How to Preserve Wedding Keepsakes

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details

Some couples want to follow the old tradition of freezing the top tier of their wedding cake to enjoy on their first anniversary (another option is to recreate a smaller version of your wedding cake). With a little advance planning, the cake should remain fresh even after freezing. Butter cakes with genuine buttercream icing freeze best, says cake master Marney White of Marneycakes in Oceanside, NY.

To enjoy the top tier of the wedding cake on your first anniversary, White advises confection-loving couples to follow these steps:

1.Put the top tier in the freezer for about 45 minutes, or until it's solidly cold (but not frozen through). The purpose of this is to get the icing hard so it holds its shape and appearance.
2.Wrap, wrap and wrap again in Saran Wrap. Wrap in one direction, then the other, and then crosswise -- then repeat the process. (Be sure not to use aluminum foil, which causes freezer burn.) If you've insulated it enough, the cake should be fine to enjoy on your anniversary.
3.If you have room in your freezer, place the cake in a cake box.
4.One day before you're ready to enjoy the cake, unwrap it so there is just a single layer of plastic wrap remaining. Put the cake in the refrigerator for 24 hours (no less).
5.Remove the remaining plastic wrap and let the cake sit out at room temperature for 90 minutes before serving.

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details

Have your wedding dress professionally cleaned right after the wedding, says bridal relations manager Karen Jean-Aimee of New York - based couture cleaner Madame Paulette.

She recommends storing the gown carefully folded and wrapped in acid-free tissue paper. Lay the box flat (to prevent shifting) in a cool, dry, dark environment, avoiding direct sunlight or heat (this should be a climate-regulated space in normal living conditions, with relative humidity 50 percent of the time). Do not store the gown in an environment that varies in temperature from season to season, such as an attic or basement, because an atmospheric change from warm to cold could create condensation and have an adverse effect on the preservation process. The space should also be free of mildew and insects. (Of course, an even better option is a custom, acid-free, museum-quality archival chamber.)

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details

To preserve pretty blooms, consider having them professionally freeze-dried. Services such as Mountainview Freeze Dry or Keepsake Floral will frame a bridal bouquet in an elegant glass shadowbox to display for years to come.

Right after the wedding, you'll need to keep the flowers hydrated and cool, then carefully ship them to be freeze-dried using a 14-day cycle. A professional will best be able to preserve the bouquet, but amateur drying methods (like hair spray and hanging flowers upside down, or pressing petals with wax paper) may work for single stems or a boutonniere, but will not get the same effect as a professional service.

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details

For digital photos, keep a copy of the CD somewhere outside your home as a backup, recommend wedding photographers Davina + Daniel, and store photos either on a hard drive or an online server.

Ask your wedding photographer how long he plans on keeping the files. For hard copies, make sure prints are done on archival paper (most places now do this), and place prints in a photo-safe box or album for safekeeping.

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details

Take a cue from Chelsea Clinton, who wanted to preserve the pieces from the Jewish ritual of breaking the glass during her wedding to Marc Mezvinsky. Reportedly, the couple plans to use the broken pieces in a mezuzah purchased at the Jewish Museum.

Look for clever ways to display significant items from your ceremony, whether it's a unity candle you can later use at your dinner table or a prayer shawl that can be passed down to the next generation.

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details

If your heels have taken a beating from hours of dancing, have them properly cleaned by a reputable shoe repair shop. Before you even do that, James Ciccotti, whose Chicago bridal-shoe and -accessories shop features fab Italian silk satin shoes, shares this trick to remove some of the heavier scuffs:

Use transparent packing tape to lift scuffs and stains away from the fabric. Wrap a ring of tape around the palm of your hand, then firmly pad the stained surface area of the shoe so the tape sticks to the fabric. Lift the tape away, which will pull some of the outer scuffs right off the shoe. Repeat this several time, rotating the tape to a clean area.

Afterward, you may want to try a professional liquid fabric cleaner to remove any remaining scuffs. To keep shoes pristine for future nights out, Ciccotti says to store them in their original shoebox, and keep the paper stuffing in the toes so the shoes will retain their shape.

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details

To keep bridal lingerie looking as pretty as it did on your wedding night, hand-wash delicate items like your bra, bustier or special honeymoon chemise in cold water with a light lingerie soap (harsher detergents like Woolite can clog the garment's fragile pores).

Line dry delicate items, as putting them in the dryer often breaks down their shape and elasticity. Unless the instructions specify, avoid dry cleaning, which can burn finer silks.

The Delicate Wash detergent by The Laundress shown here is $19 for 16 fl. oz. and is available at thelaundress.com.

How to Preserve Your Wedding-Day Details