Bespoke wedding dresses: Everything you need to know NOW! Pt 1
Bespoke wedding dresses: Everything you need to know NOW! Pt 1
You’ve said yes to the ultimate question and now the mother of all events-planning begins!
Immediately, your thoughts whip towards wedding dresses. You’ve seen “Say Yes to the Dress” and all the related zany rom-com films, but here I’m going to cover a more luxurious, relaxed method of wedding dress procurement: The bespoke wedding dress experience.
What is a bespoke wedding dress?
The terms “bespoke” and “couture” have generally been used interchangeably, although some would clarify key differences between the two. But for a bride not wishing to delve too deeply, they both generally mean that the wedding gown has been designed and made from scratch. It fits one single bride’s own unique requirements and measurements and is therefore one of a kind.
Together, the designer and bride select the finest materials and perfect the style and fit during the toile fittings. After that, skilled fingers bestow many hours of hand-sewing, embroidering and beading on the garment. The bride can be sure that her couture wedding dress will be a personal, carefully considered garment, worthy of heirloom status.
But why is a bespoke (or couture) wedding dress the best option for you?
Why choose a bespoke wedding dress?
Here are the key reasons why you should choose a bespoke/couture wedding dress:
-
- You want something highly personalised, unconventional or off-trend
- This might be your second wedding and/or you might be a comparatively mature bride, who is concerned that the mainstream bridal market largely targets young, first-time brides.
- You don’t enjoy clothes shopping at the best of times. I can certainly identify with this.
- You have seen details that you like on different dresses, but not found a wedding dress that encompasses them all in a tasteful way.
- You have unusual fitting requirements.
- You feel overwhelmed by the thought of buying something so significant and need some guidance in this unfamiliar territory.
How much does a couture wedding gown cost in the UK?
As you’d expect, a bespoke handmade wedding gown, will be more costly than something that has been mass-produced in factories.
Store-bought garments are punched out of standardised patterns, that have been machine-graded through the sizes, using a formula that is alien to Mother Nature. They know nothing of individuality or unique body proportions.
However, a bespoke wedding gown has been created for one individual bride and this takes a lot more care and skill. It is also made out of the best quality silks and components, which gives an undeniably superior end result.
There is no escaping the fact that luxury and quality do not come cheaply.
The world’s leading bridalwear couturiers like Monique Lhuillier, start from $55,000 (for the full couture service), but if you can’t stretch to that, there are plenty of up and coming, home-grown talent that would love to make you something stunning. Quite often these lesser-known designers can have more exciting, edgy ideas!
My bespoke wedding gowns can start from £2,000 for something quite simple to… well depending on complexity and the consumption of top quality materials, the sky is the limit. I am happy to be as creative as you wish me to be.
So yes, it’s expensive, but as you work closely with the designer throughout the journey, you get to perfect the fit at toile fittings. You will not therefore have the additional expense of seamstress alterations or customisations. These last minute costs invariably come as an unpleasant surprise to any bride, thus causing additional stress.
How long does it take to make a bespoke wedding dress?
Wedding dress designers usually require 6-9 months to make your bridal gown and you cannot secure your date until you have paid your deposit.
I recommend that you identify your favourite designer well in advance of this, because Many brides do book up to 2 years in advance, and may pip you to the post!
Occasionally a designer could fit you in at shorter notice, subject to his/her availability, but this might come at an increased cost.
Technically speaking, a designer could probably make your dress within a few weeks, but this would likely only apply if:
– s/he had no other work or personal commitments booked during that period,
– decisions on design and fabric selections were made quickly,
– materials were immediately available, minimal hand-embellishment was required and
– you would be available for fittings at the drop of a hat.
All of these conditions rarely exist in reality and it significantly chips away at the luxury of having a wedding dress custom made. For this reason, most bespoke bridalwear designers would not readily take this on.
Now I know you have more questions, but you’ll have to wait for part 2!
