Returning to the Wedding Dress Search

Like many brides, I was on a search for the perfect dress. I had an ideal dress, but it was too expensive. I had gone to a few stores, but none of the dresses I tried were as great as the image I had in my head. I still wasn't over the Keveza dress I initially fell in love with.

I started to look into alternatives to buy from a wedding dress boutique. I started to look up all the seamstresses in Seattle and Portland. I figured if I couldn't find the right dress from a store, maybe I could find someone to make the image I had in my head.

I contacted two seamstresses in Seattle. The first was Jenny Manes.
She was highly recommended from everything that I read. I went to her studio to talk a little more about the dress. I forgot to bring the picture of the dress, but I told her about it. She initial quoted 1,500. Which to me was a lot better than the 6 to 8 thousand for the designer dress. I also got to see some of her work which was really great. She made a dress that had gold material underneath layers, and shimmered every time the bride turned.

I sent her a picture of the dress. She called me back to tell me that it was a beautiful dress, but because of the embellished tulle the fabric would be really expensive. She said that the dress would be around 3,000. This was still out of my price range. Even if I was in love with the dress.

Next, I contacted Beverly Hunnicutt. We only emailed and spoke on the phone. She was willing to make the dress, but I needed to find the tulle overlay material. I looked on line, but realized that it would still be close to the 3,000 from the first seamstress.

I tried one other source. ETSY. I found etsy through all the wedding websites, and I am a full fledged believer. I contacted bellina bridal. The seller is based in Italy, and they have several signature designs. We started to email, and she quoted a very low price. In the end I couldn't go through with having a wedding dress made that I would never try on until it was finished. I had never even tried on the model dress. I just had an irrational pull towards it. I was also worried about having my dress made in another country, and having it shipped over. I have had other things made from etsy sellers, and they were great. I just didn't know if I could trust buying a wedding dress without seeing and trying it on first.

After all of this I was still wondering if I would be left with out a dress. Would I have to walk down the aisle in my white bath robe?

Did you have a hard time finding your dress? Did you talk to any seamstresses or think about a costume dress?