heads up to fellow BTBs who plan to tailor your own outfits — figuring out bridal packages could be one messy affair.
veteran bridal houses like fatimah mohsin makes the calculations less complicated… they simply charge a premium on top of their packages for each of your own outfits you wear. easy to understand, but feels expensive.
with versari ade and ishQ, it’s less straightforward, but still workable. you pick your basic package based on the outfits you need to rent, and then you top up roughly $150 to borrow their accessories (unless you intend to buy your own costume jewellery to match your outfits), and then you also top up for extra hours if needed.
the rep for VA was very patient with me as we tried to work out the details. my situation is more complicated because insyaAllah my wedding will be a two day event (sat: nikah and bride’s reception, sun: groom’s reception). if I recall correctly, VA has a policy where you can’t get mak andam services alone. meaning to say that I would need to rent at least one outfit from them for Saturday and Sunday each, in order to get their mak andam. because I want to tailor two songkets, this means that I would need to have 4 outfits: nikah, Sat sanding, Sun sanding 1, Sun sanding 2.
not that’s it’s a bad situation, just that initially I was considering just having 3 outfits.
back to the VA rep, we based our calculations on a 2-outfit package, then added two sets of accessories rental, and extra hours because my 2-day reception is definitely longer than what they provide in their package. with ishQ, it was a similar “formula” / pricing structure. and in both cases, it seemed like I only had to pay extra $100-$200 to rent a fifth outfit, by opting for the 3-outfit package instead and adding the extra accessories (no need to top up as many hours).
but kak nora said 1 sanding outfit after my nikah is just nice so that we don’t have to rush so much. so 4 outfits it is.
$$$
all in all, my bridal package combined with expected tailoring costs is higher than I initially budgeted. especially if i’m going to be mentel and top up for a designer outfit with ishQ (helloooo syomir izwa). I suppose one way to make tailoring your own outfits more budget-friendly is to hire a freelance make up artist instead. hopefully one who has accessories, else you’d have to buy your own or do without, if you don’t mind.
the other strategy, which I’m striving for, is to sell the outfits to a mak andam/bridal house after my wedding, to help recover costs. this one is a risk though, I’m not sure how easy or difficult it will be. and already it influences the type of baju I will tailor e.g. I ruled out tailoring a maxi dress cos it’s less versatile once it’s customised to my measurements, and I’m still mulling over lined sleeves as I plan to use lace. lined sleeves would be convenient for me, but could have less resale value because it’s less versatile, i dunno.
*insert hoobastank song And The Reason is Youuu…*
despite the higher costs and effort that will go into tailoring my own outfits, I’m still going ahead because I thought it would be a fun thing to do with my mum. we’ve been tailoring our baju raya-s, so this would be taking it to a new level. I just hope Nov-Dec 2014 will be manageable insyaAllah, cos it’s gonna be crunch time. invitation cards designing and printing for me, berkat hunting for her, tailoring baju for us. ganbatte!
now we rilek aje.
Tales of The Kraken 
Hi babe , is there any chance you could share with me VA quotation for bridal . I thought of getting a pair of outfit from them . Thank you . U can reach me at soshy_nabeyh@live.com
emailed! 🙂
Hello dear, if you are thinking of doing your wedding invitation cards, we would be happy to offer you our service. You can go to http://www.creativekad.com to check out the designs. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
My wedding will also be a 2 day event. Exactly the same. Happy planning!
I’m tailoring baju too! So just took a makeup artist. I told my fiance that we can pass the songket to our future son hehe.
eh then what about your future daughter? haha. here’s to a smooth tailoring journey for the both of us, insyaAllah 🙂 btw which MUA did you go for?
Haha! She will wear my kebaya! I just took a makeup artist. Hawa from Faith and Sam Avenue. She did my engagement makeup and I fell in loveee with her style. 🙂 How about you?
ooh nice! I’m going with ishQ by nora zee…excited!
Ahhh!!!!! So lucky!!! She’s amazingggg. You’re gonna look so gooooooood ahhh!!!!!
insyaAllah you and i both 🙂 🙂
Hey, I’ve been wanting to contact ishq about the same issue (tailoring our own bajus) but felt that I shouldn’t bother her yet (since the wedding is still a long way to go). So since you had it worked out with her, could you share how she charge us in terms of hours? I made one & planning to make more but would be a waste if she doesn’t allow that 😦
(took up a 3 outfit package though.) Thank you!
salam farah. ooh so you’ve already booked a 3 outfit package? for me, I took a 2 outfit package which includes 5h and 2 looks. then had to top up hours for day 2. then also had to top up $150 for each of my tailored outfit to rent the accessories. it’s memang confusing! we agreed to revisit the pricing closer to my wedding.
my sense is that she’s tolerant towards bride’s own bajus. but she also won’t recommend having too many outfit changes because it can be tiring. and also remember her firm rule that you can’t downgrade packages…
perhaps best to call her? can explain that you’re in the midst of planning your tailoring and need to confirm with her before proceeding 🙂
Haha alamak I forgot to tell you to email ehehe. Yes I am aware of the no downgrade policy, ter-regret pulak take 3 outfit but that’s ok lah, takde choice. I am also having a 2 day event like you! thought 4 outfits max is just nice but when i look at the designers…… i cannot decide which! haha. If we tak borrow her accesories, we don’t have to top up $150 for our own baju right? 🙂 Thank you!
haha ok lah this kind of thing can keep the discussion open for other btb’s reference! 🙂 how many outfits were you planning to make?
yup I guess theoretically don’t have to add the $150, just the hours if necessary. but anyways 3 outfit package comes with more hours and you get sireh lat lat and fresh hand bouquet.. my 2 outfit package no have!
I planned to make another 2 outfits from designers but idk if it will be cheaper if i made through ish/q or just head up to KL myself. Sometimes i feel like its better to meet up with the designer themselves since you get to communicate with them. hahahaha fening pasal bende ni
haha yeah would be fun to meet them in person! I’ve heard of someone who went to meet with nurita harith 🙂 cuma means it’s also on you to sell your dress if you intend to ah. I wonder what outfit selection for the designer collections will be like! planning to take one kalau tk mahal sangat
Hi! Boleh share VA’s qoutation with me tak? Their makeup and outfits are so lovely. Thank you!
lee_yah@rocketmail,com
heyya babe! unfortch I don’t have any email records of their packages cos I had called them back then to enquire the details. didn’t seem like they do email enquiries. think it’s best you call them too, can check for availability of your date also 🙂
ok I dug out an old email and fwd-ed it to ya 🙂