Why Buy a Made to Measure Wedding Dress Online?
Apart from the fact that I own a made to measure shoe company, I decided to go this direction after a brief time spent retail wedding dress shopping. While unusual, I saw a lot of advantages in buying a bespoke wedding dress: you get the exact design you want, it's an original, and it should require less alterations than buying off the rack. Less intuitively, it can often be faster (the time quote for my dress was 3 months) and doesn't have to break the bank. Depending on your design, maker and fabric, bespoke dresses can be had with mid-range prices and up.THE INSPIRATION

- The gorgeous teal Jenny Packham dress with the lace back worn by Kate Middleton, and
- The white, hi-lo mermaid dresses worn by the ladies in Dream Girls (check out my Pinterest board here). The other direction I also considered going was the sleek dresses worn by Reese Witherspoon in Water for Elephants, which costume designer Jacqueline West was nominated for at the 2011 Academy Awards.

THE PROCESS
- I sent Danielle pictures of dresses with one or more aspect I wanted incorporated into the dress.
- Danielle sketched out variations of the dress (pictured left), filling in some of the blanks I hadn't specified, like adding a row of pearl buttons down the back. We finalized the design/sketch.
- Danielle sent me fabric swatches and price information for each option.
- Since Danielle is in California, I got my mother to measure me and sent Danielle my measurements. (You definitely need someone to help you measure - there were over 30 measurements required for my dress.)
- Next, I got a linen version of my dress. (Not with any lace detailing or beading - just the basic outline.) I found this step very reassuring. I liked the shape of the dress, so knew we were on the right track, and we were able to double check my measurements and the fit by pulling the dress in to see how much I needed taken in.
- I was sent a photo of the almost-finished dress. This allowed me to make any last minute changes. In my case, I had the back lowered another 8 inches or so, and covered with lace.
- The dress arrived! I loved it, but it did need some alterations.
- I went to Capital Tailors for my alterations. In addition to achieving a perfect fit, Capital Tailors, who were wonderful, improved the dress by adding a back zipper, cups, and boning.