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The wedding dress trail

Arts & Culture

02/10/2003The wedding dress trail

The wedding date has been set and there are zillions of things to arrange - not least to find the wedding dress. Living in a foreign country doesn't help here – where do you find the best shops?

No need to despair, Belgium has a vast selection of wedding dress shops, where you can either buy a ready-made dress or have one made exactly to your wishes. Selection is broad from French haute couture to designs of the local talents. A-Z Listings are a good place to start, but when you are in need of personal recommendations, don’t hesitate to try every imaginable source. Tory Frame got married last year in Belgium. She received advice from an unexpected source. “I described to my hairdresser what type of dress I wanted, and he said – you must go to Ann Piron in Liège. I went there, she had the style I was interested in, I described what I wanted and she drew it up perfectly then and there,” says Tory. Tory was glad to have had her dress made in Belgium instead of London where she had initially looked for wedding dresses. “The price in Belgium was a quarter of the price of the dress I liked in London. The dress was designed especially for me, so it was exactly what I wanted and the quality was superb,” she says. Tory would advise anyone looking for a wedding dress to first go to big stores to try on many different dresses in order to find out the right style. Then try and find a small person like Ann Piron, who will tailor that style exactly to your needs. Having a wedding dress made can be a time-consuming business. Most shops will ask you to make an appointment and then come to browse their catalogues and see and feel the dresses. When you have some idea of the models you like, you can try them on. Unless you are 100 percent sure of the right style, it can pay off to try even some dresses you didn’t consider in the first place. If you’ve decided on a ready-made dress, after you’ve chosen the model, they will take your measurements. It is important to have the shoes and underwear you will be wearing at the wedding in order to get an exact fitting. In case you have chosen to have your dress made from the scratch, the process is a bit more complicated. When you have chosen the model and fabric, your measurements will be taken and then the dressmaking can begin. Priscilla Rousseau is a designer and co-owner of Organdi in Brussels. She has designed and made wedding dresses for the past four years. Priscilla cuts the fabrics according to designs and supervises the seamstress through the whole process. The client comes to several fittings, first to try on a cotton model of the dress to double-check the measurements and later to try on the actual dress. There can be two to three fittings depending on the adjustments needed. “Usually it takes three months to finish a dress, but if there’s a hurry, we can make a dress in two weeks,” Priscilla says. They make about 20 dresses per month. Many of the customers are expats — and even foreign residents come to Belgium to buy their wedding dress. “About 30 percent of our dresses go to clients from countries like Canada, the USA, the UK, or even Sweden and Greece,” Priscilla says. “Although the classic white is the must for most wedding dress buyers, there are subtle changes in the trends over here — bustiers have been very popular this year but I think more covering necklines are on the way." Add that to something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue and you have all the ingredients for your Belgian wedding. A few Belgian bridal retailers

Organdi-Valens
Avenue Louise 262, Brussels
Tel. 02 647 2424

Pronuptia
Boulevard A. Max 76, Brussels (locations also in Charelroi, Namur and Liege)
Tel. 02 218 5122

Cymbeline
place du Chatelain 35, Brussels.
02 534 2197 (by appointment only)

Amandine
rue Defaqz 150, Brussels
Tel. 02 539 1793 Updated August 2004

3 reactions to this article

Mint posted: 2009-12-21 07:01:13

I found truly elegant bridal gowns on this site www.wholesale-weddingdress.com in a huge selection of styles and cuts. I found exactly what I wanted here, and I'm going in for my first fitting next week!

stevelee posted: 2010-01-20 08:41:44

We are a biggest Wedding Dresses wholesale online store, located in China, all Wedding Dresses are selling in wholesale price. If you want to design the dresses for yourself, please contact with us!discount edding dresses,discount wedding gowns, discount designer wedding dresses, wedding gowns dresses, cheap wedding gowns, cheap designer wedding dresses, cheap Wedding Dresses
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Susan posted: 2010-11-29 08:09:07

#0911011800375301I order this beatiful weding dress for my sister, and she loved it, the style and material of the dress its beautiful, she is very happy. I will recomend you to buy this item.good luckCarlos Reviewer Images<a href="http://www.bridesmaiddressshow.com/"> (click to see full-size image)</a>

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3 reactions to this article

Mint posted: 2009-12-21 07:01:13

stevelee posted: 2010-01-20 08:41:44

Susan posted: 2010-11-29 08:09:07

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