Diary of a bride from the capital: how a trip to St. Petersburg to buy a wedding dress completely changed the concept of the event

The position of fashion editor requires creating materials for the “Wedding” section every spring-summer season, analyzing the main trends, talking about all the nuances when choosing an image and the best designers who can create this or that dress. I have repeatedly written that a wedding is a special day in the life of every girl, but (to be honest) I had no idea how much it was. I had no idea until May 2024, when I gained the status of a bride and plunged into the preparations for the celebration.

The first task with an asterisk was to find a designer who would bring “I don’t know what it is” to life, who would capture the same vibe as me and appreciate all the contradictory ideas in the spirit of “I want it like Vivienne Westwood but”. With a touch of The Row. Moreover, all the big wedding brands had to be immediately removed from the list, because it seemed to the meticulous author of the material that their dresses had no soul (no offense, it’s just an inner feeling I can’t get rid of). I wanted to find someone who would do something unique and invest 100%.

So, on the Internet, a small but incredibly beautiful brand Pérle, originally from St. Petersburg, was found. And then everything fell into place – after all, it was in this city that I received the coveted ring and gained a new status. And since I look for hidden meanings in everything, the decision to write to the designer was made quite naturally. Spoiler: a month later I went to St. Petersburg for a fitting. But first things first. Today I will talk about the advantages of customization, its basic fears and pleasant surprises. In general, everything is for future brides who are still looking for their perfect dress.

Then an important clarification: I never had the wedding dress of my dreams. Not in childhood, not a few months ago. The only thing in my head was an understanding of how I did not want to look, and in my “saved files” on social networks there were archived images of Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen. So it was necessary to start from scratch. The first thing the designer and founder of Pérle Evgenia Lashkova asked me to do was to fill out a form. Yes, yes, just like in childhood, because the questions were not only about the dress, but also about the style of clothing of favorite girls, hobbies and everyday life. “Everyone fills out the form differently. Some people do it quite logically and pragmatically. Then there will be very little information for me, and we will talk about seemingly nothing for a long time. But my empathy is quite developed. It is very important for me to feel the bride emotionally,” Zhenya shares. Therefore, the designer asks to indicate social networks, which she always carefully studies in order to understand how a girl is in life, what she wears, how she behaves.

By the way, it is worth noting that I approached the questionnaire very seriously, telling almost my entire biography and adding a few dozen references that turned out to be surprisingly similar. But I still didn’t know what I wanted: either I was thrown into Brat Summer or I wanted to be Very Serious. True, it turned out that it is normal to throw from one extreme to the other.

“Nobody really knows what they want. In general, when it comes to customization, people are divided into two types: either they come with a clear reference or they bring a bunch of references and say: “I like them all, but I don’t understand what I want.” These are the most interesting clients, because at first you take every reference she has saved and ask: “What do you like here?” And halfway through the photo, it turns out that I like the whole look, with the hair, the make-up and the set design. The designer’s job is therefore to “select and put together” the details she likes, says the founder of the Pérle brand.

A few weeks after filling out the questionnaire, Zhenya and I had our first meeting in Moscow. There we had to discuss the concept of the dress, take measurements and get to know each other in person. Needless to say, before this event, I was no less anxious than before the date, right? On the way to the meeting place, thoughts arose: “What if I don’t like it?” or “How can I politely answer that this style does not suit me?” Fortunately, all these thoughts disappeared as soon as I entered the room and saw my dress on a small mannequin. The classic silhouette of the modern bride – a thin waist, careless drapery, falling shoulders – was very coolly diluted with a bold belt made of tangled chains and pearls. Probably then I realized that I was in good hands.

By the way, Zhenya did not choose this design by chance. In the survey I mentioned that I am a fan of Caroline Bisset-Kennedy, Zoe Kravitz and Julia Fox – three girls whose style can be called completely opposite. Nevertheless, Zhenya managed to harmoniously combine different types of fashion in one image. And, of course, the location near the water and Greek roots played an important role in creating the whole image. “For the dress I chose thin silk taffeta with a wrinkled effect. In the shade, the fabric had a warm caramel color, and in the light it shimmered silver like the water surface. My starting point in creating a harmonious look for Christina was that she is half Cypriot. No matter how trite it may sound, it was impossible to do without the legend of Aphrodite,” Zhenya shares. All this once again proves that individual tailoring pays off in every sense.

