Here we are, in the year 2026, the show “Say Yes to the Dress” has been on air for 20 years. There have been, to the best of my knowledge, 400 seasons. Every person on earth has seen at least one episode. With it comes the implicit, global, ingrained understanding: there is A Dress, and you must Say Yes to it.

The problem with this excellent reality TV show is just that- it is an excellent reality TV show. Excellent reality TV shows rely on drama. Interpersonal tension. Heightened emotions. There’s no excellent reality tv show where everyone is having a nice time (with the possible exception of that one where two men go fishing and chat aimlessly about nothing? I’m told people like that. I’d rather have a lobotomy thanks)

So there’s a good chance you’ve seen this show, and actually, that your MAIN ideas about shopping for a wedding dress have been formed watching this excellent reality tv show. I know when my sister got engaged before I made wedding dresses I was very excited to GO SHOPPING for her wedding dress with her. I wanted to go to all of the boutiques, and watch her try on all the dresses, and “help” her choose one. Of course, this experience was absolutely miserable for my sister, who hates trying on clothes, hated every dress in every shop, and was exhausted and miserable by the end of a day being dragged around Edinburgh.

The problem is that the sayyestothedressification of wedding dress shopping is starting to ruin dress shopping for everyone. The three worst offences; 1. It encourages you to ONLY consider how you LOOK standing still, possibly on a podium; 2. It encourages over-shopping; 3. It encourages you to see wedding dress shopping as a group endeavour;

Let’s start with The Podium; man, the podium is divisive. Obviously it is super fun to stand on a podium- perhaps to be given a sash or a bouquet- we’ve all watched the Olympics. I get it. But you will spend remarkably little time on your wedding day standing perfectly still on a podium. I actually am not sure I’ve ever seen a bride stand on a podium. What you will probably do is move around- walk, dance, hug people, eat things, maybe briefly sit, make your husband tell his circus story and join in with the accompanying arm movements. If you have only tested how your wedding dress looks standing perfectly still on a podium, you may find that it doesn’t translate particularly well to being lived in. I have strong feelings about the designers of these wedding dresses- who put the aesthetic over the function and in doing so strap women’s arms to their bodies on one of the most emotional days of their lives- but the podium let’s these bad designs get away with it. You shouldn’t have to have some advanced level analytical approach to wedding dress shopping to not accidentally end up buying an almost unwearable dress! That sucks!

Over shopping is a problem for EVERYONE, not just you, because it pushes the prices of wedding dresses up. Running a bridal boutique is a hugely expensive endeavour, stocking those rails full of dresses is Herculean (or maybe, with the speed they go out of style, Sisyphean?). If we do some very quick sloppy maths here- if each dress on the rail is costing £600+ wholesale, a rack of 30 is £18,000. And most of them will be trashed, or stop being stocked from the designer, within 2 years. The industry standard mark-up is currently 200-300%. If every bride is going to 5 or 6 boutiques before making a purchase, that’s 5 or 6 hours of boutique running costs they need to make back with the sale of the dress. Obviously this is complicated by the fact that many of the boutiques simply won’t make any money off you (I know they are increasingly charging for appointments, I PROMISE those appointment fees are not keeping the lights on, if they filled their diary with appointments but made no sales they would close)

Finally, group shopping. You may be familiar with the expression “A camel is a horse designed by a committee”- group decisions and endless compromises smooth of the fingerprints of personality in a wedding dress. I have a really good radar for when a dress has been handmade, because a dress made by one passionate weirdo is always going to have an interesting energy. Group shopping is the exact opposite of that- it encourages meekness, blandness and usually comes with a side portion of body shaming. The Group wants you to look as young and thin as possible. The Group doesn’t care about your fantastical romantic moodboard. The Group has given us the strapless sweetheart neckline fishtail lace dress with a diamanté belt, over and over and over again, for 20 years. Why are we still listening to the group?

So how do you AVOID the sayyestothedressification of bridal shopping? Well. Shop by yourself, think about how it’s going to move, and consider having a dress made by one passionate weirdo, rather than a committee of salespeople.

This advice is for brides who have absolutely no idea what they want to wear for their wedding, but I think it’s also great to think more broadly about what you like in clothing, how you want to feel and what you think is important in a wedding dress.

I don’t want you to go try anything on, I want you to sit for half an hour with a cup of tea and really think about how you want to FEEL on your wedding day. How important is it to you that you can move and dance and eat? Do you enjoy wearing big elaborate dresses? Do you feel more comfortable in slightly humble pretty dresses or sexier statement pieces? What is the tone of the day going to be, formal or informal?

