chic style

“I went back [to New York] six weeks before the wedding with Buddy. We had a secret trip that no one knew about,” Jesinta Franklin says of the logistics in opting for a custom Vera Wang wedding dress, chatting ahead of the David Jones autumn/winter '17 launch.

“We turned off our social media and no one knew we were there!”

“We went for five days and I had my fitting on the last day we were there and flew home.”

Does that mean Buddy Franklin saw the dress before the big day? Not a chance. “He sat in a café!” Franklin reassured us. “For two hours while I was upstairs having my fitting!”

Franklin said she still feels blessed that she was able to wear custom Vera Wang. “I was really, really lucky with my dress. It was a gift from Vera Wang.”

Having been personally offered the option to be dressed by the American designer herself, a dream for most brides, it was just a matter of choosing which dress to wear down the aisle.

Images: bridesmaid dresses cheap

“I just said to Vera, ‘just do what you do!’ I don’t mind. I don’t mind doing something like a little bit different.”

Something a little different was, in fact, the end result – the long-sleeved ball gown-style dress is not something you see on every bride.

“I think it just made such a statement,” Franklin said. “They were really long and the atelier was like, ‘Would you like them chopped?’ But Vera was like, ‘If you could wear them long, that would be amazing!’”

Franklin said she didn’t necessarily envision herself wearing a long-sleeved gown, urging brides to try on something outside the realm of their normal sartorial go-tos. “I think when it comes to your wedding day, you have to wear something that you feel really amazing in.”

“You’ve got to put it on and there’s a moment and you just know it’s the dress. It doesn’t matter if it’s not the dress that you thought you would wear.”

In total, Franklin only had two fittings, which is not very many for a bride-to-be. We polled Vogue editors who have tied the knot and none of them had any less than six fittings.

“[I first went to New York for a fitting] this time last year at fashion week,” she explains, with the fittings taking place alongside Wang herself. “I had all my fittings with Vera and so it was very special.”

“Then they were flown over, the dresses,” Franklin wore two dresses, changing into another custom Vera Wang dress for the reception. This time, a long sleeve ivory gown made with French Chantilly lace appliqué.

Franklin said her best advice for finding ‘the one’ is to look out for ‘the moment.’

“You’ve got to have that moment in it. No matter how many dresses you’ve tried on wait until you’ve had that moment, and then that’s the dress.

Also see: Beach Bridesmaid Dresses - sheindressau.com