Our Process
Having your Mother of the Bride or Groom dress designed with Gramercy Atelier’s made-to-measure service is enjoyable and easy.
Our design team works with you and co-create the perfect outfit fitted to your exact measurements, delivered to your doorstep for your next event.
Bespoke Dress Making
A Simple, Elegant & Convenient Process
Our Philosophy & Mission
We design with you in mind.
First, we take careful note of what you are interested in. For instance, you may be dressing for a special occasion or in need of a statement piece that will last many years to be worn whenever the situation calls for it. After scheduling an appointment with our design team (usually by phone but also limited availability in person), one of us will reach out to you to learn more about your needs. On this call we ask the important questions. From the size you typically wear to your hair and eye coloring, preferences for certain fabrics and styles that you gravitate toward, are all considered when we work with you.
“From the size you typically wear to your hair and eye coloring, preferences for certain fabrics and styles that you gravitate toward, are all considered when we work with you.”
Once we have had this first call, we then follow up with a series of text messages. If we need further information or details this is where we ask and incorporate your responses into our design flow.
Generally within 48 hours we begin sending sketches to you of our design ideas. This helps you better understand how a certain style of dress will look in a particular color. We can view these together and make improvements to any aspect of the design at this stage.
Over the years, we have discovered that it saves you a lot of time to conceptualize the look according to what you want rather than searching for it online or in department stores where you are relegated to the style of the moment, what is in stock at that time or limited by the color and fabric choices.
This personalized approach ensures satisfaction in that you get what you truly want and also get a unique outfit, one that you are not going to find in any shop or at the next function you go to. Each step of our process is unique to you and to your requirements. You can rely on our years of expertise working with particular fabrics because a certain feel can make all the difference on how you feel about a dress.
Our patient and thoughtful designers listen to you and make the recommendations we feel will give the best outcome. We always focus on creating the best look for the occasion.
With the current environment of selecting a special occasion piece, it takes about 40 hours on average to find the dress that you had in mind.
However, this does not even guarantee success, just that a dress was found after this time was spent in the search. When shopping online, there is no “expert” to guide you besides the opinions of your friends and relatives depending on the event. When shopping in a store, the salesperson is incentivized to sell what the buyer has determined should be on the rack at that moment. This is not to mention that the average amount of time the typical salesperson has advising a client has steadily decreased over the years. The experienced salesperson has been at a store typically 3-5 years and is 29 years of age.
The most important factor, however, is whether or not you will be satisfied if not ecstatic with a bespoke design dress. Please see our testimonials on our website and client reviews on Google for more information on some of the outcomes of our work. We are approaching a 100% satisfaction rate over the past 15 years.
Sketches
1-2 days after our call you will receive first ideas of the look via text messages. This comes in the form of a sketch drawn by one of our in-house sketch artists. The feeling is almost like being transported into the designer’s studio yet all done from the convenience of your phone.
It is an engaging and exciting experience to be part of something where you are creating a look almost out of thin air mindful that this could be an idea that has never been created before.Your feedback is crucial here as we incorporate your thoughts and ideas to the original and refine the designs.
Fabric Selection & Customization
As we refine the design, we are also considering fabric choices. Color is primary of course and then fabric weight and texture so that we achieve the proper balance for the dress fit and flow.
Another reason for remote consultation is that the number of fabrics available in our library is extensive. It is simply efficient for us to distill down the available options from this wide selection and then send over first by text message to get a sense of the color and texture and then to send to your home so you can experience the quality firsthand.
It is important that you feel the actual material before we create your outfit. Also, by having a swatch in your possession, there is no guess work matching to other elements of your outfit. Shoes, jewelry and other accessories can be more readily matched with this more convenient method.
Measurements
Obtaining your measurements is the final step and once completed we will have all the elements we need to create your dress.
Often, customers will discover that even in a high-end store, that they still need to find a specialist to take their measurements. Or, even figure out a way to handle this by themselves if ordering through a conventional online channel.
With us, we arrange a short video call at your convenience. Our expert will guide you through the measurement taking simple and accurately taking note of all the relevant information at that time.
