The Process Behind a Custom Wedding Dress.

Do you have demanding tastes, and when it comes to an outfit for a day as special as your wedding, what you find in stores doesn't meet your expectations or just confuses you? Then a custom-designed wedding dress is definitely your option! But where do you find this, and what times and processes does it involve? We'll tell you everything here!

At Débh Herrera, we have an exclusive collection that you can take as is or customize; but our true specialty is custom wedding dress design.

 

These are the detailed steps and times we consider:

1. Design Consultation:

Normally, the most organized brides contact us a year in advance, most do so between 10 and 8 months before, and last-minute brides between 4 and 3 months before. Our recommendation is precisely between 10 and 8 months in advance. This way, you will not only be able to program everything better and enjoy the process more, but you will also ensure access to more special fabrics and the atelier's availability to schedule your dress. Sometimes we take orders with short notice, but you run the risk of us not having space.

 

You may have a specific idea of what you want, but design goes beyond an idea. In this consultation, the designer Débh Herrera will advise you on the ideal silhouettes and technical details according to your body type, personal style, and the characteristics of your event.

A conversation about the entire dress arises; together, you analyze several reference images in detail, and she sketches all views of the design: front, back, and side. After defining the silhouette, she will show you all the fabrics with which it can be achieved, analyzing shades according to your skin, properties according to the climate and technical construction, event style, and your personality. This continues until the design is 100% defined.

In this same design consultation, your exact body measurements are normally taken, although sometimes they are taken in a second appointment, especially if you plan to have a significant change in measurements. This ensures a dress that is not only unique but also custom-fitted.

2. Budget:

Sometimes we can give you price ranges according to the style you are looking for with reference photos, but since it is something personalized and unique, the final price can only be obtained after the design consultation. This involves a period of two to seven days to quote fabrics and ensure their existence, calculate creation time, and fittings. Many times we can send you two to three price proposals, changing material options or adding detachable or transformable pieces. This will allow you to better choose your budget.

Currently, our clients invest between $22,000 and $65,000 in their wedding dresses for the ceremony. It really depends on the specific characteristics of the design, but we give you this range because we know it's one of the most frequent questions from brides. For civil ceremonies, the normal investment ranges from $6,000 to $24,000, but again, everything depends on materials and your own style.

3. Contract:

Once you confirm your agreement with a final design, materials, and budget, a contract full of guarantees and security is made for you, since you are not only buying a dress but also the design, creation, and follow-up service until you have the garment of your dreams.

A great advantage is that you only need to pay a 70% deposit for the dress to contract; normally, another 20% is due by your second fitting, and the last 10% upon final delivery. This will allow you to better organize your expenses.

As soon as the deposit is received and the contract is signed, the hiring is validated, and your fitting dates are assigned.

4. Scheduling Fittings:

The further in advance you book your dress relative to your event date, the more options you'll have to schedule your fittings at your convenience.

Normally, a simple dress requires only two fittings, and if everything is okay at the second, you can take it home. Most ceremony dress designs involve three to four appointments; the more pieces, details, and embroidery, the more "fitting" days, but it's very rare to have a fifth fitting. A new trend is remote custom design without fittings; if the dress allows it, we create it and send the final dress to your specified location. We've done this for people in France, Australia, the United States, and other states in Mexico, and the results have been satisfactory, achieving dresses that fit perfectly.

For those who don't plan to make drastic changes to their measurements (drastic is when there can be variations of more than 10cm), fitting appointments are distributed approximately two to three months apart, and a first fitting can begin up to 10 months before the wedding. If you intend to make significant changes to your body, then appointments can be scheduled closer together, between one month and 15 days apart, starting three months in advance.

We have a policy that the bride can take the dress home at least 15 days before the wedding; sometimes you can have it up to two months in advance if you ordered it early and require it. However, we guarantee that you can try on your dress up to a week before, and if you need a last-minute adjustment because you lost or gained weight, we will do it free of charge. Our plus is that on the day of the event, your fitting will be perfect.

5. Dress Creation and Fittings:

The creation process is entirely internal, and our job is for you not to worry about any of it. In any case, here we share a broad overview of the steps in our atelier.

First, we calculate the fabric needed, and then the purchase is made. All materials are imported, especially embroideries or laces, which arrive in small quantities, and we cannot risk them running out.

Subsequently, we schedule production according to your dates and the number of orders we have.

The exact pattern making is done, then the cutting and construction of the structure for the first fitting. We like to do fittings in the final materials to have a better idea of the final result, but sometimes "toiles" are made, which are models in muslin or similar, more affordable fabrics.

This first structure normally doesn't have final finishes, boning, or decorations; this allows us to perfectly model it on your body and make changes if required. So, even here, many modifications can be made to the design, entering a process of experimentation. Sometimes ideas arise that we didn't visualize, and as we create, we are surprised by things that can look even better according to your body and style.

After this first fitting, the pattern is perfected and adjusted or cut on the final fabric. A simple dress can be finished and ready for delivery at the second fitting. If there are more details, more finishes and ornaments begin to be added, which can still be adjusted. If there is custom embroidery, sometimes the placement of the embroidery begins to be proposed with real-size drawings or mounted embroidery applications with pins to allow for any necessary movement; we will see how the dress falls in the final fabric and how the decorations look in proportion to the real body.

The third fitting is usually a finished dress, or if changes in measurements were anticipated, certain seams and closures are left pending. Before reaching this stage, all the embroidery would have been worked on, in our case usually by hand; if not finished, they will be very advanced depending on the amount the design has. If the garment is finished and fits perfectly, you can take it with you.

The fourth fitting is 99% of the time a final delivery; here, the details, if any, are minimal and can be done on the spot. We take photographs and advise you on how to move in your dress, sit, walk, dance, pose, completely own the design and bring it to life with your personality. All of this is part of looking good.

It's worth mentioning that during fittings, we ask you to bring your shoes, accessories, and underwear; everything can influence, and we like to check it with you. We also discuss your makeup and hairstyle and how they integrate with the dress.

6. Final Delivery:

The dress is delivered to you in a garment bag, and you are given instructions for ironing if necessary, transportation, washing, and assembly and disassembly of extra or transformable pieces such as trains, skirts, or sleeves.

It may seem like a long process because the purpose of this article is to detail it, but our job is to make the process simple for you. You just have to come to your appointments to relax and be pampered, like when you go to the beauty salon. Each appointment is an experience; it's about a creation completely inspired by you, an opportunity to enjoy and carefully visualize your dream.

Great things take time. You decide how unique you want to look and how important the dress that will bring such a special day to life is. In any case, we would love to make your dreams come true.