Giselle Hulme from The Empty Box Company has been supplying specialist drycleaners for 37 years with beautiful wedding dress boxes that are handmade in the UK. She’s been in touch to offer advice and helpful tips on how to bring wedding dress cleaning business in.

“Do you clean and pack?” she asks. “If you clean wedding dresses, most brides are expecting some kind of aftercare options after they have spent money cleaning the dress, as it is not a garment they will be wearing again often!” says Hulme.

“A clean and pack service for wedding dresses is a great opportunity to bring in some really high revenue, for cleaning just one garment. Prices for this service in the UK range from £185 to £500, though cleaning a wedding dress does require specialist knowledge, time and care to achieve the best results.”

Hulme suggests contacting one of the industry trade associations for wedding dress cleaning advice or a training course for staff.

Next, she asks, “Do your customers know you clean wedding dresses?” Here are some of Hulme’s easy to do marketing tips for drycleaners to get the “wedding dress cleaning” message out there.

• Put a wedding dress in the window (secondhand dresses can often be found in a charity shop).

• Have a display of beautiful wedding dress storage boxes on a shelf behind the counter (they can be ones for a customer awaiting collection) so that all your customers see them.

• Make sure all your counter staff can explain the service to a potential customer.

• List your drycleaning shop name on any free listing on wedding websites under their supplier category.

• Take some photos of a dress being cleaned and packed and do a post on social media whenever you can.

• Offer a wedding dress cleaning voucher that brides can pass on to friends when they have had their dress cleaned with you (you can’t beat word of mouth).

• Talk to your local bridal shop and offer to do a cleaning service for their dresses and customers.

• Attend a local wedding exhibition with plenty of leaflets to give away with your company name (plus use some beautiful wedding dress boxes to get the message across).

• You are also likely to pick up Christening Robe cleaning as well, from the same family using specialist boxes.

Hulme says “We have supplied many extremely successful drycleaners with our boxes, and know that offering a wedding dress cleaning and packing service has contributed hugely to their success, as it is essential consistent revenue in these changing times. People are always getting married!

“Our wedding dress boxes have helped build a professional cleaning reputation for companies, promoting a first class service, as the wedding dress boxes bring the “wow factor” when the dress is returned, cleaned and packed, to the customer; they create a buzz in the shop!”