Image: Shevan J Photography / Designer: d’Italia

Dear bride-to-be,

Whether you’re on the hunt for a ready-made gown or you’re considering the custom-made process, it’s always important to go in with an open mind. Have you ever had one idea in your mind that you just couldn’t let go and when you struggled to find that exact concept or design, you began to feel extremely disheartened and deflated? If this is you, you’re definitely not alone. Finding a gown can come with pressure and expectation and as a designer who works alongside those seeking their dream outfit every day, I see this first hand.

Before you begin your shopping it’s always important to remain open and broad with your design ideas. Don’t jump to conclusions too early on as this will only restrict your options further when you begin trying on some gowns or searching for the perfect lace for your custom wedding dress. This may mean, withholding some of your ideas from your family and friends for the time being. As difficult as this may seem, it’s very common for people to feel pressured and influenced by their nearest and dearest. With lots of different opinions, comes lots of confusion. Remember to stay true to yourself, your wedding theme, your personality and what makes you happy.

Image: Shevan J Photography / Designer: d’Italia

Trying on a variety of gowns to see which one you feel most comfortable in and which one reflects you and your ‘vibe’ is the best way to narrow down your ideas. Being open-minded throughout this process may be more beneficial than you think. In fact, it’s very common for brides to try on a dress or explore a unique lace that they never thought would suit them, only discover how very perfect it is for them. Being open-minded can lead you to so many unique and different avenues, that can help you to finding your dream gown and fabric.

For those who decide to opt for the custom-made route, we completely understand how daunting and overwhelming this can be. After all, it’s very likely that you may not have ever had a piece as extravagant as a wedding gown, custom created before. The custom process will often begin with a trial run in which your dressmaker will create your mock-up design usually from a calico (cotton-like) fabric. For brides who struggle to visualise or have never been through this process before, it’s very common to feel a tad overwhelmed during this stage. Our best advice is to trust in your dressmaker and her/his abilities to be able to bring your vision to life. Custom creating a bespoke gown takes a lot of time and is achieved through a step by step process. Don’t be disheartened if your gown doesn’t look exactly like your design initially. If you continue to persevere alongside your dressmaker you’ll begin to see your beautiful design evolve into an incredibly gorgeous masterpiece.

Image: Shevan J Photography / Designer: d’Italia

Along with this, it’s completely normal to want to change certain elements and features on your gown. Don’t be too hard on yourself if something doesn’t quite look like what you expected. It’s very common for brides to go through the custom process and discover that certain elements that they initially thought would look amazing, don’t quite suit you or your vision. Being open-minded throughout the creation stage can come in handy for sure. It will allow you to be creative, change and modify certain elements and tweak it into the very unique gown that you get to call yours. Most importantly, having a gown custom created for you is super exciting so don’t forget to have fun with it. Trust in your dressmaker, remain open-minded and we are confident you will have the best and most memorable experience. But most of all, If you do all of that, you’ll get to walk away with your dream custom gown.

Ms Floral Says: Great advice as always! It’s always good to keep an open mind throughout the entire process of planning a wedding too!

About d’Italia: Bridal couture and custom made wedding dresses are a specialty of d’Italia. Whether you are looking for a vintage wedding dress stores in Melbourne, a lace wedding dress or any style at all – you are assured the exact bridal style you want, with custom-built corsetry to fit you perfectly, at a fraction of the cost of bridal-boutique gowns.