How 4 Stylish Women Chose Their Dream Wedding Look
From NORA ATTAL’s bespoke Lanvin dress to VANESSA AXENTE’s sharply tailored Joseph suit, we spoke to four brides to discover how they chose the perfect look for their nuptial celebrations
Nora Attal: the bespoke gown
Model Nora Attal wed her partner Victor Bastidas in an outdoor ceremony in Ibiza, Spain, in June. Attal wore a bespoke slip-style gown, created for her by Lanvin’s creative director Bruno Sialelli, changing into a jeweled The Attico design for the after-party.
“I had a rough idea of what I liked – sheer fabrics, simple design,” she says. Then art director and stylist Carlos Nazario offered to help. “He suggested Lanvin, so I sent a mood board with sheer-fabric dresses, lace references, ’80s and ’90s pictures of [designs by] Dolce & Gabbana, John Galliano and Tom Ford.” Between them, Attal and Nazario chose details from three different dresses in the Lanvin collection, which Sialelli worked up into a sketch. Then, a month before the wedding, Attal visited the brand’s Parisian atelier for a fitting. “We chose all the details – pearl finishing, sizing, color, length, veil – and that was when I fell in love with the dress,” she says.
The wedding was held at a traditional farmhouse in Ibiza, which was a consideration when choosing her look. “The cortijo had a blend of Spanish and Moroccan details in the tiles and colors. I knew if the dress had a light, delicate feel, it would fit,” Attal says. The finished creation is a masterpiece of lace and sheer-fabric panels, which cascade into a frilled hemline. “Simple, with a modern twist. The low back and hem detail made of horsehair [was designed to] mimic sea foam,” she adds. To complete the look, she chose ’90s-inspired makeup, and wore her hair simple and down.
“We chose all the details – pearl finishing, sizing, color, length, veil – and that was when I fell in love with the dress
”
TyLynn Nguyen: the elegant vow renewal
In September 2021, designer TyLynn Nguyen and her husband Bee Nguyen flew to the Utah desert to renew their vows at beautiful boutique hotel Amangiri. Nguyen chose a timeless gold shift dress by LA-based brand Co for the ceremony.
“I wanted it to be a dress that was handed down to my daughter – something special and a little more extravagant than I usually go for,” she says. The couple knew they wanted to renew their vows at Amangiri but hadn’t planned it. “I visited the Co showroom in Los Angeles and met with [creative director] Stephanie [Danan]. She showed me this dress and I fell in love with it on the spot.” A classic cut in muted gold, the sleeveless style is lightly gathered at the waist, flows to the floor and features an underslip.
Unbeknownst to Nguyen, her husband had already arranged everything. “He surprised me – the dates were set in stone, and it was magical and divinely aligned.” Once the dress was decided, other details fell naturally into place, too. “Sometimes, one’s personal style is more about the feeling over anything else. And everything felt right,” she says.
“For shoes, I wore The Row flat sandals, and I wanted my beauty mood to be timeless – Christy Turlington’s ’90s looks, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s ease, Sade’s classic consistency and Jackie O’s elegance.” The overall look is beautifully pared-back and perfectly in keeping with the striking scenery surrounding Amangiri. “I love the natural elements of the land there. I envisaged what I wanted my pictures to look like – how they would be shown to future generations, the peace of the vow renewal,” she says. As for traditions? The couple are making their own, although they did dance to their wedding song, the James Bond theme, under the desert sky.
Laura Love: the fashion pick
Model Laura Love and her fiancé Deering Regan canceled their New Year’s Eve wedding in LA due to the pandemic and moved their ceremony to New York in May. Love wore the two dresses she’d originally planned – bespoke Saint Laurent for the ceremony and Paco Rabanne for the after-party.
“I wanted to look like myself and I didn’t want to have fashion regrets,” says Love. Deciding against anything traditional, she got in touch with Julien Dossena (creative director at Paco Rabanne). “We fell in love with a 50lb, gold-chain dress; I couldn’t stand in it, let alone walk or dance.” Thankfully, Dossena worked his magic and, last October, Love tried on the recrafted, lighter version: “He’d made it a mini dress; it’s the coolest piece of clothing I have ever put on.”
“He’d made it a mini dress; it’s the coolest piece of clothing I have ever put on
”
Initially, the couple had planned to only have a party, so once the ceremony was added to the day, another dress was required, with Love again opting for an iconic Parisian house. “When my mom and I arrived at the Saint Laurent atelier in Paris, we were met by two tailors and a measuring tape,” she says. “They took every measurement, then we left.” Love heard nothing for months, until she received a WhatsApp message simply reading: “It’s ready.” Expecting a toile fitting, Love returned with her mum, sister, and photographer Pierre-Ange Carlotti, who’s a close friend. “We walked in and there was my dress, completely finished.” An asymmetric silhouette, crafted in embroidered lace with a cutaway detail and satin bow. “The whole room went quiet when I tried it on; it was perfect.” Love wore her hair down – “like I always do”– with makeup applied by her friend, makeup artist Mariko Hirano.
She chose minimal accessories, including classic, heeled pumps and purple cross earrings by Irene Neuwirth – “my something borrowed,” she says. “I painted my toenails blue; everything else was new.” For the party, inspired by Françoise Hardy, she wore her gold dress with Mary-Janes and “gold jewelry – chains and charms for travel and good luck my granny gave me; my something old.”
Vanessa Axente: the minimal tailoring
Vanessa Axente and her fiancé Rahil Gupta were forced to postpone their wedding celebration due to the coronavirus pandemic. So, when the pair decided to opt for a Town Hall micro-wedding in Budapest in December 2020 instead, Axente wore a Joseph suit and Valentino shoes.
“It was a bit of a last-minute decision,” the model says. “I chose my look for the Town Hall wedding a week before, with my sister-in-law, Nimisha.” Her wedding dress was already stored away for the postponed nuptials, so for this wedding, she wanted a white pantsuit. As luck would have it, that was the first style she tried on. “A Joseph pantsuit – it looked amazing and fitted perfectly. I got so excited that I said I’d like a hat with it,” she says, so a milliner friend helped create her dream style: a clean, white design with an elegant veil.
The ceremony was intimate (eight guests), with no chance of an after-party due to lockdown and a curfew, so the couple hosted a dinner at home, with food by Kiosk – a hip restaurant in Budapest that happens to be owned by a close friend. To chime with the pared-back mood, Axente added her own accessories. “I choose my Valentino studded high heels,” she says. “I didn’t want to wear white or neutral shoes and I love these heels. Looking for something new wasn’t an option and those shoes worked perfectly.” The bride also did her own hair – a loose bun – and wore “very natural” makeup.
Though it wasn’t the event they’d originally planned, Axente was delighted with the day. “I didn’t have high expectations, I was very relaxed about it, so it exceeded it all,” she says. “I still love that look so much and I could wear it forever.”