The Wedding Dress: Buy, Rent or Have It Made?

You will wear the dress for one night and see it in photographs for the rest of your life. All the indecision lives between those two facts. Is it worth buying? Is renting good enough? Should I have exactly what I imagine made for me? All three routes are common in Egypt, and each suits a different bride.

Four questions before you compare

1. What is the whole dress budget? That means veil, shoes, accessories and alterations as well as the dress.
2. How long until the wedding? Less than three months rules out most tailoring.
3. Do you want to keep it? Some brides want the keepsake. Others do not want a large box in a small new flat.
4. Do you have a specific design in mind? If you know precisely what you want, or need a modest design with features you cannot find ready-made, the answer may already be clear.

Renting

Renting is widespread in Egypt and comes in two tiers: "first wear" rental, where a new dress is worn first by you and then returns to the atelier, and standard rental of a dress that has been worn before.

Advantages

• It usually costs less than buying, especially for heavily embellished designs.
• Nothing to store or clean afterwards.
• It is quick, which suits a short timeline.
• It puts a dress within reach that a purchase budget would not.

Watch out for

• Limited alterations. The atelier will take in and shorten only as far as the dress allows without damage. If your size is far from the dress's size, it will not sit the way you hope.
• The security deposit. A refundable amount is usually held against the dress coming back in good condition. Ask exactly what counts as damage. A makeup mark on the neckline? A hem dirtied by the floor?
• Timing. When do you collect it, when must it be back, and what is the late fee? This matters if you leave for your honeymoon the next morning.
• Actual condition. Inspect it in daylight: beading, zip, hem and underarms.

Buying ready-made

Advantages

• The dress is yours. Alter it as you please, then keep it, sell it or pass it on.
• You see it and try it on before paying, so the look holds no surprises.
• No worrying about a stain or a small tear on the day.

Watch out for

• It usually costs more than renting a comparable dress.
• Storage and cleaning afterwards.
• Resale value is far below the purchase price, so do not base your decision on getting the money back.
• Buying online is a real gamble. Size and fabric often differ from the pictures. If you go that way, order very early, ask about returns, and leave time and money for a tailor to adjust it.

Tailored or custom-designed

Advantages

• It is cut to your measurements, which makes more difference in photographs than anything else.
• You control every detail: fabric, sleeves, lining, train length and how modest it is.
• No one else has the same dress.

Watch out for

• Time. Making and fittings take months, and longer in wedding season. Start six months ahead if you can.
• You cannot see the result in advance. You are paying for something that does not exist yet. Choose a designer whose finished dresses you have seen with your own eyes, not sketches and borrowed pictures.
• A reference photo is not a promise. A couture runway dress, with its fabric and embroidery, cannot be reproduced on any budget. Ask to see and touch the actual fabric and lace before work begins.
• Cost varies enormously with fabric, handwork and the designer's name. It may come out below ready-made or far above it.

Which suits you?

• Short on time and budget: rent.
• You want a simple dress to keep: buy ready-made and have it altered well.
• A particular design in mind, or standard sizes do not fit you: tailor, provided there is time.
• Celebrations on more than one day, such as a katb el-kitab (marriage contract ceremony) followed by the wedding party: many brides rent the big dress and buy something simple for the ceremony.

Prices for all three change constantly and differ between governorates and ateliers. Ask in more than one place before deciding, and compare what each price includes.

Questions for the atelier or designer

1. What does the price include: veil, petticoat, belt, accessories?
2. How many fittings are there, and when?
3. When is final collection? Ask for at least a week before the wedding, not the night before.
4. What if my size changes before the wedding?
5. For rental: am I the first to wear it? How much is the security deposit and what are the terms for getting it back?
6. For tailoring: is the fabric I am looking at now the fabric the dress will be made from?
7. What are the terms for cancelling or changing the date, and what happens to my deposit?

Ask for a written receipt describing the dress, the collection date, and the amounts paid and outstanding.

Tips for the fitting

• Wear skin-tone underwear and bring shoes with the heel height you plan to wear.
• Bring one or two people only. Five opinions mean five different dresses.
• Try a cut you had not considered. Many brides leave with something unlike what they came in looking for.
• Move in it. Sit, raise your arms, walk, turn. You will sit, eat and dance in it for hours.
• Photograph the back. Guests see your back during the zaffa procession and the first dance more than you expect.
• Think about the venue. A long train is hard work in a garden or on sand, and heavy fabric with long sleeves in August needs an air-conditioned hall.

Common mistakes

• Buying a size down in the hope of losing weight. Buy the size you are today. Taking in is easier than letting out.
• Choosing before the venue and season are settled.
• Leaving alterations, veil and shoes out of the budget.
• Collecting the dress the night before with no final fitting.
• Trying to please every opinion. The last word is yours, because you are the one wearing it.

How Gawazy helps

On Gawazy you can browse wedding dress ateliers and designers in your governorate, see designs and listed prices for sale or rental, then contact them directly to ask questions and arrange a fitting. The agreement and payment are between you and the atelier.

• Wedding dresses
• Fashion designers
• Tailors
• Veil designers
• Bridal accessories