I wanted to wrap up the bridal dress series by discussing a little about the final two bridal shops that I visited. In total, I visited 6 bridal studios – follow the links to view Part 1 and Part 2. I know many friends visited a lot more, because after all it’s one of the most important days of our lives! I also have lots of friends who recommended going to a wedding fair because there are a lot of good deals but we don’t like how impersonal it feels so that was out for us.
However, I am much larger sized than an average Singaporean woman with an hourglass figure which is not a common Asian body type; after visiting about 3 studios, we’re pretty much convinced that I will be getting a made-to-measure gown. With that in mind, we know that the most important thing is finding a bridal studio that we would be comfortable working with the designer and knowing that they will be able to produce my gown on time.
Jessica Cindy
Jessica is the most beautiful designer I’ve ever met, as well as very young and elegant. Her gowns are gorgeous – a lot of details, and amazing with laces. I fell in love immediately with one of the lace trains and I wanted to sign up on the spot. However, I visited her shop at the end of August, which she said was the last week of order taking for April 2016. I felt rushed into making a choice. The pricing is slightly expensive – S$3500 for a made-to measure wedding dress, and $2800 for an evening dress; both for rental. The dress would also not be ready for my photoshoot in January or February, and I did not get to try on any dresses. When I got home and looked through some of her dresses, the gowns are beautiful, but not flattering when it comes to the fatter brides so I think she might not be as experienced handling different body types.
Dang Bridal
Dang is this friendly but pretty fierce woman who dresses like Etna from the Incredibles cartoon. She totally reminds me of Etna! The package seemed reasonable at first; I think she quoted us about $6000-$6500 for the whole bridal set of 1 wedding dress, 1 evening gown and a tea dress (to keep) with a suit (to keep), as well as miscellaneous things like bridal flowers for the car and 4 makeup sessions. Her wedding gowns are beautiful, and I got to try on a few dresses. Her evening gowns are also very nice; very elegant but there are splashes of surprise. She uses quite a lot of laces as well and seem to understand what I want for my bridal gown.
Who did I get in the end? I went with Dang Bridal. I think I’m comfortable with her and she would be able to produce the gowns on time for all my plans. Also, it’s not easy to find a bridal studio that is good and has variety in both the wedding gown and evening dress. If I had a much longer time, I might have engaged Jessica Cindy instead and try to work through my worries.
However, I would also say that I am a little upset because the price that Dang quoted was not what we had in the end – we ended up having to pay a total of nearly $8000 as she said we had to top up for the material chosen. I think it was a little bit of dishonesty on that end so make sure that you confirm the final price before signing up for the package.
Also, as I am writing this a few months after my first post in the series, I have already been working with Dang on my dress for a while. She is very insistent on her idea of what I should be wearing, rather than what I want to wear for my own wedding. She gets very upset if you don’t like her ideas and shows it openly. I hope it turns out well, because I gave in for most of the part since she has more experience so maybe she is better at gauging what will look good on me – afterall, I am paying her for her expertise so might as well use it. But if you’re very hot-headed, or already have a good idea of exactly what you want, then Dang would not be a good choice.
I hope this wedding dress series provided some insight and help for anyone who is on the lookout for their own wedding dress as well! 🙂
The Good Life Bunny 