Then I want you to think about what romance means to you. What’s your ultimate dreamy romantic movie, what would a really romantic night out look like to you, are you quite a loud PDA couple or are you more about small moments? Start fleshing out a wedding aesthetic that is really reflective of the two of you and your lives and relationship.

Tell me about some of your favourite clothing, is it your casual pieces you wear at home? Or a dress you wear on special occasions? What do you value in a garment?

I don’t need answers to all of these questions, you can send me a paragraph about what you like and 5 screenshots of things you like and I will expand from there, or you can put together a whole plan for the wedding and what you want and send me that. Once you’re happy you’ve got some answers to this, you can make a pinterest board, I’ve got advice on putting that together here, or you can just send me a summary of your replies to these questions.

I think a lot about the concept of “heirloom quality” when I’m designing and making my wedding dresses. I’m really aware that this is the only time most people will never have a dress made specially for them. I balance a lot of factors to be able to deliver these dresses within my typical budgets, these are some of the main things I’m thinking about when designing to make sure you’re getting a really beautiful heirloom quality wedding gown.

Tl/dr- my prices range from £1800-£2600 with a typical spend of £2200

If you’ve scrolled through to this section of my website, you think a bespoke wedding dress might be for you.

However, you’re also likely concerned about how much it is going to cost – you may even think it’s not a realistic ambition for your wedding.

I understand, completely; so, let me talk you through how it works, and why – together – we can deliver a beautiful, made-to-measure gown to complete your magical day.

I started this business with a motivation to provide every bride-to-be with a dress designed with them, for them, at no greater expense than an off-the-rack alternative from a boutique or retailer. That is as true now, several years into running my award-winning business, as it was when I started.

Of course, budgets vary, we live in uncertain economic times, and weddings are expensive. To avoid any anxiety about your first fitting, I’ll be as transparent as I can about the factors that influence the overall cost of producing a hand-made, bespoke, Ailsa Munro dress.

Fabric

It varies for each dress, but the first thing to point out is that around half of the total cost of your dress comes from the materials. For a truly special gown, there is no substitute for the finest quality fabrics.

I have great relationships with trusted suppliers, and my materials are ethically sourced. Dresses generally require anywhere between four and 12 metres of fabric, as well as the same volume again in lining, before considering any further enhancements or design quirks.

I always price in the fabric at cost, and only charge my brides for the time it takes to design and hand-craft their dresses.

Production time

The entire production process of one of my bespoke designs takes anywhere between 40 and 60 hours. It may sound like a lot, so let’s talk about the method.

At the start of your dressmaking journey, we will have a first consultation – we’ll discuss your inspirations, your style, practical considerations for your wedding day, and any other preferences or thoughts you would like to share.

From there, I will take your guidance and draw up some initial designs. We’ll likely have follow-up conversations, make subtle tweaks based on your feedback, and get that final look and feel committed to paper before a cut is made or a stitch is sewn.

Along the journey, you will have several fittings and consultations to ensure that the dress is developing as you hoped. On average, around 10 hours of design and face-to-face fitting time is required to make sure that we deliver the perfect dress.
The remaining 30-50 hours are spent lovingly hand-crafting your dress, which I oversee from start to finish. My decade of experience in dressmaking means I’m as efficient at dress production as they come – but I cannot substitute standards for time-saving, and choosing a gown from someone who says they can is a recipe for disaster.

Of course, there are ways in which we can keep the costs within a moderate budget – so let’s talk about them.

The design

This is, in my experience, what will make or break your budget.

Generally, one of my bespoke, made-to-measure dresses costs anywhere between £1800 and £2600, with the more expensive fabrics and extravagant designs featuring at the higher end of that range. Any of the dresses you can see from the real brides section of my website have been delivered within this price range.

What does this mean in practice? Well, if your budget is closer to the lower end of the scale, we can discuss the fabric selection and design style to deliver a gown within your proposed budget. That will mean, of course, that we’ll have to work together to steer away from details and complex patterns that increase production time and take the overall cost beyond what you are prepared to pay.

In my experience, the best results are always in having an open and transparent conversation at the beginning of the design process to ensure that we have a shared understanding. It protects you, the bride, from the anxiety of unexpected price rises, and ensures that I am delivering the best possible dress for your special day – taking into account inspiration, desires, and budgetary constraints.

