How Wedding Gown Wishes Come True: The Lacerlot Process Revealed

A dress conceived & constructed with Evie in mind drastically transformed her into the luminous figure she envisioned being on her wedding day.

We explain the Lacerlot process that converted Evie's fantasy wedding dress into real life. After the bride articulated her dream wedding gown to us, and her sketch was completed, we gathered the finest materials and set to work.

FORGET FACTORIES, WE WORK WITH FRIENDS & FAMILY:

Lacerlot's alchemy is orchestrated around the world: Evie's gown was designed in her living room in California, the fabric was purchased in New York, the lace was hand-crafted in France, the chiffon made in Italy, and the dress was constructed at one of Lacerlot's bridal studios in India. The gown then returned to Evie's home, where we sent our tailor to edit the finishing touches.

Love fuels our collective growth.

We've partnered with experts globally, and yet Lacerlot operates on an intimate basis. I work one-on-one with each bride to bring her dress to life because creating a dress entirely with the bride in mind achieves the most magical transformation.

I've developed personal relationships with fabric shop owners, who show me exceptional silks and laces from the backroom, and will secretly cut below-minimum yards of fabric for Lacerlot's clients.

I trade gardening notes with Lacerlot's family-run couture studio. I'm friends with Lacerlot's partner tailors, and I know what their kids (and dogs!) have been up to.

We've connected women-run small businesses together into the Lacerlot family.

Lacerlot's success is their success, and vice versa. So I work extra hard to make sure that our clients adore their dresses, because that love fuels our collective growth.

Materials:

Evie knew that contrary to what she was finding in bridal boutiques - fluorescent, cool-toned white dresses - a softer, ivory white would best suit her skin tone. Notes in hand, I combed through NYC's Garment District for a shade of white chiffon that would best complement and enhance Evie's coloring.

Evie evaluated options, and selected a garlic-esque white silk imported from Italy.

Next, the I visited my favorite lace specialists. The endless varieties of lace can make discrimination among them difficult. Some women dislike florals, others paisley; some like piping, others prefer flat lace.

Evie selected a French hand-made lace featuring raised piping, which would subtly draw attention and definition to Evie's torso. An outline of leaves and petals would trace the eye along her neckline, then sweep down into her low back. The lace's complexity harmonized with the unembellished elegance of the skirt.

Our method is to present a diverse assortment of lace techniques, then deep dive into options within each category.

Production:

Artisans in Lacerlot's couture studio mapped out Evie's pattern with her individual body shape in mind. A muslin copy of the dress is molded in cheap fabric, then studied and perfected before we cut into the expensive materials.

Once Evie and our production team were happy with the muslin, we pinned the bust, then double-checked that Evie liked its shape ahead of sewing in the lace by hand.

To verify that we modeled the bust correctly, Evie was consulted throughout the creation process.

Henry Ford said "Quality means doing it right when no one is looking." Communication technology has now advanced so that our clients are able to always be looking, and we believe that produces more polished results.

We sent Evie the final photos of her dress and awaited her feedback before shipping.

Post-Production:

Our dresses ship from the studio, and arrive 48 hours later in Lacerlot's NYC headquarters. The New York team performs a quality control inspection to confirm that the dress successfully meets Lacerlot's high standards.

Once Evie received the package, her final step was to tailor the dress to her body to ensure that it fit like a second skin.

Working with a skilled seamstress one-on-one presents the opportunity to tweak design aspects that you liked remotely, but feel different on your body.

In Evie's case, it made sense to alter the straps of the dress so that they connected to the side bust rather than the back.

This beautiful train easily bustled so that Evie could dance effortlessly throughout the night.

Evie decided to reduce the amount of lace in order to raise the waistline. She wanted to tighten up the bust, and added a bustle to alleviate any worry about stepping on the train while dancing.

Final Dress:

Evie looked angelic on her wedding day. The ocean air sent ripples through the chiffon and stretched the train out behind her like liquid cream.

Wind & chiffon are a match made in heaven, just like these newly weds.

The dress achieved that perfect symbiosis between the bride and the wedding dress: neither outshined the other, and together they radiated beauty.

Many of us were already in tears by this early point in the ceremony!

Evie described her groom's reaction: "He loved it. I think we did a great job creating this dress to feel like a wedding dress while also remaining simple, elegant, and fun, and that's what he hoped for."

Evie's bridesmaids see her in her dream gown for the first time.

When Evie slipped into her gown, she transformed from the familiar person we recognize daily into the most resplendent expression of herself.

As a guest at her wedding, I can personally attest that magic twinkled. After the initial cheering, there was this moment of hushed awe as she walked, arms linked with her mom, down the aisle.

From all of us who lent a hand to bring the Evan Allison gown to life, we are wishing Evie & Blair a lifetime of bliss!

Interested in creating your own magical gown? Contact us at love@lacerlot.com for a complimentary design consultation.

In addition to wedding gowns, we stitch dresses for a diverse array of special occasions. We welcome hearing your thoughts about any dress that you're curious about creating.

You can reach Evie's wedding photographer Lynn Bagley Photography here.

Read Part I, about how Evie arrived at the design of her dress, here.