This step establishes the accuracy of the final dress. It also allows us to create any silhouette desired. Although our accuracy is close to 100% from these measurements, we still perform several additional checks throughout the process to guarantee perfection.
Prototype Creation, Fit & Review
Creation
With your measurements entered into our records, we start making your prototype soon after our call. This is created on a heavy cotton material also known as a muslin allowing us and you the opportunity to experience how the final dress will feel when it is worn. We send this prototype to your home about 4 weeks after we take these measurements over our video chat.
Fit & Review
When you receive the prototype at your home – try it on! Experience it and walk around as if you were with your final dress. When you are free to chat with us, we will schedule a follow up video chat so we can see how the prototype fits. We will take note of the fit and make suggestions. For instance, this will be the moment where we can adjust the sleeve length or the neckline. We encourage you to have the shoes that will be worn for your event on hand so we can determine the proper hem length. Once we have completed our review, you simply return the prototype with the enclosed mailing label that was provided with your shipment.
Final Dress & Delivery
Final Dress
After we receive the prototype back at our studio we will put it into our production queue. With the fabric already ordered and in-house we strive to send your completed outfit to you at least 2 months before your event date. During this time, we keep you updated with progress reports and if any questions arise during production to make sure we are in touch as well.
Fit & Review
Though it is not necessary once you receive your dress, we always are available to review how your dress fits. This can be done in-person or by video. This is the most exciting moment – that first time you try on your dress. If any adjustments are necessary we will take care of them. When you reflect back on your experience from the beginning to this moment, you can have a certain sense of satisfaction knowing that you never even had to leave the comfort of your own home and ended up with a luxury dress made of the finest materials and expert craftsmanship.
One of our team members will be in touch prior to your event to ensure that all is ready to go. A few days after, we will send an email to find out how everything went. This is our favorite part – where we get your feedback and understand better how you felt. Your feedback is extremely valuable to us as it allows us to improve our process continuously.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We get asked by our new clients “How much time do I have to commit to this process?” Typically, the from the first call to receiving sketches and choosing fabrics takes about 1 hour. The measuring and review of the prototype is about 30 minutes in total. Lastly, the final dress delivery and review is about 30 more minutes. The total time is usually about 2 hours.
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Scheduling a phone consultation is the easiest way to get started with us. You can request an appointment by filling out our contact form, and one of our team members will reach out to you.
You will receive two emails – the first is a confirmation when it has been confirmed and the second is a reminder email 24 hours before the consultation.
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First we will want to understand a little bit about your vision, what colors you like to wear, and general aspects of your hair/eye color/etc. Then if there is a special occasion we are dressing for any thematic ideas and colors that may be important will be taken into consideration. Lastly, other specifics such as the time of day, location and what others are wearing can be helpful too.
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Our gowns and dresses range in price from $2,250 to $4,750. The cost of your final design will vary based on fabrics, accents, complexity and design. Price ranges for:
Solids - $2,450 to $3,250
Brocades - $2,950 to $3,750
Custom Prints - $3,450 to $4,750
Taking the First Step
Our simple design process begins with a no obligation consultation.
During this consultation, our designer will work with you to get a better idea of your style, taste, and dress requirements. Once you’re ready to proceed, our 3-step design process requires a 1 or 2 hour time investment, with your final design delivered in about 3 months.
Client Testimonials
“I hope my email finds you well in New York! I have been remiss these last few months in thanking you again for my beautiful dress for Katie’s wedding! It was exactly what I hoped it would be and how it would turn out! With Many many thanks again!”
-Julie Fisher, Mother of the Bride
“I loved my dress and got wonderful compliments all night. It was perfect. I felt great and that’s what counts!”
-Catherine Hinton, Mother of the Bride
“I can’t even begin to tell you how many people commented on my dress I received so many texts of people asking who the designer was. Some of my daughter's friends were trying to guess so I sent them all to your website. You were such a pleasure to work with! Please tell Maria I am so grateful for her vision in this custom dress. So unique and the fabric was extremely easy to iron and wear.”
-Karen Thompson, Mother of the Bride