That said, unless you’re determined to spend a lot on your wedding dress, you don’t have to spend a lot. You should look at bridal salons’ average price point and compare it with your own budget.
The average price of an off-the-rack wedding dress in NZ is around the $3000 mark, trending upwards depending on the number of customisations and alterations you may need. Custom wedding wear begins slightly higher, at $3500 to $4000.
Jenny: “The price range will be around, like, medium - $2500-ish. Then, and then you will have my custom-made [pieces], and it will [start] from $3500 to $5000.”
Nazneen: “So our prices, they start from $2500 and range into the $6000 sort of mark. The prices at the moment are about the $3000 to $4000 mark.”
If you’ve found your dream wedding dress in a non-traditional sense, that’s perfectly fine. You can customise hand-me-downs from your mother, grandmother or loved one to suit your body and style better. You can hire a dress for a day or more from certain stores. You can check out consignment stores and discover the wide world of secondhand and vintage wedding wear. Your options are kinda endless, aren’t they?
Don’t know the first thing about wedding dress hire? Here is a helpful guide to inform you, covering all the pros, cons and any concerns you may have.
The bottom line is that you have more choices than just buying your wedding dress. Wedding dress sewists are also a dab hand at altering and adjusting wedding wear to fit you just right. Goldilocks would be proud.
The more you try on, the more you discover your style, shape and tastes. If you’re shopping online, many stores will offer trial periods so you can try on the pieces in the comfort of your own home. If you want something more traditional, head to a bridal boutique or salon for the chance to twirl around in front of a giant gilded mirror, just like every romcom known to humankind.
“The most important thing for me? Gosh, well, these days, the most important thing for me is the price. I meet many brides - they always [say that] the price is their main issue.”
And we’ve got the data to back that up. Our polls told us that only 3% of people spend $10000 or more on their dresses; the most common price tag is less than half of that, keeping with the average price in NZ.
Just kidding, there aren’t that many. According to our experts, wedding dress alterations can happen anywhere from one time to multiple, depending on the type of dress you’ve ordered and your own feedback. Ultimately, they are a wholly necessary part of guaranteeing that you look as good as you feel on your special day.
The bread and butter of it is simple: a wedding dress fitting is your scheduled time with a sewist or designer to have your dress fit as comfortably as possible.
It can happen over a series of sessions or be more limited, depending on your sewist/designer and your own time. In these sessions, your dress turns into The Dress, sculpted and tailored for your body.
It’s a good rule of thumb to have every wedding outfit fitted. It’s highly unlikely that something off-the-rack, rented or borrowed will fit like a glove. Designers and sewists specialise in changing that. Even inexpensive wedding dresses deserve the zhuzh that a comprehensive fitting gives them. You’ll be amazed at what a snip here and a clip there can do to transform your outfit into something even more spectacular.
Hemming: which is where most simple alterations begin. This is bringing in the length, adjusting the sides or changing how it fits/falls in minor ways. This is the foundation of your wedding dress alterations and should never be overlooked or rushed.
Detailing: which is the icing on the cake. These wedding dress alterations cost a little more, but they are what add personality to your outfit. It can be anything from adding or removing a train, beading, extra lace, bodice appliqués and more. You can get creative as you want - and as much as your budget (money- and time-wise) allows.
Time is the most significant factor in ensuring your wedding look is as sleek as can be. Bigger changes require more fittings, which will mean adding a necessary amount of extra fittings. Talk to your sewist about how many extras you’ll need for details and how to schedule your alteration process.
Jenny said, “If I design and custom-make [the dress], the chance of alterations is [once]. Because we custom made [it], meaning that we've made it to customer’s measurements, so the chance of having a fault or a little bit of mistake on the measurements is probably only like like 20% - like very minor mistakes. So [some] customers can wait, and then we do alterations on the spot.”
If the dress is off-the-rack, inherited or rented, there’s usually more than just one alteration, according to Nazneen. “If it’s only the one, it’s usually just the hem of it - but if a person needs hemming, and [it’s] due to them being short, then obviously then the shoulder and the waist ratio also will need to be altered.”
