girls and gowns (female secondary sponsors’ gowns)

Earlier plans include buying gowns for the bridesmaids and flower girls off the rack. Like most practical brides, I indulged myself with the idea of a gown that they can use again. A sundress or a semi-formal evening gown perhaps. But it proved to be harder than going around malls and checking out every boutique and dress shop that we can find.

There were other things to be considered such as appropriateness (Is it suitable for the kind of wedding that we have in mind?), wearability (Is it really something that my bridesmaids will wear again?), personality,(Are they the type who wear this kind of dress? Or do their work or careers call for an event that merits this type of attire?), practicality (Some RTW gowns, especially the real pretty ones, are relatively more expensive than custom made). And not to mention that we also have a theme to keep up with – a country-style wedding theme where anything formal might look out of place.

To our delight, my mom told us to have the gowns custom-made instead because she’s planning to put up a gowns-for-rent-business in the province. Best of all, we’ll only spend on the fabric because she offered to pay for the cost of the labor. That got the ball rolling for us. I gathered all the gown inspirations I have tucked in my “for wedding” folders and sent them off to my bridesmaids for them to choose which design they like. This was a unanimous choice:

For the flowergirls, I did the picking:

Next was D, my mom and I trooping to Divisoria (the marketplace mecca in Manila) to find some affordable but good quality fabric. We thought Duchess Satin in Celadon and White would be perfect for the cut and design of the gowns.  All that’s left to do was to find a seamstress to do the job.

My mom had some simple dresses made by a neighbor seamstress, Ate Let. We don’t consider her an expert on gowns but we thought that since the cut is very simple, she’ll be able to execute it well. She did, sort of, but not without a few glitches.

On the first fitting, 1 bridesmaid’s gown was too small (by an inch) and the other 3 were too loose (by 1 to 2 inches). The gowns also wrinkled at the back. She lives near our house which made it easier for me to haul my bridesmaids  over to her place and show her personally what’s wrong with their gowns. She promised to fix the problem and her finishing it on time was the least of my worries because we still had 2 weeks before the wedding then.

First fitting: Bridesmaid’s dress

The flowergirls’ dresses, on the other hand, were right the first time and fitted the girls beautifully even if we just gave her their body proportions (and did not bring them over to have their measurements taken.)

First fitting: Flower girl’s dress

All gowns were delivered a week before the wedding. There were still some minor problems on the fit of the gowns, some still wrinkle at the back. But overall, they were okay, acceptable. The ladies and girls look nice on them.

Rating 3.5/5

Pros: Accessible, affordable, the cut and design of the gown was copied exactly

Cons: 3 out of 4 bridesmaids gowns wrinkle at the back and do not hug the bodies neatly

Recommended for brides looking for affordable seamstress to work on gowns with simple designs.

Not recommended for gowns with more complicated designs.

(Please read the Suppliers’ Ratings Disclaimer)