Ideas on wedding dress cleaning

Are there stains or dirt on it? You could try to spot clean it. You could ask your alterations person for suggestions on safe cleaning methods. But if there is no visible dirt, why do you feel you need to clean it before your wedding day?

Ah. Well, I think your options are still only spot cleaning (very carefully with whatever method/products an expert like a tailor recommends) or dry cleaning.

I would consider what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to kill germs and bacteria, dry cleaning is the way to go. Spot cleaning is a great option for stains or dirt on a small patch of fabric, but it isn't going to do a thing for killing pathogens on areas of fabric that aren't treated.

Traditional dry cleaning solvents don't remove strong odors, so if the fabric has a smell of body odor or smoke, you need a different solution and may need to consult a professional cleaning service. Professional cleaning is likely going to be significantly more expensive than dry cleaning though. I would not dare risk trying to launder or hand wash that dress.

Honestly if its in good shape and doesn't seem noticeably dirty I personally wouldn't worry too much about washing it unless you are planning to go commando. Most brides going trying on dresses are going to shower before they go, and many pathogens just die from exposure over time. Its unlikely you would catch anything from the dress if you wore it for a prolonged period that you wouldn't have caught already just from trying it on. If germs are what you are worried about you could turn the dress inside out and let it sit in the sun for a few hours - UV light is a fantastic disinfectant and can actually help with some odors caused by bacteria as well.

Additionally sample dresses can tend to stretch out if they've been tried on a lot (depending on. the material) and sometimes cleaning can cause the fabric to refresh, which can make the dress "shrink" slightly (it isn't really shrinking as much as returning to its unstretched shape, but the end result is the same in that the dress fits smaller/tighter than it did before cleaning). That dress looks like it fits you snugly as is and I would worry about it being too tight if it was smaller.