Frequently Asked Questions
Ordering Customizable Designs
The made-to-order portion of our shop lets you customize our styles to be what you need - you enter your measurements, color(s), and other customizable elements prior to adding the item to your cart.
Ordering from our customizable designs takes just a few steps!
1. Find the design you would like to customize.
2. Use the dropdown menus and fields below the description to make your selections for colors, sleeves, necklines, and other elements available for customization.
3. Add the item to your cart and check out as normal. Any customization options that added an upcharge will appear in your cart, so you will know the final price upfront.
4. Once we receive your order, we will review your choices. We will reach out to you via email to confirm your design choices, and schedule a video call with you to review your design and take your measurements. We will also confirm the timeframe when you need to receive the garment, and if you need it sooner than we are able to accommodate (which is rare!) we will refund your order before any work has begun. If you have any questions or hesitations about the design choices you've made, you can still change them at this time and we will provide our expertise to help you arrive at the perfect design. Remember, you work directly with the designer throughout the process so there can be some flexibility and lots of hands-on communication to ease your mind about this unique process!
5. Once the design is finalized, we will order the materials and begin production. Just like with our fully custom gowns, we'll email you progress updates and photos throughout production to keep you in the loop and give you the peace of mind that the garment is turning out as you envisioned.
6. Once the garment is finished, we will ship you your order. We will reach out to confirm your shipping address before shipment. If you ordered multiple items at the same time, we can either combine the shipments together or ship you each item at a time as they are completed, just let us know your preference!
At any time throughout this process, you are encouraged to reach out to Hannah, the designer, at hannah@hccdesign.co. We are here to help, and we strive to make this a stress-free experience!
We don't expect you to rely completely on your imagination!
If you would like a descriptive sketch of the item you are thinking about before you order, please send us an email with the product name and the options you are looking to choose. We will gladly draw up a sketch of the design choices for your consideration within 3 business days of receiving your inquiry.
After your order is placed, all clients can receive a sketch of their design choices and you will receive confirmation + an opportunity to discuss any of the details with the designer before proceeding. If you find that the design will not meet your vision, we will happily refund your order before any work has begun/materials ordered.
If the design requires more customization than our website is set up for, just contact us through our Free Quote Request Form to let us know which design you are wanting to customize and what you would like to change about it! We will discuss which changes are possible, including combining multiple HCC Original designs, and give you a ballpark quote for your customized design.
We know that taking accurate body measurements can be difficult, so we put together a quick, illustrated guide for taking your body measurements where we included a few tips and lots of pictures to help you take the most accurate measurements. You can access the guide here. After placing an order on our website or inquiring for a custom design, we will do a complimentary video call to walk you through the measurements we will need (and answer any questions you may have about the process).
You can also reach out to us at any time using our Contact page and we can answer your questions about the process!
The materials for all customizable designs are carefully selected from a very limited number of suppliers and the materials are chosen with color matching in mind. We have already verified that our fabric choices go well with each other (for example, a burgundy satin dress with a burgundy chiffon and/or tulle overlay and burgundy appliques will all go together and be very similar, if not exactly the same, in shade). The bottom line is, we won't let anything leave our studio that doesn't look quite right. If we have any questions or concerns about the colors involved in your design, we will reach out to confirm and/or discuss your fabric options.
We are happy to send you a swatch of the fabric(s) you are interested in for a small fee. Please send us an email via our contact form and let us know the product name(s) and fabrics/color(s) you are interested in seeing, plus your complete street address. We will mail the swatches to you for a small fee (to cover the costs of swatches + postage). Please note that it may take a few weeks to receive your swatches, as we order fabric as it is needed and thus do not always have swatches already on-hand. When you reach out with your request, we will be as transparent as possible with you regarding actual shipping times.
Please note: we are unable to send swatches of beaded appliques, rhinestones, or other embellishments, but we can provide high-quality close-up photos of them upon request, unless you have purchased a Premium Design Package. When selecting beaded appliques, they do match the corresponding fabric involved in the creation of that garment, so if you are trying to make sure the colors match, they do! :)
Ordering a Custom Design
Custom orders are our favorite way to work with brides. Simply book a Premium Design Package to get the process started!
Due to increasing demand, we are pleased to offer pricing and timeframe guidelines. Please consider these before submitting a request. We cannot guarantee the acceptance of every order, but those that adhere to these guidelines may be prioritized.
Custom Order Guidelines
Due to increasing demand, we are pleased to offer pricing and timeframe guidelines. Please consider these before submitting a request. We cannot guarantee the acceptance of every order, but those that adhere to these guidelines may be prioritized.
