What You’re Paying For When You Choose Bespoke Bridal Gowns

The devil, as the saying goes, is in the detail. This certainly holds true when it comes to designing wedding dresses: cut-out fabrics, luxurious lace, dainty embroidery and beautiful beading all serve to ensure a unique and beautiful garment. One-of-a-kind bespoke bridal gowns are a far cry from your regular off-the-rack creations, and it follows that their costs reflects that.

But just what are you paying for when you commission a one-off wedding dress? Is it really worth it? Here’s a run-down of why they may cost more, but can often actually be a bargain.

Fit, Originality and Individuality

Bespoke bridal gowns are, first and foremost, designed to ensure that they will perfectly fit the bride. Many women feel that their body shapes are not exactly the right fit for ready-to-wear, so they opt to have a dress created exactly for their shape and size. While made-to-measure dresses ensure a perfect fit to the bride’s bodily measurements, bespoke takes things a little further: they ensure this perfect fit includes taste, personality, style, dreams and sometimes even a little bit of history.

Designers will meet with you for discussions before, during and after the design stage to ensure the dress will be precisely what you want. And, even after the initial dress fittings, changes can still be made to make sure everything is absolutely perfect when it’s time to wear it down the aisle.

Attention to Detail

The perfect beadwork; textures and embroidery incorporated into unique, intricate designs; antique lace sourced from exotic locations; little touches like vintage brooches and other heirlooms meaningful to you and your family – all these details can be woven into the design of a dress. These are some of the things you'll never find in an off-the-rack dress.

The important thing to remember is that couturiers think of their bespoke bridal gowns as pieces of art - which is why they pay attention to every bead, stitch and tuck. Many spend countless hours to attain perfection, and that’s just what you’re paying for. We’re calling it attention to detail, others would call it artistry.

Hard, Painstaking Workmanship

Ask any designer specialising in this kind of work and they’ll tell you that these creations, if not always handmade, are hard work, but well worth it. One famous designer said, "Every wedding gown I make is a labour of love," and what better garment to wear to a celebration of love?

Creating bespoke bridal gowns entails each step in the process to be painstakingly performed. These include design meetings and brainstorming, revisions, fittings, creating the toile (a prototype/mock up traditionally made of muslin), more fittings, creating the dress itself, adding the details, and more fittings!

A Process Well Worth It

While the process may sound expensive, when you consider all that goes into it, you’ll realise that you’re actually getting a bargain. After all, each dress is practically a masterpiece – and one you'll wear on the most important day of your life. Priceless.

Looking for bespoke bridal gowns? Tatiana Porembova is one of the leading London wedding dress designers and her work spans a range of styles and influences. Based in Richmond, she creates beautiful bridal gowns and bridesmaids outfits to provide the perfect garments for the perfect day.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.