The Most Imporant Dress You'll Ever Own?

One of the more overwhelming choices I've had to make in the planning process for my wedding has been selecting a wedding gown. My sister, Ann and I walked into a few bridal salons early in the planning process and the high prices for gowns completely blew me away. Being on a budget, I don't have the luxury of choosing an expensive dress. Heck, I didn't even know what kind of dress I wanted. And so, the search to find the "perfect dress for me" began. If the wedding gown is in fact the most important dress you'll ever own, it is worth it to take things slow and invest your time and money into finding "the right one."

If you don't know where to start, summons the experts. I found VeraWang.com to be the most informative website. If you go into the "bridal fashion" tab and click on "gown story" there is a wealth of information regarding different fabrics, textures, dress forms for different body types and more. This website really helped me narrow down they type of dress that would hang well on my petite frame. For example, I learned from Vera Wang that a ball gown type dress would only make me appear shorter and rounder where as a more form fitting dress with a v-neck may elongate my body. Being 5' 2" I need all of the help I can get when it comes to height!

Armed with that information, I began searching for styles of dresses that fit the advice that I received from the Vera Wang website. I looked on ALL of the websites, The Knot.com, Brides.com. I even went on individual designer's websites. I was convinced that I wanted a Monique Lhuillier
bridal gown, but my budget kicked my butt back to reality. To try to save money, Ann and I even went to a Lhuillier warehouse sale in Downtown LA. Still to expensive. After a ton of searching, the dress that I finally decided that I wanted was still way over my budget so... I began the next phase of research... looking for a seamstress who could recreate the dress that I wanted.

As luck would have it, there is a seamstress in my hometown who was a costume designer for many years and is now in the business of creating dream gowns for brides. I contacted her, contacted references that she gave me, met with her, showed her photos of dresses that I was considering and she encouraged me to go for what I wanted and promised that I would have what I wanted. So far, so good. If you are going to hire someone to make your dress, I recommend the following:

1. The sooner you start meeting with your chosen seamstress or tailor, the better. I began working with my lady back in February, 9 months before my wedding date. Some might even say this is too late.

2. Have images of the dress that you want from all angles possible. If you don't have an exact pattern for your seamstress or tailor to follow, having a visual of all sides of the dress will greatly aide in their ability to create what you want. Drawings (front, back and sides) or photos are best.

3. Be open and Be patient. Creating a dress from scratch can be very challenging work so don't expect your dress to be perfect the first time you go in for a fitting. I've spent about 8-10 hours alone talking with my lady, shopping for fabric, fitting mock-ups of my dress and working with her to get it just right. She has also been very patient with me and has worked hard to make sure that it is perfect.

4. Have a written contract. Any professional seamstress or tailor will have a contract for you to sign. Read through it carefully and make sure all of the important details are included. A good friend of mine suggested that in the contract, there be a deadline for your dress to be 100% complete at least 2 weeks prior to the wedding. My own contract states that my dress will be ready 5 days before the deadline that we selected and that I will also receive a petty coat (which I won't need) and a veil.

I've been very pleased with my decision to have a dress made. I've invested a great deal of time into the process however, I've ended up spending a fraction of the amount for a dress made to fit me specifically. You can't beat that!

The next big challenge for me has been choosing a dress for my bridesmaids... if you can't afford it, make it! More on that in my next post!