Wedding Notes – The Dress – Why I had mine made

One of the biggest decisions in the wedding planning process tends to be the dress. Even if you want the simplest dress there is, you still want to be sure that it is THE dress for you!  

There are several local boutiques that carry designers I really like, such as Justin Alexander and Sophia Tolli. However, I noticed  that the stores here seemed to mainly stock the designs that were trending, which I can’t fault them for because they run a business; you stock what sells. However, I wasn’t particularly interested in a strapless sweetheart neckline mermaid dress (which has been the super trend for the last couple years), or a ballgown. Strapless was a no for me because I didn’t want to be worrying about my bust all day. I also didn’t want a dress that I’d seen someone else in (which can get tricky with the more popular designers). I wanted something different, but I realized my options would be more limited.

I then flirted briefly, (very briefly) with the idea of buying a dress abroad. There was one dress that I had found online that seemed like it could be the one. However, when I contacted the one boutique in South Florida that stocked it, I was told that all they had left was the sample size. I am not a sample size. So I decided to scratch that idea. The associated costs (travel for a fitting etc) would also  have added up pretty quickly, and I decided it was far more trouble than I was looking for.

From watching many an episode of Say Yes to the Dress, I realized that as a tall, non-sample size girl, I was going to have grief. My height (I’m ~ 5’10”), would immediately translate into more material, which would mean an increased cost before you even get to the real alterations. I also learned that some dresses don’t even come in long lengths… Why be punished for my height? With all that added drama before the process even began, the idea of dress shopping for myself really didn’t appeal to me. Just the thought of it was starting to stress me out a little. I decided there had to be another way!

In the end, I turned to Louise. Louise Graham is a fabulous Jamaican designer. We set up a consultation and I knew then and there that this was the way to go. I could get exactly what I wanted design-wise, and it would fit me perfectly. We took elements from three dresses that I liked to create a super design that suited me. All this for what turned out to be a fraction of the cost of dresses I was looking at before! Once I realised that this was the case, I tossed aside all thoughts of buying my dress.

Since I was saving so much by having my dress made, this allowed me some wiggle room to splurge a little on fabrics (and still come in waaaay under budget.). I was scheduled to be in NYC the Thanksgiving before the wedding, so I took some time to pound the pavement of the Garment District to buy my materials. That turned out to be a winning decision. I found a lovely charmeuse in Mood Fabrics and so all that was left was the beaded sheer/lace for the bodice. I spotted something workable in Mood, but it wasn’t quite IT.

The next store I ended up in after Mood was Sposabella Lace. The consultant showed me a gorgeous Italian lace and I was hooked. However, I was a little hesitant to pull the trigger on the lace right away, as it was only the second store I visited. As I was leaving, the consultant told me that I wouldn’t find a lace like that anywhere else in the Garment District. Turns out he sure was right; believe me I looked!  Having seen that fabric, nothing else I saw came close. So I ended up going back to the store and scooped up what was pretty much the last of it.

Sometime in March (the wedding being in May), I started my fittings. Working with Louise was such a seamless process; I can’t recommend her enough! One of the best parts of the experience was being able to get all the changes and details I wanted as the dress was taking shape; I wasn’t altering someone else’s vision to try to suit mine.

This was the end result and I absolutely loved it!

Thanks to Sean Murray Photography for the shots!

P.S Stef also decided to have his wedding-wear custom made so he could get the colour and fit just right. He chose local menswear designer Carlton Brown. The result: