What Happens When a Bride Designs Her Own Wedding Dress

Ever wonder what happens when a bride decides to custom design her own wedding dress? I’ll tell you what happens – big, beautiful, dreams-coming-true kind of things. That’s what. Today’s post is the tale of one such bride.

I first “met” Aire when I was scrolling through some Instagram posts tagged with #burghbrides. There were these photos of this one particular bride rocking a totally unique, incredibly gorgeous pink ombre wedding dress.

What Happens When a Bride Designs Her Own Wedding Dress from Burgh Brides — Studio 21 Photography

After sending her about 30 heart eye emojis and asking where on earth she found such a stunning gown, I was floored when she told she was in the fashion industry and her gown was 100% custom designed!!!

Of course it was. I shouldn’t have been surprised. No mere mortal bride could rock this Beyonce of a dress. No, no, it was only meant for someone who knows, understands, and literally eats, sleeps, and breaths fashion. But I still wanted to learn all about it…why custom, who made it, what inspired the design, etc. etc. etc. insert one thousand questions. So I asked Aire to spill her guts in a guest post and she happily obliged!

From Aire…

With the countless, beautiful dress options out there, why design your own?
There has a very particular detail that I wanted and I wasn’t finding it in the market! As a graduate of The Fashion School at Kent State and someone that has worked in the fashion industry my whole career, I’ve always felt very drawn/close to the design process. Since I know what goes into the production of clothing, I couldn’t see paying such a high price for a gown that wasn’t exactly what I envisioned.

What inspired your design and overall look?
I’ve always been been drawn to raw edge chiffon, like on the sleeves of vintage Chanel suits and gowns with texture. When I was watching Project Runway a few seasons ago, my vision starting coming together when one of the designers did layered raw edge fabric on a gown. The ombre skirt was a last minute addition after a few Couture Week shows a few seasons ago. I figured if I was doing custom I might as well go all the way!

What was the design and production process like?

The designer I worked with did my friend’s gown and came highly recommended, but I was still hesitant she wouldn’t understand the look I was going for. After a few emails back and forth and me sending over as many details and pictures as possible, she sent over a few sketches with what she was thinking. I loved all of them, but knew I had to narrow it down. I ended up taking the bodice of one gown and the skirt of another. When she sent the new sketch over with the two pieces together, I cried. I knew it was going to be exactly what I wanted.

I also spent a lot of time perfecting my exact measurements with her! After the sketch was finalized, she went to work on the sloper (BB here…A sloper is “a type of basic pattern that is used as the building block for all other patternmaking.” Thanks Google.), which she then sent to me to try on to make sure the measurements were correct. After that process was completed came the really fun steps: selecting the fabric for the ombre skirt, the fabric for the bodice etc.

What advice would you give to another bride looking to design or customize her own wedding dress?

Be brave! Lol! Even though I knew this was what I wanted it was still kind of a scary process, knowing that I didn’t really have control the dress after a certain point!! I would say if you go this route, you should definitely know what you want. Some designers can really go rogue and do what they want, not necessarily what you want!