I feel like I have so much to say about my experience in the making of this gorgeous dress. In a nut shell it was fun, tense (yes there were some tears), scary and exciting at the same time.
I remember walking into Ogakeās Studio on the day we decided that she would make my gown. It was just a visit as it had not yet crossed my mind that she would make my dress. She is my good friend and we go way backā¦.would this work? Even after we spoke about it I was still unsure. Unsure of the unknown really, to be honest I had never really pictured my bridal gown and perhaps why I was ok with having some colour on my dress. After some thoughts I went to see her and of course I had lots of questionsā¦how will I know what I want, what if you make this dress and I donāt like it? Well she is the expert and she gave me experiences of other brides and slowly but surely, I started gaining confidence in the idea of getting a custom-made gown from Ogake bridal.
First step was for me to go try out various gowns just so I get an idea of what silhouette I would want which I did and came back with feedback and I got to choose my lace and material, damn this laceā¦!! I loved it, it had blush, purple, gold and bling, but it was not white or gold, colors I thought I would go for.
Next step was sketching, a part of me was quite open to something unique, different and away from the norm. And in came the sketches, I was now gaining confidence that this could workā¦.it was not as scary as I may have thought. Soon came fitting oneā¦I went alone as advised ? The thing is with these type of gowns you need an imagination you need to do the first fitting and kinda picture how its going to look at the end, no butterflies in the tummyā¦. I kept thinking is this the part I cry? No not yetā¦.in came fitting two I went with my mum and sister this timeā¦.the nerves on Ogakeā¦hilarious. Anyway, curtains were pulled back and here I was waiting for a reaction from my peepsā¦.nothing āclearly they had no imaginationā I thought to myself . So as usual some adjustments here and there and I thought fitting three would now be close to the endā¦ I did not need to use too much imagination the next time. But we were not quite there yet. I remember getting frustrated at this point and thinking maybe I had made a mistake, maybe I should have just gotten a finished dressā¦wedding day quickly approaching.
Days before my next fitting, I got a call from Ogakeā¦ āIāve changed the design of your dressā and I was like āWHATā!! breathe, breatheā¦.She just asked that I trust her on this and she would never allow me to walk down the aisle looking anything but perfect. I remember leaving work early to go see what she had done with the dress.
Hmmmmm I liked itā¦I got my smile back less imagination too. Iām sure she saw the twinkle in my eyeā¦We were getting thereā¦I remember once calling her as I got home and I was frustrated I was always honest with her I shared my fears and my frustrations and I guess most of the time I just needed her to assure me that all would be well. For us this was like a test of friendship it was as scary for me as Iām sure it was for herā¦.
At every fitting I remember her saying we have a long way to go we need to addā¦tulle and much more stuff. Iām none the wiser. Soon enough it was time for my final fittingā¦.the dress fit like a glove YES! FINALLYā¦.(happy dance) in came the tearsā¦well not from meā¦hehehehe!
My advice to other brides would be, have an idea of what you want and stick to itā¦there is no reverse here so you REALLY need to know for sure what it is that you want. Be patient, making a custom dress is a journey and the end is nice and sweetā¦Scary as it will seem, put your faith in this woman, she makes magic happenā¦Thanks Ogake ?