How to Customize Your Wedding Dress | Mix & Match Wedding Dress Shopping
Are you ready to shop runway detailed aisle ready wedding dresses that are built to be customized? If your answer is "heck yeah, but I have no idea what that REALLY means then HEY this is totally for you."
Our team spent all the time sourcing out our favourite Canadian designers for accessories with ethical manufacturing processes and small batch production that would bring customers customizable one of a kind pieces. We currently carry three main wedding dress designers: Pearle, Ouma, & Kathryn Bass.
Each of these designers offer a certain level of customization, but we are going to focus on Kathryn Bass and Pearle who offer full customization! I think we've now said the word "customization" too much, so lets jump in to what that really means.
It means that in partnership with our designers, we can do virtually anything you like to tweak a wedding dress to fit your specifications. Want to add sleeves? Make the back lower? Swap fabrics? Shorten the train? Lengthen the train? Add buttons? We can do it all and more.
If you ever have looked at two wedding dress and thought "I wish I could put this top and this bottom together", customizing your wedding dress is the way to go.
REAL LIFE EXAMPLE, JANE/VICKI
Let's take the Jane/Vicki wedding dress for example! She is actually a custom dress that we put together from Kathryn Bass. It is one of the classic laces over a crepe satin that makes it a 2026 favourite. I mean look at her! The eyelash lace? The off the shoulder satin crepe sleeves? There is nothing else like it.
But what if we wanted to make her an A-Line and play up the satin versus the classic lace. We can create a dress that doesn't exist. Meet "Jane/Clara". Take the "Jane" top + "Clara" bottom, remove the lace sleeves and look at what we got.
Do you know what the crazy part is? We don't add unecessary fees! Each bodice and skirt has their retail price. Bodice + Skirt = Final Price. No upcharges here.
IN-STORE SHOWROOM EXAMPLES
When we comitted to having an inclusive sized wedding dress shop, that meant we committed to having one "straight" and one "plus" size of every single gown. While a big financial investment, it gave us an incredible opportunity to show how the same dress can be so different.
Ariel/Tessa
The "straight" size of our Ariel/Tessa wedding dress is a sparkly masterpiece. She is the new years wedding dress, she is the reception dress of your dreams. She is just the moment, okay? We get it. Oh and ps, she has sleeves to match to try on In-store. Ottawa wedding locals, we can see her on the grand steps of the Chateau Laurier, dancing the night away at the NAC, or shining bright against the backdrop of the downtown Starling Restaurant.
The same dress as available in our plus size bridal ottawa sample, but in a satin combo! She is elegance,she is grace. She has a matching oversized bow to match available to try on in store.For our Ottawa Brides and Ottawa Nearlyweds we can see this satin gown while you sip on cocktails and enjoy the food at Parlour Restaurant, walk around the iconic Mill St Brewery for photos, or make way on the dance floor at restaurant 18.
Can you believe these two are the same dress? This is the textbook example of a fabric swap totally changes the vibe of the dress.
Poppy/Laura
Now let’s talk about one of our most jaw-dropping transformations, the Poppy/Laura. This is where simply switching up the the colour changes everything.
Our straight size of the Poppy Laura is a classic in ivory. A soft satin, subtly dropped waistline, and thin narrow strap gives off timeless, structured, and elegant. The kind of gown that feels like old-Hollywood met modern minimalism. She’s clean, crisp, and all about the fit.
But then we meet her in our plus size sample. Same base pattern, same impeccable Kathryn Bass construction… just in pink. Suddenly, she’s flirty. She’s bold. She’s giving “main character energy” with soft draped sleeves that feel like a whisper but photograph like a dream. The pink tone pulls out the romantic details that ivory keeps classic. It's good witch, she's Glinda. To give this wedding dress a little more oomph we added buttons all the way down the back and down the train, a matching oversiaed detachable bow, and detachable swag off the shoulder sleeves.
Poppy/Laura is the exact proof that colour alone can rewrite the entire story of a dress. The silhouette stays the same, but the details make all the difference.
COMMON CUSTOMIZATIONS
When we say sky is the limit and your reaction is "WOAH, OVERWHELMING MUCH?" Wait, hold up because we have totally got you. During your two hour appointment in our private ottawa bridal boutique showroom, we will walk you through options available based on what you say you do or don't like about the base dress you try on.
Although there are 5 customizations that have been popular this year
1.Adding "for show" buttons all the way down (because drama belongs on the train) "for show" just means that they have no funcitionarility other than their beauty, trust us your maid of honour will thank you (& us)
2. Switching to a basque or baby basque waistline to give any dress hat cinched, couture vibe that is so 2026 Bride.
3. Adding removable straps so you and your strapless wedding dress can go from ceremony to dancing your little heart out without skipping a beat.
4. Sneaking in an invisible corset for that "where did her waistline go she could float away" structure
5. Lowering the backline because low backs are in baby! Literally that is the only reason behind that.
Each of these details might sound small, but together? They’re the difference between a beautiful dress and your dress.
At the end of the day, customization isn’t about reinventing the wheel, it’s about making the dress feel undeniably yours. Our gowns are built to be personalized, designed AND MADE in Canada, You can walk down the aisle in something that feels like it was made just for you (because, well, it was).