Waqas Shah Official is a Lahore-based couture house, and Germany is one of our largest markets in Europe outside the United Kingdom. Every piece is made to order after you place it, then sent to your German address with free DHL delivery.
This page covers what ordering from Pakistan actually involves for a customer in Germany: how long it takes, how our sizes convert to German sizes, what currency you are charged in, and what you should expect to pay in import VAT and duty when the parcel arrives.
Delivery to Germany
Shipping is free on every order, with no delivery charge at checkout.
Your piece is made first. Making time depends on what you order — Luxury Pret takes about 4 weeks, Luxury Formals 5 to 6 weeks, and full Bridals 2 to 3 months. Ready to Ship pieces leave within 24 to 48 hours.
Once dispatched, DHL delivery to Germany takes a further 7 to 14 days. Every parcel is trackable and you receive the tracking number the moment it leaves Lahore.
Making time and delivery time are separate. For a bridal order, plan on 3 to 4 months from placing the order to having the dress in your hands. If your date is tighter than that, message us before you order rather than after — we can often work to a deadline, but we would rather tell you honestly whether it is possible.
Import VAT and customs duty on German orders
Your order is shipped DDU — delivered duty unpaid — so German import charges are payable by you, not by us. Germany sits inside the EU customs union, so the rules that apply are EU rules rather than German ones, and they changed in 2026. It is worth understanding them before you order.
Import VAT applies from the first cent. There is no value below which a parcel from outside the EU arrives VAT-free — that relief was removed in July 2021. German import VAT (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer) is charged at the standard 19% on the customs value, which is the goods plus freight, plus any duty already added.
The €150 duty exemption no longer exists. Until 30 June 2026, a consignment worth €150 or less arrived free of customs duty. From 1 July 2026 the EU abolished that exemption and replaced it with a temporary flat customs duty of €3 per item on distance-sale consignments up to €150. That arrangement runs until 1 July 2028, after which normal duty rates apply to parcels of any value.
Above €150, normal duty applies. Most of our bridal and formal pieces sit well above €150, so the €3 flat charge does not apply to them. Duty is charged at the rate set by the commodity code for the particular garment.
Plus a disbursement fee. When DHL pays the customs charges on your behalf and collects them from you afterwards, it charges its own fee for doing so — €7.50 on standard DHL parcel clearance. Express clearance is charged differently, and DHL will tell you the amount when it contacts you.
How it works in practice: DHL clears your parcel, then contacts you directly before delivery to collect what is owed. You pay DHL, not us, and the parcel is released once that is settled.
We cannot tell you the exact figure in advance, because it depends on the commodity code for your particular piece and its declared value. What we can do is declare your order accurately and provide the documentation DHL needs, so clearance is as quick as possible.
Paying for your order
Prices on this site are shown in Pakistani Rupees, and your card is charged in rupees at checkout. There is no euro price on the site. We would rather tell you that here than let it surprise you at the payment screen.
Your own bank converts at its rate on the day, so the euro amount that leaves your account is set by your bank rather than by us. Some German cards add a foreign transaction fee (Auslandseinsatzentgelt), usually around 1 to 2% — worth checking your card's terms, as several German cards charge nothing at all on non-euro purchases.
This is not a choice we made: Shopify Payments is not available in Pakistan, so our gateway settles in rupees. If you want the euro figure worked out before you order, message us on WhatsApp and we will do it with you.
German sizing
Our sizes run XXS to XL. Converted to German sizes:
XXS — 30
XS — 32–34
S — 36–38
M — 40–42
L — 44–46
XL — 48–50
Every product page carries a full size chart with the garment's flat measurements in inches and centimetres, plus the model's own measurements and the size she is wearing, so you can judge the fit against something real rather than a label.
Made-to-measure from Germany
Because you cannot try before you buy, made-to-measure matters more when ordering from abroad. Most designs can be made to your own measurements at no extra cost — including sleeve length, neckline depth and waist fit.
Our team will walk you through taking your measurements over WhatsApp before your order goes into production, and will confirm them back to you. We work with our customers in Germany in English. Message us on +92 310 0001250.
Dressing for an Indian wedding
A good number of our customers in Germany are dressing for Indian weddings rather than Pakistani ones. Lehenga choli, gharara and sharara are worn at both, so the same piece works for a mehendi ceremony as it does for a mehndi — the spelling tends to follow where the family is from rather than any difference in the event.
The colour brief overlaps almost entirely: yellows, greens, corals and bright multicolour work for either. What differs is emphasis — Indian mehendi outfits more often lean towards lehengas and sarees, while Pakistani mehndi dressing leans towards gharara and sharara. We make lehenga choli, gharara and sharara, and keep a small saree selection. We do not make anarkali sets, so if that is what the ceremony calls for, we are not the right fit — and we would rather say so now than after you order.
Shop Pakistani bridal and formal wear
Bridal Lehenga Choli
Bridal Dresses
Nikkah Dresses
Mehndi Dresses
Reception Dresses
Luxury Formals
Ordering from somewhere else?
Import rules differ sharply from one country to the next, so we keep a separate guide for each of our main markets:
Ordering from the United Kingdom — the £135 threshold, 20% import VAT and DHL clearance fees
Ordering from the United States — why the $800 de minimis exemption no longer applies
Ordering from Canada — why the CAD $150 threshold does not apply, and how provincial tax changes the total
Ordering from Australia — the AUD 1,000 threshold, and why most pieces clear without charges
Ordering from the UAE — 5% duty, 5% VAT and how CIF valuation works
Questions before you order
Ordering couture from another country is a leap of faith, and we would rather answer your questions first. WhatsApp +92 310 0001250 or email waqasshahofficial@gmail.com.
Full terms are on our Shipping Policy and Refund Policy pages.