Bring the details of the day, not just the dress
Come with the date, even if it is provisional, and the venue or the kind of venue you are choosing between. Say whether the day includes one ceremony or several — an akad, an adat procession, and a reception can each call for a different garment. These facts shape structure before a single fabric is chosen.
Bring what already exists
- Two or three references that describe a feeling, not just a dress you have seen
- Any family fabric, kain, or heirloom piece you are considering working into the design
- A rough sense of budget, so the conversation stays realistic
- Photos of past fittings or garments, if you know what has or has not worked on you before
What we will ask you
Expect questions about movement before questions about decoration: whether you will sit on the floor for part of the ceremony, climb stairs, dance, or change into a second look partway through the day. Whether you will wear heels or flats, and for how many hours. These answers decide boning, weight, and how a train is managed long before they decide beading.
How the timeline gets set here
By the end of the first meeting you should have a design-lock date, a rough fitting count, and a target handover week. We treat this as a working document, not a formality — it is what keeps a custom piece on schedule once fabric is ordered and pattern work begins.
You do not need finished answers
Bring uncertainty along with your references. Part of the first conversation is figuring out which decisions need to be made now and which can wait for a fitting. Arrive with questions of your own about process, and use the meeting to test whether the working relationship feels right, not only whether the sketches do.