Terms of Service

Personalized Gowns — Process and Terms

We want every customer to understand what to expect. These terms explain how your gown is designed, when production begins, how payments affect production, and what happens through completion and shipping.

What to Expect

Step 1: Design Development

Depending on your project, the design stage may include:

• Custom renderings of front and back
• Requested revisions to renderings
• Fabric and color selection
• Lace and appliqué selection
• Beading, embroidery, and other embellishment options

Step 2: Design Approval, Measurements, and Payment

Before physical production begins, we must receive:

• Approval of the final rendering or customer-provided reference pictures
• Approval of the fabrics, lace, appliqués, and embellishments
• All required measurements
• A 50% deposit or the first payment of an approved payment plan

Once all four requirements are complete, patternmaking and physical production may begin.

Step 3: Production

During production:

• Your pattern is created from the measurements provided.
• Fabrics and embellishments are purchased as sufficient payments are received.
• Your gown is cut, constructed, and decorated according to the approved design.
• Progress photographs may be shared at stages when meaningful feedback can be provided.
• Daily or on-demand photographs are not included in the commissioned process.

Step 4: Completion and Final Approval

Once your gown is complete:

• Final photographs will be sent for your review.
• Corrections needed to bring the gown closer to the approved design will be completed without charge.
• New design changes, different from the agreed upon design may require an additional fee.
• The complete remaining balance must be paid before shipping.

Step 5: Shipping

Your gown will be released for shipping after:

• Final photographs are approved
• The complete balance has been paid
• Your shipping address has been confirmed

Production time and shipping time are separate.

Important Terms and Conditions

$150 Design Development Fee

• Our initial consultation and preliminary price estimate are complimentary.
• A $150 design development fee is required when custom renderings, material sourcing, or fabric and embellishment selection are needed.
• The $150 fee is credited toward the total price of your gown if you proceed with the order.
• Once rendering, material sourcing, or other substantive design work begins, the fee is earned and nonrefundable—even if you later decide not to order the gown or continue with the project.
• Payment of the design development fee does not purchase a completed gown or begin physical production.

Renderings, Reference Pictures, and Materials

• Renderings are design tools that replace sketches and are used to show a general overall idea of how a gown will look.
• Renderings are not photographs and may not properly show:
  • Fabric texture
  • Lace or appliqué pattern
  • Exact embellishment type and placement
• Lace, appliqués, embroidery, beading, and other embellishments may be represented approximately in a rendering. Actual materials will be confirmed separately through photographs, samples, or written descriptions when available.
• Colors may appear differently because of lighting, photography, dye variations, and screen settings.
• When customer-provided pictures are used instead of a rendering:
  • The pictures become part of the approved design reference.
  • The finished gown will reflect the approved design and materials but will not necessarily be an exact duplicate of another gown.

Production Time

Production time begins only after we receive:

• Final design approval
• Material approval
• Complete measurements
• The required first full payment or deposit

Estimated production times:

• Most personalized gowns: approximately 12–14 weeks
• Highly detailed or complex gowns: up to 25 weeks or longer
• Expedited orders: subject to availability, please contact us directly

The design-development stage and shipping time are not included in the production estimate. Production and completion dates are estimates. The schedule may be extended by:

• Design changes
• Delayed approvals or responses
• Late payments
• Circumstances beyond our reasonable control

Customer Responses and Approvals

Customers are responsible for responding to requests for:

• Measurements
• Design decisions
• Material selections
• Progress approvals
• Final approval
• Shipping information

If we cannot continue because we are waiting for a response, the order may be paused. Each day of customer delay may extend the production estimate by at least the same amount of time. We are not responsible for a missed wear date caused by delayed responses, decisions, or approvals.

Payments and Production Pauses

We offer:

• A 50% deposit; or
• Up to 10 interest-free payments when approved

Payments must be received according to the customer’s agreed payment schedule. If a payment is late:

• Design work, material purchasing, and production may be paused immediately.
• The production estimate will be extended by at least the length of the payment delay.
• We are not responsible for a missed wear date resulting from the payment delay.

If an account remains unpaid for 60 calendar days:

• The order may be canceled or placed on inactive status.
• Amounts already paid will be applied to design services, renderings, patterns, materials, labor, and production already completed.
• Amounts applied to completed work or purchased materials are nonrefundable.
• Restarting the order is subject to availability, updated production timing, and payment of all overdue amounts.

Revisions and Design Changes

• Corrections that bring the gown closer to the originally approved design: No charge
• New design changes outside the approved design: Additional fees may apply

New design changes may extend the production schedule.

Progress Photographs

• Progress photographs may be provided at appropriate production stages.
• Photographs are normally shared when meaningful feedback is possible.
• Most construction stages are not photographed.
• Photographs are not guaranteed upon request or according to a customer-created schedule.
• Final photographs will be provided when the gown is complete.

Measurements and Alterations

Because the gown is not fitted directly on the customer’s body, local alterations may still be needed. Alterations are a normal part of the bridal process and are the customer’s responsibility.