By the way, right after the meeting I wrote to the wedding planner and said decisively that the concept had to be changed completely. So in the set design, the pearl and crystal candlesticks were replaced with juicy lemons and greens, while the yellow and green were replaced with sky blue. And just like that, thanks to one meeting, the puzzle of the whole event came together completely.

The process of creating a custom dress takes about two and a half months and requires a lot of attention. As we have already learned, the first two weeks are spent on creating a concept, approving fabrics, shapes and decor. The rest of the time the designer works on a full-fledged image, and then a series of fittings begins. In general, this is one of the most important and responsible stages. To achieve the desired result, you need to follow two main rules: first, never lie, and second, do not be afraid to speak directly. Only in this case the dress will turn out as you imagined. “In fact, it is almost impossible to create a dress that the bride would not like at all. If this happened, then during the fitting she deceived me, deceived herself, did not say that she did not like something, and I stubbornly did not pay attention to the fact that something was wrong between us,” says designer Pearl .

Like everyone who has difficulty saying “Please stop at the next stop!” on the minibus, I was afraid that I would not be able to give the correct interpretation of the most important “project” of my life. Fortunately, this was not necessary, because the setting was conveyed as accurately as possible. The curtains were perfectly folded, the fabric looked elegant and comfortable at the same time, and it was quite possible to breathe in the tight bodice. And the atmosphere of the cozy studio on Vasilyevsky Island seemed to give the image a special lightness, freedom, St. Petersburg chic.

Standing in front of the mirror and imagining the finished outfit, I thought about what a bride should pay attention to when sewing a dress, and I immediately asked the designer. The answer was surprising: “Based solely on my feelings. How comfortable you are with showing your body, how ready you are to lose your mobility, how ready you are to endure discomfort, how perfect you need to be throughout the evening. Taking all this into account, it is very important to answer the question: “How do I want to feel?” It is important not to think about the dress. Your designer will think about the dress.”

This phrase somehow stuck in my memory, so I completely abandoned the situation and entrusted the fate of my image to a professional. After Zhenya admitted that her favorite designer was Alexander McQueen and that “grunge and punk are super,” there was no doubt that I would get my ideal dress.

The last rehearsal took place a few days before the celebration. The dress was already completely ready, all that remained was to put on a belt of the same chain and pearls and work on the neckline. In fact, the last meeting was more exciting than the first – what if the dress does not close, the curtains do not fit well, and there is no time to redo anything. But here it is important to put aside all worries and understand that professionals worked on the dress and did it for more than one month.

Fortunately, my fitting went without any surprises; we fixed the belt, adjusted the neckline – and voila! The bride stood in front of the mirror. The dress was exactly as I imagined it: elegant but a little ostentatious, classic but modern, sophisticated but unusual. These contrasting features were so harmoniously combined in one image that it seemed as if it could not be otherwise.

“What would the dress look like if it was taken out of a crate underwater? Could it be overgrown with algae? How would it look on the body? That’s what I thought about when I designed the dress. I wanted the guests to see it and think, ‘Where did it come from?’ These are all children’s fantasies, but they help me work,” says Zhenya. When the image was fully formed on the wedding day, there was one question the designer asked me. The fabric shimmered beautifully in the sun and flowed beautifully in the wind, the sleeves fell haphazardly on the arms, and the pearls and chains made the dress more vibrant. In general, if the theme of next year’s Meta Gala was about fantastical sea creatures, this image would definitely hit the mark.

Instead of finishing I would like to say that finding your designer is really important. You have to have a connection and the dress has the same spirit that I mentioned at the beginning of the material. Otherwise no magic happens but the wedding day is truly magical. The look should not just be pretty – there are thousands of them on the market, it should be yours and yours alone. That’s why custom design is always the clear winner. Well, I agree, when else will there be an opportunity to have fun and feel like the prom queen (no less)?