For these reasons, you need to address the care for your gown as soon after the wedding as possible.
Spills containing sugar, salt and acid will usually dry clear and invisible to the naked eye and will turn yellow or brown over time. Our unique anti-sugar stain treatment, featured in Modern Bride and Brides, ensures that all sugar, salt
and acid, seen or unseen, are removed.
After a wedding, many bridal gowns are returned to the plastic garment bag you received when you bought your gown just to get it home. And there it sits…for months or even years. Maybe you
planned to get it cleaned and preserved right after the wedding…but perhaps “life” gets in the way of these good intentions. So what can happen to this gown?
Oxidation of Stains. The first problem is oxidation of stains.
Just don’t make the mistake of keeping your gown in a plastic bag for any extended period of time. This includes plastic bags from you dry cleaner or even the thicker bag that came with your gown when you bought it. Gowns placed in plastic bags
are exposed to chemical fumes that are quite harmful to the long-term maintenance of any garment. This is a common mistake but one easily corrected. These bags are intended to protect your gown during transport and for short periods of a week or two.
Some gown cleaners will recommend cleaning and vacuum sealing the gown. Avoid this at any cost. It will damage your gown over the years.
What are the most common problems in cleaning and preserving your bridal gown?
Yellowing
Oxidation
Mold and mildew
Stretched seams
Permanent creasing
Light
Dust
Removing your gown from the plastic bag, getting it professionally cleaned and preserved by a Certified Wedding Gown
SpecialistTM, and using totally acid-free materials to package your gown are the best protections against yellowing.
Having your gown cleaned and preserved is the best method to avoid oxidation spots that usually
appear within a year. These stains typically result from sugar, salt and acid deposited on the gown from food, perspiration and makeup. The sooner these are discovered and addressed, the more likely is your chance of success in correcting this
problem.
The best way to protect your gown against mold, mildew, light and dust is to clean and preserve it. Boxing your cleaned gown in a totally acid-free environment is the best method
of preserving your gown successfully. Acid will contribute to discoloration of a gown over years, so it is important to use totally acid-free tissue and boxes. Some boxes are represented as acid free when all they have is just an acid-free coating.
Don’t be fooled. Acid-free coatings are not the same as totally acid-free and can lead to discoloration. So how do you know? It’s difficult for the consumer to be sure. The best way is to be able to trust your gown care specialist. Champion
Wedding Gown Specialist uses totally acid-free packaging. Guaranteed! Our acid-free, museum quality, archival wedding chest is the best in the business.
We can also seal the box (with totally acid-free tape, of course). This doesn’t mean
that you cannot remove the gown. We provide white cotton gloves in your box to keep body oil from your hands off the gown. Body oils can cause a gown to yellow. And since we pack tissue extensively around the folds in the gown to prevent
permanent creasing, you must re-pack the gown with the same extent of packaging in order to avoid these problems down the road. Proper boxing with tissue to cushion the folds has proven quite effective in preventing
permanent fabric creases.
What is our process? All gowns have their own unique composition requiring knowledge of fabrics, weaves, construction and components such as lace, embroidery, beading,
and other endowments. And of course, stains, seen or unseen are always an important consideration. We evaluate all of this information in designing a treatment plan for your gown.
Inspection - Our process begins with a careful
inspection, preferably with you present. Your knowledge of the gown including any “accidents” that may have happened is always helpful at this stage. We will look for signs of sugar, salt and acid stains and use special blacklights to carefully
examine the gown. We will inspect the hem to look for soil and wear as well as loose hems and seams. We will carefully inspect the gown and determine the fabric content since the fabric determines the exact cleaning treatment required. We will also
check the gown for tears, which are not uncommon, especially with full-length gowns. We expert seamstress available to consult about repairs to your gown. It is your decision whether or not to repair the gown at this time.
It is important
to understand that every wedding gown is cleaned individually with a treatment plan designed for that gown alone. We are not in the mass production business!
We will gladly provide a FREE EVALUATION of your gown or family heirloom and
provide an estimate of our charge to clean and preserve this special memory.
