Rushed brides get rushed gowns. The single kindest thing you can give your dress is time — time to source the right lace, to fit without panic, to change your mind once and still finish early. Here is the calendar we build with every bridal client.
12–9 months out: dream on paper
Collect images, note what you love in each, and book your dream session. We’ll narrow fifty pins to three silhouettes, talk honestly about venue, weather and dancing, and set a budget before emotion spends it. This is also when rare fabrics get ordered — heritage laces can take sixteen weeks to arrive.
9–6 months out: cut and toile
Sketches are approved, your pattern is drafted, and the shape is proven in muslin. Bring the shoes and underpinnings you’ll actually wear; a gown fitted to the wrong heel height is fitted to the wrong body. Mothers and attendants join the plan now so the whole party harmonizes.
6–2 months out: fittings, calmly spaced
Two to three appointments, never stacked in one week. Bodies fluctuate and so do minds; spacing lets both settle. Between fittings, live your life — the gown should fit the life, not the other way around.
The final month: press, pack, breathe
Your last fitting happens two to three weeks before the wedding — never the week of. We press, pack with tissue strategy, rehearse the bustle with your maid of honor, and hand over the emergency kit: thread, buttons, fashion tape, stain pen and our day-of hotline number.
Short engagement? We take rush commissions when the calendar allows, with honesty about what can and can’t be done beautifully in the time left. Ask early — the answer is more often yes than brides expect.
Marlowe Vane
Founder & Head Designer — 300+ brides and counting.