Featured Bride Kristen On Her Gorgeous Martina Liana Dress

 

The process of finding a wedding dress isn’t always linear. You start with a clear picture of what you want to wear in mind and then make an appointment. After explaining your style to the bridal salon, you are presented a rack of choices they think you will like. But every time you step out of the fitting room and look in the mirror, the excitement you should be feeling just isn’t there. “I had tried on so many dresses I really thought that ‘the one’ was a myth,” Kristen remembers. Not to worry. Her “say yes to the dress” story does have a happy ending. Here, Kristen talks about how her wedding day look came together.

 

 

Part 2: Wedding Dress & Personals

By the time Kristen decided to join her sister, who was also engaged, on a visit to a bridal salon, she already had her fill of shopping for wedding gowns. “There were a couple dresses that I thought were absolutely beautiful and would have been happy wearing,” she says “but nothing struck me as being my dress.” You know that saying ‘you find love when you least expect it’? Well, Kristen found her dress when she was least expecting it. “Our consultant convinced me to try on a trumpet style dress that was a completely different from anything else I had tried on,” she recalls. “As soon as I put it on, I knew it was the only dress that I wanted to walk down the aisle to Joe in. I felt radiant and confident, and I think it definitely came through on my wedding day!”

 

 

 

 

The bride chose a gorgeous gown by Australian designer Martina Liana. The fit and flare design featured an exquisite lace and hand beaded top, which descended down to a diaphanous tulle skirt. Wearing such an embellished dress, Kristen had reservations about jewelry. But when you have four sisters, going without accessories is not an option. She says with a laugh, “My sisters were like ‘there’s no way, you are going to wear something fabulous. This is your wedding day, the bigger the better.’”

At her first fitting, Kristen’s sister, Sarah, convinced her to try on headpieces. “She chose this headpiece that looked like ivy with crystal accents. It just suited the dress perfectly – gorgeous, yet understated.” Kristen was honored when Rachel offered earrings for her something borrowed. “My sister Rachel has a real passion for jewelry and lent me the earrings that she wore on her wedding day. They were custom made by her husband as a wedding gift. And because the dangle design featured diamonds and sapphires, they also doubled as my something blue. It was just so special for her to do that for me.” She completed her wedding ensemble with a beautiful chapel length veil and Badgley Mischka shoes.

 

 

The bride’s bouquet reflected her modern romantic sensibility. The asymmetrical arrangement featured lush peonies, roses, ranunculus, sweet pea, astilbe, dahlias, clematis, and greenery in a bursting palette of deep red, pink, coral, purple, blush, and white.

 

 

Kristen had a great story to tell about her bridal clutch. “About three weeks after meeting Joe, I went home to New York to visit my parents. While out shopping one afternoon with my mom, I saw this gorgeous white silk beaded clutch with knuckle grasp. It was classy with a bit of an edge. I looked at my mom and said, ‘This sounds nuts, but I want to get this bag to have for my when I marry Joe.’ And on my wedding day, I used that very clutch that I bought on a crazy whim two years before.”

Stay tuned next week for Part 3: Ceremony when Kristen talks about saying “I do” against a beautiful floral arch overlooking the water.

Couple’s Vendor List

Venue: Trumpets At The Gate
Photographer: Kim Mancuso Photography
Bride’s Dress: Martina Liana
Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Fame & Partners
Makeup: Love Your Face Beauty
Hair: Khris Wilson
Planner: Stephanie Gatton Events
Invitations: Minted
Music: DrUnoAndDubs
Catering & Cake: Trumpets At The Gate