Spot Treatment – We begin treatment by cleaning specific problem areas of the gown. We soak the hem line to remove soil and treat specific areas. We
will hand-clean the sugar, salt and acid stains. We then inspect the gown again and will treat these same areas again until we are convinced that everything that we can do has been done to cure the problem.
Cleaning – Depending on
the fabric content of all parts of the gown, we will either dry clean or wet clean the gown. We always test to identify the fabric content of the gown. Some gowns may be 100% silk, some may be 100% polyester and others may have both silk and
polyester or other fabric components. Some gowns are not properly labeled so we always test to identify the fabric with near 100% certainty…with or without a care label. Your gown may have more than one care label it different components are made of
different fabrics (for example the built-in slip may be polyester while the outer gown is silk). Beading and other adornments will also influence the exact treatment required. Needless to say, our experts will give your gown exactly the right cleaning
treatment.
Following the initial cleaning, we give the gown another inspection and look at all of the trouble area. If needed, we will clean the gown again until it is as right as we can get it. Please understand that your wedding gown
has been worn and, in some cases, seen rather harsh treatment. We cannot promise that we can restore the gown to its original look. But we can commit to getting it as near perfect as possible.
Bride’s Inspection - At this
point, the gown is ready for your inspection. If it is possible for you to visit us, we will be glad to offer you an opportunity to personally inspect your gown before packaging. Any further touch ups or corrections will be made as needed.
Preservation - Only when you are satisfied will we carefully layer your gown with acid-free tissue and fold it into an acid-free, archival-quality wedding gown chest. Your wedding gown will not yellow and there will be no latent stains that
might eventually develop into dark brown or yellow spots because we have taken the extra steps to ensure that all stains, both seen and unseen, are removed from your bridal gown. This is our promise and it’s backed up by an International Guarantee.
The museum quality chest we use is actually rated to last many lifetimes when stored properly.
International Guarantee – We are committed to the lasting beauty of your bridal gown! By cleaning and preserving with Champion
Wedding Gown Specialist, you may return your preserved gown to any of the more than 500 participating Certified Wedding Gown SpecialistsTM around the world who will inspect and press your bridal gown without charge. The International Guarantee of the
Association of Wedding Gown Specialists is as follows:
“100% International Guarnatee against caramelized sugar stains or yellowing of gown. Return gown to any participating Certified Wedding Gown SpecialistTM, who will inspect and press
the gown at no charge. Improper handling of the gown without the supervision of a Wedding Gown Specialist may cause damage and compromise the true preservation of your gown.”
- By the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists.
Our
commitment to quality bridal gown cleaning, preservation and restoration has earned the endorsement of the Association of Bridal Consultants. A blind test of four nationally-known gown preservation services conducted by the National Bridal Service
proved our MuseumCareTM gown preservation the cleanest, provided the safest museum quality packaging environment, and offered the most comprehensive guarantee.
Champion Wedding Gown Specialist also extends an unconditional 30 day
money back guarantee. No questions asked. If you aren’t completely satisfied and you return the chest in original condition, we will refund your cost of cleaning and preserving.
Please give our General Manager, Ric Pevey,
a call to discuss any questions you might have about your gown care or our services at 205.588.4120.
David Whitehurst
Owner and Certified Wedding Gown Specialist
FAQ for Champion Wedding Gown Specialist - Wedding Gown Cleaning, Preservation, Restoration and Alterations
After cleaning, we will call you to arrange a time to view your dress prior to the preservation of the gown if that is a convenient option for you. If not, we can ship it to you.
We also offer a 30-day money back guarantee. If you aren?t satisfied with the quality of our work and we cannot correct the problem for you, we will refund your money. You must return your MuseumCare Chest in original condition to receive a full refund.
No other company in the Birmingham area offers these guarantees!
A: As you know, all dresses are so very different. Our prices begin at $249 for a polyester gown and $349 for a silk gown. There are additional charges for extensive beads and other adornments, excessive soiling and stain removal. Your first additional item such as a headpiece or gloves is included at no charge while additional components of your gown are extra.
Q: Can I order a MuseumCare™ Preservation for a bride as a gift?
