How to Have Your Gown, Your Way at Your Price

Are you searching for your bridal gown and finding styles you love, but prices that are WAY outside your budget? Or have you tried on gowns, but like the train on this one; the bodice on another and the back on a third?

Are you thinking you'll never find the perfect gown....with everything that will make you feel like THE most beautiful lady on your wedding day....the one that will 'WOW' your groom when he sees you start coming down that aisle? Well....I have a solution you likely never thought of!!

Order yourself a custom designed gown!!!

And, NO...do NOT say, "OH SURE...what does this lady think? That I'm made of money like the big celebrities and movie stars?"

You CAN have your wedding gown custom designed and STILL have it come in at about the same price as an average gown at a bridal shop! I call this: YOUR GOWN, YOUR WAY!!

Here's how it works with a custom designed gown:

1. You collect pictures or websites leading to pictures of gowns you love....or 'parts' of different gowns you love.

2. You decide what your budget is for your gown. (And on a custom gown, you CAN spend a little more because the gown IS made to your own exact measurements so you will only have the seamstress expense of a final fitting to fine tune it's fit to your body!) Alterations on a gown ordered from a shop CAN be as much as $200 or even more, so if you had not allotted that into your gown budget, you would have been in for a big surprise after it came in...and this way, you can apply some or all of that to a gown that's YOUR GOWN, YOUR WAY...and at YOUR PRICE!

3. You find yourself a seamstress who specializes in bridal....and make sure she has references to show you that you can check out. At this point, you can 'hire' her just to take your measurements and arrange to do your final fitting...if you are ordering your gown from another source.......OR........ you can actually work with her to create your gown for you, using the process here.

4. You get all your professional measurements taken. My designer has specific ones she wants and has me send her form to you with all the instructions on it.

5. You and I...or your hired seamstress, design your gown. If you need fabric samples, to choose your lace, for example, we mail those to you to help in the design process. When the details are all worked out as to how you want YOUR gown to look, either I would submit them to my designer to get a price quote, OR...you would get this quote from your own seamstress. If the quote is over your budget, then between the designer, you and me, we discuss how to reduce the costs. We can change fabrics, or laces to find something less expensive. We can make some change in design that would decrease the amount of TIME needed to make the gown. (For example, beading could be glued on, rather than hand sewn, in certain places, or less beading could be used, or a beaded lace used to start with...) There are MANY ways to make a gown less expensive, but still maintain the overall look and feel of it. This is why my designer can make her own versions of very expensive designer gowns at a fraction of the costs charged when they have that designer label in them!

6. With your own seamstress, you would likely go and purchase all your fabric, laces and beaded and bring those to her to use. Working with my designer, you would choose from what she has access to, unless you picked out some special trim or lace and we shipped it to her. Most brides work from what she has access to, since we can show you samples ahead of time.

7. When we have all the details worked out so we all know what the final gown will look like and be made from and the price is OK, we send you an invoice with all the details spelled out on it, for your approval, and at that point you make your payment for the gown and the process of sewing begins. If you were working with your own seamstress, she would have a similar way of writing up an invoice that would make it clear just what she was going to do, using what specific fabric, laces, color and design features and at what price. And she would have her own specific payment terms.

We had a seamstress do a custom gown for one of our daughters, and we made payments to her at certain points along the way, with a final payment at the time of gown delivery. Working with my designer, I would need payment in full because I must pay her in full when the order is placed. But to make up for that worry to the bride, I also offer a full money back guarantee on the gown cost, should a bride not be satisfied....which is very UNcommon with custom made gowns.

8. Working with your own seamstress, you would have certain points where you had to go in for fittings during the process. As an example, as she was completing the bodice, the fitting for that part of the gown would be done with you present, wearing the actual undergarments you intended to wear on your wedding day...and the same when she was doing the skirt and again the hemline and bustling the train. You would need to have your undergarments and actual shoes purchased at the time of ordering the gown, and either leave these with your seamstress for all fittings or bring them to each fitting. Working with my designer, you would have no fittings along the way, so you would need this 'final fitting' after the gown was delivered to you, done by a local seamstress.

The process is very much fun and it makes YOUR gown very personal to you. You can have sleeves or NO sleeves; a halter top, a strapless top, a corset back or a back with fully functional buttons like the gowns from the 1940's.

The fabric color AND fabric is YOURS to choose, as well as the laces or other embellishments on the gown. The train is bustled the way YOU want it.

The whole process is all about THE BRIDE and making her happy! My brides love this experience and sometimes we spend MORE time getting the design together than the 8-10 weeks it takes to get the gown finished and delivered!! We can even have the bride and groom's names and wedding date embroidered into the gown to really make it special!! That's how brides did it in the 1800's when they spent a good part of the year before the wedding HAND SEWING their own wedding gowns!

Can you imagine the excitement for both of you on your wedding day...to have known ahead of time, you created and designed your own gown...and when you start walking down the aisle, your groom sees you for the first time wearing it?? YOUR Gown, YOUR Way...AND even at YOUR PRICE?

If this idea appeals to you and you would like assistance in the process of creating a custom gown, please contact me at 928-368-2466 or via our website. I have been providing excellent service to my brides since 1998. I can provide references for you to check and help with all aspects of planning your wedding, in additional to helping you have a custom made wedding gown.

JoAnne Schnepp
White Lace and Promises
http://www.laceandpromises.com

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