Mika Inatome Custom Bridal Studio

After numerous appointments at nearby bridal salons and at least 20 dresses later, I still hadn't found anything that suited my body or personality. Being 5' tall, I didn't want a cupcake dress that would swallow me up, and it was really difficult to envision size 8 samples that were completely out of proportion on me. I finally considered going the custom route and after a 30 minute appointment with Mika, I knew I had made the right decision. Mika does a great job of listening to you and will take time to look at any pics of dresses you've tried on or dresses you've pinned. The more input you provide, the more personal the dress and experience. She's also very upfront about talking budgets and will keep you realistic about what you can and cannot do within your budget, while never sacrificing quality or creativity. After a 5 minute consultation, she sketched out a dress that looked like exactly what I wanted, before I could even realize what I actually wanted! I remember telling her..."wow, you're good." Her response? "Yeah. I know." She's not wrong! We had a few fittings - one to take measurements, another in a muslin (cheap cotton) copy of the design to double check measurements before going into production, and a handful in the dress itself to perfect the measurements so that the dress fit like a glove on my wedding day. I found myself actually looking forward to my appointments with Mika, who was always so welcoming and personable in her studio apartment it was like visiting with a friend (a super talented one, at that). She has a terrific eye for detail and will not let you leave until both she and you are 100% happy with the dress. I went from being a skeptic to being completely in love with my wedding dress, thanks to Mika. I felt like my dress was a perfect representation of me, and could feel like myself on my wedding day, while dancing up a storm and staying comfortable (one piece of criteria that went into the design). I received a ton of compliments (the most important one being from my now husband), and the most spot-on compliment I received was, "your dress looks like it was MADE for you." Well, it was! Thank you again, Mika, for your amazing work and friendship, I had a blast working with you and am really going to miss our sessions in your studio!

I have always been someone who likes to create and make things... in some cases they turn out good and others..well I need to try again. I knew I had no business creating my own wedding dress, but I did have some ideas of what I wanted. So, first I went to about 5 different boutiques around NYC to try and find one that fit the bill -- thinking surely this is New York there are bound to be some interesting ones out there... I was underwhelmed. Yes, I found beautiful dresses, but they were all so wedding dressy and not very creative or interesting. So, I found Mika through another friend of mine and we started the process of creating just the right dress for me. Now, I wanted something elegant, sexy and simple but having a little "edgy-ness" to it. That is EXACTLY what I got and even though ALL of the work was Mika's I really felt like I had created my own concept and dress. Surprising how rewarding just having your idea come to fruition can be - even if you're not the one actually cutting, sewing and embellishing!! Mika was incredibly flexible, she had extra beading done so I could use them on some custom gloves I had created. She took my gloves and found matching ribbon for my shoes (also designed by Mika). She really listened to me and help guide me to getting exactly my vision - it felt like a true collaboration. If you have any sort of creative spirit she is definitely the person to partner with to get your dream dress!! Thank you Mika!!

She customized my dress and made the most beautiful dress in the world!;Her estimated leadtimes were way off and I ended up going for my final fitting the day before my wedding.