A: Yes. This would be a great wedding or bridal shower present. You can even sign up for our Bridal Registry on our web site. Jst tell your family and friends to go to our web site at www.WePreserveGowns.com and check out the Bridal Registry.
Q: I live outside the Birmingham area. How can I order your services and send you my wedding gown?
A: We ship all over the country. Call us and we will send you a container to ship your dress to us.
Q: What special offers and services are available?
A: With every pre-paid preservation, free pressing will be provided prior to your wedding day. And when you bring your gown in for cleaning and preserving, we will provide up to 30 minutes of a skilled seamstress's time for minor repairs.
Q: What about destination weddings?
A: We can help you package your gown for travel.
Q: After I preserve my gown, can I open the packaging without damaging the gown?
A: Yes, we put a pair of white gloves in every box. Just open your box, but make sure you put the gloves on before you handle your gown so that the oils from your hands will not get on the dress. If your gown is worn, handled excessively or soiled, it should be cleaned and preserved again.
Q: Do you accept credit cards?
A: Yes, we accept major credit cards including AMEX, Visa and MasterCard.
Q: How do you clean my gown?
A: Our Certified Wedding Gown SpecialistsTM carefully hand cleans every gown with gentle chemicals that dissolve the different kinds of stains on your gown. Then your gown is rinsed in pure solvent, the one best for your gown, until it is completely clean.
Q: What is preservation?
A: Your completely clean gown is carefully packed with acid-free tissue in a museum-quality wedding chest that protects your gown from the pollutants and light that cause unprotected gowns to yellow.
Q: Why is your process different from others?
A: Spills such as soda, wine and cake (many times caused by a guest and unnoticed by the bride) contain sugar and often dry without leaving a visible mark. Sugar is not dissolved during ordinary drycleaning and caramelizes over time into ugly brown stains. We take an extra step to be sure all stains, both seen and unseen, are removed.
Q: Is your wedding chest different from others?
A: Our trademarked MuseumCareTM wedding chest is completely acid-free, not just pH neutral. Boxes that are only pH-neutral are not as safe for your gown, and ordinary boxes and tissue are heavy in acid, which damages fabric. Ordinary boxes and tissue cause yellowing and can “burn” gowns leaving dark brown streaks wherever the fabric touches the box.
Q: Can I see my gown when it is in the wedding chest?
A: You can see your gown through an oval window made of polypropylene, an inert plastic that will not yellow or damage your gown. As an alternative, we can wrap the gown in muslin, and you can fold back the muslin to view your gown.
Q: What else can I preserve with my gown?
A: Such things as a headpiece and veil, petticoat, gloves, garter, and handkerchief may be stored with your gown. There is no cherge for the first item. You may also choose to store your things in more than one chest. Shoes should not be stored with the gown because fumes from the leather and glue may cause damage. We can also preserve other special garments such as christening gowns, communion dresses, quinceaneras gowns, military uniforms, etc.
Q: Will you make repairs to my gown?
A: We can make any needed repairs. For some repairs there may be an additional charge.
Q: What is the International Guarantee?
A: 100% International Guarantee against caramelized sugar stains or yellowing of your gown backed by Certified Wedding Gown SpecialistsTM in more than 500 cities around the world. Return your gown to any participating Specialist who will inspect the gown and press it at no charge.
Bridal Gown Cleaning and Care Tips: For Very Special Care of Your Very Special Bridal Gown.
Always... hang your wedding gown by loops inside the gown that are connected to sturdy side seams, never by fragile shoulder seams that can stretch or sag.
Always... avoid storing your wedding gown in plastic bags or vacuum-sealed, plastic wrapped containers because plastic emits fumes that can yellow your bridal gown and trap moisture that mildews your wedding gown.
Always... ask what precautions the specialist takes to protect delicate trims and decorations on your wedding gown and how the cleaner guards against latent stains on your wedding gown.
Always... choose a specialist who will personally process your bridal gown, never one who sends your bridal gown away to be cleaned.
Always... ask to inspect your wedding gown personally before it is put into the container, which should be a completely acid-free museum quality archival wedding chest lined with fabric or acid-free tissue.
Always... avoid storing your bridal gown in the attic or basement where there are extreme changes in temperature or humidity.
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