Top 10 Places To Buy Wedding Dress In EdmontonOf course, further alterations can happen if you decide you need them. Maybe you want something shorter or looser or whatever. It is necessary to communicate this with your designer and allow them time to fulfil your requests - alongside more fittings, most importantly! Besides, who doesn’t love trying on the wedding dress of their dreams as many times as they’re given a chance?
Nazneen breaks down the details of wedding dress alterations and customisations in this comprehensive FAQ. Check out the guide for all the nitty-gritty questions, from how long they can take to fluctuating dress sizes.
According to our experts, know what kind of wedding dress you’d like a year out from the big day. From there on out, it boils down to who you’re working with to create your masterpiece.
Custom-made wedding dresses can take anywhere from three to six months to create before you can alter them accordingly so that chops your year in half. Six months, however, is the ideal amount of time to consider your style, shop around, try on as many dresses as you want and eventually settle on the fabric-based love of your life.
12 months out: the dress search begins! Find inspiration online and in real life. Talk to loved ones and experts alike for different points of view. Begin the shopping experience by allocating time and energy for this to be as fun and relaxed as possible for you.
9 to 8 months out: take the plunge! Buy your wedding dress. You’ve given yourself a few months to consider what you want and why. You’ve tried on outfits and modelled for your besties in a taffeta-clouded bridal boutique over bubbly. Now it’s time to settle on the one, putting down a deposit of around 50% of the total price (alterations included). Fabric, customisations and more may be sourced from around the world, so this is the longest waiting game you’ll play, dress-wise.
6-month mark: accessorise! You know what your dress will look like, your wedding styling is coming together, and your venue has been long since decided. You can now choose fitting accessories, such as shoes, jewellery and more, based on your wedding’s décor, location and season.
3 months out: it’s here! Your beautiful wedding dress in all its shimmery, perfect glory is here. We vote for giving it a little peck. We also vote for making sure your upcoming fittings are in the books. Your sewist will either have a flat fee for overall fittings, while others may charge per service (hemming, added details, etc.), so budget as needed.
2 months out: your first fitting, which will probably be your longest, should happen. This is when you give the bulk of your feedback to your sewist, including alterations of the neckline, hem and more, and you work together to feel as comfortable and gorgeous as possible. If you’re going to have a wedding bustle, bring along a member or two of your wedding party.
1 month out: your second fitting, where any further tweaks may or may not be decided. By this time, you should have chosen your accessories, but if you haven’t, it’s also perfectly fine to settle on your final pieces and lingerie now.
3 to 2 weeks out: the optional third fitting, for those who wanted more details or further alterations made to their tastes. This is the moment where you’ll have your genuine “first look” at the final wedding outfit. You may get teary-eyed; you may stare at the mirror and call yourself a sexy minx. Both are valid.
1+ week out: it’s all done, and you feel like a goddess, floating through a cloud of perfection - precisely as you should. What are you waiting for? Go pick it up! When it’s all done and dusted, you’ll pay the remaining balance (including any fitting costs). Your bridal salon should send your wedding dress home in a protective garment bag, which will keep it safe and sound until the big day.
FYI: Flying somewhere for your wedding? Never ever check your garment bag in with your luggage. Carry the garment bag with you onto the plane and stash it in one of the overhead bins. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can buy a plane ticket for your gown, Ã la Gossip Girl.
The timeline above differs if you’re having a destination wedding or an elopement. Destination weddings call for the timeline to move further out so you can account for leaving for said destination (i.e. away from your sewist). Elopements usually happen on a tighter timeline, so the above one is condensed to accommodate how time-sensitive it may be - but this will probably cost extra.
Experts strongly recommend settling on your wedding venue before agreeing on a wedding dress. This is because choosing your wedding venue naturally accounts for the other aspects of choosing your wedding dress: you’ll know the location, weather, time, budget and atmosphere of your upcoming wedding. This will help you more aptly select a wedding dress for your big day, whether it’s choosing a heavier fabric for a snowy celebration or going for a pastel-coloured outfit at a beachy spot.
Because different designers have different methods of working and rates of turnaround. Pick your specialist based on your needs and their input. It’ll make planning your wedding dress timeline a piece of cake.