Until then, feel free to submit your question that you’d like me to cover in the next installment or in future blog posts!
You’ve said yes to the ultimate question and now the mother of all events-planning begins!
Immediately, your thoughts whip towards wedding dresses. You’ve seen “Say Yes to the Dress” and all the related zany rom-com films, but here I’m going to cover a more luxurious, relaxed method of wedding dress procurement: The bespoke wedding dress experience.
What is a bespoke wedding dress?
The terms “bespoke” and “couture” have generally been used interchangeably, although some would clarify key differences between the two. But for a bride not wishing to delve too deeply, they both generally mean that the wedding gown has been designed and made from scratch. It fits one single bride’s own unique requirements and measurements and is therefore one of a kind.
Together, the designer and bride select the finest materials and perfect the style and fit during the toile fittings. After that, skilled fingers bestow many hours of hand-sewing, embroidering and beading on the garment. The bride can be sure that her couture wedding dress will be a personal, carefully considered garment, worthy of heirloom status.
But why is a bespoke (or couture) wedding dress the best option for you?
Why choose a bespoke wedding dress?
Here are the key reasons why you should choose a bespoke/couture wedding dress:
-
- You want something highly personalised, unconventional or off-trend
-
- This might be your second wedding and/or you might be a comparatively mature bride, who is concerned that the mainstream bridal market largely targets young, first-time brides.
-
- You don’t enjoy clothes shopping at the best of times. I can certainly identify with this.
-
- You have seen details that you like on different dresses, but not found a wedding dress that encompasses them all in a tasteful way.
-
- You have unusual fitting requirements.
-
- You feel overwhelmed by the thought of buying something so significant and need some guidance in this unfamiliar territory.
How much does a couture wedding gown cost in the UK?
As you’d expect, a bespoke handmade wedding gown, will be more costly than something that has been mass-produced in factories.
Store-bought garments are punched out of standardised patterns, that have been machine-graded through the sizes, using a formula that is alien to Mother Nature. They know nothing of individuality or unique body proportions.
However, a bespoke wedding gown has been created for one individual bride and this takes a lot more care and skill. It is also made out of the best quality silks and components, which gives an undeniably superior end result.
There is no escaping the fact that luxury and quality do not come cheaply.
The world’s leading bridalwear couturiers like Monique Lhuillier, start from $55,000 (for the full couture service), but if you can’t stretch to that, there are plenty of up and coming, home-grown talent that would love to make you something stunning. Quite often these lesser-known designers can have more exciting, edgy ideas!
My bespoke wedding gowns can start from £2,000 for something quite simple to… well depending on complexity and the consumption of top quality materials, the sky is the limit. I am happy to be as creative as you wish me to be.
So yes, it’s expensive, but as you work closely with the designer throughout the journey, you get to perfect the fit at toile fittings. You will not therefore have the additional expense of seamstress alterations or customisations. These last minute costs invariably come as an unpleasant surprise to any bride, thus causing additional stress.
How long does it take to make a bespoke wedding dress?
Wedding dress designers usually require 6-9 months to make your bridal gown and you cannot secure your date until you have paid your deposit.
I recommend that you identify your favourite designer well in advance of this, because Many brides do book up to 2 years in advance, and may pip you to the post!
Occasionally a designer could fit you in at shorter notice, subject to his/her availability, but this might come at an increased cost.
Technically speaking, a designer could probably make your dress within a few weeks, but this would likely only apply if:
– s/he had no other work or personal commitments booked during that period,
– decisions on design and fabric selections were made quickly,
– materials were immediately available, minimal hand-embellishment was required and
– you would be available for fittings at the drop of a hat.
All of these conditions rarely exist in reality and it significantly chips away at the luxury of having a wedding dress custom made. For this reason, most bespoke bridalwear designers would not readily take this on.
Now I know you have more questions, but you’ll have to wait for part 2!
Until then, feel free to submit your question that you’d like me to cover in the next installment or in future blog posts!