Brides write to me from abroad more often than people imagine. Some are planning a wedding in Israel and want the gown waiting for them here; others live far away and simply want a gown that is hand-sewn and hand-beaded in Jerusalem, to their measurements, not taken from a rack. The questions are almost always the same three: how it works from a distance, how much time it truly takes, and when it is simply not a good idea. This guide answers all three. (Pictured: Luna, from the Spring/Summer 2024 collection.)
How wedding dress shopping in Israel works
If you have shopped for a gown abroad, the first difference you will feel is the shape of the visit itself. An Israeli bridal couture studio is not a boutique: there is no sales floor, no rack of dozens of dresses, no walking in to browse. Appointments are arranged in advance and held one bride at a time, quietly. And because every gown is made to measure, there is no size chart: the pattern is drafted for your body, so petite, tall, plus-size, and expecting brides all receive a full fit. My studio opened in 2007. What a first appointment actually looks like, step by step, is in The Jerusalem Studio.
The first way: plan the gown around a visit to Israel
If you know you will be in Israel before the wedding, even once, the calendar can be built around that visit. Tell us your travel dates at the start, and we plan the fitting schedule so the number of trips is kept down: measurements and design decisions on one visit, consolidated fittings on the next. Some brides only come to Jerusalem for the final fitting, a few days before the wedding. The studio is at 68 Kanfey Nesharim Street in Jerusalem; directions and hours are on the find-us page.
The second way: start from where you are
The other path begins on a screen. International brides can start with a virtual appointment: we talk about your wedding date, the line you are drawn to, and your coverage preferences, and I show you pieces from the collections. From there, brides in the New York area can have in-person fittings with our partner Haas Bridal in Brooklyn, without flying to Israel. Finished gowns ship worldwide, tracked and insured, timed to arrive several weeks before the wedding. The full arrangement, stage by stage, is on the international page.
The timeline for a bride abroad
Most brides in Israel close their order about three months before the wedding; from brides abroad I ask for at least four. The extra month is not caution for its own sake. Lace is commissioned from European mills, a densely beaded bodice can take two to four hundred hours of handwork, and most brides have three to four fittings before the wedding date, with a shipping window on top if the gown travels to you. The three paths to a gown, from a collection piece to a blank page, are described in A Custom Wedding Dress in Jerusalem.
What to bring, at the studio or on a screen
Whether you sit across from me at the studio or across a screen, bring your wedding date, a few photographs of gowns or details you keep returning to, and a clear sense of your coverage preferences: the sleeve, the neckline, the opacity you need. Bring your questions about budget as well; I would rather answer them plainly in the first hour. And if you can, bring one companion you trust. A second pair of eyes helps a bride choose well.
When it is honest to say no
I will say this plainly, because honesty costs less before the sketch than after it. If your wedding is closer than the four-month window, ordering from abroad becomes a compromise: a compressed schedule reduces the number of possible fittings and may limit fabric and beading options. On a shorter timeline, simply call. Together we will assess honestly what is possible in the time remaining: sometimes an adapted collection piece instead of a blank page, and sometimes the answer is that this is not the right path for this wedding. Better to hear that in the first conversation than in the last month.
If the calendar is on your side, the first step is a single quiet hour, at the studio or on a screen. Send us a WhatsApp message with your wedding date and the city you live in, and we will plan the path together, unhurried.
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About the Author
Designer & Founder
Amalya Cohen has worked in bridal design since 2005 and has run her own studio since 2007. She trained at fashion houses in Israel and abroad, and today designs from her Jerusalem showroom, specializing in dresses for brides who observe modesty. Read more about Amalya.
