Fashion

Fashion Friday: Interview With Brides By Nona

Bridal Designer Nneka Alexander has created a brand that focuses on custom and couture bridal gowns for the bride, bridesmaids and mother-of-the-bride. She is better known as Brides by Nona on Instagram with over 70 thousand followers who happily post their before and after photos of their big day. With yards of tulle and hours on the drawing board, which includes an interview to get to the crux of each bride’s true style, a completely unique and new dress is born with each cut of the last thread. Nona is responsible for sewing up magic and bringing out the best in her brides, which she doesn’t take lightly. As Nona continues to experience popularity and success, BlackBride.com got the scoop on her design process as well as how to go about designing the dress of your dreams. Go inside our conversation. 

Blackbride.com: Any trending wedding dress styles right now? 

Brides by Nona: Absolutely! Fitted silhouettes (Mermaid and Trumpet silhouettes, to be specific), Capes, Embroidery and of course Bling!

Blackbride.com: What types of dresses do you like making?

Brides by Nona: I am not sure that I have a favorite but if I had to choose I would say mermaid dresses. Every woman is shaped beautifully in her own unique way and so I love to find each bride’s “hot spots” on her body. By “hot spots” I am referring to those parts of her body that will bring any dress to life! With fitted dresses, I love to see how my dresses hug every curve and accentuate these “hot spots” on my clients’ bodies. It is just such a beauty to behold!

Blackbride.comWe love your bridesmaid dresses, how often do you take on special orders?

Brides by Nona: Thank you so much! Special orders? All our orders are special/custom orders. The reason being that I deal with each client on an individual basis. I take the time to truly understand what they want so that I can execute it flawlessly. Plus, each client always wants her dress to be better than the previous dress I made so I am always taking on special orders. I love it that way — it’s a challenge for me to keep getting better and not regurgitating what I have done before. 

Blackbride.com: What are some key essentials brides need to be prepared for when getting a dress customized/altered?

Brides by Nona: My dear brides, the single most important thing to be prepared for when getting a customized dress is to be true to yourself and your sense of style. Thanks to social media, I find that a lot of brides come to me with a hodgepodge of ideas and designs that they have seen on other brides whose weddings went viral on social media but the sad thing is that these designs they bring to me are such a far cry from their own personal tastes and preferences — they are just on a quest to outshine the previous bride. So I listen to them patiently and then I turn the focus back to the bride by asking a series of questions to get them to understand their own personal style and create a gown based on that. There is nothing more beautiful than a bride wearing a gown that truly embodies her style and personality. She exudes confidence and radiates such glow that everyone will eventually be in awe of her on the wedding day. THAT is what I want all brides to be prepared for — to bring out that inner beauty in themselves through their custom gowns! 

Blackbride.com: So far, how many dresses have you produced? 

Brides by Nona: Yikes! Putting me on the spot, huh! Well, in any given year we produce close to 200 custom gowns for brides, bridesmaids, mothers of the bride and groom, prom, galas, and private high net worth clients.

Blackbride.com: Are you sold in any other bridal boutiques around the country?

Brides by Nona: Due to the highly specialized products and services we offer, we are in no rush to stock in other bridal boutiques yet. We do get accosted by bridal boutiques but for us it is important that there must be a fit in processes, clientele and quality before we make that commitment. We are in serious talks with a couple of boutiques at the moment so who knows.

Blackbride.com: How long did that take?

Brides by Nona: Custom wedding gowns take anywhere from three to six months, while custom evening gowns take anywhere from two to three months. We do offer express services where we can create custom gowns in much less time than stated above. 

Blackbride.com: Where is your boutique located? 

Brides by Nona: We are located in Atlanta, Georgia but we do service clients around the country and even internationally as well. Thanks to social media and technology it is extremely easy for us to work with clients far and wide so we are not limited to Atlanta or even the USA.


For more wedding dress bliss, visit Brides by Nona on Instagram, Facebook or book an appointment online.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *