Everything You Need To Know About Creating A Bespoke Wedding Dress

What sort of time does it take to make a dress from scratch?

“At Phillipa Lepley, we like to allow at least eight months, but ideally, you’d have at least a year to work on the dress before the wedding. For example, our order book is now closed if you’re getting married before September. That said, we always try to accommodate everyone, however tight the timeframe might be for them. The pandemic has taught us to be nimbler in that respect. Equally, the more intricate the design – specifically the more embroidery involved – the more time the better as all our embroidery is done by artisans in Europe, so we need time for garments to go back and forth.”

Can you describe the process start to finish for us?

“The bride will typically book an appointment to start with – this can happen virtually if it’s more convenient – to find out more about her wedding and her personal style. Then, we can prepare a fitting room full of options so she can try pieces on and see what might work or what looks good. Obviously with a bespoke dress, we’ll be looking at different elements of different dresses to see what a unique design might look like. I always encourage them to be as open as possible – it’s funny to see how opinions change once we explore the collection.

“It’s about piecing it together and seeing where we end up, but there is such a thing as an over-designed dress. The shape is the most important thing – the mirror doesn’t lie, and it soon becomes clear what is going to work best. I always try to make them focus on one story or style – it’s easy to get carried away and try to incorporate too much. Once you’ve found the basic shape, you can focus on the embellishments, the fabrics and smaller details.

“The next stage, once you’ve finalised the design, is honing the fit. Fit is key – it doesn’t matter how much work goes into the design, if the fit is wrong, it’ll look wrong. That’s what the toile is for. It’s not often that we have brides change their mind right towards the end of the process, but changes are always possible. Then, at the end, we’ll have a couple of final fittings to ensure the end result is perfect.”

How late in the process can you make changes to a bespoke dress?

“It really depends on time and your budget. Last-minute changes can always be done, but lots of additional work being scheduled in at the atelier will incur costs. That said, we would never say never, and we work tirelessly with each bride to ensure they’re thrilled with the final look.”

How do you go about finding the right accessories for a bespoke dress?

“Bespoke veils made to match a dress can be the perfect finishing touch. The embroidery can be an extension of your design, made with such love, care and attention to detail. Bespoke veils really are a showcase of skilled artisans – the craftsmanship involved is incredible.” 

Finally, what kinds of budget should brides have in mind if they want to go bespoke?

“If I’m being honest, at Philippa Lepley we’d advise earmarking at least £20,000 for a completely bespoke dress. There are always more affordable routes – such as taking a dress from the collection and just making small tweaks, or of course buying completely off the rack or even at a sample sale.”