Cancellation of a Personalized Order

Because every personalized gown is commissioned for one customer, an order cannot be canceled for a full refund after patternmaking, material purchasing, cutting, sewing, or other physical production has begun.

If the customer chooses to discontinue the order:

• Payments will be applied to design work, patterns, materials, labor, and production already completed.
• Amounts applied to completed work and purchased materials are nonrefundable.

Returns and Refunds

Because every personalized gown is created for one customer, returns and refunds are limited. A return or refund may be considered only if:

• A corresponding finished-gown measurement is verified to be more than two inches smaller than the body measurement provided by the customer; or
• The gown arrives fewer than three days before the wear date because we did not complete or ship it within the applicable production schedule.

A timing-based refund is not available when:

• The order was placed without sufficient production time.
• The delay was caused by late payments.
• The customer delayed design decisions, responses, or approvals.
• The customer requested design changes that extended production.
• The gown was shipped on time and the delay was caused by the carrier or circumstances beyond our control.

Additional requirements:

• Proof of the wear date may be required.
• Fit concerns must be documented with current measurements and clear photographs.
• Returns must be approved before they are sent.
• Returned items must be unworn and in their original condition.
• Refunds are issued only after the returned item is received and inspected.

Inspecting Your Gown

Any concern involving damage, measurements, materials, or conformity with the approved design must be reported within seven calendar days of delivery and before the gown is worn, altered, cleaned, or modified. Returns are never accepted after the wear date for any reason unless the gown arrived on or after the wear date.

Final Payment and Storage

• The complete balance must be paid before the gown ships.
• Final payment is due after the completed-gown photographs are approved.
• Customers have two weeks after final approval to complete payment.
• After two weeks, a storage fee of $25 per week will apply.
• The gown will not be released until the balance and applicable storage fees have been paid.
• Late final payment will change the shipping and arrival estimates.

If the balance remains unpaid for 60 calendar days, the order may be canceled. Payments already applied to design work, materials, patterns, labor, and completed production are nonrefundable.

Shipping, Delivery, and Insurance

Production time and shipping time are separate. Carrier delivery dates are estimates. Once a gown has been shipped on time, we are not responsible for delivery delays caused by:

• The shipping carrier
• Severe weather or natural disasters
• Transportation interruptions
• An incorrect or incomplete customer-provided address
• Failed or missed delivery attempts
• Refusal of delivery
• Other circumstances beyond our reasonable control

A carrier delay after timely shipment does not make the gown defective, does not create a right to cancel or receive a refund, and does not make us responsible if the package arrives after the wear date.

All gowns are insured against loss during shipping. If the carrier completes its investigation and confirms that a package has been lost, we will issue a refund for the lost item. A delayed package, temporary tracking interruption, missed delivery, or package returned because of an incorrect address or failure to accept delivery is not considered a lost package.

The customer is responsible for confirming the complete shipping address. Costs caused by an incorrect address, rerouting request, refused delivery, missed delivery, return, or reshipment are the customer’s responsibility.

Minor Issues and Opportunity to Correct

A minor or nonmaterial issue does not cancel the order or invalidate these Terms. Examples may include:

• Completion occurring shortly after an estimated completion date
• Final photographs being provided without earlier production photographs
• Minor differences between a rendering and the actual appearance of fabric or embellishments
• A correctable construction or design issue

When an issue can reasonably be corrected, the customer must notify us and allow us a reasonable opportunity to make the correction before requesting a return, refund, cancellation, or other remedy. A minor delay or correctable issue does not create a right to reject the gown or receive a full refund unless the order qualifies under the specific conditions stated in our Returns and Refunds policy.

Events Beyond Our Control

We are not responsible for delays caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including:

• Hurricanes, severe weather, flooding, fire, or natural disasters
• Power or internet outages
• Government actions or closures
• Transportation or carrier interruptions
• Public emergencies
• Illness
• Similar events outside our reasonable control

Production and shipping estimates will be extended by the time reasonably required to recover and resume work. We will communicate significant delays and make reasonable efforts to complete affected orders as soon as circumstances permit.

Governing Law and Court Resolution of Disputes

These Terms and all orders, design services, renderings, payments, and commissioned projects are governed by the laws of the State of Hawaiʻi.

Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally must be resolved through court proceedings, not private arbitration—and must be filed exclusively in:

• The appropriate state court of the First Circuit, State of Hawaiʻi, sitting in Honolulu; or
• The United States District Court for the District of Hawaiʻi in Honolulu when federal jurisdiction exists.

The customer and Dresses by Linda & Agnes consent to the jurisdiction of these courts and agree that Honolulu is the required location for the proceeding. Nothing in this section eliminates a right that cannot legally be waived under applicable state or federal law.

Acceptance of These Terms

By paying a design development fee, making a gown payment, signing an order form, or completing a website purchase, the customer confirms that they have reviewed and accepted these Personalized Gown Terms and Conditions.