Try-at-Home Wedding Dress Shopping with Grace + Ivory!
Written by: Grace + Ivory Founder and Creative Director. Tina Wong Zysk:
Wedding dresses for kick-ass women. Grace + Ivory provides beautiful, made-to-measure wedding dresses at real world prices. Our collection of dresses is carefully curated, and every design can be customized. Dresses are made-to-order with quality in mind, with fabrics like soft tulle, Italian crepe, Japanese mid-weight silk satin, and fine cotton lace. With hand-beaded, hand-sewn details, every dress is made-to-order and one-of-a-kind.
As an online e-commerce bridal brand with roots in Washington, DC and Chicago, we create beautiful, custom, made-to-measure wedding dresses for the modern bride. As a women-owned shop, we've partnered directly with our dressmaker, and cut out layers of distributors and retailers to offer gorgeous dresses without the mark-up (all of our designs are under $2,000). We believe in bridal done differently, and create our high-quality dresses in three to four months. Every dress is carefully sewn and lovingly made for a bride, focusing on proportions and possibly saving on alteration costs. We’re a social enterprise, and as our mission is about women supporting women, a portion of every dress purchase goes to programs helping women and girls in need. We’re currently supporting Plan International’s The Girls' Fund, which has programs around the world focusing on eliminating child marriage, keeping girls in school, girls’ health, and women empowerment.
Try-At-Home
We’re excited to introduce Grace + Ivory’s try-at-home (TAH) program, which is something our Founder, Tina Wong Zysk, has envisioned so brides have another option when shopping for their wedding dresses. You can try our dresses on in your own home, delivered to your door. We suggest popping some champagne and Facetiming relatives… or don’t! It’s all up to you.
You order the sample dress directly off our website, from each specific dress collection pages, using the “Try on at home!” buttons.
After you click the “Try on at home!” button, you would select your size range, the three days you would have that specific dress, add to cart, and checkout online.
After you’ve ordered, a dedicated bridal stylist will reach out via email to confirm, send tracking information once it ships, and be there for any questions.
Once you’ve tried our dresses, mail back the samples within 3 days using the prepaid shipping label!
When you’re ready to move forward, order your made-to-order wedding dress right off our website! The cost of your try-at-home is credited towards the purchase of your dress, so ensure that you receive a credit code. Our dress pricing is also all inclusive of dress customization and shipping costs. Once purchased, we follow-up for measurements and custom options, and your dress will be crafted and delivered in just 3 to 4 months. We advise that you order 5-6 months before your wedding so we can ensure you have the dress 6-8 weeks before your big day. This is our Grace + Ivory try-at-home experience and we’re excited to have you part of it!
For more details about the TAH and FAQs, visit our website!
Videographer: Jeremy Fuder | Venue: The Hotel at Midtown | Hair: Tamara Holden Hair | Make-Up: Torie Conn | Models: Oneka Amara & Hannah Carlson
About The Founder – Tina Wong Zysk
I’m a proud Chicagoan and I’m so excited to bring Grace + Ivory home. Also, from personal experience and feedback I’ve received from friends in the area, try-at-home and made-to-measure options in the Chicago area are limited. I am so happy to be able to give brides a different bridal option and for them to know that they’re supporting one of their own.
It’s important to me to be back working in my own community and to give back not just globally but locally. We hope to get more involved with local community efforts and explore how we can also support and collaborate with other small businesses, especially women-owned.
I was born in Hoffman Estates, grew up in Algonquin, which is in the NW suburbs. My parents are both from Chicago – they both grew up in Rogers Park. I spent lots of time as a kid in the city with my grandparents; fishing off the Loyola Beach pier, playing in the park, visits to the beaches, Cubs games, shoveling snow, Christmas walks on Michigan Ave…. I could go on and on. My friends from elsewhere get very annoyed with me because I’m very proud Chicagoan.
I attended and graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance – I loved living in the city and exploring Chicago at that time. After I graduated, I moved to DC to pursue a career in foreign aid – I worked in business development for organizations that implemented USAID programs globally across a variety of social areas, such as economic development, health care, women and girls rights, education, etc. It’s amazing and fulfilling work; this is where my heart developed a love for social enterprise and looked at how we could combine the private sector (where the money is) and our social causes. This is why Grace + Ivory is a social enterprise.
I lived between Beijing and the US from April 2016 – December 2019, and it gave me the unique opportunity to work directly and build a close relationship with our dressmakers. Personally, it has also allowed me to explore Asia. I love to travel when I can and I try to stay active for my health and to destress.
I’m now living near the Medical District/ West Loop area and working on Grace + Ivory full-time. I’m excited to be back in Chicago and to reconnect with my favorite city!
Wedding Pro Credits:
Try-at-Home Shoot – DC:
Photographer: Sarah Bradshaw Photography
Make-up: Anna Breeding
Models: Brittany Wells & @fecha_2
Producer: AdeOla Fadumiye
The Hotel at Midtown Shoot – Chicago:
Venue: The Hotel at Midtown
Photography: Sarah Crost Photo
Videographer: Jeremy Fuder
Hair: Tamara Holden Hair
Make-Up: Torie Conn
Models: Oneka Amara & Hannah Carlson