Ready to discuss your thoughts, ideas, or book a free, no-obligation consultation?

Click here to get in touch – I can’t wait to hear from you.

Ailsa

I love being sent inspiration photos and mood boards ahead of a design session- I want to make something that is special and particular to YOU and the more information I have about your likes and your wedding the more likely I am to be able to come up with ideas and designs that really suit you. I always think I’m doing my job right when I can’t imagine anyone else wearing your dress (there are some really gorgeous examples of this on my Real Brides page)

Some good things to include on your Pinterest/mood board are

• Photos of your venue or of similar venues how you hope to make yours look
• Photos from your wedding photographer that made you fall in love with their work
• Hair and makeup looks that you really love
• Costumes that you love from your favourite costume dramas
• Red carpet looks that you love
• Wedding dresses you like the style and shape of
• Any of my work that you felt drawn to- it’s always reassuring to see that you really like how my wedding dresses turn out!

Some things to be aware of with inspiration pictures-

• Pinterest photos are often really edited, pinned or taped to models and carefully posed. If you like a certain style of dress it can be helpful to track down photos of it in a real wedding on a real bride.
• Images that show a dress moving are great because they show the dress to its best advantage but they can obfuscate the finer details of the dress. Often dresses that are actually cut quite flat and plain move the best and produce these gorgeous images, so I may sketch something that looks quite plain in comparison.
• I am not a copy machine! With the best will in the world, without access to the same fabric (in the case of laces these are often exclusive to the designer) I’m never going to produce an exact copy. Mass produced dresses are made to a pattern in a workshop and reproduced over and over, so the look and finish is going to be one I can’t completely recreate. If you love a specific gown and want it exactly as it is I will always reccomend getting hold of it through a boutique or second hand.

Design

Every bespoke dress starts with a free, no obligation design consultation with me. I like to start the design process by talking through your own ideas and inspirations, and from here I create multiple sketches which help us come to a final design. The more information you can bring to the table at this stage, the more magically “you” your dress is going to be. It’s helpful for me to prepare for this session by looking at your wedding venue, photographer and any inspiration pictures that you’ve found online. This isn’t essential, and your inspiration doesn’t have to be other wedding dresses, but it does give me more of an idea of what you like and allows me to come to the session with some ideas of my own.

Toile

A common dressmaking tool, a “toile” is a version of your dress in cheaper fabric that allows me to work out any kinks in the design and make sure the dress is going to fit you beautifully.

Construction

Throughout the construction of the finished gown I conduct fittings to ensure the dress will fit you perfectly. You will have the opportunity to consult on all design details and be able to watch your dress being made.

Made to measure service

Increasingly I find myself working with brides who live too far away for the couture service to be practical. For these brides, I offer a made to measure service. It starts with the same design process, but instead of having a toile and multiple fittings I make the dress to your measurements which I can talk you through taking yourself. I deliver your dress at least 2 months before your wedding date, so that if needed you can take the dress to a local seamstress for any small alterations needed. This is a great service if you want my one off design service and style delivered to you anywhere in the world.

In most instances I’ll take your measurements before I make a couture gown, but I’m finding more often now I’m making dresses for women who live far away enough that they can’t come for a consultation in person and we’re doing them over zoom instead. When we do this I’ll need you to take your measurements yourself, here are some tips for getting them accurate!

I feel like I bang on about this a great deal but it’s important before you take your measurements that you establish what underwear you’re going to wear with your wedding dress. If your dress is going to have a low back, you might want to look into taping your boobs up or wearing stick on cups. Our bodies can really dramatically change size and shape when we wear different underwear and to get that couture fit I need to work with some consistency. I reccomend for couture brides that they buy 2 of their chosen bras and leave one with me for fittings.

You’ll need a flexible measuring tape and a pen. You can get them very cheaply online if you don’t already have one, it’s worth spending the £1.50 and waiting to get measurements that are accurate.

Finally, some women will find the process of measuring themselves stressful, please remember that these are data points and not a reflection on your value!

Measurements I’ll commonly need-

Bust & hip- measure at the widest part. For the waist measure at the narrowest part, wherever that falls on your body.

For the skirt length hold the tape at your waist and let it fall to the ground, try not to stretch it. Have a friend read where it hits the ground. Alternatively, drop the end, when you hold it against the waist so that it hits the ground.

For sleeve length, measure from where the shoulder seam would be on a regular tshirt, and stop where the crease of your wrist is.