ASK US about *YOUR* wedding dress!

Dear Bride-to-be,

 

We've begun getting a lot of wedding dress inquiries and, honestly gals, it is a lot of work to provide a personal response to everybody who asks a question. But that is the way we like to do things here-- 100% PERSONAL! We are a small design studio and we like it that way. We do need your help and cooperation so that it does not become impossible for us to answer each inquiry personally.

 

Please help us by keeping these things in mind:

Know specifically what style(s) and fabric(s) you think you want before emailing.

Try to narrow down your inquiry questions to the most important; the ones that you specifically need to know before engaging us to work on your project. If you were "just wondering" about something, please ask those types of questions after we have been engaged to make your dress.

Please be considerate with regard to how many questions you've asked and how many emails you expect from us before engaging our services with a deposit. We don't want to keep poor Mindra here until 9 pm every night answering emails or she won't have any social life and will never be able to order her own Whirlingturban wedding dress!

Consider Skyping us; that's a lot easier for us than composing lengthy emails. Time zones and our small staff size might affect our ability to be available the first time you try. Please try again. Skype is free and easy to download. There is a link to "Skype us" on our home page. (Or Katherine would be happy to have you telephone her- just ask for her number!)

Our designer and patternmaker is Katherine, an American with an exacting Hollywood costume and Manhattan fashion industry background. Mindra handles our email, consulting with Katherine when she has a customer question requiring Katherine's knowledge or design input. We were thrilled to find Mindra. She is with us because she is an exceptionally bright person who genuinely cares as much as Katherine does about your being *delighted* with your dress! You are in SUCH good hands. While you will note that Mindra is not a native English speaker, there is honestly no need to fear that there may be carelessness or incompetence simply because English is not Mindra's first language.

The following is the information we need in order to answer your questions knowledgeably.
Your first and last name:
Your email address: Whoa! Careful!

Where are you (City/ State/Province/Country)?

How did you hear about us?:
* Please state the dress style(s) you have in mind: *
* Please state the COLOR(s) and fabric(s) you have in mind, using the swatch number, if applicable, as shown on our website fabric choices:
* Since monitors differ, we recommend that you request a swatch of your fabric choice(s)! Specify which fabrics you will need and we'll let you know the cost and your shipping options.

Your wedding dress? Rehearsal dinner? Your sister's? wedding? Please enter the purpose of the dress:
What is the date of the wedding?
What is the date by which you need to receive this item (in order to alter if necessary, to buy shoes, etc.)
Preliminary measurements are required.

Please fill in the preliminary size information below.

Don't worry- we will get more and exact measurements from you later. This info is only for the sake of the initial discussion.

There may be more detailed info required before we can give you a firm price quote.

Please use a tape measure and check this link "here" for photos showing you how and where to measure, if unsure.
Please enter your height:
What is your bra size, including cup size?:
Please enter your full bust measurement: (Your bra size is not your full bust measurement)
Please enter your waist measurement: (above your belly button!)
Please enter the measurement of the widest point around your hips:

Please state your questions here, plus any issues such as tattoos to cover (or show off!) and figure concerns, if any. Thanks!

(Scroll down to submit)

Inquiry turn-around time :

We have just one full time person to answer email; the wonderful Mindra. Some questions require considerable research and discussion, and we have a number of inquiries at any one time. But we'd NEVER, EVER ignore you! Please allow one week for us to answer your question, then let us know if you don't hear back from us as we have experienced occasional email loss!

Price inquiries:

Most Whirlingturban wedding dresses generally are priced between $350 and $1200, plus shipping which is usually around $35-$50. The rayon print, cotton print and ikat cotton dresses, made in our styles, tend to be on the lower end of this range while silk dresses with more complex custom-fitting or more new custom design changes- like a skirt or sleeve we haven't done here before- tend to be on the upper end of this range.

Sometimes we will recommend a test dress be made for you in a more casual fabric in order that we can test your personal pattern. Or we might recommend that a fitting muslin be sent to you and photographed on you with the resulting snapshots emailed to us. These steps can add to the cost.

If you provide the fabric, it may or may not reduce the price of the dress; this is determined on a case-by-case basis.

We will not be able to give you more specific quotes than what has been stated above until the details of what you want have been worked out and we have a good bit of knowledge about your personal figure. A personalized estimate that gives you a price more specific than what has been stated here can only occur toward the end of our discussion with you, when both your questions and our questions have been answered.

Dress turn-around time :

There is no short answer to this question and it is dependent upon the style and fabric you want, how busy we are, and how much prep time (pattern and dress form customization) will be required. Wedding dresses take longer than our "regular" custom- made dresses because of the prep time and because more email needs to take place beforehand, etc. We also accept only a limited number of wedding dress projects. If you are extremely easy to fit, if we already have patterns and dress forms here in your size, if the dress style is a bit more informal and fabric doesn't require special handling or a lining, we might be able to get it to you in as little as 3 weeks! However, many of our brides plan with us more than a year in advance when there will be special details to work out or simply to insure that they have booked their construction time in our studio top avoid disappointment. Normally 2 months is the minimum, but book earlier than that if you can in order to avoid finding we are too busy to make your dress or don't have time to include the special details you want.

If you have an idea for a wedding dress in a style we do not already make:

Bear in mind that only rarely are we able to make a dress for you in a style we don't already produce.

You will need to have assembled the pictures of your idea in order for us to discuss it with you. Please send photos or very, very clear drawings of each detail you want. Your ideas do not have to be encompassed in just one photo, but visuals for the entire idea have to be sent with your inquiry. If you have a couple of alternatives like "this bodice with either this skirt or this skirt", that's fine. We'd be happy to give you our opinion about which choice we think would work best. Please wait to contact us until you can submit your visuals. Make your inquiry on the form above and then send your visuals as attachments to: wt.info.mindra@gmail.com

Just so you know:

We use more than measurements at Whirlingturban- we study your unique curves and we create a dress form that duplicates them upon which to fit and “build” your dress! We will require body photos to achieve our highly-individualized fit.

See examples of body pics "here" .

We may need to see these before we can answer all your questions. We'll let you know!