Wedding Gowns: Prices vary greatly depending on the style, design, detail, and materials involved, however on average, our brides invest $1,500-$3,000 in their wedding gown. Our custom wedding gowns require a minimum of 8 weeks' notice but 4-6+ months are preferred whenever possible to give you the greatest number of materials options and to allow adequate time for detail work and alterations to be completed to our high standard of quality.
PLEASE NOTE: We are currently only accepting orders for bridal looks. We do not offer the following: alterations on garments that were not made by Hannah Caroline Couture; casual tops, pants, skirts, and dresses; accessories (we may consider making accessories only for clients of bridal gowns that we are currently working with); craft projects such as quilts; mother of the bride/groom dresses; prom dresses; and other hobby sewing projects. If your request does not fall within our bridal specialty, but you don't know where else to turn, we are still happy to help you in the form of providing you a referral to a different tailor, designer, and/or seamstress. These referrals will all based within the Omaha, NE area as that is where we have built our relationships with local vendors. Please use the General Inquiries form on our Contact page to request a referral.
We accept custom garment orders from clients in any part of the US, as well as any other country to which USPS will ship. A list of accepted countries can be found here.
If your garment request falls within our suggested price ranges and timeframes, please book a Premium Design Package to submit. We strive to respond to all inquiries within 24-48 hours. We can't wait to work with you!
For a step-by-step process of what you can expect when ordering a custom wedding design, please visit our Custom Wedding Design page.
Prices vary greatly depending on the style, design, detail, and materials involved, however on average, our brides invest $1,500-$3,000 in their wedding gown. Our custom wedding gowns require a minimum of 8 weeks' notice but 4-6+ months are preferred whenever possible to give you the greatest number of materials options and to allow adequate time for detail work and alterations to be completed to our high standard of quality. This pricing includes shipping for brides outside the Omaha, NE area or necessary alterations for brides who are located in or willing to travel to our design studio in Omaha, NE.
At this time, we are only accepting orders for wedding gowns/bridal outfits. Wedding gowns are the core of our business, so our capacity to accept custom orders outside of wedding day looks is limited due to our current order volume (aka, the amazing support I have received from HCC Brides everywhere!). Please reach out to us and we will let you know if we will be able to help!
Hannah Caroline Couture is proud to offer gowns for brides of all sizes, and we have a special talent for designing for plus size brides!
Our patternmaking and fitting mannequins allow us to create gowns for measurements ranging from a street size 00 to a street size 26, and our pattern grading techniques allow us to extend our sizing up to approximately a street size 36. However, if you are unsure of your size or believe you may be outside of this size range, please don't hesitate to reach out! We are passionate about creating fabulous wedding day looks for brides of any size.
The short answer: no! We believe bridal is what you make it, and we strive to never limit your design based on the materials and colors you want to use.
In fact, designing wedding gowns outside of the standard bridal color palette is our passion. Because we source materials for each individual order, there are thousands of options available to you for each material needed in your dress. While some materials may be more difficult to source in certain colors and/or match to the other materials used within your look, we don't impose any limitations on your selections beyond the limitations of what materials are available to us through various suppliers.
We love working with black as well as color in our designs! And of course, we are also happy to design within the bridal color palette of white, ivory, cream, blush, champagne, lavender, light blue, gray, nude, and other bridal colors.
While we are more than happy to take inspiration from a design you found online, we do not create exact replicas out of respect for the original designer. We also may not be able to get the exact materials used in that design. Instead, we create custom designs that bring together your favorite elements across several inspiration photos. If there is one design out in the world that you have your heart set on, we may be able to create a version of it that makes minor changes throughout the design to preserve the original design.
We also will only create one specific design once, so ordering your dress from Hannah Caroline Couture ensures you will have the only one like it in the world!
We would love to show you our portfolio of past work! We know it can be daunting and out of the norm to order your wedding dress custom-made and online. We have several reviews and testimonials from past HCC Brides as well as a slideshow of photos of past work here. Our Instagram also is the first place we share photos of real HCC Brides, so be sure to check out our Instagram page here!
We also have reviews on Google, Yelp, and our Facebook Page, many with photos attached from the client as well.
We offer a selection of bridal accessories like veils, capes, detachable skirts and overskirts, and other accessories on our website, which are customizable and made to your measurements and other preferences. We can also design a custom veil, overskirt, or other accessory for you when you book a Premium Design Package.
Shipping
Shipping is complimentary for all custom orders and website orders from Hannah Caroline Couture!
We do! As long as the United States Postal Service ships to your country, we will gladly accept your order. You can find a list of countries where USPS ships here.
For online orders of customizable designs:
Online orders may take up to 6 months to produce and ship (not including shipping times). In many cases, we are able to offer rush options (which may carry an upcharge depending on the situation) where you could receive your gown is as little as 6 weeks. When you place an online order, we will contact you regarding your wedding date once the order is received and give you an expected turnaround time. In the rare case that we are unable to accommodate your timeframe, we will refund your order before any production begins and any materials are ordered.
