The Bali wedding dress

there is a particular kind of bride who types "bali wedding dress" into a search bar, and she is usually asking two questions at once.

You can have a wedding dress made in Bali, and that phrase means two things. One is a tailor copying a dress from a photograph you bring in. The other is a label with its own patterns, making your size to order. Ours take 3 to 6 weeks from order to shipment, then 5 to 15 business days with DHL.

Can you have a wedding dress made in Bali?

Yes, and it is one of the few places where that is ordinary rather than exceptional. The skill here is real. What varies is what you are buying. I am a designer and a Kundalini Yoga teacher, I live in Bali, and everything this house makes is sewn here by around thirty artisan families, in their own homes and in workshops the tailors own.

Copying is what most people mean. You bring a screenshot, a tailor takes your measurements, and a dress comes back in a week or two. It can be remarkable value. It also carries the risk nobody mentions until afterwards: a gown is the hardest garment to copy from a photograph, because beading, boning, a bias cut and an independently hanging lining are what a photograph does not show.

Ordering from a label is the other route. You buy a pattern already made dozens of times, in a fabric the house has tested, with the fit problems solved before you arrived. You give up the dress that exists nowhere else, and gain the near certainty that it hangs as it did in the photograph.

There is a third answer most brides skip: a dress that is not a wedding dress. Everything in the linen wedding dresses collection was made to be worn again. That is the argument for linen over tulle.

How long does it take, and when should you order?

Order ten weeks before the wedding. That is the honest number, and it breaks down like this.

• 3 to 6 weeks from order to shipment, because your dress is cut and sewn by hand after you order it.
• 5 to 15 business days with DHL after that.
• The weeks left over are yours: try it on, move a hem, change your mind on the shoes.

The last safe order date for delivery by 24 December was 22 October, which has passed, so nothing ordered now arrives for a December wedding. For February onward, ordering this week is comfortable. If the wedding is in Bali, the rain season runs roughly November to March, a fabric decision as much as a date one. Here is how made to order works.

What does a Bali wedding dress cost?

From us, a linen wedding dress runs $187 to $498, and the gowns most brides choose sit between $248 and $340. Shipping is free worldwide on orders of $350 and over. I will not quote a local tailor, because that depends on the fabric and the complexity. The cloth is almost always the real cost, and the first thing a very low quote has quietly removed.

What does linen actually do in Bali heat?

A Bali ceremony is usually outdoors, often late afternoon, and humid in a way photographs do not convey. Linen moves moisture away from the skin and dries quickly, which is why hot climates have worn it for thousands of years. Silk is cooler than it sounds and photographs well, but it marks when wet.

Our linen is certified OEKO-TEX Standard 100, which tests the finished fabric for harmful substances, and the lighter colourways carry European Flax certification, tracing the flax to European fields grown without irrigation or GMOs. Linen also creases, and no finishing removes that. If a crease-free aisle photograph is the thing you cannot live without, linen is the wrong choice. More on choosing a linen wedding dress.

Three pieces I would put a bride in, and one I would not

All three are in stock as I write, from the linen wedding dresses collection.

The Oracle Gown, $340. The one I reach for first. 100% stone washed linen in Moon Milk, warmer than white. Long, sleeveless, high clean neckline, a bow at the side so you set the waist, deep pockets. S/M and M/L, with a matching jacket in the same cloth for covered shoulders.

The Linen Brida Gown Short, $248. For the civil ceremony, the beach, or the second dress of the day. Made to order, and the quietest bridal thing we make at that price. Three left as I write.

The Dharma Gown Sleeveless, $318. 100% stonewashed French linen, botanically hand dyed in warm saffrons, deep reds and ash tones. One size, open front, full length, pockets. For the bride not wearing white who has stopped apologising for it. No two are identical.

And the one I would not. The Fall Nidra Duster sits in that same collection and is lovely, but it is an open-front duster, cut to layer. A wedding-week piece, for the dinner the night before. Not a ceremony dress, and I would rather say so than sell you one.

Should you buy your dress in Bali or bring one with you?

Bring it, or have it shipped home, and arrive with it already tried on. Brides who do otherwise often spend part of their wedding week in a fitting room. The second dress is the exception.

Guests want what to wear to a Bali wedding as a guest instead. Somewhere else warm, start with the destination wedding dress guide, or the elopement dress guide if it is just the two of you.

A Bali wedding dress is not really a question about Bali. It is a question about how much you leave to one tailor you have never met. Decide that, order ten weeks out, and choose for the heat you will be standing in.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get a wedding dress made in Bali?

Yes. A local tailor can copy one from a photograph, usually in one to two weeks, or you can order from a label that makes its own patterns. Ours are hand sewn in Bali and take 3 to 6 weeks from order to shipment, then 5 to 15 business days with DHL.

How much is a wedding dress in Bali?

Our linen wedding dresses run $187 to $498, with most bridal gowns between $248 and $340. A copied dress varies too much with fabric and complexity to quote, and a very low quote has usually saved the money on the cloth.

What do Balinese brides traditionally wear?

A songket or endek kebaya with a sash and a gilded headdress, for a Hindu ceremony with its own rites. A different tradition from a Western gown, and if you are marrying into a Balinese family your in-laws should dress you.

With love from Bali,
Myrah