My mom really wanted me to look into this but I was too nervous. There are so many dresses out there at so many cost points I knew I would find one – and I did.

My fear with the custom made dress is that I would hate it. I can't tell you how many times I thought I would like something out of a catalogue or online and it came and it wasn't for me. Or when I went into a store and tried on 10 things and the one I brought in the room as a “I guess I will try it” worked out to be the best.

I do believe there is a lot to be customized on an existing dress though. Like if you find something you love and want to add detail or take some away, or straps or lower or raise a bustline.

I would say definitely explore it if you can't find what you are looking for but for me personally, i would be a little nervous.

Found a beautiful dress from the Madeline Gardner collection in January, but it was a bit out of my budget. Decided to get it made. Going end of June for a final fitting and collecting the dress, but would not order it from China. My finace ordered his suit from rajafashions.com. They meet up with you in a hotel, take your meadurements and 4-6 weeks later your suit arrives. Well, it did, but needed alterations. We went for another hotel appointment. Another 4 weeks later the suit has turned up. The jacket is now a perfect fit, but the trousers still need alterations. Hope this will be our last appointment. Glad we did it so far in advance of the wedding as I would be very nervous if we left it too late.

I'm in love with a Nina Ricci dress I saw in Vogue last year for £10,500. My budget for the entire wedding is about £4000 so that's never gonna happen! Thankfully my aunty is a dressmaker so I'm currently trying to find a dress pattern that's similar for her to make. SO scared I won't like it but she'll make a mock-up first so it should turn out ok!

Katie said:

I've had a dress custom made to wear at a wedding recently. I ordered it online via the ebay shop of a Chinese seller, too. What can I say, the service was perfect, they have been so patient with me. I customised my dress from two different wedding gowns – skirt from one, top from the other. Deleted some of the details (as I wasn't the bride, obviously, so didn't want to go OTT), chose colour and fabric, …

The dress arrived within 4 weeks – amazing! I was and still am very, very pleased with it. It's so beautiful, really well made, such good quality, and fit like a glove. So from my personal experience I'd say do go for a customised dress. But always check feedback on such sellers and order in time so you can fix things if something does go wrong.

Hi Katie,

Can you tell me where you got your dress made?  Sounds fantastic!