Three New York Post nౠewlyweds🦩 bliss out over their gorgeous gowns.
Fashionista’s Dream
Johannah Masters, New York Post market editor
When: May 9, 2015
Where: St. John, US Virgin Islands
Who: 48 guests
Wore: Elizabeth Fillmore
One of my first jobs was as an assistant for Martha Stewa🙈rt Weddings. But the truth is, I was never really a “weddings” person in my own life — I never dreamed of the details of my future big day. I am, however, a fashion person, and so I started saving pics of white dresses I thought were maybe my kind of gown. Just in case.
When I got engaged years later I looked back through those old images. I saw how some were a little chacha, very Stephanie Seymour in the “November Rain” video. Almost all had a mullet (short-in-the-front, longin-the-back) hemline. It might sound tacky to traditionalists but, to me, they were gorgeous, especially the over-the-top couture numbers I’d clipped from whimsical designer Christian Lacroix. And they led me to th♒e dress I picked in real life.
My wedding-guru friend (and former Martha Stewart co-worker) Anne Chertoff set up a few gown appointments for me. I prepared by combing through desi♚gners’ Web sites. One dress by Elizabeth Fillmore popped out at me. I flagged it as a mus🍸t-try-on. It earned extra fashion cred when I learned that my current colleague and work wife Anahita Moussavian had wanted to feature it in an Alexa weddings issue.
It sounds c🐲liché, but ꦚas soon as I slipped into the frock, I knew it was the one.
It was perfect for me in every way: a flirty high-low hem and a mini-peplum, combined with giant eyelets covered with feathers. I loved wa♊tching those feathers billowing in the sea breeze by the beach as I exchanged vows with my now-husband, Stephen.
Uptown Classic
Dana Schuster, New York Post senior features writer and editor
When: Sept. 12, 2015
Where: Lotte New York Palace
Who: 150 guests
Wore: Ines Di Santo
A black-ℱtie New York City wedding calls for a black-tie New York City wedding gown — especially when🅰 your venue has the word “palace” in its name. The dress I chose was everything I never imagined I’d wear — strapless and big enough to star in its own
Disney fairy tale. And yet, it was the only gown that made me turn to my mom expectantly and ask her: “Are you crying yet?” Within seconds of trying on the stunning Ines Di Santo number at Bergdorf Goodman, I knew it was the one. (Even though I st❀ill visited at least 10 other shops, some multiple times, just to make sure.)
The fittings with my mother and sister were some of the most special moments of wedding planning. My consultant, Joan Joffe♔, i⛎s a raspy-voiced, graceful lady who knew the lay of the bridal land better than anyone I’ve ever met. (She wouldn’t even let me near certain dresses she deemed unworthy.) And then there was the day Ines Di Santo herself fitted me and gifted a sketch of me in the gown, which I promptly hid from my thenfiancé, Adam.
I topped it off with a simple, cathedral-length tulle veil, so as not to compete with the intricate lacework of the dress. It’s funny: For such a big, showstopper dress, it didn’t feel “bridal” to me. The way the Chantilly lꦦace was cut on a bias at the waist felt modern, and its under-layer of galaxy tulle gave the gown a magical sparkle, especially in a ballroom overflowing with candelabras. And oh, the way it twirled on the𝔍 dance floor!
Needless to say, my three nieces, who walked down the aisle to the “Fr♕ozen” soundtrack as flower ꦏgirls, couldn’t have been happier with my choice of dress. Some of the most magical hours of my life were spent dancing with Adam in that gown. Now if I can just find a place to wear it again.
Sexy on the Beach
Stephanie Smith, Former Page Six senior reporter and author of “300 Sandwiches: A
Multilayered Love Story . . . With Recipes”
When: June 6, 2015
Where: Barbados
Who: 35 guests
Wore: Caroline Fare (Smith’s bridesmaid)
Every aspect of my intimate island destination wedding was peppered with personal touches. So I didn’t want a dress by a pop🌠ular designer that people might see repea🌞tedly in bridal magazines. Or — gasp! — might wear down the aisle at their own weddings.
Instead of going to a well-known salon, I chose a dressmaker who would put her heart into my gown: my friend and bridesmaid Caroline Villency. She attended fashion school in Sweden and at the Fashion Institute of Technology, worked for Marchesa and Luca Luca, then launched her own label under her maiden name, Caroline Fare. (She also designed her own wedding dress when she married Villency Design Group CEO Eric Ville𝓡ncy two years ago.)
Sharing this experience with a dear friend who knows me — my personality, my family, my feelings for my husband, my true bust size — meant more to me than any designer label. Caroline and I conceptualized my dress together, from sketch to finish. We had about a dozen fittings at her studio, laughing and talking the entire time. (The average bride only gets three or four meetings with her dress’ designer — if she’s lucky.) Caroline created a flꦐoor-length, hand-sewn lace gown with an open, deep-V back. It had just a hint of sparkle to catch the glimmer from the sun and the moon. She was also thoughtful enough to se🀅w in something blue: a piece of my late father’s favorite blue fishing shirt.
Caroline managed my train as I walked down the aisle, and she stood by my side, holding my bouquet during the ceremony. What a special moment for me to be at the altar in my perfect, lightweight, beach-chic, carefree gown, standing next to its seamstress. I felt like a million bucks. But my gown, just like my friendship with Carolin෴e, is 🍷priceless.