Getting my wedding dress handmade
I'm going to be honest. I am very presumptuous bride to be. I actually had my wedding dress made prior to my engagement... I warned you. I am presumptuous.
The thing is I knew I was going to marry MM about three months after we met. Well... I hoped I would.
This summer we travelled to Vietnam for a friend's wedding - and I took the opportunity to have my own wedding dress made by the talented and wonderful tailors of Hoi An in Northern Vietnam.
The bride in that wedding had not one but four wedding dresses on her big day! I just wanted the one.
It was our second trip to Vietnam in two years and I knew I wouldn't get another chance to take advantage of cheap but expert tailoring in Asia.
What takes the UK highstreet stores 6 months to achieve, the team in Yaly Couture pulled it out of the bag in just 24 hours. I took along images of my chosen gown and they made me a wedding dress that fit like a glove and looked a lot like the wedding dress of my dreams.
Except there was a problem.
Tailoring in Asia? Take your own fabrics!
One piece of advice I would give anyone hoping to have their wedding dress tailored in Asia - take your own fabrics!
The selection of lace in Vietnam was pretty woeful unfortunately. I'm not going to give away too many details of my wedding dress (you never know, MM might suddenly start reading my blog!) but the lace detail basically looks like cheap net curtain.
So what to do?
Much like in Vietnam, an experienced dress makers can take any design you bring in and come back with something wonderful, beautifully fitted and expertly crafted... of course the cost and time it takes isn't the same but it won't, at least, cost you a £1,000 return flight!
I perused a few London based tailors for my dress. I think it's important to meet your tailors in person before making a decision. It's good to check out their past work and get personal recommendations if you can.
Having inspected my dress my tailors have agreed to unpick it and replace the offending net curtain with some lovely Chantilly lace... I just have to find it. It costs around £700 to have the dress recreated and when you think how much it costs to buy one from the shop? Still a bargain!
I am so excited!
A-Bx
London Wedding Dress makers
Jenny Lessin (prices start at £1,750)
Melanie Potro (prices start at £1,800)
Jacqueline Byrne
Paris Wedding Dress makers
Laurent Kapelski (English version website)
Anne Clicques (English version website)
Marie Viloteau & Mary Kruger (bespoke and pre-designed gowns)
Christophe-Alexandre Docquin