For custom gown requests:
All custom orders may take up to 6 months to produce and ship (not including shipping time), but in many cases we may be able to create the garment is as little as 6 weeks. When you request a custom garment, we ask for your wedding date upfront in the request form and we will let you know if we are unable to accommodate the timeframe.
For all orders:
Once shipped, most domestic orders take anywhere from 2 to 10 business days to arrive depending on the efficiency of your local postal service. International shipping delivery times may vary between one and four weeks depending on customs. We'll communicate with you via e-mail if times are expected to be longer.
Whether you are ordering a custom gown or a customizable design, our goal is to have your wedding gown at your doorstep approximately 2 months before your wedding day to allow some time for any minor alterations that might be necessary. We will communicate with you as early in the process as possible about whether the 2-month advance timeframe will be possible depending on your wedding date and when you are placing an order/request.
Return Policy
Due to the custom nature of our products, there are no returns, refunds, or exchanges once a design has been finalized. However, our process is extremely hands-on with extensive communication throughout the entire process. From the moment you submit your order, you will be in direct communication with the designer about your design choices, measurements, materials, timeframe, and all other details. As we work on your design, we send you several updates and progress photos throughout production, asking you clarifying questions about details and making sure the design is what you envisioned. We strive to make sure everything is as you expected before we ship your garment(s). Once it arrives, it should fit you extremely well. However, if the garment needs any minor adjustments, we are happy to recommend small tailoring adjustments that can be made at your local tailor if you reach out to us with your concerns. We have never experienced any moderate or major issues that couldn't be remedied before shipment.
If you are local to or are willing to travel to the Omaha, Nebraska area, and you find that some minor adjustments could improve your order, we are happy to offer complimentary alterations services on gowns we produced, before their intended wear. (For clarification: we cannot offer complimentary alterations to your garment after its intended wear, such as changing the look, length, or details for future wear. We may offer this for a tailoring fee under some circumstances.)
Payment Options
For online orders:
Online orders are processed by Shopify, which uses Shopify Payments or PayPal, two of the most trusted online payment solutions on the web. Because of this, we have all the same securities and payment fraud protection as these leading payment processors. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express and Diners Club. If paying with PayPal, you may also make payments using your bank account. Our site also uses an SSL certificate, meaning your sensitive data (like credit card information) is encrypted and secure.
Payment for online orders is due in full at the time of checkout unless you choose to use Shop Pay Installments, which may allow you to split your total purchase into 4 interest-free payments or choose from a selection of interest-bearing payment plans that may be available to you. This is subject to qualifications set forth by the terms and conditions of Shopify Installments.
If you would like to request a payment plan directly through us, not using Shop Pay Installments, please reach out to us regarding your desired order and we will work with you to set up a 50/50 payment schedule or in some cases, four equal 25% payments. A 25% or 50% deposit will be required to finalize your order, depending on your selected payment schedule, and the balance is due before your order is shipped. This payment schedule will be invoiced by Dubsado, which is our secure and trusted payment solution. You will receive an invoice emailed to you that can be paid via debit card, credit card, PayPal or Apple Pay.
For custom orders:
We are excited to now offer Buy Now, Pay Later and Installment Plans on custom orders thanks to Klarna and Affirm! Klarna and Affirm are now available options on invoices for custom orders over $50.
If you would like additional payment plan options, or you prefer not to use Klarna or Affirm, we may be able to offer more flexible payment plans beyond our standard 50/50 payment schedule for custom orders. A deposit of at least 25% will be required to finalize your order and the balance is due before your order is shipped. This payment schedule will be invoiced by Dubsado, which is our secure and trusted payment solution. You will receive an invoice emailed to you that can be paid via debit card, credit card, or Apple Pay.
In-person Appointments
Yes! Our designs can be tried on in our in-home bridal shop in Omaha, Nebraska. We can accommodate parties of up to four including the bride in our home studio in Omaha. You can try on our sample gowns and jumpsuits, which range in size from a street size 10 to 28, along with our overskirts, veils, capes, and other accessories. You can learn more and book an In-person Premium Design Package here.
Miscellaneous
We are based in Omaha, Nebraska in our home studio. If you are local, feel free to reach out to us – we may be able to provide additional consultations and tailoring services (on products produced by Hannah Caroline Couture) if we can meet in-person.
We also offer bridal appointments to try on our gowns at our in-home studio. You can request an in-person bridal design appointment here.
All Hannah Caroline Couture garments are made by hand in Omaha, NE.
We do not offer tailoring or alterations services on any garments that are not made by Hannah Caroline Couture. We are highly focused on providing an amazing custom design service to our customers, and we leave the standard alterations and tailoring services to the many local tailoring shops in any given city.